[1] The Alps are considered as a classical example for an orogen created by continental plate collision. In this study we present new images obtained from deep seismic reflection profiling in the Eastern Alps between Munich and Venice which give rise to examine and revise existing concepts. The seismic sections exhibit a prominent bi-verging reflection pattern at crustal scale. A major ramp-like structure, outcropping at the Inn-Valley fault, can be traced southward over 80 km into the mountain root where relics of the subducted Penninic ocean are expected. New models of the evolution of the Eastern Alps show an upper/lower crustal decoupling along transcrustal thrust faults with opposite thrust directions of both the European and the Adriatic-African continents.

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In addition to the near normal-incidence observations within the German DEKORP 2 project in 1984, wide-angle observations have been carried out on a parallel profile across the boundary between the Saxothuringian and Moldanubian crust, approximately 50 km NE of the main transect to control three-dimensional variations. Explosion sources have been used for the entire survey, providing excellent conditions for wide-angle registrations. A velocity model has been derived on the basis of inand off-line refraction measurements using a kinematic raytracer which was extended to three dimensions by interpolation of 2-D velocity fields between parallel sections. Although prestack-migration of the data led to aliasing effects due to large shot and geophone spacing, stable results were obtained by forming envelopes after single-shot migration. The migrated sections reveal a strongly reflective Moho at about 31 km depth and a steeply (50°) dipping intracrustal reflector, which seems to be related to the border between the two Variscan units.