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Abstract

The 128 km long profile 3A was recorded in 1990 as part of the joint seismic reflection venture DEKORP 1990-3/MVE (Muenchberg-Vogtland-Erzgebirge) between the two former German Republics shortly before their unification. The aim of DEKORP 1990-3/MVE was to explore the structure of the crust from the Rhenish Shield through the Bohemian Massif to the Ore Mountains. The entire profile consists of DEKORP 3A, DEKORP 3B/MVE (West) and its prolongation to the east DEKORP 3B/MVE (East). Its total length amounts to about 600 km. 24 short cross lines and associated 3D blocks with single fold coverage were also recorded. The seismic survey of 3A was conducted to investigate the deep crustal structure of the Hessian Depression with high-fold near-vertical incidence vibroseis acquisition, and thus to connect DEKORP 3B/MVE (West) to oil industry seismic profiles in the Leinegraben area. Details of the experiment, preliminary results and interpretations may be obtained from DEKORP Research Group (A) et al. (1994) and DEKORP Research Group (C) et al. (1994). The Technical Report of line 3A gives complete information about acquisition and processing parameters. The European Variscides, extending from the French Central Massif to the East European Platform, originated during the collision between Gondwana and Baltica in the Late Palaeozoic. Due to involvement of various crustal blocks in the orogenesis, the mountain belt is subdivided into distinct zones. The external fold-and-thrust belts of the Rhenohercynian and Saxothuringian as well as the predominantly crystalline body of the Moldanubian dominate the central European segment of the Variscides. Polyphase tectonic deformation, magmatism and metamorphic processes led to a complex interlinking between the units. The N-S trending DEKORP 3A line aimed at a seismic characterisation of the crust beneath the Permo-Mesozoic to Tertiary Hessian Depression. Running from the Solling Dome in the Rhenohercynian through the Kassel Graben and the late Tertiary volcanic fields of the Reinhardswald and Soehrewald, the 3A line ends in the Northern Phyllite Zone north of the Vogelsberg Volcano, the largest of the Cenozoic volcanoes in Europe (DEKORP Research Group (C) et al., 1994). DEKORP 3A is intersected by six short cross lines along the profile and by DEKORP 3B/MVE (West) at its southern end.