Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the NE Dinarides margin during the Cretaceous Adria-Europe convergence

Abstract

The Cretaceous sedimentation along the NE Dinarides margin took place in basins situated above the Europe-dipping Neotethyan Sava subduction zone positioned between Adria- and Europe-derived continental units. The Cretaceous sedimentation on the upper plate of the Sava subduction system took place in a fore-arc basin, which was developed in frontal parts of the active European continental margin. The Cretaceous sedimentation in the lower Adria plate domain of the Sava subduction system includes sediments deposited in the basin developed over the passive continental margin of the Internal Dinarides, as well as the sediments deposited in the Sava subduction trench. While the Cretaceous sedimentation on the entire Adriatic continental margin was associated with an overall contraction, which led to the progressive subsidence towards the end of the Cretaceous, the fore-arc basin on the European continental margin displays three depositional cycles during the Early Cretaceous–Cenomanian, Turonian–Santonian, and Campanian–early Paleogene, reflecting three stages of deformation, contraction, extension, and ultimately contraction again during the Adria-Europe collision.