Strain partitioning in a large intracontinental strike-slip system accommodating backarc-convex orocline formation: The Circum-Moesian Fault System of the Carpatho-Balkanides

Abstract

The evolution of oroclines is often driven by the interplay of subduction and indentation associated with complex patterns of deformation transfer from shortening to strike-slip and extension. We study the kinematics and mechanics of indentation in an orocline with a backarc-convex geometry, the European Carpatho-Balkanides Mountains. Within this orocline, the kinematic evolution of the Serbian Carpathians segment is less understood. The results demonstrate that the overall deformation was accommodated by the Circum-Moesian Fault System surrounding the Moesian indenter, where strain was partitioned in a complex network of coeval strike-slip, thrust and normal faults. This system represents one of the largest European intracontinental strike-slip deformation zones, with a northward-increasing accumulated 140 km dextral offset along previously known and newly found faults. These strike-slip faults transfer a significant part of their offset eastwards to thrusting in the Balkanides and westwards to orogen-parallel extension and the formation of intramontane basins. The correlation with paleogeographic and geodynamic reconstructions demonstrates that the overall formation of the fault system is driven by subduction of the Carpathian embayment, resulting in laterally variable amounts of translation and rotation associated with indentation of the Moesian Platform. The onset of Carpathian slab retreat and backarc extension at 20 Ma has dramatically increased the rates of dextral deformation from ~3.5 mm/yr to ~2 cm/yr, facilitated by the pull exerted by the retreating slab. Our study demonstrates that indentation requires a strain partitioning analysis that is adapted to the specificity of deformation mechanics and is, therefore, able to quantify the observed kinematic patterns.