Introduction to the Tectonic Evolution of the Southeast Carpathians

Abstract

The Southeast (SE) Carpathians, together with the larger area of the Ciomadul (Csomád) volcano, is part of the curved Carpathian Mountain chain and orogenic system that has evolved since the Triassic and presently forms a double 180° loop from Vienna in Austria to Sofia in Bulgaria. The mechanisms of forming such an arcuate mountain chain have puzzled researchers for generations. Furthermore, the way in which rocks are brought from depth and exposed at the surface in mountain chains, i.e., exhumation, together with other processes such as associated magmatism, has been a constant topic of tectonic studies for decades. In the area of the SE Carpathians, a marked shift in the tectonic style in the last 8 million years has resulted in a gradual change in magmatism that was ultimately responsible for the most recent volcanic phase (c. 1 Ma–30 ka) at the chain-ending Ciomadul volcano.