Abstract: Tectonic Model of the Mediterranean Terranes

GOLONKA, JAN and LISA GAHAGAN

The model describes the relative motions between 37 plates and terranes since Late Carboniferous time. This model was constructed using PLATES software which integrates computer graphics and data management technology with a highly structured and quantitative description of tectonic relationships. The paleomagnetic data from the Western Mediterranean, Adria (Italy and Adriatic Sea), Calcareous Alps, Carpathians, Albania, Greece, and Turkey were combined with the geological and geophysical records.

The main phases of rifting were distinguished: Late Carboniferous, Triassic, Early Jurassic, Late Jurassic, Mid-Cretaceous, Oligocene and Neogene. The rifting was caused by major Pangea break-up as well as by trench-pulling plate tectonics along the northern and southern margins of Tethys. The rifting events provided the basis for the development of favorable conditions for the deposition of organic-rich rocks, especially in Toarcian, Kimmeridgian-Berriasian, Albian, Cenomanian-Turonian, Oligocene and Miocene times.

The collisional events during Late Triassic (Indosinian or Early Cimmerian event), Middle and Late Jurassic (Late Cimmerian) occurred mainly along the northern Eurasian margin of Tethys. The events were recorded in the Carpathians, Pannonian Basin area, Serbo-Macedonian area, and northern margin of Black Sea. The collisional events during mid-Cretaceous, Late Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene (several Alpine phases) effected the entire circum-Mediterranean area. The extremely complex tectonics are the results of Africa and Eurasia convergence, as well as local plate interactions. The dynamic of the plate motions has provided the setting for deposition of organic-rich rocks as well as the conditions for their preservation or destruction.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90942©1997 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria