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Geologisches Institut, Universitat Karlsruhe, Kaiserstr. 12, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Institute of Geodynamics bSabba S. StefanescuQ, 19-21, Jean-Louis Calderon Str., RO-70201 Bucharest 37, Romania
Received 28 November 2003; received in revised form 30 September 2004; accepted 19 October 2004
Available online 19 September 2005
Abstract
Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) convergence created the fold and thrust belt of the Eastern Carpathians of Romania, which
subsequently experienced post-collisional crustal deformation combined with calc-alkaline and alkalic-basaltic volcanism in
late MioceneQuaternary time. This deformation led to the rise of the CalimaniGurghiuHarghita volcanic mountains and to
the subsidence of the NS-oriented intramontane Borsec/BilborGheorgheniCiuc and Brasov pull-apart basins, and the Eoriented monocline-related Fagaras basin. The regional drainage network is the composite of:
(1) Older E-, SE- and S-flowing rivers, which cross the Carpathians, radiate towards the foreland and were probably
established during the Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) collision event.
(2) A more recent drainage system related to the contemporaneous development of the volcanoes and intramontaneous
basins, which generally drains westward into the Transylvanian Basin since late Miocene time and has been capturing the
older river system.
The older river drainage system has also been modified by Late PlioceneQuaternary folding, thrusting and monoclinal
tilting along the Pericarpathian orogenic front and by reactivated transverse high angle basement faults, which cross the Eastern
Carpathian foreland.
D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Neotectonics; Volcanism; River drainage; East Carpathians; Foreland
1. Introduction
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: Werner.Fielitz@bio-geo.uni-karlsruhe.de
(W. Fielitz), seghedi@geodin.ro (I. Seghedi).
0040-1951/$ - see front matter D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2004.10.018
112
2. Geological setting
The Eastern Carpathians are part of the Alpine
Carpathian orogenic belt, which resulted from the
convergence and collision of several microplates
with the Eurasian plate during closure of the Tethys
Ocean (Sandulescu, 1984; Csontos, 1995; Stampfli et
al., 1998; Neugebauer et al., 2001). Several tectonic
units have been accreted in the Carpathian area (Fig.
1). The Outer Carpathians or Moldavides on the east
are part of the European margin (Sandulescu, 1988;
see Fig. 1 for location). Their convergence and the
Fig. 1. Geological sketch map of the Eastern and Southern Carpathians of Romania and surrounding areas with major river courses and the first
order drainage divide of the Carpathians (modified after Sandulescu et al., 1978; Sandulescu, 1984; Ma_enco et al., 2003a).
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Fig. 2. Late MioceneQuaternary CalimaniGurghiuHarghita volcanic mountains and sedimentary deposits of the Bilbor/BorsecGheorgheni
Ciuc basins (according to Szakacs and Seghedi, 1995, with modifications). KAr ages of the volcanic rocks after Pecskay et al. (1995b). The
practically identical ages of volcanic rocks from the intramontane basins (e.g. Ciuc basin) and from the volcanic range on the west demonstrate a
contemporaneous development of basins and volcanic centers.
Closely linked to the eastern margin of this volcanic chain is the GheorgheniCiuc basin system,
which also developed unconformably on top of the
Eastern Carpathian nappes (Fig. 2). The composite
basin consists of four separate graben structures,
which from N to S are the small Bilbor/Borsec
basin (Pion and Istocescu, 1965; Bandrabur et al.,
1990), the Gheorgheni, the upper Ciuc and the lower
Ciuc grabens (Sandulescu, 1984). The basin fill of
ca. 200 m in the Bilbor/Borsec basins, 1000 m in the
Gheorgheni Basin and 800 m in the Ciuc Basins, is
made up mainly of fluviallacustrine clastic deposits
and coal, but also includes important volcano-sedi-
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Fig. 3. Evolution of Late Miocene (10.56.5 Ma) volcanic centers of the Calimani and northern Gurghiu volcanic mountains (according to
Szakacs and Seghedi, 1996, with modifications; for location see Fig. 2). Areas of active volcanic processes are represented by gray shadings for
each time interval and arrows show the assumed dispersion directions of the volcaniclastics. A) Early intrusions (EI), Rusca-Tihu (RTV) and
Jirca (J) volcano. B) Rusca-Tihu debris avalanche and Jirca volcano; thick cross indicates an area of tectonic uplift. C) Rusca-Tihu and FancelLapusna (FL) volcano. D) Calimani caldera (CC) volcano, Fancel-Lapusna volcaniclastic formation and Bacta (B) dome complex. Volcanic
edifices appear to have developed over faults and fracture zones (shown as thick black lines), which changed their orientation through time, but
evolved into a broad transtensional fault zone.
116
Fig. 4. Faults and fracture zones in the Mures valley between Topli_a and Rastoli_a at the boundary between the Calimani Mountains in the N
and the Gurghiu Mountains in the S (for location see Fig. 2). Geology according to Szakacs and Seghedi (1996). The data summarize
measurements from different outcrops and are also combined in stereonet diagrams. Two adjacent fault zones seem to exist between Lunca
Bradului and Stanceni: a western one with NNWSSE striking transtensional normal faults and an eastern one with NNESSW striking strikeslip faults, both postdating the Late Miocene (87 Ma) volcaniclastic deposits.
ing a contemporaneous origin of basins and volcanoes. Although poorly documented, this relationship
should hold for the central and northern parts of this
basin system as well; we thus infer an approximate
Fig. 5. Field views of Late Miocene to Quaternary structures in the Eastern Carpathian bend area. (A) The nearly horizontal plain in the
foreground is the surface of the late Early Miocene to Quaternary easternmost Brasov Basin (Targu Secuiesc (Bre_cu) Basin) near Covasna. In
the background are the Vrancea Mountains, which are made up of Paleogene Flysch nappes emplaced during the Sarmatian (Middle Miocene).
(B) W-dipping normal faults in volcaniclastic deposits (Fancel-Lapusna Formation) of the late Miocene Gurghiu volcanic complex and exposed
in the Mures valley east of Neagra. (C) High-angle faults in volcaniclastic deposits (Fancel-Lapusna Formation) of the Late Miocene Gurghiu
volcanic complex and exposed in the Mures valley west of Lunca Bradului. (D) Fault plane with shallow S-plunging striations in volcaniclastic
deposits (Rusca-Tihu Formation) of the late Miocene Calimani Volcanic complex and exposed in the Mures valley west of Stanceni. (E) Strikeslip faults in volcaniclastic deposits (Fancel-Lapusna Formation) of the Late Miocene Gurghiu Volcanic complex and exposed in the Mures
valley east of Neagra. (F) Late Middle Miocene (Late Sarmatian) limestones from the southern hinge of the ENEWSW trending Pericarpathian
front anticline west of Buzau. Late Pliocene to Earliest Pleistocene beds are also folded near the eastern termination of this anticline. (G) Early
Pleistocene deposits (Candesti Formation) tilted eastward towards the foreland along the Pericarpathian Front and uplifted about 730 m at the
Putna river northwest of Focsani. The Putna river is incised into gently eastward dipping Pleistocene fluvial terraces (in the foreground with
village). The river is diverted around the hill, whose crest forms a small-scale local divide in the regional river system.
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Fig. 6. Fault and fracture pattern, which possibly has governed the evolution of Late MioceneQuaternary volcanism and basinal subsidence
along a transtensional corridor in the CGH-mountain region. The volcanic centers are concentrated along the western margin of this corridor.
119
Fig. 7. Interpretative map of post-Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) structures of the Eastern Carpathian bend area. Late MioceneQuaternary
kinematics possibly also localized the centers of Late PlioceneQuaternary alkalic-basaltic volcanic activity in the Persani Mountains along the
westernmost normal fault of the Brasov basin system.
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Fig. 9. Topography across the main drainage divide of the Carpathians in the vicinity of the Buzau (A) and Prahova (B) valleys (for location see
Fig. 8). The Middle Miocene Buzau and Prahova drainage (arrows 2) is being captured by the newly established Late MioceneQuaternary
intramontane drainage represented by the Raul Negru and Timis drainage (arrows 3). The areas below 600 m in A and below 800 m in B are part
of the Brasov basin system. The BarbatulHomos tributaries of the Buzau river represent probably the relics of the Middle Miocene Buzau
Valley and the hook of the present Buzau river source area between Intorsura Buzaului and Vama is a former tributary of it. The N-directed
drainage of the source area tributaries suggests an even older drainage (arrow 1), for which however no additional proves exists up to now. The
older Prahova valley forms a hanging valley above the younger and steeper Timis valley. The tributaries of the Timis river are actively capturing
the tributaries of the Prahova river east and west of Predeal. Topographic profiles parallel to the river courses of the Prahova and Buzau valleys
(C) show the capture of the Middle Miocene drainage by the topographically deeper intramontane drainage in the Late MioceneQuaternary
(arrows indicate the actual divide).
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Fig. 10. Late Pliocene to Pleistocene structures of the Eastern Carpathian bend area and its foreland. The basement structures are based on the
interpretation of crustal 3-D-tomography data by Landes et al. (2004). The foldthrust structures and major active folds in the foreland area
(after Ma_enco et al., 2003a) die out along the Intramoesian Fault area. Folding and thrusting are replaced by frontal monoclinal tilting along the
western edge of the Focsani basin until the Trotus Fault.
126
Fig. 12. Details of Fig. 11 from the frontal parts of the east Carpathian orogen and the southern foreland areas for A) Punta river, B) Buzau, C)
Ialomi_a and Dambovi_a rivers. Broken lines are local drainage divides.
sequence thrusting of the basement rocks. The exhumation is also evident in numerous levels of uplifted
fluvial terraces (Fig. 5G), the highest of which are
reported at 250 m above the actual thalweg of the
Putna river (Necea et al., 2005).
In the foreland basin and in the Focsani basin the
platform is covered by thick mostly fluviatile and
lacustrine sediments thinning out to the east and to
the south (Ma_enco et al., 2003a). In the Focsani
basin the sediments deposited since 12.5 Ma are locally
more than 8000 m thick. Maximum subsidence
occurred between 12.5 and 11 Ma (latest Middle Miocene/ early Late Miocene), while in the foreland south
and southwest of the Eastern Carpathian bend area
these sediments are at most only 46 km thick
(Ma_enco et al., 2003a, Tarapoanca et al., 2003).
Ongoing active tectonic deformation is recognized
as vertical crustal movements through geodetic measurements (Popescu and Draguescu, 1986; Zugravescu
and Polonic, 1997; Radulescu et al., 1998; Zugravescu
et al., 1998). Actual crustal seismicity in the upper 40
km scatters widely and is characterized by moderate
magnitude (M w V 5.6) earthquakes. Where the localization of the hypocenters is precise enough, it can be
related to crustal structures (Enescu et al., 1996;
127
Fig. 13. River channel characteristics (meandering, braided reaches) of the rivers in the Eastern Carpathian foreland. PlioceneQuaternary
tectonic activities along the Pericarpathian Front and in the foreland have established local drainage divides and control the character of the river
channels.
128
Fig. 14. River channel characteristics along the Putna and Susi_a valleys north of Focsani. Here the transition between braided and meandering
reaches is related to an abrupt change in the orientation and gradient of the channels. The approximately NS trending discontinuity coincides
roughly with the frontal monocline of the Eastern Carpathians but might also be an active fault.
trasting lithology between the underlying Subcarpathian nappe and the steeply dipping uppermost
Sarmatian to Pliocene cover rocks. The eastern divide
runs along an escarpment up to 730 m high made of
the frontal erosional scarp slope of uplifted Early
Pleistocene conglomerate beds (Candesti formation),
which rest unconformably on Late Pliocene rocks and
form a moderately eastward dipping monocline (Figs.
5G and 12A). This local divide coincides also with
small local river diversions and must be of Middle
Pleistocene age, because Pleistocene to Holocene
fluvial terraces along the rivers are unconformable
to the Early Pleistocene beds and only slightly
uplifted and inclined toward the east (Necea et al.,
2005). West of the western local divide the upper
reaches of the Putna drainage show a concentric network (Fig. 12A) focussed on the Vrancea tectonic
window (Fig. 10).
From south of Focsani towards the east all rivers
south of the Putna river turn northeastward before
they drain into the Siret river (Fig. 11). The turning
point coincides with a change from predominantly
braided river channels in the west to predominantly
and often extremely meandering river channels in the
east (Figs. 13 and 14). The reason for this is probably
Fig. 15. Schematic section across the Eastern Carpathian bend area
illustrating the relationship between emplacement and uplift of
Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) nappes, Late MioceneQuaternary
volcanism, intramontane sinistral transtensional basin development,
Late PlioceneQuaternary contractional deformation and monoclinal
tilting near the Pericarpathian front, Quaternary faulting in the foreland, and contemporaneous evolution of the drainage system.
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upper Ciuc basin) and 8.5 Ma ( = beginning of subsidence in the Brasov basin; Ciulavu et al., 2000). An
age of 8 Ma is probably the most realistic date, since at
this time a topographically effective fluvial corridor
should have been fully established by the initial subsidence of the GheorgheniCiucBrasov basins.
Before the construction of the volcanic mountains
and the inner Carpathian basins the main drainage
divide probably followed the main nappe structures
and should therefore be situated to the west of todays
divide (Fig. 15). Major local divides like the divide
across the Brasov basin near Brasov to Miercurea Ciuc
and the divide between the Brasov basins and the
Fagaras depression (Fig. 8), today interrupted by the
intramontane basins, could be relicts of this divide. In
the north the old divide could be close to the actual one
between Miercurea Ciuc and Topli_a, since it parallels
Carpathian structures in this area and is in comparable
structural position to that proposed for the Brasov area.
The drainage west of the palaeo-divide is still present
and would be located in the Transylvanian Basin system west of the CGH mountains (i.e. Somes and Mures
drainages; Figs. 1, 8 and 15). The 118 Ma old river
system drained into and possibly terminated to west in
the Transylvanian Basin in big lakes or shallow marginal seas and to the east and south in the subsiding
foreland and Focsani basins, where big lakes dominated during the periods of humide climatic conditions
(Jipa, 1997). The drainage to and the connection of the
Danube with the Black Sea were probably not established until the late Quaternary (Panin et al., 1999).
A more active younger river system that evolved
from the older drainage system has been influenced by
the drainage in and around the intramontane basins
(GheorgheniCiuc and Brasov basin system; Figs. 8
and 15). Because the CGH volcanic mountains and the
GheorgheniCiuc basin system are here considered as
part of the same sinistral transtensional fault zone
propagating from NNW to SSE the volcanic mountains
influenced the drainage as well (Fig. 7). The new river
system contours the volcanic chain, captures part of the
older 108 Ma river system (Fig. 9) and thus has been
active since about 8 Ma, when the topographically
effective GheorgheniCiucBrasov basin corridor
was established. As soon as the rivers enter the Transylvanian Basin they have a generally W- to WSWtrend, probably reflecting the trend of the older river
system.
131
Table 1
Correlation between tectonic deformation, intramontane basin generation, volcanic activity and river drainage evolution in the Eastern
Carpathian bend area during the Middle Miocene to Quaternary
fluvial terraces
alkalic-basaltic Persani
Calimani
calc-alkaline
River adaptations
S-Harghita
N-Harghita
Gurghiu
Fagaras
Bilbor/Borsec
15
E.
Middle
Miocene
10
Gheorgheni
lower Ciuc
upper Ciuc
Volcanism
uplift
Brasov
E.
Intramontaneous
basins
active TR, IM, PC faults
M.
Late
Pliocene
Pleistocene
L.
uplift
(apatite fission track + geodetic data)
Holocene
Foreland
uplift W-flanc Focsani basin
East/South Carpathians
(Bend area)
folding, thrusting + uplift
(frontal bend area)
Time
(Ma)
132
A very schematic section across the Eastern Carpathian bend area summarizes the relation between
the emplacement and uplift of the Middle Miocene
(Sarmatian) nappes, the Late Miocene to Quaternary
volcanism and intramontane sinistral transtensional
basins in the hinterland, the Late Pliocene to Quaternary contractional deformation and monoclinal tilting
near the Pericarpathian front, Quaternary faulting in
the foreland, and the contemporaneous evolution of
the Carpathian drainage system (Fig. 15). The chronology of tectonic activities, volcanism, major geomorphologic changes and river drainage evolution of the
area is recapitulated in Table 1.
The observed 108 Ma older drainage system is
very similar to typical drainages in orogens and associated foreland basins. Numerical modeling of the
interplay between these tectonic structures and the
river networks show radial drainage pattern from orogen to basin (foreland and hinterland) with the main
first order river circulating along strike, close to the
external limit of the foreland near the forebulge (Garcia-Castellanos, 2002). The main first order river
shows a strong asymmetry of its tributaries, which
originate mostly in the orogen and not in the forebuldge. This river, in our case the Danube river, is best
developed during oblique convergence in the foreland
area. The model suggests that the spatial organization
of this drainage is the result of the interplay between
the dynamics of fluvial deposition of the rivers entering the basin, flexural syn-tectonic tilting of the basin
and post-orogenic erosional rebound. In our case this
drainage pattern is still visible in the central Transylvanian Basin and many parts of the Carpathian foreland as well as in the drainage divides of the South
Carpathians and the East Carpathians north of the
Trotus river. Strong disturbance of this river network
in the other regions of the Eastern Carpathian bend
area, as described before, points however to a complex
ongoing post-collisional tectonic and volcanic activity,
which can no more be described by simple orogen/
foreland basin tectonics.
6. Conclusions
Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) convergence caused
the emplacement of the nappes in the foldthrust belt of
the Eastern Carpathian orogen of Romania. Post-colli-
Acknowledgements
The project was funded through the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Society) by
providing the funding for the Sonderforschungsbereich
461 (CRC 461) at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany: bStrong Earthquakes a Challenge for Geosciences and Civil EngineeringQ, which is greatly
acknowledged. The Institute of Geodynamics of the
Romanian Academy is also acknowledged. We also
want to thank D. Badescu, L. Ma_enco, M. Melinte, A.
Szakacs and Z. Pecskay, who contributed much to the
development of this paper with their discussions and
133
introduction to the Romanian geology. The constructive and careful review of a first draft of the paper by
G.H. Eisbacher is also greatly appreciated. D. GarciaCastellanos and an anonymous reviewer are thanked
for their comments, which helped to improve the paper.
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