Cenozoic-Recent tectonics and uplift in the Greater Caucasus: a perspective from Azerbaijan

Abstract

The Greater Caucasus is Europe's highest mountain belt and results from the inversion of the Greater Caucasus back-arc-type basin due to the collision of Arabia and Eurasia. The orogenic processes that led to the present mountain chain started in the Early Cenozoic, accelerated during the Plio-Pleistocene, and are still active as shown from present GPS studies and earthquake distribution. The Greater Caucasus is a doubly verging fold-and-thrust belt, with a pro-and a retro wedge actively propagating into the foreland sedimentary basin of the Kura to the south and the Terek to the north, respectively. Based on tectonic geomorphology -active and abandoned thrust fronts -the mountain range can be subdivided into several zones with different uplift amounts and rates with very heterogeneous strain partitioning. The central part of the mountain range -defined by the Main Caucasus Thrust to the south and backthrusts to the north -forms a triangular-shape zone showing the highest uplift and fastest rates, and is due to thrusting over a steep tectonic ramp system at depth. The meridional orogenic in front of the Greater Caucasus in Azerbaijan lies at the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus, to the south of the Kura foreland basin.

Decoupling of modern shortening rates, climate, and topography in the Caucasus

“…2b) and are largely a two-sided orogenic wedge (Forte et al, 2014;Mosar et al, 2010) characterized by well-defined foreland fold-thrust belts ( Fig. 1, Mosar et al, 2010) and are underlain by a north dipping subducted slab extending to at least 160 km depth (Mumladze et al, 2015). Thermochronometric data suggest more rapid uplift of ∼1 mm/y in the center of the range, with slower rates of exhumation as low as 0.1 mm/y along the tips (Avdeev, 2011;Avdeev and Niemi, 2011;Král and Gurbanov, 1996;Vincent et al, 2011).…”

“…In contrast, east of 45 • E the GC lack exposure of basement (Fig. 2b) and are largely a two-sided orogenic wedge (Forte et al, 2014;Mosar et al, 2010) characterized by well-defined foreland fold-thrust belts ( Fig. 1, Mosar et al, 2010) and are underlain by a north dipping subducted slab extending to at least 160 km depth (Mumladze et al, 2015).…”

“…1, Allen et al, 2004). The majority of active shortening structures within the GC are along the margins of the range and within the forelands but the interior of the GC is still experiencing active uplift (Avdeev and Niemi, 2011;Forte et al, 2014;Mosar et al, 2010).…”

Sedimentary basin tectonics from the Black Sea and Caucasus to the Arabian Platform: introduction

“…Tomographical studies indicate that the depth to Moho beneath East Anatolia and the Bitlis region is deeper than the Arabian plate, possibly indicating the effect of convergence and the consequent shortening of Eurasia in the region (Ö zacar et al 2010). As a result of this compression, the Greater Caucasus is uplifted and thrust over the flanking foreland basins northwards and southwards (Mosar et al 2010), as a large, intraplate, crustalscale inversion structure. The Quaternary magmatic activity in the Lesser Caucasus and adjacent regions is aligned to major fault zones while it is distributed in large area in eastern Turkey (Kuscu et al 2010).…”

The First Experience in Diagnosing the Geodynamic Mechanisms of Folding by the Factor Analysis of Folded Structure Parameters (Greater Caucasus)

“…Шолпо [Sholpo, 1978], напротив, объяснял морфологию и историю формирования складчатости альпийского Большо-го Кавказа с позиций гипотезы «метаморфогенной адвекции» без использования сокращения. Общее число других моделей Кавказа, описывающих его строение и развитие или касающихся проблем ге-незиса, превышает полтора десятка [Giorgobiani, Zakaraya, 1989;Timoshkina et al, 2010;Sholpo et al, 1993;Mosar et al, 2010;Trifonov, Sokolov, 2014;и др.]. Заметим, что совокупность основных умозритель-ных моделей Большого Кавказа существует в почти неизменном виде в течение последних 30-40 лет.…”