The Mainz Basin (german: Mainzer Becken) or Rhine-Main Basin
[Elkins, T H (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972, p. 218. .] is the name given to a
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...
marine basin
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
...
that covered the area of the present-day region of
Rhenish Hesse
Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...
in Germany about 38 to 12 million years ago (38 - 12
mya). The Mainz Basin was a bay or sea inlet, that for a short time in the
Palaeogene
The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...
period connected the then
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
(part of the gradually widening North Atlantic during the Palaeogene) with the
Paratethys Sea
The Paratethys sea, Paratethys ocean, Paratethys realm or just Paratethys was a large shallow inland sea that stretched from the region north of the Alps over Central Europe to the Aral Sea in Central Asia.
Paratethys was peculiar due to its pal ...
(part of the shrinking
Tethys Ocean
The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean that covered most of the Earth during much of the Mesozoic Era and early Cenozoic Era, located between the ancient continents ...
).
See also
*
Mainz Sand Dunes The Mainz Sand Dunes (german: Großer Sand) are a small geological and botanical supra-region and important nature preserve in Mainz, Germany. Within this protected area rare plants and animals can be found. Some of the species represented here, suc ...
*
Paris Basin
The Paris Basin is one of the major geological regions of France. It developed since the Triassic over remnant uplands of the Variscan orogeny (Hercynian orogeny). The sedimentary basin, no longer a single drainage basin, is a large sag in the cr ...
Notes
References
*Falke: ''Geologischer Führer von Rheinhessen.'' 1960
*Klaus Hang: ''Das Rheinhessische Hügelland für Naturfreunde.'' In: Kosmos 1974
*E. Probst: ''Deutschland in der Urzeit.'' München, 1986
*D. Vogellehner: ''Paläontologie.'' Freiburg, 1987
Drainage basins of Germany
Geology of Germany
Regions of Rhineland-Palatinate
{{RhinelandPalatinate-geo-stub