Molasse Basin

The Molasse basin is a foreland basin north of the Alps, that formed during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs. The basin formed due to the flexure of the European plate under the weight of the orogenic wedge of the Alps that was forming to the south.

In geology, the name "molasse basin" is sometimes also used in a general sense for a synorogenic (formed contemporaneously with the orogen) forelandbasin of the type north of the Alps. The basin is the type locality of molasse, a sedimentary sequence of conglomerates and sandstones, material that was removed from the developing mountain chain by erosion and denudation, that is typical for foreland basins.