TheGermanic Basin (German:Germanisches Becken) is a large region ofsedimentation inWestern andCentral Europe that, during thePermian andTriassic periods, extended fromEngland in the west to the eastern border ofPoland in the east.
To the south it is bounded by theVindelician Ridge (Vindelizische Schwelle) and, to the west and northwest, by theArmorican andLondon-Brabant Massifs. To the north the basin is bordered by the highlands ofIreland andScotland, which were then still connected to the North American continent. To the east the basin was defined by theEast European Platform, to the northeast by theFennoscandinavian Shield (Scandinavia and Finland). The sedimentation began in theRotliegendes with continental depositions. Later, during theZechstein andMuschelkalk the region was largely flooded by the sea.Bunter sandstone andKeuper are again largely of continental origin. But even in these rocks the perimeter regions have marine influences, short incursions of the sea also reached the centre of the basin in northern Germany.
During the Zechstein the sea ingressed from theArctic Ocean to the north into the basin. This gateway closed during the Uppermost Permian. In the Triassic these marine incursions came through several "portals" in the south of the basin e.g. theEast Carpathian Gate (East Poland), theSilesian Gate (West Poland) and theBurgundian Gate (France). During theRhaetian stage, new inlets formed in the northwest of the basin through the former highlands in Ireland and Scotland, which came from theAtlantic Ocean which was now opening up.