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Paleomagnetic and paleogeographic data from 38 sites in the Austrian Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) indicate that the sites rotated around one another during thrusting. NCA was found to have rotated an average of 30 degrees relative to Europe. Analysis of facies of basinal sediments from the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous indicate that NCA did not rotate relative to the Southern Alps. However, results reveal the brief existence of oceanic crust between the Northern and the Southern Alps from the Triassic to the Jurassic periods.

The Northern Calcareous Alps are generally thought to have been part of the same southern Tethyan continental margin as the southern Alps during Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous time. Contrasting Liassic paleomagnetic data from the Northern Calcareous Alps and the southern Alps can be explained by large-scale clockwise rotation during Late Cretaceous and Tertiary tectonic emplacement of the Northern Calcareous Alps onto the European continental margin. Alternatively, the data can be reconciled by postulating that the Northern Calcareous Alps did not undergo the African Mesozoic rotational history seen in southern Alps and were separated from the southern Alps by a short-lived branch of Jurassic ocean. Facies analysis in the Karwendel-Thiersee syncline of the Northern Calcareous Alps indicates that the Jurassic basin sediments in this area were deposited in an east-west-oriented sinistral strike-slip fault system. In the southern Alps and central Austroalpine complex, coeval basin sedimentation was controlled by north-south-oriented normal faults. This contrasting basin evolution and evidence for a source of ophiolitic detritus south of the Northern Calcareous Alps argue for a short-lived ocean basin south of the Northern Calcareous Alps that was closed by Early Cretaceous time.

Cross laminated timber (CLT) and self-tapping screws have strongly dominated the latest developments in timber engineering. Although knowledge of connection techniques in traditional light-frame structures can be applied to solid timber constructions with CLT, there are some product specifics requiring additional attention; for example in positioning of fasteners, differentiation in the side face and narrow face of the panels and the influence of potential gaps. The load-displacement behaviour of single, axially-loaded self-tapping screws positioned in the narrow face of CLT and failing in withdrawal was investigated. For the first time a multivariate probabilistic model was formulated together with models relating the parameters with the thread-fibre angle and the density. Different types and widths of gaps, initial slip and / or delayed stiffening as well as softening after exceeding of the maximum load can be considered. Beyond the scope of this contribution, the probabilistic model is seen as a worthwhile basis for investigations into the withdrawal behaviour of primary axially loaded, compact groups of screws positioned in timber products and subjected to withdrawal failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]