No abstract

A map-view palinspastic restoration of tectonic units in the Alps, carpathians and Dinarides reveals the plate tectonic configuration before the onset of Miocene to recent deformations. Estimates of shortening and extension from the entire orogenic system allow for a semi-quantitative restoration of translations and rotations of tectonic units during the last 20 Ma. Our restoration yielded the following results: (1) the balaton Fault and its eastern extension along the northern margin of the Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone align with the Periadriatic Fault, a geometry that allows for the eastward lateral extrusion of the Alpine-carpathian-Pannonian (ALcAPA) Mega-Unit. the Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone accommodated simultaneous strike-perpendicular shortening and strike-slip movements, concomitant with strike-parallel extension. (2) the Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone is also the locus of a former plate boundary transforming opposed subduction polarities between Alps (including Western carpathians) and Dinarides. (3) the ALcAPA Mega-Unit was affected by 290 km extension and fits into an area W of present-day budapest in its restored position, while the tisza-Dacia Mega-Unit was affected by up to 180 km extension during its emplacement into the carpathian embayment. the displacement of the Adriatic Plate indenter led to a change in subduction polarity along a transect through the easternmost Alps and to substantial Neogene shortening in the eastern southern Alps and external Dinarides. While we confirm that slab-pull and rollback of oceanic lithosphere subducted beneath the carpathians triggered back-arc extension in the Pannonian basin and much of the concomitant folding and thrusting in the carpathians, we propose that the rotational displacement of this indenter provided a second important driving force for the severe Neogene modifications of the Alpinecarpathian-Dinaridic orogenic system.

A map-view palinspastic restoration of tectonic units in the Alps, carpathians and Dinarides reveals the plate tectonic configuration before the onset of Miocene to recent deformations. Estimates of shortening and extension from the entire orogenic system allow for a semi-quantitative restoration of translations and rotations of tectonic units during the last 20 Ma. Our restoration yielded the following results: (1) the balaton Fault and its eastern extension along the northern margin of the Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone align with the Periadriatic Fault, a geometry that allows for the eastward lateral extrusion of the Alpine-carpathian-Pannonian (ALcAPA) Mega-Unit. the Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone accommodated simultaneous strike-perpendicular shortening and strike-slip movements, concomitant with strike-parallel extension. (2) the Mid-Hungarian Fault Zone is also the locus of a former plate boundary transforming opposed subduction polarities between Alps (including Western carpathians) and Dinarides. (3) the ALcAPA Mega-Unit was affected by 290 km extension and fits into an area W of present-day budapest in its restored position, while the tisza-Dacia Mega-Unit was affected by up to 180 km extension during its emplacement into the carpathian embayment. the displacement of the Adriatic Plate indenter led to a change in subduction polarity along a transect through the easternmost Alps and to substantial Neogene shortening in the eastern southern Alps and external Dinarides. While we confirm that slab-pull and rollback of oceanic lithosphere subducted beneath the carpathians triggered back-arc extension in the Pannonian basin and much of the concomitant folding and thrusting in the carpathians, we propose that the rotational displacement of this indenter provided a second important driving force for the severe Neogene modifications of the Alpinecarpathian-Dinaridic orogenic system.