Pre-Priabonian Palaeogene formations in southwestern Bulgaria and northern Greece: stratigraphy and tectonic implications

Abstract

The Paril Formation (South Pirin and Slavyanka Mountains, southwestern Bulgaria) and the Prodromos Formation (Orvilos and Menikion Mountains, northern Greece) consist of breccia and olistostrome built up predominantly of marble fragments from the Precambrian Dobrostan Marble Formation (Bulgaria) and its equivalent Bos-Dag Marble Formation (Greece). The breccia and olistostrome are interbedded with thin layers of calcarenites (with occasional marble pebbles), siltstones, sandstones and limestones. The Paril and Prodromos formations unconformably cover the Precambrian marbles, and are themselves covered unconformably by Miocene and Pliocene sediments (Nevrokop Formation). The rocks of the Paril Formation are intruded by the Palaeogene (Late Eocene–Early Oligocene) Teshovo granitoid pluton, and are deformed and preserved in the two limbs of a Palaeogene anticline cored by the Teshovo pluton (Teshovo anticline). The Palaeocene–Middle Eocene age of the formations is based on these contact relations, and on occasional finds of Tertiary pollen, as well as on correlations with similar formations of the Laki (Kroumovgrad) Group throughout the Rhodope region.The presence of Palaeogene sediments within the pre-Palaeogene Pirin–Pangaion structural zone invalidates the concept of a ‘Rhodope metamorphic core complex’ that supposedly has undergone Palaeogene amphibolite-facies regional metamorphism, and afterwards has been exhumed by rapid crustal extension in Late Oligocene–Miocene times along a regional detachment surface. Other Palaeogene formations of pre-Priabonian (Middle Eocene and/or Bartonian) or earliest Priabonian age occur at the base of the Palaeogene sections in the Mesta graben complex (Dobrinishka Formation) and the Padesh basin (Souhostrel and Komatinitsa formations). The deposition of coarse continental sediments grading into marine formations (Laki or Kroumovgrad Group) in the Rhodope region at the beginning of the Palaeogene Period marks the first intense fragmentation of the mid- to late Cretaceous orogen, in particular, of the thickened body of the Morava-Rhodope structural zone situated to the south of the Srednogorie zone. The Srednogorie zone itself was folded and uplifted in Late Cretaceous time, thus dividing Palaeocene–Middle Eocene flysch of the Louda Kamchiya trough to the north, from the newly formed East Rhodope–West Thrace depression to the south.

Alpine tectonic evolution of a Jurassic subduction-accretionary complex: Deformation, kinematics and 40Ar/39Ar age constraints on the Mesozoic low-grade schists of the Circum-Rhodope Belt in the eastern Rhodope-Thrace region, Bulgaria-Greece

“…Lips et al, 2000;Liati, 2005) units of continental and oceanic affinities, intruded by Late Cretaceous to Early Miocene granitoids (Meyer, 1968;Del Moro et al, 1988;Dinter et al, 1995;Peytcheva et al, 1999;Marchev et al, 2006). Late Cretaceous-Palaeocene to Miocene-Pliocene sediments (Ivanov and Kopp, 1969;Zagorchev, 1998;Boyanov and Goranov, 2001) and Late Eocene-Oligocene volcanic and volcanosedimentary successions (Innocenti et al, 1984;Harkovska et al, 1989;Yanev and Bardintzeff, 1997) represent Tertiary syn-to posttectonic cover sequences. Earlier interpretations considered the Rhodope Massif as a Precambrian cratonic block, largely unaffected by Alpine deformations (e.g.…”

RHENIUM-RICH MOLYBDENITE AND RHENIITE IN THE PAGONI RACHI Mo-Cu-Te-Ag-Au PROSPECT, NORTHERN GREECE: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE Re GEOCHEMISTRY OF PORPHYRY-STYLE Cu-Mo AND Mo MINERALIZATION

“…The massif either formed as a fragment of preAlpine continental crust involved in European margin convergent tectonics during the Mesozoic and Tertiary (e.g., von Braun 1993, Zagorchev 1998, or as part of south-directed growth of crust during the Mesozoic through subduction and accretion within a northdirected Paleotethyan subduction system (Barr et al 1999). The Rhodope Massif experienced two episodes of crustal extension, accompanied by two periods of magmatism (Marchev et al 2004, Marchev 2007: an early Latest Cretaceous -Lower Eocene ductile extension and exhumation of several metamorphic core complexes below low-angle detachments associated with 70-42 Ma granitic plutons, and a subsequent Late Eocene -Miocene brittle extension through high-angle faulting (Dinter & Royden 1993, Sokoutis et al 1993, Krohe & Mposkos 2002, Brun & Sokoutis 2007.…”

Distribution patterns of Batrachium communities in Mediterranean hard waters

“…The uneven distribution of dissected leaves Batrachium throughout Europe can be explained by the existence of other niches in Eastern Europe which are absent in Western Europe or by the occupation of R. trichophyllus of all the niches in Western Europe than other Batrachium species occupy in eastern Europe. The first explanation is supported by the high variety of carbonated lithologies in Eastern Europe (Zagorchev, 1998). The second explanation is supported by the ecological breadth of R. trichophyllus, along with its high colonization ability (Lacoul and Freedman, 2006).…”