Prof. Dr. Jonas Kley


Research interests

I have a strong interest in the deformation of sedimentary basins and the structures forming there, including salt pillows and diapirs. I started in foreland fold-and-thrust belts trying to answer questions such as: How much shortening have they accommodated? How does that relate to different structural styles, and what controls the evolution of those styles? The last question soon led me to look at rifting and reactivation (inversion), and widened my interest from orogenic forelands to include the deformation of continental interiors. As of now I have worked a lot in the Central Andes of Bolivia and northern Argentina, but also in Germany and in the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains of Central Asia. A recently added region of interest is North America´s Mid-Continent Rift.




my ResearchGate profile      my Google Scholar profile



A selection of recent publications

von Eynatten, H., Kley, J., Dunkl, I., Hoffmann, V. E., & Simon, A. (2021). Late Cretaceous to Paleogene exhumation in Central Europe - localized inversion vs. large-scale domal uplift. Solid Earth 12, 4, 935-958. online article


Bolz, J., & Kley, J. (2021). Emplacement of exotic Zechstein slivers along the inverted Sontra Graben (northern Hessen, Germany): clues from balanced cross-sections and geometrical forward modelling. Solid Earth 12, 4, 1005-1024. online article


Eizenhöfer, P., Glotzbach, C., Büttner, L., Kley, J., Ehlers, T. (2021): Turning the Orogenic Switch: Slab-Reversal in the Eastern Alps Recorded by Low-Temperature Thermochronology. Geophysical Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092121 online article


Malz, A., Madritsch, H., Jordan, P., Meier, B., Kley, J. (2019). Along-strike variation of thin-skinned thrusting style controlled by pre-existing basement structure in the easternmost Jura Mountains (Northern Switzerland). In: Hammerstein, J. A., di Cuia, R., Cottam, M. A., Zamora, G. & Butler, R. W. H. (eds) Fold and Thrust Belts: Structural Style, Evolution and Exploration. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 490, doi: https://doi.org/10.1144/SP490-2019-090


Warsitzka, M., Jähne-Klingberg, F., Kley, J., Kukowski, N. (2018). The timing of salt structure growth in the Southern Permian Basin (Central Europe) and implications for basin dynamics. Basin Research, doi: 10.1111/bre.12323.


Stein, S., Stein, C. A., Elling, R., Kley, J., Keller, G. R., Wysession, M., … Moucha, R. (2018). Insights from North America’s failed Midcontinent Rift into the evolution of continental rifts and passive continental margins. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2018.07.021.


Kley, J. (2018): Hans Stille in Göttingen. Global Tectonics and Metallogeny, 10 (2-4), 61-65.



For a full list, please see "Publications"