Observation scheme for recent micromovements in the northern part of the Upper Rhine Graben (Germany) and its integration into EU tectonic 3D micrommovement monitoring network

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The Upper Rhine Graben in Germany is a still subsiding tectonic unit with an active sinistral strike slip component. It is also a densely populated area with high hazard of earthquake and intense construction activities. In recent years its geothermal energy attracted numerous drilling activities (and in December 2006 man-made earthquakes in the southern Rhine Graben). High precision measurements on dividing planes like faults and joints can help to decipher micro-movements and the mechanisms by 3D monitoring of active tectonic structures. Outcrops to install such devices are rare. So it has been an opportunity to install a measuring station for the 3D monitoring of micromovements when in the city of Darmstadt the eastern master fault has been exposed recently. Embedded in an already existing system of long term monitoring in Europe working successfully for more than 25 years (cf. Tacheva & Košťák 1986, Stemberk et al. 2006) the Rhine Graben allows the comparison of tectonically active regions with more stable parts of the European crust like Bohemia where a measuring program by the Czech Academy of Sciences is proposed simultaneously. Additionally, existing precise levelling data for Darmstadt and surrounding areas will be evaluated to set the measurement of tectonic micromovement into a broad geodynamic context.