Very high electrical conductivity beneath the Munchberg Gneiss area in Southern Germany: Implications for horizontal transport along shear planes

Abstract

New magnetotelluric data from the Munchberg Gneiss complex in Southern Germany reveal a zone of extremely high electrical conductivity. 1-D modelling of the data is justified in the period range 0.01 to 10 s. At least three layers are required to explain the steepness of the apparent resistivity curves, and the best-fitting models comprise four layers with successively higher conductivities. The layers of highest conductivity at depths between 2.2 and 3.6 km correlate with pronounced bands of high seismic reflectivity (profile DEKORP 85-4N). The Munchberg complex is today widely recognized as a tectonic klippe, consisting of rocks whose metamorphic and stratigraphic order is inverted rather than overturned. The material was transported into its present position by predominantly horizontal tectonic forces along shear zones. We interpret the high conductivity and high reflectivity as remnants of this transport process.