This thesis investigates a critical part of the Tethyan orogenic system in northern Greece and, based on new stratigraphic, structural, sedimentological and geochemical data, a new tectonic model for the area is proposed. The main unit investigated is the Païkon Massif which is situated centrally within the Vardar/Axios zone of the Internal Hellenides, which is part of the Alpine-Himalayan belt. The area is bounded to the west and east by ophiolitic units of the Almopias (western Vardar/Axios) and Peonias (eastern Vardar/Axios) subzones, respectively. During the break-up of the northern margin of Gondwana in the Permo-Triassic, the Païkon Massif formed the western margin of the Serbo-Macedonian continental unit, where a deep-water mixed carbonate-clastic slope succession (the Gandatch Formation) accumulated. At this time the Serbo-Macedonian zone was bordered to the west by the Triassic-Jurassic Almopias Ocean. Inferred onset of eastward subduction of the Almopias Ocean beneath the western margin of Serbo-Macedonia (Middle Jurassic) led to the eruption of Island Arc Tholeiites, which are basic to intermediate in composition at their base and become progressively more acidic upwards. A relatively wide Almopias Ocean is envisaged. Back-arc spreading is believed to have generated the Guevgueli back-arc basin (Peonias subzone) in the late-Middle to Late Jurassic, separating the Païkon Massif from its parent continent, leaving a remnant arc in its wake (the Chortiatis Group of the Circum-Rhodope zone). Continued subduction culminated in collision of the Pelagonian continental unit with the southern margin of Eurasia. Regional contractional (Eohellenic) deformation ensued and emplaced the Guevgueli Ophiolite westward onto the Païkon Massif. Deep burial of the Païkon Massif at this time is recorded by blueschist to upper greenschist facies mineral assemblages and pervasive ductile folding and fabric development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:642084 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Brown, Sally A. M. |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/12103 |
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