Associated Project

University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mining and Geology

Title project: Miocene - Pliocene evolution of the Pannonian basin in relationship to the gateway evolution of the South Carpathians

Investigators: dr. Marinko Toljić, prof. Milun Marović, prof. Slobodan Knežević, prof. Ljupko Rundić, prof. Vladica Cvetković

Description: Brief description (details available by contacting dr. Marinko Toljić)

Problem statement: The contact between the Pannonian basin and the Dinarides in Serbia is juxtaposed over a complex orogenic system which resulted from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic obliteration of the Tethyan domain, processes which mostly ceased during the Oligocene - Early Miocene times (e.g., Marović et al., 2007). These processes were associated with complex mechanisms of obduction/subduction of various oceanic and continental domains (e.g., Dimitriević, 1999; Karamata, 2006; Schmid et al., 2008), while their inheritance of at (sub-)lithosphereic levels was long-lasting (e.g., Cvetković et al., 2007). This orogenic period was followed by a Neogene - Quaternary period of orogenic collapse, extensional basin formation and subsequent basin inversion formed in response to subduction/collision processes which took place elsewhere, such as the Pannonian/Carpathians and Aegen back-arc collapse or the Adria/Dinaridic indentation (e.g., Horvath and Cloetingh, 1996; Marovic et al., 2002; Pinter et al., 2005; Brun and Sokoutis, 2007; Marovic et al., 2007).

(up) Fruska Gora portion of the Geological map, scale 1:100.000, sheet Novy Sad (Ciculic-Trifunovic, M. and Rakic, M.O., 1976, Geological Institute, Belgrade, Serbia) - note the tilted Miocene strata on the northern flank of the Fruska Gora mountains. (left) - Neoalpine Tectonic Map of Serbia (Marović, M., Toljić, M., Rundić, L. and Milivojević, J., 2007) - Note the prolongation of the extensional system of the "peri-Pannonian" domain southwards over the Dinaridic system.

Aims and objectives: The aim of this project is to analyse the Neogene sedimentary evolution of the Serbian part of the Pannonian basin, in particular to derive the response of base-level in terms of vertical movements. This would enable the quantification of different types of connectivities between the Pannonian and Dacic basin influencing budgets/pathways of sedimentary fluxes including mechanisms of depocenters shifts across basins and their impact on the evolution of geomorphic landforms, in particular during and after orogenic shortening. Relevant in this respect are proper quantification of biostratigraphic facies in relationship with the evolution of sedimentary fill (e.g., Rundic and Mitrovic, 1998) and definition of system tracts resulting from tectonic-driven vertical movements (e.g., Răbăgia and Matenco, 1999), in particular during basin-connectivity moments, such as forced overspill during period of major low-stand (see also Meijer and Krijgsman, 2005).

Faulted/tilted contact Middle Miocene limestones and Quaternary alluvial	Middle Miocene growth fault strata

Deliverables and/or milestones:

• correlation of late Miocene - Pliocene sequences from Pannonian to Dacic basin;
• definition of system-tracts and the impact of climate, tectonics and eustasy in the endemic enclosed system of the Central Paratethys;
• the relationship between vertical movements and tectonics in the build-up of the South Carpathians gateway.

References:

• Brun, J.-P. and Sokoutis, D., 2007. Kinematics of the Southern Rhodope Core Complex (North Greece). International Journal of Earth Sciences, 96(6): 1079-1099.
• Cvetkovic, V., Downes, H., Prelevic, D., Lazarov, M. and Resimic-Saric, K., 2007. Geodynamic significance of ultramafic xenoliths from Eastern Serbia: Relics of sub-arc oceanic mantle? Journal of Geodynamics, 43: 504-527.
• Dimitriević, M.D., 1999. Geology of Yugoslavia, Barex, Belgrade, Serbia, 187pp.
• Horváth, F. and Cloetingh, S., 1996. Stress-induced late-stage subsidence anomalies in the Pannonian basin. Tectonophysics, 266: 287-300.
• Karamata, S., 2006. The geological development of the Balkan Peninsula related to the approach, collision and compression of Gondwanan and Eurasian units. In: A.H.F. Robertson and D. Mountrakis (Editors), Tectonic Development of the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, pp. 155-178.
  
• Marović, M., Toljić, M., Rundić, L. and Milivojević, J., 2007. Neoalpine tectonics of Serbia, Hadar int, Ltd., Belgrade, Serbia, 87pp, 1 map.
• Marović, M., Djoković, I., Pesić, L., Radovanović, S., Toljić, M., Gerzina, N., 2002.Neotectonics and seismicity of the southern margin of the Pannonian basin in Serbia, In: S. Cloetingh, F. Horvath, G. Bada and A. Lankreijer (Editors), Neotectonics and surface processes: the Pannonian Basin and Alpine/Carpathian System. EGU Special Publication no. 3, pp. 105-120.
• Meijer, P.Th. and Krijgsman, W. (2005). A quantitative analysis of the desiccation and re-filling of the Mediterranean during the Messinian Salinity Crisis, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 240, 510-520.
• Pinter, N., Grenerczy, G., Weber, J., Stein, S. and Medak, D., 2005. The Adria Microplate: GPS Geodesy, Tectonics and Hazards (Nato Science Series: IV: Earth and Environmental Sciences). Springer, 413 pp.
• Răbăgia, T. and Matenco, L., 1999. Tertiary tectonic and sedimentological evolution of the South Carpathians foredeep: tectonic versus eustatic control. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 16/7: 719-740.
• Rundić, Lj., Mitrović, S., 1998. Sedimentation breaks in Upper Miocene in some boreholes of the Kolubara basin, northwestern Serbia, Rom. J. Stratigraphy, 78, 165-169.
• Schmid, S., Bernoulli, D., Fügenschuh, B., Matenco, L., Schefer, S., Schuster, R., Tischler, M. and Ustaszewski, K., 2008. The Alpine-Carpathian-Dinaridic orogenic system: correlation and evolution of tectonic units. Swiss Journal of Geosciences, 101: 139-183.