The Mainz Basin () 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 Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...
marine basin 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. . (, ) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is ...
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 Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
period connected the then
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
(part of the gradually widening North Atlantic during the Palaeogene) with the
Paratethys Sea
The Paratethys sea, Paratethys ocean, Paratethys realm or just Paratethys (meaning "beside Tethys"), was a large shallow inland sea that covered much of mainland Europe and parts of western Asia during the middle to late Cenozoic, from the lat ...
(part of the shrinking
Tethys Ocean
The Tethys Ocean ( ; ), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean during much of the Mesozoic Era and early-mid Cenozoic Era. It was the predecessor to the modern Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Eurasia ...
).
See also
*
Mainz Sand Dunes The Mainz Sand Dunes () 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, such as the Purple Gol ...
*
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 ...
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
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