Large-scale Extension Research Articles

Geochemistry, geochronology, and cathodoluminescence imagery of the Salihli and Turgutlu granites (central Menderes Massif, western Turkey): Implications for Aegean tectonics

The Menderes Massif (western Turkey) is an important metamorphic core complex located in the Aegean region; geochemical and geochronological data from this extensional domain facilitates our understanding of large-scale extension of the Earth's lithosphere. S-type, peraluminous granites (Salihli and Turgutlu) that intrude the Alasehir detachment which bounds the northern edge of the central Menderes Massif may have been generated due to subduction of the Eastern Mediterranean floor along the Hellenic trench. In situ Th–Pb ion microprobe monazite ages from the granites range from 21.7 ± 4.5 Ma to 9.6 ± 1.6 Ma (± 1 σ ). Higher uncertainty in the ages is attributed to monazite common Pb, but the range is consistent with cathodoluminescence (CL) imagery that document complex textures within the samples. Salihli and Turgutlu granites share many similar characteristics, including multiple generations of plagioclase (some with shocked cores), plagioclase replacing K-feldspar and the development of myrmekite, evidence for fluid interaction, and multiple generations of microcracks and microfaults. The granites may have evolved from compositionally distinct magma sources, as Salihli samples in general contain allanite as the major accessory mineral, whereas Turgutlu granites contain monazite. However, the CL imagery document similar alteration textures. The youngest Turgutlu monazite grain (11.5 ± 0.8 Ma) is located in the rim of a K-feldspar grain close to myrmekite, and the youngest Salihli monazite grain (9.6 ± 1.6 Ma) is located in the outer edge of an altered plagioclase crystal. These ages likely time episodes of deformation as the granites were subjected to exhumation along the Alasehir detachment. Ages reported here are similar to dates constraining extension reported elsewhere in the Aegean, but indicate a level of complexity when linking movement within the Menderes Massif to the large-scale geodynamic processes that created other metamorphic core complexes in the region. Difficulties exist in linking the ages obtained from the granites to specific tectonic events due to the presence of secondary alteration textures, generations of mineral growth, and multiple episodes of deformation.

Structure of the crust and uppermost mantle from broadband seismic array in the western Dabie Mountains, east central China

A broadband seismic array of 7 stations was set up in the western Dabie Mountains (31°20′–31°50′N, 114°30′–115°E). Teleseismic events from May 2001 to November 2001 were collected and analyzed by radial receiver function to determine the S-wave velocity structure of the crust and uppermost mantle. The crustal thickness is 32–38 km beneath the array. The crust-mantle boundary appears as a gently north-dipping velocity discontinuity, but turns to be a velocity gradient beneath a station near the Qiliping shear zone in the south of the array. In the north of the array, a large offset of 4–6 km exists in the Moho along the Tongbai-Tongcheng shear zone, suggesting a suture zone formed by the northward subduction of the Yangtze plate beneath the North China plate. Along the Tongbai-Tongcheng shear zone, a north-dipping, EW-striking low-velocity zone was observed in the upper mantle, which may be related to the collision boundary between the Yangtze and the North China plates in the Triassic. Therefore the Tongbai-Tongcheng shear zone is the southern boundary of suture zone between the Yangtze and the North China plates. In the south of the array, a high-velocity body in the lower crust near the Qiliping shear zone probably results from the underplate of mafic magma into the lower crust, which is generally associated with large-scale extension triggered by delamination of the thickened crust.

‘Normal’ Fanaroff-Riley type II radio galaxies as a probe of the nature of X-shaped radio sources

We present a multiwavelength radio study of a sample of nearby Fanaroff-Riley class II (FRII) radio galaxies, matched with the sample of known X-shaped radio sources in size, morphological properties and redshift, using new Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) data and archival data from the Very Large Array (VLA). Our principal aim in this paper is to provide a control sample for earlier studies of samples of `X-shaped' radio sources, which have similar luminosities and small-scale radio structures to our targets but exhibit large-scale extensions to their lobes that more typical FRII sources lack; earlier spectral work with the GMRT has suggested that these `wings' sometimes have flat spectral indices at low frequencies, in contrast to expectations from models in which the wings are formed hydrodynamically or by jet reorientation. In our new observations we find that almost all of our target FRII radio galaxies show standard spectral steepening as a function of distance from the hotspot at the low frequencies (610 MHz and 240 MHz) provided by the GMRT data, even when transverse extensions to the lobes are present. However, one source, 3C321, has a low-surface-brightness extension to one lobe that shows a flatter spectral index than the high-surface-brightness hotspots/lobes, as found in X-shaped sources.

Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Aegean

The Aegean region is a concentrate of the main geodynamic processes that shaped the Mediterranean region: oceanic and continental subduction, mountain building, high-pressure and low-temperature metamorphism, backarc extension, post-orogenic collapse, metamorphic core complexes, gneiss domes are the ingredients of a complex evolution that started at the end of the Cretaceous with the closure of the Tethyan ocean along the Vardar suture zone. Using available plate kinematic, geophysical, petrological and structural data, we present a synthetic tectonic map of the whole region encompassing the Balkans, Western Turkey, the Aegean Sea, the Hellenic Arc, the Mediterranean Ridge and continental Greece and we build a lithospheric-scale N-S cross-section from Crete to the Rhodope massif. We then describe the tectonic evolution of this cross-section with a series of reconstructions from ~70 Ma to the Present. We follow on the hypothesis that a single subduction has been active throughout most of the Mesozoic and the entire Cenozoic, and we show that the geological record is compatible with this hypothesis. The reconstructions show that continental subduction (Apulian and Pelagonian continental blocks) did not induce slab break-off in this case. Using this evolution, we discuss the mechanisms leading to the exhumation of metamorphic rocks and the subsequent formation of extensional metamorphic domes in the backarc region during slab retreat. The tectonic histories of the two regions showing large-scale extension, the Rhodope and the Cyclades are then compared. The respective contributions to slab retreat, post-orogenic extension and lower crust partial melting of changes in kinematic boundary conditions and in nature of subducting material, from continental to oceanic, are discussed.

Late Cretaceous exhumation history of an extensional extruding wedge (Graz Paleozoic Nappe Complex, Austria)

Late Cretaceous structures within the eastern Graz Paleozoic Nappe Complex define an extruding wedge with north-eastward directed thrusting in eastern portions and strike-slip shear along the margins. Stacking structures are overprinted by south-westward directed extension with low-grade metamorphic rocks in the hangingwall and high-grade basement rocks in the footwall. Pressure–temperature and structural data are obtained from successively opening quartz veins that record various stages of progressive deformation and metamorphism. Fluid inclusion data and related structures show that during extension isothermal decompression from ca. 550°C and 8 kbar down to ca. 450°C and 2 kbar was related to exhumation of rocks from deep crustal levels. The data point to a high geothermal gradient and explain condensed paleo-isotherms due to ductile normal faulting in the eastern areas of the Graz Paleozoic Nappe Complex. The investigated Late Cretaceous structural elements suggest that the Graz Paleozoic Nappe Complex decoupled from the surrounding basement units and operated as a large-scale extension–extrusion corridor that evolved prior to Miocene extrusion tectonics in the Eastern Alps.

Kinematics of the Southern Rhodope Core Complex (North Greece)

The Southern Rhodope Core Complex is a wide metamorphic dome exhumed in the northern Aegean as a result of large-scale extension from mid-Eocene to mid-Miocene times. Its roughly triangular shape is bordered on the SW by the Jurassic and Cretaceous metamorphic units of the Serbo-Macedonian in the Chalkidiki peninsula and on the N by the eclogite bearing gneisses of the Sideroneron massif. The main foliation of metamorphic rocks is flat lying up to 100 km core complex width. Most rocks display a stretching lineation trending NE–SW. The Kerdylion detachment zone located at the SW controlled the exhumation of the core complex from middle Eocene to mid-Oligocene. From late Oligocene to mid-Miocene exhumation is located inside the dome and is accompanied by the emplacement of the synkinematic plutons of Vrondou and Symvolon. Since late Miocene times, extensional basin sediments are deposited on top of the exhumed metamorphic and plutonic rocks and controlled by steep normal faults and flat-ramp-type structures. Evidence from Thassos Island is used to illustrate the sequence of deformation from stacking by thrusting of the metamorphic pile to ductile extension and finally to development of extensional Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary basin. Paleomagnetic data indicate that the core complex exhumation is controlled by a 30° dextral rotation of the Chalkidiki block. Extensional displacements are restored using a pole of rotation deduced from the curvature of stretching lineation trends at core complex scale. It is argued that the Rhodope Core Complex has recorded at least 120 km of extension in the North Aegean, since the last 40 My.

Comparison of small-scale and large-scale mixing characteristics: Correlations between small-scale and large-scale mixing and extensional characteristics of wheat flour dough

Mixing measurements provide valuable information about dough strength and stability (STAB) traits. These measurements are important in milling and baking operations, and for varietal selection in wheat breeding programmes. There are several techniques with different sample sizes used for measuring these traits so there is interest in examining the agreement between methods in terms of genotypic (varietal) rankings. This issue has been investigated by using two different mixing methods, a small-scale Mixograph (2 g) and large-scale Farinograph (50 g) using data from a doubled haploid population (190 lines) from a Chara (excellent dough strength)×WW2449 (poor dough strength) cross. The cross was grown in a field trial at the Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute (WWAI) in 2000. Eleven mixing traits were measured and compared according to a statistical design. The estimated genetic correlation matrix for six of the 11 mixing traits, dough development time (DDT), STAB, mixing tolerance index (MTI), maximum bandwidth (MBW), bandwidth at peak resistance (BWPR) and peak resistance (PR) revealed that for these dough-strength-related parameters, both methods were measuring equivalent traits, although individual parameters had widely different coefficients of variation. In this population, PR was correlated with the extensibility trait length determined by large-scale extension testing. None of the large-scale or small-scale mixing traits was an effective predictor of the small-scale extensibility parameter extensibility at Rmax (Ext_Rmax). The data verified that small-scale Mixograph tests are a robust and efficient alternative to large-scale Farinograph tests for both commercial breeding and research.

Precise U–Pb ages of syn-extensional Miocene intrusions in the central Menderes Massif, western Turkey

Western Turkey is an area which has experienced large-scale extension of continental crust. Here we report precise crystallization ages of two intrusions in the central Menderes Massif, the Turgutlu and Salihli granodiorites, using U–Pb dating. Both intrusions occur in the southern footwall of the seismically active Alaşehir graben and were emplaced syntectonically in an extensional top-to-the-NNE shear zone which was active at retrograde greenschist-facies conditions. The U–Pb ages of 16.1 ± 0.2 Ma (monazite, Turgutlu granodiorite) and 15.0 ± 0.3 Ma (allanite, Salihli granodiorite) document that tectonic exhumation of middle-crustal rocks in the central Menderes Massif was already underway at the Early to Middle Miocene transition. Combined with published geochronological, structural and sedimentological data, the new U–Pb ages point to a continued extension since at least 16 Ma. There is no convincing evidence for a late Miocene/Pliocene phase of tectonic shortening.

Permian bimodal dyke of Tarim Basin, NW China: Geochemical characteristics and tectonic implications

This study reports for the first time the occurrence of bimodal dyke in the Shuigongtuan area of Bachu County, Tarim Basin, NW China. Here, quartz syenite porphyry and diabase dykes occur in direct contact showing bimodal feature. The quartz syenitic porphyry is metaluminous, enriched in K 2O + Na 2O (10–11 wt.%) and total rare earth elements (REE), with low Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratios, high LREE/HREE, and negative Eu anomalies. The chemical characteristics and tectonic discriminative diagrams show that the rocks have geochemical affinity with A-type granites. The diabase dyke shows 45–52 wt.% SiO 2 and Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratio in the range of, with high total REE, high LREE/HREE ratios and lack of Eu anomalies, broadly corresponding to tholeiitic composition. Based on low Y/Nb (as low as 0.4, and less than 1.2), enrichment in LILE and HFSE, and uniform Nb-enrichment patterns in spider diagram for the quartz syenitic porphyry, together with the geochemical patterns of the diabases, this biomodal association is interpreted to be derived from a mantle source and formed under typical within-plate environment. The quartz syenitic porphyry and diabase have Daly gap of 46 wt.%–67 wt.% in SiO 2, which is explained through formation under bimodal rifting. The quartz syenitic dyke probably formed during Early Permian (277 Ma) and has geochemical affinity with the Xiaohaizi syenitic body. We propose that magmas sourced from the mantle intruded into middle–upper crust and were emplaced as dykes, which indicate large-scale extension during the Permian in Tarim Basin. The bimodal dyke has genetic affinity with the huge volume of Permian basalts and igneous rocks (248–292 Ma) that occur in the Tarim Basin. The magmatism manifests the culmination of the major thermal event in the Tarim Basin.

Geodynamics of the Riphean stage in the evolution of the northern passive margin of the East European Craton

The nearly parallel northwest-trending Onega-Kandalaksha, Kerets-Leshukonsky, and Barents paleorift zones located in the northeastern part of the East European Platform are interpreted as a common structural assemblage that was formed in the Middle-Late Riphean as a result of horizontal extension of the continental margin. Therefore, it is reasonable to combine these paleorift structural features into the common White Sea Rift System instead of subdividing them into two or more systems as done previously. The White Sea Rift System originated owing to the breakup of the ancient Paleopangea supercontinent 1300–1240 Ma ago. The latter event occurred as a result of the divergence of the Baltia and Laurentia continental plates that most probably was caused by mantle spreading within the hot equatorial belt of the Earth. The diffuse rifting of that time occurred in the form of near-parallel rifts developing progressively from the inner part of the continental plate toward its margin. A pericratonic sedimentary basin eventually formed at the passive margin of Baltia as a system of roughly parallel rift zones. The geologic and geophysical data show that the passive margin of the East European Platform formed in the Riphean, a phenomenon that corresponds with a model of large-scale extension of the lithosphere after the stage of early ocean-floor spreading. In the course of this process, the brittle upper crust was detached from the ductile lower crust. The geodynamic regime of the Riphean passive margin of the East European Platform probably was similar to the regime of the present-day Atlantic-type passive margins. The White Sea Rift System differs from the transverse Mid-Russian Paleorift System both in origin and age. The Mid-Russian Paleorift System is considered to have formed in the Late Riphean as a result of transtension along a mobile zone in the ancient basement. The lithosphere of northeastern Fennoscandia has experienced horizontal extension since the Middle Riphean, a phenomenon that is closely related to the evolution of the White Sea Rift System, i.e., to the formation of the passive margin of the Baltia continent.

The Svecofennian orogen: a collage of microcontinents and island arcs

Abstract Based on an integrated study of geological and geophysical data, a tectonic model for the Palaeoproterozoic evolution of the Svecofennian orogen within the Fennoscandian Shield at the northwestern corner of the East European Craton is proposed. The Svecofennian orogen is suggested to have formed during five, partly overlapping, orogenies: Lapland-Savo, Lapland-Kola, Fennian, Nordic and Svecobaltic. The Svecofennian orogen evolved in four major stages, involving microcontinent accretion (1.92-1.88 Ga), large-scale extension of the accreted crust (1.87-1.84 Ga), continent-continent collision (1.87-1.79 Ga) and finally gravitational collapse (1.79 and 1.77 Ga). The stages partly overlapped in time and space, as different processes operated simultaneously in different parts of the plates. In the Lapland-Savo and Fennian orogenies, microcontinents (suspect terranes) and island arcs were accreted to the Karelian microcontinent, which itself was accreting to Laurentia in the Lapland-Kola orogeny. The formation of the Svecofennian orogen was finalized in two continental collisions producing the Nordic orogen in the west (Fennoscandia-Amazonia) and Svecobaltic orogen in the SSW (Fennoscandia- Sarmatia). The collisions were immediately followed by gravitational collapse.

Late Cenozoic extension in SW Bulgaria: a synthesis

Abstract Southwest Bulgaria forms the northern margin of the Aegean extensional province. Since the Early Pliocene ( c. 4 Ma), this region has accommodated southward or SSE extension at several millimetres per year, superimposed on c. 400 m of post-Early Pliocene regional uplift. This sense of deformation superseded earlier extension, oriented ENE-WSW, which is estimated to have begun in the early Late Miocene ( c. 10–9 Ma) and lasted until c. 4 Ma. The regional topography is dominated by NNW-SSE-striking grabens and normal fault escarpments, relics from this time. Normal faults that are now active cut across these older structures, although in some localities normal faults that were oriented obliquely to the earlier extension have remained active, also oblique to the modern extension sense. It is suggested that this present phase of extension relates to the modern sense of deformation throughout the Aegean region and to the modern geometry of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ), which is independently inferred to have existed since c. 4 Ma. The earlier ENE-WSW extension is inferred to have involved two phases, the first predating the NAFZ and the second synkinematic with its initial phase of slip during c. 7–4 Ma, when its geometry and the overall sense of deformation in the Aegean region were different from at present. Some previous studies have inferred that SW Bulgaria experienced large-scale extension on low-angle normal faults in the Mid-Miocene or earlier. However, the limited evidence in support of this view is open to other interpretations, and after due consideration can be discounted.

The effect of internal and external factors on bovine embryo transfer results in a tropical environment

The objectives of this work were to determine the effect of external (synchronization methods, month, embryo origin and farm effects) and internal factors (age and size of CL, embryo development and quality score, synchronization methods, age of recipient, quality of transfer and reuse of recipients) on a commercial embryo transfer program in a tropical environment. In the program 1466 Holstein–Friesian purchased embryos were implanted to zebu/European crossbred recipients under field conditions. There were 502 pregnancies detected in this large-scale extension programme. Synchronization methods, month, embryo origin, and farm effects were found to have affected the success rate of embryo transfer. Due to the hot climate and large distances between recipient farms, seasonal effects, reused recipient pregnancy results and the effect of embryo development stage differed from previously reported results. Investigation by ultrasonograph showed that embryo loss occurred before 35 days of pregnancy. Under field conditions, routine fetal sexing resulted in <5% misidentification. In conclusion, under tropical conditions external factors have a major influence on the results of pregnancy from embryo transfer.

Crustal structure of the Lofoten–Vesterålen continental margin, off Norway

By compiling wide-angle seismic velocity profiles along the ∼400-km-long Lofoten–Vesterålen continental margin off Norway, and integrating them with an extensive seismic reflection data set and crustal-scale two-dimensional gravity modelling, we outline the crustal margin structure. The structure is illustrated by across-margin regional transects and by contour maps of depth to Moho, thickness of the crystalline crust, and thickness of the 7+ km/s lower crustal body. The data reveal a normal thickness oceanic crust seaward of anomaly 23 and an increase in thickness towards the continent–ocean boundary associated with breakup magmatism. The southern boundary of the Lofoten–Vesterålen margin, the Bivrost Fracture Zone and its landward prolongation, appears as a major across-margin magmatic and structural crustal feature that governed the evolution of the margin. In particular, a steeply dipping and relatively narrow, 10–40-km-wide, Moho-gradient zone exists within a continent–ocean transition, which decreases in width northward along the Lofoten–Vesterålen margin. To the south, the zone continues along the Vøring margin, however it is offset 70–80 km to the northwest along the Bivrost Fracture Zone/Lineament. Here, the Moho-gradient zone corresponds to a distinct, ∼25-km-wide, zone of rapid landward increase in crustal thickness that defines the transition between the Lofoten platform and the Vøring Basin. The continental crust on the Lofoten–Vesterålen margin reaches a thickness of ∼26 km and appears to have experienced only moderate extension, contrasting with the greatly extended crust in the Vøring Basin farther south. There are also distinct differences between the Lofoten and Vesterålen margin segments as revealed by changes in structural style and crustal thickness as well as in the extent of elongate potential-field anomalies. These changes may be related to transfer zones. Gravity modelling shows that the prominent belt of shelf-edge gravity anomalies results from a shallow basement structural relief, while the elongate Lofoten Islands belt requires increased lower crustal densities along the entire area of crustal thinning beneath the islands. Furthermore, gravity modelling offers a robust diagnostic tool for the existence of the lower crustal body. From modelling results and previous studies on- and off-shore mid-Norway, we postulate that the development of a core complex in the middle to lower crust in the Lofoten Islands region, which has been exhumed along detachments during large-scale extension, brought high-grade, lower crustal rocks, possibly including accreted decompressional melts, to shallower levels.

Backarc extension and collision: an experimental approach to the tectonics of Asia

SUMMARY The deformation of the eastern Asian lithosphere during the first part of the India‐Asia collision was dominated by subduction-related extension interacting with far effects of the collision. In order to investigate the role of large-scale extension in collision tectonics, we performed analogue experiments of indentation with a model of lithosphere subjected to extension. We used a three-layer rheological model of continental lithosphere resting upon an asthenosphere of low viscosity and strained along its southern boundary by a rigid indenter progressing northward. The lithosphere model was scaled to be gravitationally unstable and to spread under its own weight, so that extension occurred in the whole model. The eastern boundary was free or weakly confined and always allowed eastward spreading of the model. We studied the pattern of deformation for different boundary conditions. The experimental pattern of deformation includes a thickened zone in front of the indenter, a major northeast-trending left-lateral shear zone starting from the northwest corner of the indenter, antithetic north‐south right-lateral shear zones more or less developed to the east of the indenter, and a purely extensional domain in the southeastern part of the model. In this domain, graben opening is driven by gravitational spreading, whereas it is driven by gravitational spreading and indentation in the northeastern part where grabens opened along strike-slip faults. The results are compared with the OligoMiocene deformation pattern of Asia consecutive to the collision of India. Our experiments bring a physical basis to models which favour distributed deformation within a slowly extruded wide region extending from the Baikal Rift to the Okhotsk Sea and to southeast Asia and Indonesia. In this large domain, the opening of backarc basins (Japan Sea, Okinawa Trough, South China Sea) and continental grabens (North China grabens) have been associated with approximately north‐south-trending right-lateral strike-slip faults, which accommodated the northward penetration of India into Eurasia.

Numerical modelling of a mantle plume: the plume head–lithosphere interaction in the formation of an oceanic large igneous province

The thermomechanical processes associated with formation of large igneous provinces (LIPs) remain poorly understood owing to fundamental difficulties in simulating plume–lithosphere interactions in current numerical models. These models, which aim to simulate the rise of mantle plume and the spread of plume head material, imply a mechanically over-simplified lithosphere and, commonly, a flat lithosphere (zero vertical displacement) as the upper boundary condition. We propose a new numerical model, derived from lithospheric-scale models. It has a high numerical resolution in the lithospheric domain and explicitly accounts for: (1) free upper surface boundary condition, (2) elastic–plastic–ductile lithospheric rheology, including surface faulting, and (3) vertical strength variations in the lithosphere. We study the final stages of plume ascent and we focus on surface and lithospheric evolution and intra-plate strain localisations. The experiments predict that the first surface elevation occurs in less than 0.2 Ma after plume initiation at 400 km depth. Variation of rheological parameters results in different surface elevations (500–2500 m), ascent (2–10 m/yr) and base plate strain rates (10 −12–10 −15 s −1). Fast (0.2–0.3 m/yr) plume head flattening starts at the moment when the plume head reaches the base of the lithosphere. It leads to large-scale extension and deep normal faulting at the centre of the plateau, and to strong thermomechanical erosion at its base. The erosion is maximal not under the plume centre (as was predicted before), but in two large bordering zones. Our study locally is the igneous province of the Caribbean plate where the pre-existing (Farallon) lithosphere has been affected by the Galapagos hotspot activity that generated thermal perturbations and crustal thickening with two main episodes of volcanism and underplating.

Heeze, The Netherlands: Epilepsiecentrum Kempenhaeghe: Kempenhaeghe Epilepsy Centre

Heeze, The Netherlands: Epilepsiecentrum Kempenhaeghe: Kempenhaeghe Epilepsy Centre

Caenorhabditis elegans: how good a model for veterinary parasites?

The organism about which most is known on a molecular level is a nematode, the free-living organism Caenorhabditis elegans. This organism has served as a reasonable model for the discovery of anthelmintic drugs and for research on the mechanism of action of anthelmintics. Useful information on mechanisms of anthelmintic resistance has also been obtained from studies on C. elegans. Unfortunately, there has not been a large-scale extension of genetic techniques developed in C. elegans to research on parasitic species of veterinary (or human) parasites. Much can be learned about the essentials of nematode biology by studying C. elegans, but discovering the basic biology of nematode parasitism can only be gained through comparative studies on multiple parasitic species.

Growing folds and sedimentation of the Gosau Group, Muttekopf, Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria

Analysis of the three-dimensional geometry of Upper Cretaceous clastics in the Muttekopf area (Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria) indicate fold and fault structures active during deposition. Coniacian continental to neritic sedimentation (Lower Gosau Subgroup) was contemporaneous with displacements on NW-trending faults and minor folding along NE-trending axes. From the Santonian onwards (sedimentation of the deep-marine Upper Gosau Subgroup) the NW-trending faults were sealed and large folds with WSW-trending axes developed. The direction of contraction changed to N-S after the end of Gosau deposition in the Danian (Paleocene). Synorogenic sedimentation patterns indicate continuous contraction from the Coniacian to the Late Maastrichtian/?Danian. Therefore, large-scale extension as observed in the central part of the Eastern Alps cannot be documented in the western parts of the Northern Calcareous Alps. A combination of subduction tectonic erosion for the frontal parts and gravitational adjustment of an unstable orogen after nappe stacking for the internal parts possibly accounts for the different development of Gosau basins in the frontal and trailing regions of the Austroalpine wedge.

Post-collisional orogen-parallel large-scale extension in the Eastern Alps

Large-scale extension affected the Eastern Alps during post-collisional lateral tectonic extrusion in Early and Middle Miocene times. The Tauern window was mainly tectonically exhumed by the 160-km pullapart of the rigidly behaving Austroalpine basement blocks forming the tectonic lid of the Penninic contents of the window. An evaluation of the syn-extrusion fault pattern reveals displacements of several tens of kilometers along the low-angle extensional shear zones at the western and eastern margins of the window, and along the important strike-slip fault zones north and south of the window. Large-scale shear is reflected by discontinuities in mineral cooling patterns across important shear zones. The cooling histories of the tectonic blocks show that the window boundaries during exhumation coincide only partly with the classical boundaries of the window defined by thrust units. Reconstruction of the exhumation history shows an asymmetric evolution of the Tauern window. We argue that the eastern and western low-angle extensional shear zones formed in sequence, which is reflected by different evolutions of the fragmentation and uplift history of the Austraolpine tectonic blocks to the east and west of the window. In the Central and Eastern Alps, three structural domes, the Lepontin dome in the Central Alps and the Tauern and Rechnitz domes in the Eastern Alps, were formed by large-scale extension in Miocene times. Total E–W stretch amounts to more than 300 km and results in >70% extension. We propose that the Central and Eastern Alps are part of an extensional province that also includes the Pannonian basin and has a counterpart, separated by the Moesian indenter, in the Rhodope Mountains, the Aegean Sea and the Menderes Massif in Asia Minor. In these regions a number of mainly tectonically exhumed domes or deep sedimentary basins formed by Miocene large-scale extension.