Towards resolving Cretaceous to Miocene kinematics of the Adria-Europe contact zone in reconstructions: Inferences from a structural study in a critical Dinarides area

One key element in the current debate analysing the Central Mediterranean evolution is the Cretaceous structure and kinematics of the present-day oroclinal bent contact between Adria- and Europe-derived continental units in the Dinarides, interpreted in different tectonic reconstructions as a subduction-related thrust system or a large-scale strike-slip fault zone. We provide a solution to the debate by a structural and kinematic study in a key area located in central Serbia along the Europe-Adria orogenic suture of the Sava Zone. The results demonstrate that large-scale, top-SW, in- to out-of-sequence thrusting is the dominant mechanism that deformed the observed accretionary wedge-trench sediments during the Late Cretaceous subduction of the Neotethys Ocean and the ensuing Adria-Europe collision. The subsequent Oligocene-Miocene extension of the Pannonian Basin was associated with opposite-sense rotations of different Sava Zone segments, which created the observed similar to 80 degrees oroclinal bending.

Automated summary

One key element in the current debate analyzing the Central Mediterranean evolution is the Cretaceous structure and kinematics of the oroclinal bent contact between Adria- and Europe-derived continental units in the Dinarides. Our study provides a solution to this debate by analyzing the structural and kinematic history in a key area of central Serbia. The results show that large-scale thrusting deformed the accretionary wedge-trench sediments during the Late Cretaceous subduction of the Neotethys Ocean and the subsequent Adria-Europe collision.