Abstract
The Scythian Platform (ScP) with a heterogeneous basement of Baikalian–Variscan–Cimmerian age is located between the East European Craton (EEC) on the north and the Crimean–Caucasus orogenic belt and the Black Sea (BS) Basin on the south. In order to get new constrains on the basin architecture and crustal structure of the ScP and a better understanding of the tectonic processes and evolution of the southern margin of the EEC during Mesozoic and Cenozoic time, a 630-km-long seismic wide-angle refraction and reflection (WARR) profile DOBRE-5 was acquired in 2011 October. It crosses in a W–E direction the Fore-Dobrudja Trough, the Odessa Shelf of the BS and the Crimean Plain. The field acquisition included eight chemical shot points located every 50 km and recorded by 215 stations placed every ∼2.0 km on the land. In addition, the offshore data from existing profile 26, placed in the Odessa Shelf, were used. The obtained seismic model shows clear lateral segmentation of the crust within the study region on four domains: the Fore-Dobrudja Domain (km 20–160), an offshore domain of the Karkinit Trough at the Odessa Shelf of the BS (km 160–360), an onshore domain of the Central Crimean Uplift (Crimean Plain, km 360–520) and the Indolo-Kuban Trough at the Kerch Peninsula (km 520–620) that is the easternmost part of the Crimea. Two contrasting domains of the ScP within the central part of the DOBRE-5 profile, the Karkinit Trough and the Central Crimean Uplift, may represent different stages of the ScP formation. A deep Karkinit Trough with an underlying high-velocity (>7.16 km s−1) lower crust body suggests its rifting-related origin during Early Cretaceous time. The Central Crimean Uplift represents a thick (up to 47 km) crustal domain consisting of three layers with velocities 5.8–6.4, 6.5–6.6 and 6.7–7.0 km s−1, which could be evidence of this part of the ScP originating on the crust of Precambrian craton (EEC). The thick heterogeneous basement of the Central Crimean Uplift shows inclusions of granitic bodies associated with magmatic activity related with Variscan orogeny within the ScP. General bending and crustal scale buckling of the Central Crimean Uplift with a wavelength of 230 km could be an effect of the Alpine compressional tectonics in the adjacent Crimean Mountains. The extended/rifted continental margin of the ScP (EEC) at the Odessa Shelf and buckling/uplifted domain of the Central Crimean Uplift affected by compressional tectonics, are separated by the N–S oriented Western Crimean Fault. The crust of the southern margin of the EEC is separated from the ScP, which originated on the EEC crust tectonised and reworked during the Palaeozoic–Mesozoic, by the crustal fault of ∼W–E orientation, which corresponds with the Golitsyn Fault observed at the surface between the EEC and the ScP. The Fore-Dobrudja Domain with a thick (>10 km) heterogeneous basement and two subhorizontal layers in the crystalline crust (with velocities 6.2–6.3 and 6.4–6.65 km s−1) differs from the ScP crust and its origin could be very similar to that of the Trans-European Suture Zone and Palaeozoic West European Platform.
Highlights
This paper presents results of the seismic wide-angle refraction and reflection (WARR) experiment along the 630-km-long composite DOBRE-5 profile across the Danube Delta River, the Odessa Shelf and the Crimean Peninsula (Fig. 1)
The seismic velocity model is based on two data sets (Fig. 1): (1) new onshore WARR data acquired in 2011 October in two areas: in the Dobrudja highlands at the northwestern coast of the Black Sea between the cities of Reni and Kiliya, and (2) on the Crimean Peninsula between the Cape Tarkhankut and the Kerch Peninsula near the Kerch city
In contrast to the Scythian Platform (ScP), the Fore-Dobrudja Trough has a two-layered crystalline crust, which is very typical for a velocity structure of Palaeozoic West European Platform (Meissner 1986; Aichroth et al 1992; Jensen et al 2002; Artemieva & Meissner 2012), the crust is thicker with the Moho at 38–40 km depth, compared with the three-layered crystalline crust on European Craton (EEC) detemined on a lot of seismic profiles acquired in 1960–1970 (Beloussov & Pavlenkova 1984; Pavlenkova 1996) and on LT-7 (Guterch et al 1994), P4 profile (Grad et al 2003) and CEL05 (Grad et al 2006b), etc
Summary
This paper presents results of the seismic wide-angle refraction and reflection (WARR) experiment along the 630-km-long composite DOBRE-5 profile across the Danube Delta River, the Odessa Shelf and the Crimean Peninsula (Fig. 1). The seismic velocity model is based on two data sets (Fig. 1): (1) new onshore WARR data acquired in 2011 October in two areas: in the Dobrudja highlands at the northwestern coast of the Black Sea between the cities of Reni and Kiliya, and (2) on the Crimean Peninsula between the Cape Tarkhankut and the Kerch Peninsula near the Kerch city. (in the 1960s) acquired offshore (marine) data along the DSS Profile-26, which crosses the Odessa Shelf of the Black Sea from the Zmeinyi Island in the west to the Cape Tarkhankut at the westernmost point of the Crimean Peninsula (Malovitskiy & Neprochnov 1972). The new data provide a significant contribution to multidisciplinary research on the lithosphere, in order to understand its structure, origin, and evolution (Artemieva 2011; Percival et al 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
