The burial and thermal history of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic strata in the Muensterland and Ruhr basin and the northern part of the Rhenish Massif east of the river Rhine was reconstructed applying 1D- and new 2D-forward modelling. The basin evolution model was calibrated using vitrinite reflectance and fluid inclusion data, and results of apatite fission track analysis and Rock-Eval pyrolysis. The 1D-simulation of more than 40 wells and pseudo-wells from the study area led to an understanding of the basin evolution. A 2D-simulation was performed for the northern, 90 kilometre long part of the seismic line DEKORP 2-N which crosses the eastern part of the Muensterland and Ruhr basin and the northern part of the Rhenish Massif east of the river Rhine. (orig./RHM)Available from FIZ Karlsruhe / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman