The data on the Neogene geodynamics, palaeogeography, and basin evolution of the Western Carpathians, Northern Pannonian domain and adjoining areas (ALCAPA Mega-unit) are summarized, re-evaluated, ...supplemented, and newly interpreted. The proposed concept is illustrated by a series of palinspastic and palaeotopographic maps. The Miocene development of the Outer Carpathians reflects the vanishing subduction of the residual oceanic and/or thinned continental crust. A compression perpendicular to the front of the orogenic system led to the closing of residual flysch troughs and to accretionary wedge growth, as well as to the development of a foredeep on the margin of the European Platform. Docking of the Outer Western Carpathians accretionary wedge, together with the Central Western Carpathians and Northern Pannonian domain, was accompanied by stretching of the overriding microplate. An orogen parallel and perpendicular extension was associated with the opening and subsidence of the Early and Middle Miocene hinterland (back-arc) basin system that compensated counter-clockwise rotations of the individual crustal fragments of ALCAPA. The Late Miocene development relates to the opening of the Pannonian Basin System. This process was coupled with common stretching of both ALCAPA and Tisza-Dacia Mega-units due to the pull exerted by subduction rollback in front of the Eastern Carpathians. The filling up of the hinterland basin system was associated with thermal subsidence and was followed by the Pliocene tectonic inversion and consequent erosion of the basin system margins, as well as part of the interior.
•Re-evaluation of geological and palaeomagnetic data from the Western Carpathians•New model of Neogene evolution, palaeogeography, and geodynamic development•Definition of fore-axis and back-axis basin systems and their evolution•Stretching of overriding plate compensated by basin opening linked to rotation•Compilation of palinspastic–palaeogeographic and DEM palaeotopographic maps
We studied the southern part of the NW-SE trending Sudetic Marginal fault (SMF), situated at the northeastern limit of the Bohemian Massif in central Europe, to assess its Quaternary activity. ...Eighteen trenches and thirty-four electric resistivity profiles were performed at Bílá Voda to study the fault zone and 3-dimensional distribution of a beheaded alluvial fan on the NE side of the fault. We interpret a small drainage, located about 29–45 m to the SE of the fan apex, as the only plausible source channel implying a similar amount of left-lateral offset. The alluvial fan deposits' radiometric ages range between about 24 and 63 ka, but postglacial deposits younger than 11 ka are not displaced, indicating that all motion occurred in the late Pleistocene. The site lies ∼150 km south of the late Pleistocene Weichselian maximum (∼20 ka) ice sheet front. We model the effects of the ice load on lithospheric flexure and resolved fault stresses, and show that slip on the SMF was promoted by the presence of the ice sheet, resulting in a late Pleistocene slip rate of ∼1.1+2.3/−0.6 mm/yr. As the most favorable time for glacial loading-induced slip would be during the glacial maximum between about 24 and 12 ka, it is doubtful that the slip rate remained constant during the entire period of activity, and if most slip occurred during this period, the short-term rate may have been even higher. Considering that the modern maximum principal stress (σ1) is oriented nearly parallel to the Sudetic Marginal fault (NNW-SSE) and is thus unfavorable for fault motion, our observations suggest that the likelihood of continued motion and earthquake production is much lower in the absence of an ice sheet.
•Intraplate Sudetic Marginal fault offsets Late Pleistocene alluvial fan.•Paleoseismic, geomorphic, geophysical and dating survey revealed left-lateral fault slip.•Faulting accelerated during Late Glacial Maximum with probably no slip in Holocene.•Ice-loading modeling shows Coulomb stress increase promoting left lateral slip.
Caves are unique sedimentary archives that may record the evolution of the surrounding landscape. In this study, we applied combination of mineralogical data on allochthonous sediments with digital ...modelling of isobase surfaces to reconstruct the multi‐phased geomorphological development of the karst of the Harmanecká dolina Valley. The allochthonous cave sediments contain quartz and translucent heavy minerals (HMs) such as tourmaline, garnet, rutile, apatite, zircon, pyroxene, amphibole, staurolite, spinel, monazite, corundum, epidote, xenotime and florencite. Rounded shape and surface microtextures preserved on quartz and most HM grains point to predominantly a fluvial transport of detritus and its multiple recycling history. Pyroxene and amphibole are exceptions that denoted a very close source and the first‐cycle sedimentation from the adjacent volcanic Kremnické vrchy Mts. corresponding to obtained SHRIMP U–Pb detrital zircon ages of ~13.8–12.8 Ma. Heavy‐mineral geochemistry (e.g., zoned grossular‐rich garnet) and wide range of the Palaeozoic ages (Ordovician to Permian) confirms that the studied detritus sourced dominantly in the Western‐Carpathian crystalline basement rocks of the Veporic/Tatric tectonic units initially distributed by the palaeo‐Hron River and its tributaries from the east. Rare cummingtonite, remarkable tourmaline with omphacite inclusions and florencite point to the mixture of recycled sediments of Neogene Danube Basin formations containing also Austroalpine pre‐Neogene basement detritus, and confirm the original widespread distribution of the Neogene sediments currently eroded. Geomorphometric analyses of a LiDAR digital terrain model and derived isobase surface elevation models indicate the topographic development of wider area and support the findings about the transport direction of detritus. Presented multi‐method approach is suitable not only for the understanding of development of the surroundings of Harmanecká dolina Valley but also for the palaeogeographic and geomorphological reconstructions of similar karst and non‐karst areas.
Combination of traditional geological methods and geospatial data analysis is very useful for reconstruction of the palaeogeographic development of various areas, especially during the younger geological periods. While characteristics of the allochthonous cave sediments indicate polyphase input of detritus to the Harmanecká jaskyňa Cave from two independent sources and different directions, isobase surface analysis confirmed their supply from the south and east and provided the evidence for an existence of planation phases during the Harmanec karst development.
The depositional record of intermontane basins provides a valuable archive of the temporal evolution of orogenic belts; their common isolated nature may, however, hinder the efficient usage of ...standard approaches to constrain the age of a basin fill. In this paper the authigenic 10Be/9Be dating method is employed and tested to construct an age model of the existence and regression of Lake Turiec, which appeared during the Late Miocene in the intermontane Turiec Basin, Central Western Carpathians (Central Europe). The initial authigenic 10Be/9Be ratio, essential for the dating method, was analyzed on five sites of the Pleistocene-Holocene age, and back-calculation of the paleo-initial ratio was performed using lacustrine succession dated by magnetostratigraphy. Noteworthy, the initial ratio appears to be affected mainly by (post)depositional settings, and not by different provenance of the analyzed sediment. The sedimentological analysis of the Upper Miocene outcrops allowed the definition of the facies associations of an alluvial fan, a braided river, a fan delta and an open lake. The distribution of facies associations in the basin fill implies an increase in sediment supply to accommodation rate ratio due to the replacement of the open lake environment by the interconnected alluvial fan-braided river-fan delta system. Authigenic 10Be/9Be dating yielded ages of the lacustrine succession reaching ∼10.7–7.8 Ma, while the age of the fan delta succession, considered as the timing of the regression, was established to ∼6.7 Ma. The deposition of alluvial fans dominated the basin after the regression of the lake, possibly up to ∼4.0 Ma. The abrupt increase in sediment supply to the accommodation ratio at ∼6.7 Ma was caused by the uplift of the Malá Fatra Mts. at the western margin of the Turiec Basin, which had previously formed a moderate topography. The timing of this process generally coincides with the overall decrease in accommodation rates in the region due to the inversion of the Pannonian Basin System. The endorheic character of the basin before ∼6.7 Ma prevented the transport of the sediment denudated from the recently most uplifted parts of the Western Carpathians and carried towards the Pannonian Basin System, while the present-day source-to-sink system could only be formed later. This implies a low sediment supply and restricted denudation rate not only from the morphostructures surrounding the basin, but also from the Tatra Mts. and Nízke Tatry Mts. during the period ∼10.7–6.7 Ma. The research supports the suitability of intermontane basins for authigenic 10Be/9Be dating in a setting of high accommodation rates and limited redeposition of older muddy sediment. However, a special attention has to be paid to the depositional settings during determination of initial 10Be/9Be ratios.
•Authigenic 10Be/9Be dating resolve history of a long-lived isolated late Miocene lake.•Initial 10Be/9Be affected by (post-)depositional settings, effect of provenance unnoticed.•Lake Turiec existed between ∼10.7–6.7 Ma, then filled by a fan delta-braided river-alluvial fan depositional system.•Regression due to increased sediment supply from mountains uplifting after ∼7 Ma.•Termination of endorheic character and establishment of the Váh River catchment followed.
Tectono-thermal evolution of the northern part of Central Western Carpathians (Slovakia) was revealed by zircon and apatite fission track thermochronology of Neogene deposits, volcanic rocks, and ...crystalline basement. New fission track ages combined with previous geochronological data are correlated with main tectonic events and important palaeogeographic changes. (1) The palaeo-Alpine burial to more than 10km depths, heating (>320°C) and low-grade metamorphism of the crystalline basement was caused by crustal thickening due to nappe stacking driven by the collisional processes (~90–75Ma). (2) Extensional collapse and exhumation of basement complexes during the Late Cretaceous to Middle Eocene (~75–40Ma). (3) The extension process resulted in a new sedimentary cycle of the Central Carpathian Palaeogene Basin (~40–25Ma) in the northern part of the Central Western Carpathians. During the ensuing burial under the thick sedimentary cover, the crystalline basement of the northern zone resided at ‘hotter’ conditions (ca. >120°C and <200°C) which led to full annealing of apatite single-grain ages. In the meanwhile the southern zone of the crystalline basement was gradually exhumed to the depth of 5–3km and occasionally appeared at the erosion surface. (4) Disintegration of the Central Carpathian Palaeogene Basin (~25–20Ma) was closely connected with a partial exhumation of the Central Western Carpathians and intensive denudation. (5) The Middle to Late Miocene (~20–9Ma) subduction of the Outer Carpathians substratum had crucial consequences for the tectonic evolution of the hinterland that was located in the upper crustal plate. The most external zone of the hinterland basement domain (Lúčanská and Krivánska Fatra Mts.) was exhumed to the 5–3km depth and the intramontane basins were opened. (6) New fission track data and geomorphological criteria refer to the Pliocene–Quaternary mountain building processes in the external zones of the Central Western Carpathians.
•Thermal evolution of source-sink system was studied by FT analysis.•Six tectono-thermal phases were determined by FT dating and geological constraints.•Cenozoic intramontane basin originated due to post-Cretaceous orogenic collapse.•Northward migration of the mountains exhumation process was documented.•Time-temperature evolution of study area was inferred from FT and geological data.
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