The influence of Mesozoic palaeogeography on the variations in structural style along the front of the Albanide thrust-and-fold belt

Andrea Argnani(*)
(*) Istituto di Scienze Marine - Bologna, CNR; Via Gobetti, 101 - 40129 Bologna, Italy; tel. 051-6398886; E-mail: andrea.argnani@ismar.cnr.it

The front of the W-verging Albanide fold-and-thrust belt and its adjacent foreland have been investigated using a grid of seismic reflection profiles, purposely acquired in the Southern Adriatic Sea. This convergent margin is part of the continental collision that extends from former Yugoslavia to North-Western Greece. At the front of the Albanides, both the structural style of the external part of the fold-and-thrust belt, and the evolution of the related foredeep basin, are strongly controlled by the nature of the Mesozoic units that are progressively accreted to the belt, namely the Apulian Platform and its adjacent deep-water basins. Where a thick carbonate platform is accreted (souther Albania) the frontal mountain range presents a high topography, whereas the foredeep basin is relatively shallow. On the other hand, where the basinal domain is accreted (northern Albania), the topography of the fold-and-thrust belt is subdue, whereas the foredeep basin is very deep.

Albanides; southern Adriatic basin, thrust front, foredeep basin, tectonics.