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Ground and infrastructure stability are important for our technologically based civilization. Infrastructure projects take into consideration the risk posed by ground displacement (e.g., seismicity, geological conditions and geomorphology). To address this risk, earth scientists and civil engineers employ a range of measurement technologies, such as optical/laser leveling, GNSS and, lately, SAR interferometry. Currently there is a rich source of measurement information provided in various formats that covers most of the industrialized world. Integration of this information becomes an issue that will only increase in importance in the future. This work describes a practical approach to address and validate integrated stability measurements through the development of a platform that could be easily used by a variety of groups, from geoscientists to civil engineers and also private citizens with no training in this field. The platform enables quick cross-validation between different data sources, easy detection of critical areas at all scales (from large-scale individual buildings to small-scale tectonics) and can be linked to end-users from various monitoring fields and countries for automated notifications. This work is closing the gap between the specialized monitoring work and the general public, delivering the full value of technology for societal benefits in a free and open manner. The platform is calibrated and validated by an application of SAR interferometry data to specific situations in the general area of the Romanian Carpathians and their foreland. The results demonstrate an interplay between anthropogenically induced changes and high-amplitude active tectono–sedimentary processes creating rapid regional and local topographic variations.

Apart from the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), mid-lithospheric discontinuities (MLDs) in thick and old continental lithospheres appear to play an important role in global plate tectonics. Initiation of intra-continental subduction, delamination of the lower continental lithospheric mantle and removal of cratonic roots are likely to occur along MLDs. Here we introduce the ‘pargasosphere’ hypothesis which could account for the origin of both boundaries. The observation that pargasitic amphibole is stable even at very low bulk ‘water’ concentration (~a few hundreds ppm wt.) implies that the solidus of the shallow upper mantle (

Reconstructing orogenic systems made up dominantly by sediments accreted in trenches is challenging because of the incomplete lithological record of the subducted oceanic domain and its attached passive continental margin thrusted by collisional processes. In this respect, the remarkable ~600 km long continuity of sediments exposed in the Eastern Carpathian thin-skinned thrust and fold belt and the availability of quantitative reconstructions for adjacent continental units provide excellent conditions for a paleogeographical study by provenance and sedimentological techniques constraining sediment routing and depositional systems. These sediments were deposited in the Ceahl?u-Severin branch of the Alpine Tethys Ocean and over its European passive continental margin. We report sedimentological, paleomagnetic, petrographic, and detrital zircon U-Pb data of Lower Cretaceous sediments from several thin-skinned tectonic units presumably deposited in the Moldavides domain of the Eastern Carpathians. Sedimentological observations in the innermost studied unit demonstrate that deposition took place in a deepwater basin floor sheets to sandy turbidite system. Detrital zircon age data demonstrate sourcing from internal Carpathian basement units. The sediment routing changes in more external units, where black shales basin floor sheets to sandy mud turbidites were sourced from an external, European continental area. Although some degree of mixing between sources located on both margins of the ocean occurred, constraining a relatively narrow width of the deep oceanic basin, these results demonstrate that the internal-most studied unit was deposited near an Early Cretaceous accretionary wedge, located on the opposite internal side relative to the passive continental margin domain of other Moldavides units.

Extensional basins often show along-strike variability in terms of fault geometries, basement structures, subsidence, and thermal evolution. This is particularly pronounced when extension reactivates preexisting suture zones with opposing dip directions, that is, opposite polarities, which creates wide strike-slip transfer zones. We have studied this extensional variability by means of thermomechanical lithospheric-scale 3-D numerical modeling. We conducted a series of experiments to model the extension of a thick lithosphere simulating a young orogenic area containing segmented suture zones inherited from former opposing subduction polarities, implemented as rheologically weak inclined layers with opposite dips. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the initial subduction sutures are reactivated by two long-lived lithospheric-scale detachment faults, which remain active until the onset of oceanic spreading. The opposite polarity of these faults causes their migration toward each other by asymmetric mantle lithosphere extension and thermal accretion. Crustal kinematics shows the formation of extensional detachment faults and high-offset listric normal faults. These structures undergo gradual tilting during their footwall exhumation, while the rheological weak suture layers are redistributed beneath the crust. The results demonstrate an active interaction along the strike of the system between the two opposite dipping weak zones, where fault segments mechanically interact. During extension, the maximum horizontal fault offset switches the apparent sense of shear in the separating strike-slip transfer zone. This kinematics explain the rapid change in the sense of shear in major strike-slip transfer zones or transform faults, such as observed during the extension of the Pannonian back-arc basin.

The Rifian Corridor was one of the Mediterranean–Atlantic seaways that progressively restricted and caused the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). Many key questions concerning the controls on the onset, progression and termination of the MSC remain unanswered mainly because the evolution of these seaways is poorly constrained. Uncertainties about the age of restriction and closure of the Rifian Corridor hamper full understanding of the hydrological exchange through the MSC gateways: required connections to sustain transport of salt into the Mediterranean for the primary-lower gypsum and halite stages. Here we present integrated surface-subsurface palaeogeographic reconstructions of the Rifian Corridor with improved age-control. Information about age and timing of the closure have been derived from high-resolution biostratigraphy, palaeoenvironmental indicators, sediment transport directions, and the analysis of published onshore subsurface (core and seismic) datasets. We applied modern taxonomic concepts to revise the biostratigraphy of the Rifian Corridor and propose astronomically-tuned, minimum-maximum ages for its successions. Finally, we summarise the palaeogeographic evolution in four time slices corresponding to the middle Tortonian (10.57–8.37), late Tortonian (8.37–7.25 Ma), early Messinian (7.25–6.35 Ma), and late Messinian (6.35–5.33 Ma). Several successions record the closure of the corridor via a continuous marine to continental-lacustrine transition. The youngest dated marine sediments represent a good approximation of the age of seaway closure. The closure of the South Rifian Corridor is constrained to 7.1–6.9 Ma; that of the North Rifian Corridor is more uncertain and ranges from 7.35 to ca. 7 Ma. We conclude that the Rifian Corridor was already closed in the early Messinian and did not contribute to the restriction events that resulted in the MSC. Because the Betic Corridor is also closed by the early Messinian, the modern Gibraltar Straits remain the sole option in the Western Mediterranean as last Messinian seaway that was open during the MSC. Our results imply that the Gibraltar Straits could have been established as the exclusive Mediterranean-Atlantic portal already in the late Miocene, and therefore we suggest that future field and drilling campaigns should target the Alboran Sea and the Gibraltar region to investigate water exchange before and during the Messinian Salinity Crisis and its impact on Atlantic circulation and global climate.

Fragmentation of large continental areas by post-orogenic extension requires favourable geodynamic conditions and frequently occurs along pre-existing suture zones or nappe contacts, as exemplified by the Stong and Taku magmatic and metamorphic complexes of northern Peninsular Malaysia. For this case, we have employed a field and microstructural kinematic study combined with low temperature thermo-chronology to analyse the tectonic and exhumation history. The results show that the Late Palaeozoic - Triassic Indosinian orogeny created successive phases of burial related metamorphism, shearing and contractional deformation. This orogenic structure was subsequently dismembered during a Cretaceous thermal event that culminated in the formation of a large scale Late Santonian - Early Maastrichtian extensional detachment, genetically associated with crustal melting, the emplacement of syn-kinematic plutons and widespread migmatisation. The emplacement of these magmatic rocks led to an array of simultaneously formed structures that document deformation conditions over a wide temperature range, represented by amphibolite- and greenschist- facies mylonites and as well as brittle structures, such as cataclastic zones and normal faults that formed during exhumation in the footwall of the detachment. The formation of this detachment and a first phase of Late Cretaceous cooling was followed by renewed Eocene - Oligocene exhumation, as evidenced from our fission track ages. We infer that an initial Cretaceous thermal anomaly was responsible for the formation of an extensional gneiss dome associated with simple shear and rotation of normal faults. These Cretaceous processes played a critical role in the establishment of the presently observed crustal structure of Peninsular Malaysia.

Recent studies imply that the formation and evolution of many SE Asian basins was driven by extensional detachments or systems of low-angle normal faults that created significant crustal exhumation in their footwalls. In this context, the architecture of the Triassic Indosinian orogen presently exposed in Peninsular Malaysia is compatible with significant extension post-dating the orogenic event. In this study we performed a kinematic analysis based on fieldwork and microstructural observations in the Taku Schist, Kemahang granite and the surrounding Gua Musang sediments of northern Peninsular Malaysia in order to shed light on processes related to the build-up and subsequent demise of the Indosinian orogen. The first three phases of deformation were related to an overall period of E–W oriented contraction and burial metamorphism. These phases of deformation are characterized by isoclinal folding with flat lying axial plane cleavages (D1), asymmetrical folding, top-to-the-W–SW shearing (D2) and upright folding (D3). All are in general agreement with observations of the previously inferred Permo–Triassic Indosinian orogeny. During these times, the Taku Schist, a sequence of Paleozoic clastic sediments with mafic intercalations was metamorphosed to amphibolite facies. These rocks are most likely equivalent to the ones exposed in the Bentong–Raub suture zone. Structural relations suggest that the Triassic Kemahang pluton is syn-kinematic, which provides important constraints for the timing of these contractional events. We demonstrate that the overall shortening was followed by a hitherto undescribed extension in NW–SE direction resulting in the formation of a large-scale detachment, the Taku detachment, in northern Peninsular Malaysia. Extension probably reactivated the former subduction plane as a detachment and exhumed previously buried and metamorphosed rocks of similar lithological composition to the neighboring Bentong–Raub suture zone. Such a mechanism is similar to that observed in other regions, such as the Aegean, Apennines, Dinarides or the Betics–Rif system, where exhumation of (high-pressure) metamorphic rocks is largely controlled by detachments or low angle normal shear/fault systems.

The architecture of sedimentary basins reflects the relationship between accommodation space and sediment supply, their rates and localization being variable during basin evolution. The mechanisms driving the interplay between tectonics and sedimentation in extensional back-arc basins overlying rheological weak zones inherited from an earlier orogenic evolution are less understood. A typical example is the Pannonian back-arc basin of Central Europe. It is floored by continental lithosphere and was affected by large amounts of extension driven by the subduction rollback that took place in the Carpathians and/or Dinarides. A novel kinematic and seismic sequence stratigraphic interpretation calibrated by wells allows the quantification of the link between the formation of half grabens and coeval sedimentation in the Great Hungarian Plain part of the basin. While the lower order tectonic-induced cycles characterize the main phases of extension in various subbasins, the higher-order cyclicity and associated unconformities define individual moments of fault (re)activation. Our novel interpretation of a temporal and spatial migration of extension during Miocene times explains the contrasting present-day strike of various subbasins as a result of their gradual clockwise rotation. Incorporating the observed asymmetry, in particular the associated footwall exhumation, infers that the amount of extension is much larger than previously thought. The quantitative link between tectonics and sedimentation has allowed the definition of a novel model of sedimentation in asymmetric basins that can be ported to other natural scenarios of similarly hyperextended back-arc basins observed elsewhere.

The relationship between magma generation and the tectonic evolution of orogens during subduction and subsequent collision requires self-consistent numerical modelling approaches predicting volumes and compositions of the produced magmatic rocks. Here, we use a 2D magmatic-thermomechanical numerical modelling procedure to analyse rapid subduction of a narrow ocean, followed by Mediterranean style collision, which is characterized by the gradual accretion of lower plate material and slab migration towards the orogenic foreland. Our results suggest that magmatism has a large-scale geodynamic effect by focusing deformation throughout the entire subduction and collision process. The rheological structure and compositional layering of the crust impose a key control on the distribution of magmatic rocks within the orogen. Compared to previous simplified homogeneous crustal models, a compositionally layered crust causes an increase in felsic material influx during continental collision and results in shallower magmatic sources that migrate with time towards the foreland. Changes in the deformation style may be locally driven by magma emplacement rather than by slab movement. Our modelling also demonstrates that the migration pattern of the deformation front and the magmatic arc relative to the location of the suture zone may be driven by lower crustal indentation in the overriding plate during early stages of collision. The modelling predicts a gradual change in magma source composition with time from typical calc-alkaline to ones associated with relamination and eduction during subduction, collision and slab detachment. This transition explains the compositional changes of magma their temporal and spatial migration, as well as the observed link with deformation in the Dinarides orogen of Central Europe selected as a case study.

The tectonic evolution of sedimentary basins is the intrinsic result of the interplay between lithospheric stresses, lithospheric rheology, and thermal perturbations of the lithosphere–upper mantle system. The thermomechanical structure of the lithosphere exerts a prime control on its response to basin-forming mechanisms, in both extension and compression. Tectonic reactivation has strongly affected the structure and fill of many sedimentary basins. The long-lasting rheological memory of the lithosphere appears to play a far more important role in basin reactivation than hitherto assumed. The temporal evolution of the strength of continents and the spatial variations in stress and strength at continental margins, rifts, and orogenic belts govern the mechanics of basin development in time and space. Polyphase deformation is a common feature of many sedimentary basin systems. Compressional reactivation of extensional basins during their postrift phase appears to occur in many intraplate rifts and passive margins, reflecting temporal and spatial changes in the orientation and magnitude of the intraplate stress regime. Similarly, foreland basins are frequently characterized by preorogenic extension. The actual subsidence patterns of these polyphase systems are often more complex than predicted by end-member models that only consider the basin formation mechanism. Folding of the lithosphere, involving positive and negative deflections, appears to be of more importance in the large-scale deformation of intraplate domains than hitherto realized. In the intraplate domain of continental Europe that was thermally perturbed by Cenozoic upper mantle plume activity, lithospheric folding, for instance, plays an important role and strongly affects the pattern of vertical motions, in terms of both the basin subsidence and the uplift of broad arches. Tectonic processes operating during basin formation and during the subsequent deformation of basins can generate significant differential topography in basin systems. In view of the close link between erosion of topographic highs and sedimentation in subsiding areas, constraints are needed on uplift and coeval subsidence to validate quantitative process-oriented models for the evolution of sedimentary basins. Integration of analog and numerical modeling provides a novel approach to assess the feedback mechanisms between deep mantle, lithospheric, and surface processes.

The Vrancea region of the south-eastern Carpathians is a remarkable site of intra-continental intermediate- depth seismicity. A large set of geological, geophysical, and geodetic observations has been accumulated for the last few decades and utilised to improve our knowledge of the shallow and deep structures beneath Vran- cea, the crustal and mantle dynamics, and the linkage between deep and surface processes in the region. In this article we review geology and tectonics of the Vrancea region including post-collisional to recent deforma- tions, syn- to post-collisional magmatism, and orogenic exhumation along the East and South Carpathians. The regional seismicity is analysed, and the recent seismic studies including reflection, refraction, body and surface wave tomography are reviewed. We discuss new geodetic measurements of horizontal and vertical movements in the region, geoelectric studies, density/gravity and thermal modelling. Qualitative and quanti- tative (including retrospective) geodynamic models developed for Vrancea are analysed. The knowledge of re- gional tectonics, geodynamics, seismicity, lithospheric deformation, and stress regime in the Vrancea earthquake-prone region assists in an assessment of strong ground motion, seismic hazard and risk. The earth- quake simulation, seismic hazard, and earthquake forecasting models have also been reviewed providing a link between deep geodynamic processes and their manifestation on the surface. Finally we discuss unre- solved problems in Vrancea in order to improve our understanding of the regional evolution, present tecton- ics, mantle dynamics, intermediate-depth seismicity, and surface manifestations of the lithosphere dynamics and to enhance our ability to forecast strong earthquakes in the Vrancea region. The problems to be solved in- clude: (i) the origin of the high-velocity body revealed by seismic tomography studies (oceanic versus conti- nental); (ii) the lithospheric scale mechanism driving the Miocene subsidence of the Transylvania basin; (iii) sub-crustal structure between 40 and 70 km; (iv) contemporary regional horizontal and vertical move- ments; and (v) a comprehensive seismic hazard assessment in the region.

A change in contractional polarity occurs when the direction of tectonic transport switches along strike. This switch is conditioned by lateral variations in rheology or inherited asymmetries, such as contrasts in structure or changes in the polarity of subduction zones. The parameters controlling contractional polarity changes are less understood in situations when the strain is transferred at large distances from indenters. Analysing this type of strain transfer is critical for understanding the mechanics of thrusting in fore- or back-arc settings of orogenic areas. Comparison of crustal-scale analogue modelling with the inversion of the Black Sea back-arc and the formation of the New Guinea-New Britain fore-arc suggest that far-field changes in contractional polarity are related to rheological contrasts across inherited normal faults. The initial extension creates rheological weak zones that localize the subsequent far-field contractional deformation along groups of thrusts with opposite vergence along the strike of the system. The largest amount of far-field contractional deformation is recorded in the transfer zone located between the two indenters moving in opposite directions and is particularly high when inverting oblique extensional systems.

Quantifying the kinematics of the Miocene extension in the Pannonian Basin is of critical importance for understanding the evolution of Adria-Europe collision in particular in the transitional zone from the Alps to the Dinarides. Recent studies have demonstrated that largescale extensional unroofing along low-angle detachments have affected the Europe-Adria contact in the Dinarides during Miocene times. The relationship between this extensional exhumation of Adriatic units in the Medvednica Mountains (Croatia), the roughly coeval Miocene extension affecting the Alpine-derived units during E-ward extrusion and the formation of the Pannonian Basin is still unknown and the focus of this study. The Medvednica Mountains, a NE-SW striking mountain range within the internal Dinarides, has been the focus of a field kinematic study, complementary low-temperature thermochronology (apatite fission track), metamorphic petrology, isotope dating (Rb-Sr measurements) and microstructural analysis. The observations indicate that the mountains consist of two units, reflecting distinct Adriatic paleogeographical positions. The upper unit contains Paleozoic mostly fine-grained clastic sequence metamorphosed in sub-greenschist facies, overlain by a proximal Adriatic facies consisting of Triassic shallow water carbonates. The lower unit is made up by a volcanic sequence overlain by Triassic carbonates metamorphosed in greenschists facies that bears a strong resemblance to the Triassic break-up volcanism and subsequent sedimentation affecting the distal Adriatic units observed elsewhere in the Jadar-Kopaonik unit of the Dinarides. The strong contrast between the Middle-Upper Triassic facies of the Medvednica Mountains suggests large scale thrusting during Cretaceous nappe stacking. Subsequently, the studied area has been affected by significant extensional deformation creating the present-day turtleback geometry. This resulted in the formation of brittle normal faults in both units, locally tilted by the uplift of the mountain core, which indicate mostly NE-SW extension. The lower unit is affected by a pervasive deformation characterized by a wide mylonitic shear zone with stretching lineations indicating consistently top-NE to E sense of shear. Low-temperature thermochronology and absolute age dating (in progress) will clarify the exact ages of nappe-stacking and subsequent extensional exhumation. The present-day geometry of the mountains was established during the Pliocene-Quaternary inversion. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the extensional geometry and sense of shear is typical for the Miocene extensional exhumation and basin formation that affected the AdriaEurope contact elsewhere in the Dinarids, e.g. Kozara-Prosara-Motajica and Fruska Gora extensional structures. By comparing similar extensional features observed in for instance the Rechnitz and Pohorje extensional structures, the combined study potentially demonstrates that the Miocene mechanism of extension and sense of shear is structurally coherent at the scale of the entire Dinaridic and Alpine margins.

The large number and distribution of rollback systems in Mediterranean orogens infer the possibility of interacting extensional back-arc deformation driven by different slabs. The formation of the Pannonian back-arc basin is generally related to the rapid Miocene rollback of a slab attached to the European continent. A key area of the entire system that is neglected by kinematic studies is the connection between the South Carpathians and Dinarides. In order to derive an evolutionary model, we interpreted regional seismic lines traversing the entire Serbian part of the Pannonian Basin. The observed deformation is dominantly expressed by the formation of Miocene extensional detachments and (half) grabens. The extensional geometries and associated synkinematic sedimentation that migrated in time and space allow the definition of a continuous and essentially asymmetric early to late Miocene extensional evolution. This evolution was followed by the formation of few uplifted areas during the subsequent latest Miocene–Quaternary inversion. The present-day extensional geometry changing the strike across the basin is an effect of the clockwise rotation of the South Carpathians and Apuseni Mountains in respect to the Dinarides. Our study infers that the Carpathian rollback is not the only mechanism responsible for the formation of the Pannonian Basin; an additional middle Miocene rollback of a Dinaridic slab is required to explain the observed structures. Furthermore, the study provides constraints for the pre-Neogene orogenic evolution of this junction zone, including the affinity of major crustal blocks, obducted ophiolitic sequences and the Sava suture zone.

Sedimentary basins are affected by a large number of forcing factors during their evolution and as a result, it is often difficult to isolate the contribution of each individual factor. Many forcing factors are temporally and spatially heterogeneous; they do not affect all parts of the basin in the same way and at the same time. We show that this heterogeneity can be used to identify the contributions of forcing factors by comparing various parts of a basin. This approach is applied to the Pannonian Basin, a back-arc basin located in Central Europe. In the basin, the amounts of crustal extension, tectonic inversion and sediment influx varied in space and time, while the connection with the marine realm fluctuated. In this study we focus on two currently unresolved issues: firstly, we establish by what processes and from what directions the basin was filled in, and secondly, we investigate whether the basin was affected by the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The analysis of seismic and well data in the previously less studied SE part of the basin demonstrate that progradation occurred from the southern and eastern basin margins, complementing the previously described progradation from the northwestern and northern basin margins. Elsewhere in the basin, an unconformity observed in the progradational basin infill is intensely debated to be the result of either the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) or basin inversion. Having the advantage of minor Pliocene–Quaternary amounts of inversion in the studied part of the basin we show that no regional unconformity is present in the studied stratigraphic interval, which implies that the effects of the MSC on the basin were minor. We infer that being aware of the fact that the effects of relative sea/lake-level fluctuations may vary significantly across a basin is critical for understanding the evolution of semi-enclosed basins.

A 2D gravity and magnetic data model has been constructed along a 71 km densely observed profile, called DACIA PLAN GRAV MAN's. The profile crosses part of the nappe pile of the south-eastern Carpathians and includes the seismically active Vrancea Zone and was acquired with the objective to illuminate the basement structure and affinity in this area. The modelling approach was to create an initial model from well constrained geological information, integrate it with previous seismic ray tracing and tomographic models and then alter it outside the a priori constraints in order to reach the best fit between observed and calculated potential field anomalies. The results support a realignment of the position of the TTZ (Tornquist-Teisseyre Zone), the profound tectonic boundary within Europe that separates Precambrian cratonic lithosphere of the East European Craton (EEC) from younger accreted lithosphere of Phanerozoic mobile belts to its west. The TTZ is shown to lie further to the south-west than was previously inferred within Romania, where it is largely obscured by the Carpathian nappes. The crust of the EEC beneath the south-eastern Carpathians is inferred to terminate along a major crustal structure lying just west of the Vrancea seismogenic zone. The intermediate depth seismicity of the Vrancea Zone therefore lies within the EEC lithosphere, generally supporting previously proposed models invoking delamination of cratonic lithosphere as the responsible mechanism.