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Crustal isovelocity lines are constructed along the European Geotraverse for the seismic velocities 6.0, 6.4, 7.1 and 7.8 km/s. Using this velocity structure and a correlation between heat generation and seismic velocity for crustal rocks, the contribution of the crust to the surface heat flow density value is calculated. The heat flow density at the Moho varies from 5 to 40 mW/m 2from Paleo-Europe in the north to Neo-Europe in the south, while the mantle heat flow density is close to zero beneath the Alps; the temperatures calculated for the Moho are 260°–390°C for Paleo- to Meso-Europe, 420°–520°C for Neo-Europe and 700°C for the mountain-root beneath the Alps.

The Antarctic Peninsula has a remarkable record of active margin processes, which include subduction with progressive ridge-trench collisions, margin segmentation by major fracture zones, rifting in a hybrid back-arc and sheared plate margin context, fore-arc basin development and glacial-marine controlled trench fill processes.

The creep properties of the asthenosphere and the lithosphere are considered important parameters in controlling vertical and horizontal movements. The boundary between lithosphere and asthenosphere is not well defined, whereas a relatively abrupt chemical boundary like the Mohorovićić-discontinuity (= Moho) can be well traced by seismic methods. In the Fennoscandian area weak reflected waves P mP but strong “head”-waves P nwere detected in contrast to the observations within the Rhenish shield where strong P mP and sometimes intracrustal reflections, but only very weak P n-waves are observed. In general, high temperatures in quartz-bearing rocks result in a low-velocity lower crust. A low velocity should increase the reflection coefficient at the Moho considerably — producing strong P mP-waves. A high temperature also produces a negative velocity gradient below the Moho, leading to weak or missing P n-waves, as observed in the Rhenish shield.

A grid of deep seismic reflection profiles recorded in the Oberpfalz, West Germany for DEKORP and the West German Deep Drilling Project (KTB) provides an opportunity to study the three-dimensional structure of a small part of the Variscan fold belt. The grid straddles the Erbendorf Line (the surface expression of the suture between the Moldanubian and the Saxuthuringian zones of the Variscides), and the edge of the Bohemian Massif, marked by the Franconian Line. The principal features that can be recognised on the data are a series of gently SE-dipping reflections that may be thrusts, one of which seems to correspond to a high-velocity zone that is one of the specific targets of the deep borehole. This thrust has been traced as a characteristic reflection and mapped out over five of the profiles, including the intersection that is the proposed drill site. It appears to be disrupted by steep NW-SE trending faults that are interpreted as dextral strike-slip faults, expressed, in effect, as positive and negative flower structures. The pattern of transpression and transtension shown by these flowers is consistent with dextral shear parallel to the Bayerischer Pfahl, a dextral shear zone more than 150 km long.