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The thermal evolution of collisional orogens is largely controlled by their kinematic and burial/exhumation history, where sedimentation and erosion rates, as well as shear heating and deep heat flow supply conditions for the temperature distribution, fluid flow and the associated fluid-rock interactions. The aim of our research is to understand this coupled kinematic and thermal evolution to ultimately infer the conditions favourable for subsurface geo-resources. We achieve this aim by means of numerical modelling and its application to one of the best available orogenic indentation examples, which is the Dinarides Mountains chain in Central Europe. Based on the analysis and modelling of an integrated onshore and offshore geological cross-section, we quantified the shortening, erosion/exhumation and sedimentation/burial rates, maturity of potential petroleum source rocks and the gross potential for sustainable geothermal resources. The coupled kinematic/thermal modelling revealed a general pattern of heat flow variations associated with crustal deformations. The hanging-wall and upper parts of the footwalls show increased conductivity and heat flow during episodes of thrusting, whereas the deepest parts of footwalls have lower heat flow values. Fluids are observed to migrate towards the foreland during the latest Cretaceous – Early Oligocene thrusting. The largest amounts of post-Middle Miocene shortening took place in the SE external parts of the orogen, where deep-sourced fluid ascent took place towards the foreland. In this region, significant footwall burial enhanced the maturation of potential source rocks. Modelling results infer a considerable hydrocarbon potential for the Dalmatian unit and the South Adriatic basin. The kinematic and thermal model combined with geothermal well design and well performance calculations infer a viable geothermal energy potential for the Dalmatian and High-Karst units. Results of this novel workflow allowed to quantify the orogenic kinematic and thermal history, and its bearing on conventional and sustainable geo-resources.

The Sarajevo-Zenica Basin of Bosnia-Herzegovina was part of the Dinaride Lake System, a large network of Miocene long-lived freshwater basins in southeastern Europe. The basin contains a thick sedimentary succession of carbonates, coals and mixed siliciclastic deposits that reflects the paleoclimatic and tectonic evolution of the region. In this study, we present novel integrated (magneto- bio)stratigraphic and sedimentological data and reconstruct the paleoenvironmental evolution of the Sarajevo-Zenica Basin during its two main evolutionary phases (thrusting and extension). The basal “Oligo-Miocene” freshwater paleoenvironments are characterized by alternating palustrine, shallow lacustrine and distal fluvial phases. The base level fluctuations are largely controlled by syn- sedimentary pulses of tectonic loading during the final phase of thrusting in the Internal Dinarides. The majority of this succession is considered early Miocene in age, which contrasts with previous Oligocene age estimates. The subsequent extensional phase initiated not later than ~18.4 Ma. This coarsening upward sequence of lacustrine carbonates, silts, sands and conglomerates is correlated between 17.2 and 15 Ma (C5Cr-C5Br) by means of integrated bio-magnetostratigraphy. During this upper extensional phase, subsidence and sediment influx was generally controlled by activity along the basin bounding normal fault, overruling smaller scale climatic influences. We conclude that the existence of the long- lived Sarajevo lake is coeval with other Dinaric and southern Pannonian lakes, and overlaps in time with the Miocene Climatic Optimum. Sedimentation in the Sarajevo-Zenica basin terminated at ~15–14 Ma which concurs with both the end of the climatic optimum as well as the cessation of extension in the Dinarides. These results will help to better quantify the paleoclimatic changes in the Dinaride Lake System as well as the regional tectono-sedimentary events, such as potential migrations of deformation across the Dinarides.

Fluvial morphology is affected by a wide range of forcing factors, which can be external, such as faulting and changes in climate, or internal, such as variations in rock hardness or degree of fracturing. It is a challenge to separate internal and external forcing factors when they are co-located or occur coevally. Failure to account for both factors leads to potential misinterpretations. For example, steepening of channel network due to lithologic contrasts could be misinterpreted to be a function of increased tectonic displacements. These misinterpretations are enhanced over large areas, where landscape properties needed to calculate channel steepness (e.g. channel concavity) can vary significantly in space. In this study, we investigate relative channel steepness over the Eastern Carpathians, where it has been proposed that active rock uplift in the Southeastern Carpathians gives way N- and NW-wards to ca. 8 Myrs of post-orogenic quiescence. We develop a technique to quantify relative channel steepness, the relative steepness index, based on a wide range of concavities, and show that the main signal shows an increase in relative steepness index from east to west across the range. Rock hardness measurements and geological studies suggest this difference is driven by lithology. When we isolate channel steepness by lithology to test for ongoing rock uplift along the range, we find steeper channels in the south of the study area compared to the same units in the North. This supports interpretations from longer timescale geological data that active rock uplift is fastest in the southern Southeastern Carpathians.

We provide lithological, sedimentological and micropalaeontological descriptions of 39 sections and boreholes crossing the upper Miocene deposits of the Rifian Corridor. These deposits represent the sedimentary remnants of the marine gateway that connected the Atlantic to the Mediterranean in the late Miocene. Results from these 39 sites were adopted to reconstruct the palaeogeographic evolution of the gateway presented in the associated research article (Capella et al., 2018) [1]. For each outcrop we present a synthesis of field observations, lithofacies, key sedimentological features, planktic and benthic assemblages.

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.

An overview on the tectono-stratigraphic framework of the Arabian plate indicates obvious differences between two distinct areas: the hydrocarbon-prolific sector and non-hydrocarbon-prolific sector. These differences resulted from the interplay of a variety of factors; some of which are related to the paleo-geographic configuration (eustatic sea level fluctuations, climatic conditions, and salt Basins), others to differential subsidence (burial) and structural inversions. During the Paleozoic, the regional compression was caused by far field effects of the Hercynian orogeny. This led to major folded structures in central and eastern Saudi Arabia (e.g. Ghawar anticline). During the Mesozoic, the most important tectonic factor was the stretching of the crust (extension), accompanied with the increase in temperature, resulting in an increase of the accommodation space, and thicker sedimentary successions. Regional unconformities are mostly found where folded structures are dominant, and they acted as a carrier systems for the accumulation of hydrocarbon and groundwater. A good understanding of the stratigraphy and tectonic evolution is, thus, required to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) and to design efficiently enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in both sectors. Oil and gas reservoirs offer geologic storage potential as well as the economic opportunity of better production through CO2-EOR. The world greatest hydrocarbon reservoirs mainly consist of Jurassic carbonate rocks, and are located around the Arabian Basin (including the eastern KSA and the Arabian Gulf). The Cretaceous reservoirs, which mainly consist of calcarenite and dolomite, are located around the Gotnia salt Basin (northeast of KSA). Depleted oil and gas fields, which generally have proven as geologic traps, reservoirs and seals, are ideal sites for storage of injected CO2. Each potential site for CO2-EOR or CCS should be evaluated for its potential storage with respect to the containment properties, and to ensure that conditions for safe and effective long term storage are present. The secured deep underground storage of CO2 implies appropriate geologic rock formations with suitable reservoir rocks, traps, and impermeable caprocks. Proposed targets for CCS, in the non-hydrocarbon-prolific sector, are Kharij super-aquifer (Triassic), Az-Zulfi aquifer (Middle Jurassic), Layla aquifer (Late Jurassic), and Wasia aquifer (Middle Cretaceous). Proposed targets for EOR are Safaniya oil field (Middle Cretaceous) (Safaniya, Wara and Khafji reservoirs), Manifa oil field (Las, Safaniya and Khafji reservoirs) (Late Jurassic), and Khuff reservoir (Late Permian-Early Triassic) in central to eastern KSA.

A source to sink system describes the natural link between mountains, plains and deltas, by analysing the (re)distribution of material at shallow crustal depth and at the Earth's surface, exploring the links between coupled tectonic and surface processes. Sediment fluxes are the product of erosion and movement of material in and from sources (mountains), the transport and movement of sediments and solutes by river systems to the plains, and deposition and storage in sink zones. The ESF-EUROCORES TOPO-EUROPE SourceSink programme is a fully integrated research effort to significantly advance our predictive capabilities on the quantitative analyses of coupled active and past drainage systems by means of step-wise 4D reconstructions of sediments mass transfer, integrating geophysics, geology, geomorphology, state of the art high-resolution dating, and numerical and analogue modelling. The area selected for this programme is the Danube River Basin–Black Sea source to sink system, a world-class natural laboratory that is uniquely suited in the heart of Europe's topography, covering almost half of its surface, providing opportunities for excellent field sites to study in integration surface and subsurface data that cover the complete chain of source, carrier and sink. Quantifying and modelling the complete system in relation to the controlling parameters has resulted in significant understanding of forcing factors and linking temporal and spatial scales across multiple orogen and basin systems. This research has provided the opportunity to widen the geographical scope to other natural scenarios, where a number of mountain chains with similar geodynamic genesis separate sedimentary basins with comparable evolution.

Understanding the interactions between surface and deep Earth processes is important for research in many diverse scientific areas including climate, environment, energy, georesources and biosphere. The TOPO-EUROPE initiative of the International Lithosphere Program serves as a pan-European platform for integrated surface and deep Earth sciences, synergizing observational studies of the Earth structure and fluxes on all spatial and temporal scales with modelling of Earth processes. This review provides a survey of scientific developments in our quantitative understanding of coupled surface-deep Earth processes achieved through TOPO-EUROPE. The most notable innovations include (1) a process-based understanding of the connection of upper mantle dynamics and absolute plate motion frames; (2) integrated models for sediment source-to-sink dynamics, demonstrating the importance of mass transfer from mountains to basins and from basin to basin; (3) demonstration of the key role of polyphase evolution of sedimentary basins, the impact of pre-rift and pre-orogenic structures, and the evolution of subsequent lithosphere and landscape dynamics; (4) improved conceptual understanding of the temporal evolution from back-arc extension to tectonic inversion and onset of subduction; (5) models to explain the integrated strength of Europe's lithosphere; (6) concepts governing the interplay between thermal upper mantle processes and stress-induced intraplate deformation; (7) constraints on the record of vertical motions from high-resolution data sets obtained from geo-thermochronology for Europe's topographic evolution; (8) recognition and quantifications of the forcing by erosional and/or glacial-interglacial surface mass transfer on the regional magmatism, with major implications for our understanding of the carbon cycle on geological timescales and the emerging field of biogeodynamics; and (9) the transfer of insights obtained on the coupling of deep Earth and surface processes to the domain of geothermal energy exploration. Concerning the future research agenda of TOPO-EUROPE, we also discuss the rich potential for further advances, multidisciplinary research and community building across many scientific frontiers, including research on the biosphere, climate and energy. These will focus on obtaining a better insight into the initiation and evolution of subduction systems, the role of mantle plumes in continental rifting and (super)continent break-up, and the deformation and tectonic reactivation of cratons; the interaction between geodynamic, surface and climate processes, such as interactions between glaciation, sea level change and deep Earth processes; the sensitivity, tipping points, and spatio-temporal evolution of the interactions between climate and tectonics as well as the role of rock melting and outgassing in affecting such interactions; the emerging field of biogeodynamics, that is the impact of coupled deep Earth – surface processes on the evolution of life on Earth; and tightening the connection between societal challenges regarding renewable georesources, climate change, natural geohazards, and novel process-understanding of the Earth system.