The Ukrainian Sector of the Black Sea and Crimea: the origin, tectonics and evolution

Geological structure and tectonic evolution of the Ukrainian sector of the Black Sea

“…Some of the results presented here have been described in unpublished reports [Stovba et al, 2003[Stovba et al, , 2006 and some elements have been reported in published works [Khriachtchevskaia et al, 2007[Khriachtchevskaia et al, , 2009a and conference papers Stovba et al, 2013Stovba et al, , 2017a.…”

“…In spite of the considerable progress made in understanding the geology of both the en-tire Black Sea and its Ukrainian sector many issues debated for many decades and related to the stratigraphy, tectonics and evolution of the Black Sea region, have not been completely resolved [Muratov, 1969;Tugolesov et al, 1985;Zonenshain, Le Pichon, 1986;Finetti et al, 1988;Görür, 1988;Dercourt et al, 1993;Okay et al, 1994;Robinson et al, 1995Robinson et al, , 1996Jones, Simmons, 1997;Banks, Robinson, 1997;Spadini et al, 1996Spadini et al, , 1997Robinson, Kerusov, 1997;Nikishin et al, 1998Nikishin et al, , 2001Nikishin et al, , 2003Nikishin et al, , 2012Nikishin et al, , 2017Morosanu, 2002;Meredith, Egan, 2002;Cloetingh et al, 2003;Starostenko et al, 2004;Stephenson et al, 2004;Dinu et al, 2005;Saintot et al, 2006;Barrier, Vrielynck, 2008;Khriachtchevskaia et al, 2007Khriachtchevskaia et al, , 2009aKhriachtchevskaia et al, , b, 2010Stovba et al, , 2013Stovba et al, , 2017aSlyshynsky et al, 2007;Meijers et al, 2010;Stephenson, Schellart, 2010;Munteanu et al, 2011;Okay, Nikishin, 201...…”

“…The results of the interpretation of the available seismic data suggest that the same tectonic events that have been set for the Odesa Shelf affected the evolution and structure of sedimentary successions throughout the northern part of the Black Sea basin. It has been also identified that, in contrast to the Odesa Shelf, local extension appeared since the Pliocene or Quaternary in the area of the recent continental slope to the south and to the west of the Crimea Mountains [Stovba, Khriachtchevskaia, 2011;Stovba et al, 2013Stovba et al, , 2017a.…”

“…[Khriachtchevskaia et al, 2010], along the northern continental slope (see Fig. 2) and in the Crimea Peninsula [Shnyukov, 1987;Kruglov, Tsypko, 1988;Nikishin et al, 1998Nikishin et al, , 2001Nikishin et al, , 2003Nikishin et al, , 2012Nikishin et al, , 2017, as well as the presence of rift structures in the Crimea Mountains [Nikishin et al, 2001[Nikishin et al, , 2003[Nikishin et al, , 2017Stovba, Khriachtchevskaia, 2011;Stovba et al, 2013, 2017a,b, Hippolyte et al, 2018, Romanian and Russian parts of the Black Sea [Zonenshain, Le Pichon, 1986;Nikishin et al, 2001;Dinu et al, 2005;Munteanu et al, 2011] indicate that crustal extension dominated during the Albian (Early Cretaceous) and continued to the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous).…”

“…The new data mentioned above defining an Albian age of the Tavric (Tauric) Group and «Middle Jurassic» siliciclastic successions, which were uplifted and exposed in the Crimea Mountains during the Cenozoic phases of compression, are of particular importance in determining the time of rifting [Popadyuk, Smirnov, 1991;Popadyuk et al, 2013aStovba et al, 2013Stovba et al, , 2017a. Consideration of the structural settings and facies distribution within the Crimea Mountains and at depth indicates that the clastic rocks that were previously referred to the Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic («flysch» of the Tavric Group) and Middle Jurassic, were deposited in the Albian as part of the typical synrift succession [Stovba et al, 2013[Stovba et al, , 2017aPopadyuk et al, 2013a,b].…”