The diversity of morphological features of Mesozoic inversion structures in NW Germany as representatives of inversion structures in northern Europe is presented and their origin analysed and geologically dated. The particular role of salt in inverted basins and the re-shaping of pre-existing salt structures during the inversion act is demonstrated and the term ‘salt wedge’, a Zechstein salt intrusion into salt layers within the Triassic sedimentary pile, introduced. The leading theories on inversion (continent-continent collision, re-activation Variscan features) are discussed and discarded, but no new comprehensive theory was developed. The impact of inversion on HC prospectivity of sedimentary basins is debated and proposals for future interdisciplinary research are made.
