Indentation‑induced deformation in the Serbian Carpathians: a structural and kinematic study in the TMC basin and the Lower Getic Unit

Abstract

A field structural study was performed in the Late Cretaceous Timok Magmatic Complex (TMC) basin and the underlying Lower Getic unit to improve understanding of post‐Eocene tectonic evolution of the Serbian Carpathians. Our study demonstrates that Oligocene – Middle Miocene deformation is recorded in the TMC Basin, and it is characterized by strain partitioning between normal faults accommodating N–S to NW–SE extension and two distinct groups of strike‐slip faults. In the central parts of the TMC basin, these structures controlled the opening of several Miocene intra‐montane pull-apart basins. Southwards, the fault system change to a right lateral fault with a horse‐tail geometry. Our observations indicate that Oligocene – Middle Miocene structures from the TMC and neighbouring units are an integral part of the previously defined Circum‐Moesian Fault System that accommodated along‐strike changes in the collisional mechanics of the Carpathians.