Reviewing pre-TRANSALP DSS models

The interpretation of DSS (deep seismic soundings) profiles in Central and Eastern Alps is recalled in the paper and the models of the lower crust and Moho proposed several years ago are compared to the results of the TRANSALP seismic reflection profile. This evaluation highlights a good agreement as far as the geometry of the deep crustal structure is concerned. Therefore, the reliability of the interpretative models, previously exclusively based on DSS profiles, becomes improved. The deep structure beneath the whole Alpine range is examined reconsidering the map of the Moho boundary and the structural model already proposed for the central-eastern sector. Five main interpretative transects are put side by side, starting from the Western Alps and moving eastwards to the Swiss–Lombardian Central Alps (“European Geotraverse”), to the cross section from southern Bavaria to the Euganei Hills, to the TRANSALP profile, and finally to the easternmost profile available so far (southern Bavaria–Trieste). The comparison outlines lateral variations of the deep crustal structure as well as a sharp contrast between the Adria and the European lower crust and Moho. The transition from the Adria plate to the Dinaric domain remains, up to now, undefined.