Asynchronous timing of extension and basin formation in the South Rhodope core complex, SW Bulgaria, and northern Greece

Upper crustal extensional structures range from steep normal faults to shallow-dipping detachments. The relationship between extension and formation of synkinematic hanging wall basins including their relative timing is not well understood. The South Rhodope core complex, Southern Balkans, has experienced extension for >40 Ma leading to a number of extensional structures and Cenozoic sedimentary basins. We present new bedrock and basin detrital zircon and apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He ages from the Pirin and Rila Mountains and the Sandanski basin. Results identify three episodes of Cenozoic extension in SW Bulgaria accommodated by (1) the Eocene/Oligocene Mesta detachment; (2) the early to middle Miocene Gorno Spanchevo fault (circa 18–15 Ma), which is the northern prolongation of the Strymon low-angle detachment; and (3) the late Miocene West Pirin fault (≤10 Ma). Detachment faulting on the Strymon fault accommodated tens of kilometers of ENE-WSW extension and created ~1500 m topographic relief, but because the resulting hillslopes were gentle (≤10°), extension did not lead to enhanced footwall erosion or formation of a hanging wall basin. In contrast, the West Pirin normal fault resulted in mostly vertical motion of its footwall causing steep topography, rapid erosion, and formation of the synrift Sandanski basin. Digital topographic analysis of river channel profiles identifies the latest episodes of deformation including westward tilting of the Sandanski and Strymon basins and Quaternary N-S extension. This study demonstrates that basin formation in the South Rhodope core complex is related to normal faulting postdating the main episode of crustal stretching by detachment faulting.