Neotectonics of the Dinarides–Pannonian Basin transition and possible earthquake sources in the Banja Luka epicentral area

The tectonic evolution of a critical segment of the Dinarides‐Alps connection: Kinematic and geochronological inferences from the Medvednica Mountains, NE Croatia

“…The extension of the Pannonian Basin starting at ~20 Ma is well documented in the larger region of the Medvednica Mountains [ Fodor et al , ; Horváth et al , ; Ustaszewski et al , ]. It affected both the Medvednica Mountains, by formation of normal faults as documented in our study (D5, Figure a) and by seismic interpretation in the neighboring Sava and Drava basins [ Tomljenović and Csontos , ; Saftić et al , ; Ustaszewski et al , ]. Furthermore, the normal faulting is dominantly of low angle and listric in geometry, the coeval Miocene sedimentation in the hanging wall being associated with footwall erosion (Figure a).…”

“…The dextral displacements in the Dinaridic‐Alpine transition zone and associated lateral extrusion of the Eastern Alps were partly coeval with the back‐arc extension of the Pannonian Basin starting at around 20 Ma [e.g., Horváth et al , ; Tari and Pamić , ] that created a number of deep half‐grabens along the SW margin of the Pannonian Basin, among which the largest ones are the Hrvatsko Zagorje, Sava, and Drava basins (Figure b) [ Pavelić , ; Saftić et al , ]. These extensional features were subsequently affected by contraction during the Pliocene‐Quaternary inversion of the Pannonian Basin [e.g., Tomljenović and Csontos , ; Bada et al , ; Ustaszewski et al , ].…”

“…In outcrops, the youngest deposits affected by this deformation are of Pliocene in age. Similar thrusts with up to 2 km offsets of the base Miocene horizon were observed along the northern margin of the Medvednica Mountains by the interpretation of reflection seismics [ Tomljenović and Csontos , ], and further southeast in the Sava basin [ Ustaszewski et al , ]. The studies indicate that the thrusts presumably affected deposits as young as the Pliocene and Quaternary, as inferred by correlation of seismic lines with well data.…”

Report of the Croatian Committee of Geodesy and Geophysics on activities carried out between 2011 and 2014

“…Furthermore, some elements of seismic hazard in the kraljevo region (Serbia) lee et al, 2011a, 2011b as well as in the region of the western Balkan Peninsula (Lee et al, 2013) have been estimated. A detailed study of the seismotectonic and seismological properties of the greater Banja Luka region was presented by Ustaszewski et al (2014), identifying main seismogenic structures, and suggesting that most strain in the area is most likely released along active segments of internal thrusts of the Dinarides (Fig. 2).…”

“…The study also indicates that the entire Adria-Europe plate convergence (2011,2013). The two dashed lines mark the area where current Adria-Europe convergence is apparently being primarily accommodated in the internal Dinarides (from Ustaszewski et al, 2014).…”