Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.

225-251, 1996
Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain
0264-8172/96 $15.00 + 0.00
ELSEVIER

0264-8172(95)00045-3

Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans

(Bulgaria)

C. Doglioni*
Centro di Geodinamica, Universit~ della Basilicata, V. Anzio, 85100 Potenza, Italy

C. Busatta
Istituto di Geologia dell'Universita, V. le delle Scienze 80, 43100 Parma, Italy

G. Bolls, L. Marianini and M. Zanella

Edison Gas, V. Rosellini 17, 20124, Milan, Italy

Received 6 October 1994; revised 4 May 1995; accepted 24 May 1995

The Balkans are an E - W trending thrust belt mainly of Palaeogene age, generated by a left-lateral
transpression with maximum stress-oriented N30°E. The transpressive nature of the Balkans may
be deduced from the en echelon pattern of folds and thrusts which is due to oblique shortening
with respect to pre-existing Mesozoic E - W trending crustal anisotropies between the Moesia
Platform and the Balkans Basin. The front of the eastern Balkans is marked by the Chudnite
Skali-Ajtos thrust. During the Neogene and Quaternary the Balkans were inverted by right-
lateral transtensional tectonics which cross-cut and dismembered the thrust belt. The main
transtensional segment is the southern margin of the Balkans (e.g. the Emine Line). The steep
transtensional faults disconnected the thrust planes of the Balkans from the thrusts of the
Srednogorie to the south. Grabens are in general asymmetrical, with master faults dipping 80-40 °
south-westward and probably flattening into the middle crust. The structural evolution of the
Balkans may also be traced into the Black Sea, but the structural trends gradually change from
the E - W trend to a NW-SE strike, indicating pure Palaeogene compression and more recent
Neogene extension inverting and cross-cutting the compressive features. It is also interesting to
note that the Neogene tensional or transtensional inversion is not cylindrical; it exhibits
undulations of graben and transfer faults controlled by the pre-existing compressive fabric. The
eastern Balkans and their continuation in the Black Sea are morphologically and structurally
deeper and they plunge eastward and south-eastward towards the Black Sea. This is due both to
the deeper position of the Balkans d6collement planes in the Black Sea and to the thermal
subsidence along the Black Sea continental margin.

Keywords: Balkans; Palaeogene sx transpression; Neogene dx transtension

The geology of the Eastern Balkans has been extensively
investigated (e.g. Boncev, 1966; 1982; 1987; 1988;
Kanchev, 1971; Foose and Manheim, 1975; Gocev,
1976; 1991; Nachev, 1977; 1979; 1982; 1986; Andreev et
al., 1981; Catalov, 1985; 1987; 1988; Dobrev et al.,
1987; Dachev, 1988; Durand-Delga, 1988). Particularly
during the last decade, hydrocarbon exploration of the
offshore continuation of the belt into the Black Sea
generated a useful set of high quality seismic and well
data (Dachev et al., 1988; Finetti et al., 1988; Bokov
and Ognyanov, 1990).
Geodynamic framework
The geodynamics of Bulgaria (Hsti et al., 1977; Nachev
and Ivanov, 1980) are not yet fully understood. The
Balkans may be viewed as the back-thrust belt of the
Dinaric-Hellenic subduction (Boccaletti et al., 1974;
* Correspondence to: C. Doglioni
Doglioni, 1992). The belt formed at the southern
margin of the Moesia Platform (Figure 1), inverting
a Jurassic-Cretaceous basin. The thin crust of
this Mesozoic basin controlled the concentration of
the stress during the Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene
convergence. The Fore-Balkans are the shallow fore-
deep to the north of the thrust belt.
The last Neogene deformation in the eastern Balkans
has been of a tensional type and may be interpreted
in the context of the extension that occurred from
central Turkey to Greece with the opening of the
Aegean Sea. Part of the North Anatolian right-lateral
shear is apparently transferred towards the north across
the Tracia basin, at the southern margin of the Balkans.
The Cretaceous-Tertiary opening of the Black Sea
also influenced the tectonic evolution of the eastern
Balkans, both by extensional tectonics (mainly N - S
trending faults) and later (mainly Late Palaeogene-
Neogene) by thermal or tectonic subsidence which
tilted Eastern Bulgaria towards the east.

Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2 225

Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.
N
F•O•B
)(~O/~j-E
Figure 1 Location o f t h e m a i n f e a t u r e s a n d f i g u r e s d i s c u s s e d in t h e t e x t
Description of two onshore sections:
Ajtos Pass and the Black Sea coast
Two main cross-sections supplemented by new maps of
a few kilometres wide area (see Figure 1 for location)
illustrate the tectonic style of the Balkans. One section
runs along the coast of the Black Sea, from Emine
Cape in the south to the beach of Kanarata near
Goritza in the north. The other section runs more
inland and follows the Luda Kamcija valley, from Kitka
in the south to the Ajtos Pass in the north. The
southern part is located in the Burgas province. The
eastern Balkans are bounded to the south both
structurally and morphologically by the Emine Line, a
right-lateral transtensive fault active since the Late
Eocene. The northern boundary is provided by the
Chudnite Skali-Ajtos Pass thrust, the most advanced
outcropping thrust of the eastern Balkans. Along the
Ajtos section, the outcropping rocks are of an age
ranging between the Jurassic and the Late Eocene,
whereas those along the coast section range between
the Late Cretaceous and the Neogene (Figures 2
and 3).
Ajtos Section
The seismic line 165 (Figure 4) shows some very
important features along the area of the Ajtos Pass. In
the central-northern part a high angle southward
dipping fault displaces the deepest strong reflectors for
about two seconds (probably more than 4 km). This
huge deep offset is not fully accounted for by the
superficial transtensional fault, which may have a
vertical displacement of a couple of kilometres as a
maximum. This means that the deep displacement
could be related not only to the Neogene stretching,
but also to the Mesozoic (Jurassic-Cretaceous)
transtension. Probably the Neogene deformation
reactivated this crustal feature, one of the most
226 Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2
MOESIA PLATFORM Varna
KA Figs. 10 & 14
N
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important faults which bounded the transition between
the southern Moesia Platform and the Balkanic Basin
during the Mesozoic. The impressive deep faulting is
accompanied in the hanging wall to the south by a
rollover anticline which should be a growth fold, active
both during the Mesozoic and the Neogene. The 165
line also supports the notion that the Neogene tensional
or transtensional faults cross-cut the Palaeogene
N-vergent thrusts. The line is segmented in sectors
striking oblique-parallel and perpendicular to the
structures, so that it cannot be balanced in any way. In
particular, a thrust plane is evident in the central part of
the section, defined by 'southward' inclined reflectors
(hanging wall) lying over gently northward dipping
reflectors (footwall). However, this thrust plane should
be interpreted as a lateral ramp because the line strikes
almost parallel or oblique ( N W - S E ) to the structures.
The lateral ramp is in the footwall of the thrust and the
hanging wall is flat because the plane cuts the lower
stratigraphic section where it is parallel to the overlying
part.
The geology of the Ajtos region is marked by a few
N-vergent thrusts and some later right-lateral trans-
tensional faults which have cross-cut the thrust planes
(Figure 5). The thrusts are detached at the base or
within the Jurassic shales, as deduced from the rocks in
the hanging wall or in the core of the fault-propagation
folds. The most southern thrust involved sediments of
Early-Middle Eocene age, which are widely deformed
by a N l l 0 ° trending fault-propagation fold. The thrust
plane is later cross-cut by the Emine Line. More to the
north, a thick wedge of Late Eocene sediments is
bounded by a N90 ° trending transtensional fault, which
is steeply dipping and probably represents a growth
fault. This fault joins Eocene sediments in the southern
hanging wall with Jurassic-Cretaceous rocks of the
footwall. The same fault also cuts at depth the most
 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.
northern thrust which brings the Jurassic over the
Early-Middle Eocene (Figure 14). The fold in the
hanging wall of the overthrust trends N130 °, with its
axis plunging about 25 ° south-eastward. The footwall
syncline is N100 ° trending. The syncline has a periclinal
tip towards the E and its axis plunges 25 ° westward.
The most northern overthrust is certainly younger with
respect to the others because it cuts the conglomerates
of the Late Eocene. Along the coastal section, this
plane also involves the Oligocene. In the mapped area
the thrust undulates along a lateral ramp, with a right-
lateral transpressive component. The thrust plane
laterally ramps eastward into young sediments. In the
footwall of the thrust several minor N0-30 ° trending
left-lateral strike-slip faults have been observed. In the
footwall of the Chudnite Skali-Ajtos thrust, to the
north of Ajtos Pass, there is a wide anticline with
Lower Cretaceous rocks in its core. Platform sediments
of Palaeogene age thin towards the hinge of this
anticline, suggesting a growth of the structure during
sedimentation. The Chudnite Skali-Ajtos thrust is
younger with respect to the most external thrusts and
folds in the Ajtos area, along the coast and in the
offshore seismics. This out-of-sequence movement of
the thrust might have been controlled by the northern
obstacle to the propagation of the thrust due to the
Moesia Platform.
A few unconformities within the Kailaka Formation
(Maastrichtian) have been interpreted as induced by
syn-sedimentary tensional tectonics. The main angular
unconformity visible in the field has the Lower Jurassic
and the Lower Cretaceous below, and the Cenomanian
and the Santonian-Maastrichtian on top. This
unconformity is well outcropping WNW of Bilka,
where the Cenomanian is lying directly on the Jurassic.
At the southern limb of the anticline in the hanging wall
of the Chudnite Skali-Ajtos thrust, the sediments of
the Palaeocene and Eocene onlap the Late Cretaceous,
indicating the syn-sedimentary nature of the fold.
Within the Tranak syncline, to the north of the village
which is a few kilometres to the west of Bilka, the
Eocene clearly onlaps an erosion surface in the
Santonian sediments.
Coast section
Along the coast, several thrust planes crop out (Plates 1
and 2). In this section there are two main N-vergent
thrusts. The most southern one thrusts the Emine
Flysch (Maastrichtian) above the Early Eocene and it is
sutured by the Obzor Conglomerates of probable Late
Eocene age. The thrust developed a fault-propagation
fold, as indicated by the footwall syncline with the
southern reverse limb. The thrust is N100 ° trending and
crops out a few kilometres south of Obzor. The other
thrust runs along the Kanarata Valley and thrusts
Maastrichtian marls over the Oligocene to the north. It
appears to be sutured by Neogene Conglomerates
(Figure 6). The poor quality of the outcrops did
not allow careful mapping of the thrust plane. The
geometry of the fault has been interpreted on the basis
of a few dips and the log of the S 26 well. The field
observations are in contradiction to the well data as far
as the depth distribution of the conglomerates and their
age are concerned. At the surface, the conglomerates
are horizontal and are deposited above Oligocene
Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2
sediments with the boundary located at about 80 m
altitude. In the well, the conglomerates are located
at depth underneath the thrust. These deep con,
glomerates should therefore be different, probably
of Eocene origin. In our interpretation the last
compressive deformation is mainly Oligocene in age, in
conformity with the general migration of the belt. To
the south of the Chudnite Skali-Ajtos thrust there is a
system of minor thrusts (Plate 1). They show fault-
propagation folds and trend about Nl10-120 °. These
minor structures increase the apparent thickness of
the Bjala Formation, which should be (according to
well 54) 200 m in a regular section. We interpreted
those planes as a duplex because they branch in depth
at the d6collement of the Chudnite Skali-Ajtos thrust.
To the south of Sveti Atanas, the Gebesh Formation is
involved in a fault-propagation fold with several minor
features. These structures are N120-130 ° trending. The
variation in the angle of bedding and the observation
of a morphological step indicate the presence of a
thrust to the north of Obzor.
The southern limb of the Irakli or Emine syncline
(Plate 2) probably belongs to the fault-bend fold of a
thrust later cut by the Emine transtensional fault. This
limb shows several minor backthrusts and folds due to
flexural shear and flexural slip. The main directions
are N120 °. These features increase considerably the
apparent thickness of the Emine Flysch. Significant
syn-sedimentary extension or transtension has been
observed within the marls and limestone of the Late
Cretaceous Bjala sediments. The extension is evident
with several small sutured normal faults and it is also
suggested by several slumps. Minor syn-sedimentary
extensional tectonics are also recorded in the Gebesh
Formation. Small normal faults have been measured in
the Oligocene sediments of the Luda Kamcija. Along
the coast, the Late Eocene Conglomerates of Obzor
unconformably overlie the folded and eroded Early-
Middle Eocene sediments. The Miocene sediments also
onlap the Oligocene formations (Figure 6). The
Moesia Platform shows, on seismic lines, a southward
progradation and termination, pinching down below
the northern Balkans. This southern slope is in
turn onlapped by the northward advancing pelagic
sediments of the Balkans Basin.
Comparison between the two sections
The most evident difference between the Ajtos and the
coast sections is the overall increase in thickness of the
entire sedimentary package in the eastern area (Figure
6). However, also within each section there are
dramatic changes in thickness and facies of the
sedimentary cover, both Mesozoic and Tertiary. The
Ajtos section shows Tertiary platform facies and thin
thickness in the north, and basinal flysch deposits in the
south (Figure 5). Moreover, the Mesozoic in the north
is marked by the Moesia Platform facies and in the
south by thicker basinal sediments. Also in the coast
section there are strong facies transitions: for instance,
in the north the Cretaceous is composed of a marly
limestone sequence (e.g. the Bjala Formation),
whereas in the south it is composed of the Emine
Flysch, a thick volcanic sheet and unknown lower series
(Figures 2 and 3). The sedimentary cover is also thicker
in the south, due to Mesozoic E - W trending right-
227
Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Dogfioni et al.

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 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.

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M a r i n e and Petroleum Geology 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2 229

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Figure 4 Line d r a w i n g a n d g e o l o g i c a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e s e i s m i c line 165, close t o a n d p a r a l l e l t o t h e A j t o s s e c t i o n . See l o c a t i o n in

Figure 1

lateral transtensional tectonics. The two sections show at various levels in this succession. In its lower part,
that the shape of the thrust belt is very different due there are quartz arenitic turbidites associated with
to both the different locations and depths of the slump deposits (Tchoumatchenco et al., 1992). The
d6collement planes and the distances between the total thickness of this unit is about 900-1100 m. Black
ramps of the thrust planes. In the coast section the shales often serve as a basis for flat of many thrusts.
frontal ddcollements are deeper and more advanced; Above these black shales Late Jurassic(?) or Ceno-
this difference is controlled by the inherited Mesozoic manian sediments occur.
stratigraphic framework, e.g. thicker sediments to the
east and probably deeper location of the Jurassic black Late Jurassic sediments(?)
shales, seat of d6collements. The two sections are This unit overlies Lower-Middle Jurassic deposits with
poorly retrodeformable for several reasons, the most a transitional boundary and may be bounded at the top
important being that the Palaeogene shortening and by an unconformity of Cenomanian age. This unit
the Neogene stretching occurred with left-lateral trans- exhibits debris flow deposits with well rounded
pression and right-lateral transtensional components. carbonatic pebbles at various levels in the succession.
Only a complicated three-dimensional retrodeforma-
tion could attempt to 'balance' firstly the transtension
and then the transpression. Moreover, the existence Kamcija Formation (Valanginian-Barremian)
of several thickness and facies transitions of the This unit unconformably overlies Jurassic sediments.
sedimentary cover makes the retrodeformation too It is composed of bioturbated shelf muds with thick
speculative (Figure 7). sandy channelled storm layers. The lower part of the
succession is made of marly limestone. The total
thickness of this unit is 2600 m.
Stratigraphic setting of the Ajtos section
The following description deals with some informal Cenomanian Sandstone
lithostratigraphic units whose ages are based on the These sediments unconformably overlie the Early
literature. Cretaceous near Ajtos Pass, the Early Jurassic rocks
near Bilka and the Late Jurassic(?) to the south.
Flysch with olistostromes (Early-Middle Jurassic) Moreover, the Cenomanian is missing north of Ajtos
This is composed of structureless black shales with Pass, where the Santonian rests directly over the Early
many siderite concretions (Gautier, 1982). Huge Cretaceous. The lower portion of this unit is made of a
calcareous olistolits of Triassic and Lower Jurassic age conglomerate level with quartzite pebbles, followed
and debris flow deposits with carbonatic clasts of upward by sandstones, with minor channels and lateral
shallow water and matrix (Paskalev, 1991) are present accretion structures in the outcrop north of Daskotna.

230 Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2

 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.

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MPG13:2-E Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2 231

Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.
North-west of the Ajtos Pass, this formation consists
of fine bioturbated glauconitic sandstones with oblique
foresets and wave ripples. In the section between Bilka
and Dobromir, the bioturbated sandstones are eroded
by a major channel. The channel is filled with
sandstones with oblique foresets followed by thin
turbiditic deposits of medium-grained sandstone and
siltstone. The turbiditic deposits are subdivided in three
fining and thinning upward cycles. These deposits are
bioturbated and they contain Paleodictyon, a marker of
batial and abyssal depths.
Cenomanian- Turonian Flysch
This unit unconformably overlies Cenomanian
sediments. At the base a package of coarse to medium
sandstone with quartz pebbles occurs. At higher
levels in the succession there are fine-grained thin-
bedded turbidites and a few medium bedded strata with
quartz pebbles. The sandstone/pelite ratio is about
50-60%.
Interbedded limestones and marls
( Turonian- Senonian)
Limestone-marl couplets with even-parallel strati-
fication occur in this interval. Calcareous beds display
parallel laminations. Its maximum estimated thickness
is about 200 m in the zone near Bilka.
Asparuhovo Formation
(Santo nian- M aastrichtian )
This unit unconformably overlies both the Kamcija
Formation (Lower Cretaceous) and the Cenomanian
sandstones. It is composed of marly limestone with
poorly defined tabular beds.
Mezdra Formation (Maastrichtian)
These sediments unconformably overlie the Asparuhovo
Formation and consist of thin and nodular beds
of recrystallized bioclastic wackestone, with a high
percentage of chert nodules.
Kailaka Formation (Maastrichtian)
These sediments overlie the Mezdra Formation; the
lower boundary is marked by the sudden disappearance
of chert. In this unit alternating levels of bioclastic
Plate 1 Fault-propagation fold along the coast of the Black Sea
south of Bjala, with Maastrichtian pelagic white marls both in
the hanging wall and in the footwall. Note the reverse limb of
the fold, later cross-cut by the upward propagation of the thrust
plane. The thrust is in flat in the upper part, generating the
overlap with a fault-bend folding mechanism
232 M a r i n e and P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2
Plate 2 South-vergent folds in the Emine Flysch, near the Emine
Cape, due to flexural shear in the southern limb of the Emine
syncline
grainstones and wackestones with echinides, brachio-
pods, calcareous algae formations and miliolidi occur.
The bed thickness is 30-40cm. Minor angular
unconformities and slump deposits are present at
various levels in the succession.
Emine Flysch ( Campanian- Maastrichtian)
This unit is composed of siliciclastic turbidites (whose
provenance is from the Rhodope massif) interbedded
with a minor amount of calcareous turbidites, fed from
the Moesia Platform. The Emine Flysch outcrops in the
southern part of the Ajtos Section. This flysch is
perhaps more than 1000 m thick and its lateral facies
correlation with the northern coeval sequences
(Mezdra and Kailaka Formations) remains unclear.
Palaeocene Flysch with breccias, conglomerates
and limestones
The lower boundary is marked by a carbonate breccia,
probably of tectonic significance. Like the Emine
Flysch, it is a turbiditic unit with different (i.e. silici-
clastic and carbonatic) feeding areas. Calcareous beds
are graded and sometimes exhibit parallel lamination.
Siliciclastic beds are thin and fine grained with ripples.
The thickness is about 600 m.
Palaeocene Limestone
This unit overlies the Kailaka Formation through
a limestone horizon with red clays, siliciclastic
and opaque mineral grains. Peloidal and glauconitic
bioclastic packstones (with foraminifera and valve
fragments, globigerina, echinid plates and aculei)
occur at the base. The lower part of the unit is thin
bedded with small black cherty nodules. Higher up in
the succession there is a massive limestone layer with
Alveolina and Lithothamnium and large grey cherty
nodules. Further up in the section, thin and irregularly
bedded limestones appear. These sediments were
deposited during the growth of the Chudnite Skali-
Ajtos Pass thrust-related anticline, so they onlap the
southern limb of the anticline and show stratigraphic
expansion phenomena (the northern limit is not visible).
The thickness of this unit is between 0 and 25 m.
Palaeocene-Middle Eocene Coarse Flysch
The lower boundary of this unit is conformable over the
Palaeocene flysch in the Daskotna syncline, whereas it
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Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2 233

Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Dogfioni et al.
LATE PALAEOGENE RECONSTRUCTION
Balkans
D A CT~T
pc
-=_500 m:
Figure 7 Late Palaeocene palaeogeology at the transition between the Moesia Platform to the north and the Balkanic Basin to the
south, with the traces of the later Eocene-Oligocene thrusts. Shallow water facies are concentrated to the N on the Moesia Platform.
pc, Palaeocene; K, Cretaceous
onlaps Upper Cretaceous sediments in the Tranak-
Bilka syncline (Plate 3). This is a turbiditic unit
composed of plane parallel and very thick, middle to
coarse grained and highly bioturbated beds. This unit
laterally corresponds to shelf sandstones which outcrop
at Ajtos Pass. The maximum thickness is about 400 m.
Lower Eocene Sandstone
These sediments unconformably overlie the Palaeocene
Limestone. This unit is composed of irregularly-bedded
and fine-grained sandstones, sometimes showing a
thinning upward cyclicity on a metric scale. Sandstones
are structureless and very bioturbated. Bivalve marks
of 8-10 cm in diameter occur. These are interpreted as
shelf sediments. Erosion of the underlying limestone
is witnessed by algal limestone fragments included in
the basal beds. The thickness is 100 m.
Lower Eocene Marl
It contains grey structureless marls. The base is
probably a flooding surface over the previous unit. The
thickness, estimated near the road at the Ajtos Pass, is
about 20 m.
Upper Eocene Conglomerate
This unit unconformably overlies the marl and consists
of channelled sediments. The channels are filled with
sandstones and poligenic conglomerates. The clasts of
the conglomerate are made of cherty limestones,
volcanic sediments and early Cretaceous limestone with
serpulides. This formation outcrops in the footwall of
the Chudnite Skali-Ajtos thrust.
Continental molasse coal-bearing sediments
(Priabonian)
This unit unconformably overlies turbiditic successions
of Lower-Middle Eocene sediments. The lower part of
the unit is made up of thick-bedded and fine-grained
sandstone beds alternating with thin-bedded, fine-
grained and laminated sandstone beds and muds with
vertical bioturbations. The upper part of the formation
234 Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2
Forebalkan-Moesia
PLATFORM
tlypotlaetical basement
~_ 15 km shortening
is composed of fluvial sediments with several metres of
thick point bar sequences. Each point bar is made up of
a basal lag with quartzite pebbles, medium to coarse
sandstones with festoons followed upwards by dark
grey silt-containing rootlets. The deposition of these
sediments was controlled by the transtensive fault
system of the Burgas basin.
Stratigraphic setting of the coast section
Emine Flysch ( Campanian- Maastrichtian)
The Emine Flysch (Plate 2) unconformably overlies
volcanic and volcaniclastic deposits of Santonian age.
Its most important characteristic is the presence of
different siliciclastic and carbonatic supply areas. The
Emine Flysch is made up of well developed turbidites
with upward thinning cycles that are several metres
thick. Carbonatic beds are 10-50 cm thick. The lime-
stone is recrystallized and has numerous crinoid frag-
ments and foraminifera.
Bjala Formation (Maastrichtian-Palaeocene)
This unit consists of limestone-marl couplets about
70 cm thick that, in general, outline a major thinning
upward cycle. The difference between the two
lithological types increases upwards in the succession.
Numerous echinids, ammonites and inoceramus occur.
During the deposition of this unit there was an intense
syn-sedimentary tectonic activity, indicated by an
unstable slope environment. Based on well data, the
thickness is about 200-300 m, whereas in the outcrops
it is about 900 m, a result of tectonic duplication.
Palaeocene Sandstone-clay-flysch
The lower boundary is transitional to the Emine Flysch.
This formation represents a very well developed
turbiditic system, made of thin-bedded, fine-and very
fine-grained sandstones with a sand/shale ratio close
to 1; the beds are organized in thinning upwards cycles
1-3 m thick. At the base of the biggest beds there
are often water escape structures. Helminthoidea
 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.
Plate 3 0 n l a p of Eocene Coarse Flysch over tectonized Upper
Cretaceous pelagic sediments, WNW of Bilka. This geometry
looks similar to that which may be observed in the seismic lines
of the Samotino area (following figure), where Palaeogene
sediments onlap eroded anticlines. The arrow points Luca
Marianini for scale
labyrintica is very common and in some places we
found Paleodictyon and Lorenzinia, which mark a
bathyal environment (Frey and Pemberton, 1984).
Palaeocurrents have a constant direction of Nl10°.
Carbonate beds are common in the lower part of the
succession. Westward (i.e. more proximally) these
deposits correspond to thick-and very thick-bedded
sandstones which are medium-coarse grained.
Lower-Middle Eocene Coarse Flysch
The lower boundary is unconformable over several
formations. On the coast, this unit overlies a small unit,
50-60 m thick, of a thin-bedded flysch, whereas behind
Bjala village it overlies the Bjala Formation. The
Coarse Flysch is a turbiditic unit composed of thick
and very thick amalgamated beds, made up of pebbly
sandstones, grading into coarse and medium sandstone.
The beds show traction structures such as traction
carpets and, in the upper parts, b to d Bouma intervals;
water escape structures and big clay chips are very
common. The maximum thickness of this unit is 450 m.
The depocentre of the basin migrated northward, with
respect to the Palaeocene basin, due to the thrust belt
migration.
Gebesh Formation (Middle Eocene?)
This unit is composed of a very well developed
turbiditic system with thin-bedded sandstone beds and
a sand/shale ratio close to 1. In general, this system
shows a coarsening upwards evolution: at the base
there are marls and clays with carbonate concretions,
whereas upward silty and very fine sandstone beds
begin to appear. Palaeocurrents are about N100 °. The
thickness is about 500 m.
Chaotic Unit (Conglomerate-Marl)
(Middle Eocene ?)
This unit overlies the Coarse Flysch, but the boundary
is not visible. The Chaotic Unit is composed of debris
flow deposits with clasts coming from the Emine
Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2
Flysch, Lower-Middle Eocene Flysch and volcanic
rock erosion. This is probably due to tectonic uplift of
the southern margin of the Gebesh basin. It may be
that this unit is a lateral equivalent of the Gebesh
Formation, although the two units have a different
source area.
Upper Eocene Conglomerate
The lower boundary is an important angular
unconformity truncating several pre-tectonized units.
This unconformity seals an important tectonic
phase. This formation is composed of volcaniclastic
conglomerate with clasts of granitoids and magmatic
rocks. The matrix is of volcaniclastic sandstones or
marls containing many resedimented foraminifera. The
conglomerates are channel-fill deposits often showing
inverse grading at the base; sometimes it is possible to
see the downcurrent transition from poorly organized
deposits to graded beds with sandstones at the top.
Some channels are filled only with sandstones.
Palaeocurrents are directed northward and their
composition also indicates a southern provenance (i.e.
from the internal part of the chain).
Dolen Ciflik Formation (Upper Eocene)
Both upper and lower boundaries are unknown. On the
basis of well data, these deposits are interpreted as
turbidites, whereas in the outcrop we can see pink clay
with pelagic microfossils or, near the Luda Kamcija
depression, marls with very thin sandstone laminae and
beds of bioturbated fossiliferous sandstone, poorly
cemented, with faint oblique lamination.
Momino Formation (Oligocene)
This contains quartzitic and bioclastic sandstones with
tangential foresets, 40 cm thick. In the sediment there
are many echinids and nummulites. This formation
was probably deposited in a tidal environment. The
Momino Formation is the lateral equivalent of the
Ruslar Formation.
Ruslar Formation (Upper Eocene- Oligocene)
The lower boundary is not visible in the outcrop,
whereas on seismic data it appears to onlap the Dolen
Ciflik Formation (Upper Eocene). This formation is
composed of carbonatic silts with parallel lamination,
alternating with thin sandy levels with ripples. There
are several plant fragments in the laminae. N o
microfossils have been noted in thin section. In this
formation there are manganese deposits.
Galata Formation (Miocene)
This unit overlies the Ruslar Formation through an
8° angular unconformity associated with strong erosion.
This contains clast-supported conglomerate with
a sandstone matrix and coarse quartz arenites with
cross-stratification, filling channels with maximum
thickness of 10 m.
Mesozoic tectonics
There are several field and regional indicators
suggesting Mesozoic tectonic activity. In particular,
tensional and transtensional tectonics appear to have
235
Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.
occurred during the Jurassic and Cretaceous and to
have controlled the stratigraphic architecture (Gocev,
1976; Tchoumatchenco et al., 1989; Surmont et al.,
1991). This is indicated by normal (N0-30 ° trending)
or transtensive (N90-110 ° trending) faults sutured
by Cretaceous sediments and also by lateral thickness
and facies variations of the Jurassic and Cretaceous
sequences (Figures 5 and 6)i Right-lateral trans-
tensional tectonics should mark the E - W trending
southern margin of the Moesia Platform, located to
the north of the Balkanic Basin, where a higher rate
of subsidence occurred. This transtensional early
Mesozoic architecture also determined the structural
axial undulations of the Balkanic thrust belt. South of
the Ajtos Pass there is a contact presently interpreted
as a N-vergent overthrust of Triassic rocks over
the Liassic black marls. This contact is sutured
on a regional scale by Late Cretaceous sediments,
suggesting the presence of a Cretaceous phase of
shortening. However, this contact may also be
interpreted as a stratigraphic limit between a debris
flow (white upper part) containing Triassic rocks and
the underlying Liassic marls and shales. This debris
flow could be interpreted as a lowstand wedge, but it
also points out Jurassic tectonic activity. The presence
of a Cretaceous compressive event in this area is not
clearly proved at present and it would generate
anomalous kinematics which are in contrast with the
observed geometries of the thrust belt.
Palaeogene convergence
The Balkans are a thrust belt E - W trending with en
echelon (N50-70 °) distribution of thrusts and folds,
indicating left-lateral transpression. The Palaeogene
compressional activity is observable both inland
(Plate 3) and offshore (Figures 8 and 9). Structures
are northward or north-eastward verging and the
main mechanism of shortening appears to be fault-
propagation folding. This is suggested by the over-
turned limbs both in the hanging wall and in the
footwall of the thrust planes. This mechanism is due
particularly to the well bedded and shaly Jurassic-
Cretaceous sequences of the Balkans. Moreover, fault-
bend folding is constrained by the staircase trajectory
of the fault planes. The Jurassic black shales and marls
offer some of the best ddcollement horizons. Other
incompetent layers in which thrusts tend to merge are
the base of the Emine Flysch, the Hauterivian and
Maastrichtian marls and a few horizons of the Eocene
clastic sequence. Ramps occur in the more calcareous
and sandy formations (Late Cretaceous-Eocene). Two
main ramps in the Balkans occur at the southern slope
of the Moesia Platform, at the margin between the
stable platform facies area and the basin to the south,
and at the transition between calcareous basinal facies
and the flyschoid facies related to the thrust belt
advancing from the south. Some pressure solution
cleavage has been observed.
There are a few important thrusts in the eastern
Balkans which are N-NE-vergent and are, generally
speaking, in sequence. However, out-of-sequence
thrusting may be more developed in the onshore
Balkans because of the strong frontal buttress operated
by the Moesia Platform. In fact, the deep thrusts of the
236 Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2
Samotino area are the most external fault planes and
are sutured by the Late Eocene (Figures 8 and 9).
Onshore, there is clear evidence of active compression
up to at least the Oligocene. From seismic lines and
structural analysis, thrust planes tend to merge in a
deep d6collement horizon, probably located at the base
of the Jurassic shales beneath the Balkans, eventually
ramping down into the crystalline basement towards
the hinterland, beneath the Sredno Gora and Rhodope
zones. In spite of the en echelon trend, thrust planes are
arranged with an imbricate fan geometry, complicated
by the undulating shape of the fault planes, which
mimic a duplex structure.
The thrust belt is poorly cylindrical; the thrust planes
are axially undulated (oblique and lateral ramps) and
cut the sedimentary sequence at different levels along
the strike. This is controlled by the prominent
Mesozoic palaeostructures which segmented the
Balkans in areas with different amounts of subsidence
and consequently different thicknesses and facies of the
sedimentary cover. Transfer faults or transfer zones
characterize the different levels of ddcollements. In
other words, the sudden transitions and anisotropies
of the thrust belt observable on the geological map are
good indicators of inherited variations in the depth of
the basement, and of thickness and facies variations
within the sedimentary cover.
Anisotropies in the Tertiary sedimentary cover are
also constraining axial undulations in the thrust belt.
For instance, during the Palaeocene a carbonate
platform facies was dominant in the inner parts of the
belt, while deep turbiditic facies were developing
towards the east, along the present coast of the
Balkans. Thus the thrusts inherited these variations and
were conditioned by them.
At the Ajtos Pass, a thrust plane, with a fiat in the
hanging wall at the base of the Jurassic shales is
overlying in fiat over the basal Eocene sandstones to
the west, whereas the d6collement is in a higher
stratigraphic layer to the east of the pass. Along the
N - S trending right-lateral transfer zones, oblique and
lateral ramps are accommodated by a few en echelon
folds in the hanging wall in the south. The thrust plane
of the Ajtos Pass is a flat both in the hanging wall and in
the footwall and is southward dipping at about 30°,
being tilted by the most external and youngest thrust
ramps and folds.
The thrusts and folds propagated from south towards
N - N E . The associated clastic facies followed the
same evolution, the depocentres of the flysch basins
prograding northward or north-eastward. In fact, in the
Balkanic sequences the terrigenous input becomes
younger moving northward.
Fold axes and thrust trends range between N50 °
(perpendicular to the main stress) and N90 ° (rotated
structures due to transpression or deviations of the
main stress).
The E - W trend of the Balkans which involves left-
lateral transpression (Figure 10) gradually changes to
the N W - S E and N - S trends of the buried Balkans in
the western Black Sea. This change in strike indicates
that pure compression should have occurred across the
N W - S E trend of the buried Balkans and that right-
lateral transpression should have characterized the
N - S trend. In the seismic section 29 it is possible to see
 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.

~S~ I 6 km
| LINE BV-13-92
) s2 ss 87 87 87 89 St 92 87 g7 108 118 127

JO 8Z ~5 ~7 ~7 ~7 ~9 ~I ~2 ~7 97 IC8 11~ 127

~o s~o ~o 7C0 7~0 ~00 JSO ~00 ~50 !3C0 ~050 1100
, , , , . . . . . . . . . .0.o

Figure 8 Uninterpreted and interpreted segment of the seismic line BV-13-92. The section shows the north-eastward progradation of
the Neogene sequences, witnesses of the offshore migration of the continental slope. The Tertiary sequences are also progressively
tilted towards the Black Sea, indicating its thermal subsidence. The Late Eocene lower wedge sutures an imbricate fan geometry of
thrusts with envelope to the crest of the fault propagation folds rising towards the Balkanic hinterland. The stratigraphy is tied with the
Samotino wells to the north-west. See location in Figure 1

Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2 237

Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.

tL

Black Sea
Thermal Subsidence

Figure 9 Reconstruction of the detail of the previous figure. A strong erosional surface truncated the front of the thrust belt during
pre-Late Eocene times. Late Eocene conglomerates onlapped the surface and were later folded during Oligocene times. The Miocene is
unaffected by compression on this section of the Balkans. Note that the earlier thrusts have been folded by the following forward
propagating structures

the cut-off of the lateral ramp in the hanging wall of one
of the major Balkanic thrusts (Figures 11 and 12). The
structure shows the lateral ramp of the hanging wall
lying on the upper flat of the footwall, generating
a lateral ramp-related syncline in the overlying
sequences, trending normally to the general strike of
the Balkans. The footwall cut-off has to be a more
internal left-lateral lateral ramp, dipping towards the
SE. These anisotropies in the thrust belt have to be
accompanied by transfer zones in a map view.
However, the main structure of the Balkans is sealed
and buried by the Neogene sequences and cross-cut by
the Late Tertiary extension. Note, for example, the
lateral ramp-related flexure in the hanging wall,
sutured by the Neogene sediments. The syncline strikes
normally to the Balkans axis. The main d6collement
plane is linked to the other sections (e.g. Figure 8) and
matches very well the main planes of the frontal
Balkans (e.g. Samotino More). Again, in section 29
(Figure 11) it is possible to see the NW-dipping

238 Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2

 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.

sequence of the hanging wall due to a SE dipping
lateral ramp of the footwall.
In conclusion, the eastward-south-eastward deepen-
ing of the d6collement planes is responsible for the
plunging of the Balkanic structures towards the SE.
This may be due to the fact that in the Black Sea the
thrust belt did not collide with the Moesia Platform as
it did in the outcropping Balkans. In the Black Sea
region the thrust planes are therefore deeper and more
advanced because the sequences are more shaly. These
ddcollements are easier to form, deeper and longer
than in the Moesia area. This fact, associated with the
thermal continental margin Black Sea subsidence,
explains why the Balkans do not outcrop in the Black
Sea. Part of the structural and morphological relief of
the thrust belt is lowered by the later Neogene right-
lateral transtensional tectonics.
The comparison between cross-sections of the
onshore and offshore Balkans confirms that the
d6collement planes are in general structurally and
morphologically deeper moving eastward (Figure 13).
Nevertheless, the inherited Mesozoic structural
pattern of ' N - S ' trending grabens and horsts and
E - W trending transfer faults was inverted by the thrust
belt, producing local structural highs and lows along the
strike of the orogen. The Mesozoic pattern is inferred

VyYyYyYy VOLCANO-CLASTIC
, I QUATERNARY Iv~v~vvv:y~ ROCKS (UPP. CRETA)

..... MAGMATIC ROCKS (UPP. CRETA)

i ÷÷+++
..... il
+~.+~+

I Y!iiiii j PALAEOGENE
/Jl / J/J/ /1
J/
I / / / /I
LOWER CRETACEOUS

II I " "1 ' I

Jl I I I I i jI l UPPER CRETACEOUS ~ JURASSIC/TRIASSIC

Figure 10 The Eastern Balkans underwent N30-45 ° oriented compression during Palaeogene times. The E-W-trending Balkans are
considered to be generated by left-lateral transpression which may have locally produced N - S trending stress fields. The left-lateral
transpression is also indicated by the en echelon pattern of folds and thrusts. The offshore Balkans buried below the Black Sea show a
change in strike to N 100-140 ° and should therefore be formed in a more compressional regime. Base tectonic map after Cheshitev and
KAnchev (1989)

M a r i n e a n d P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2 239
 LINE BV-29/B-92
,,, 3 km I

Lateral ramp-related syncline

,11750 , , , 1170o . . . . . 11150 ' !, , ,11100 . . . . . 11050 . . . . 11000 . . . . . 109,50 . . . . . 9o0 , .... 8~o . . . . . ~

Figure 11 Uninterpreted and interpreted segment of the seismic line BV-29/B-92. It is a significant example of lateral ramp cut-off in the
hanging wall, lying on the upper flat footwall, visible in a strike line. The lateral ramp-related growing syncline is eroded and sutured by
Neogene sediments. In a map view this structure has to appear as a transfer zone. Note also that the footwall flat is deepening
south-eastward, towards the Black Sea. The hanging wall lateral ramp has to correspond to a more internal (SW) lateral ramp in the
footwall dipping south-eastward. Note also that the main d~collement visible in this section matches with one of the thrust planes
responsible for the Samotino area thrusts and folds. See location in Figure 1

240 Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 N u m b e r 2

 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.

:,:i~:::l~::i:i~i~:~:~i::~i~¸ii~i :•i~i :i i i ~•~i~:~:i~:~!~:~i::i~i~:~!i!!i~:!~•!!~!i~i:~:i~i~::i~:~ii!~ii:~:~i~:~i~:~:~:~:~:i~:i~::~::~:~::~:i!i :i!~i

~ ~ ~ _ : : ::: ::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::: ::::::: :: ::::::::::::::::

• : ::X i :~:: : " ..::~::::""
'../ " •~ FRONTAL ~ : ~ ~.t7 .. " ..::.:..
/ ~ i~J . . ~ " OB~-~"
.B~L~u'u , .......
.......
RAMP•.
" " ....... ' . . . . . . . . . . . . .
/ ~ . : :>- ..

:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:::::i:i:i:i:!:!:!:~:i:i!~i~i~i~i~i~i~:~!~i
~::}~:!:~!!i
:~!}~:!::~
~!~:~:~:!:!:~:~:}:!:~:L~::~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:!:~:~:!:~:i!:i¢!:~:~:~:!:!:~:i:~:~$:..
:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

TRACE OF NE

THE FAULT PLANE HANGINGLATERA

WLALLRAMP /J

LATERAL RAMP-RELATED /
SYNCLINE ~ / /

• i/ i XXIII i i IX~XII i i

...... e .... :: :. :: ........

..... : : : : : : : > i ::i i:::: ! ! : : :i !:

.......:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
ili ........... ~i~iiiiiiiiiiiii::ii::i::iii::iiii!!iiii!iiiiNiWi~:::#!iii::::i::ii!iiiiii
i igiiiiiiii!iI!!i!iii!iiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiii~
ii i ii i~! !!!i i i i i i i i.~i:ii.i i i

I i iiiiiiiiiiii
i i iiiiiiiiiii
Figure 12 Schematic diagram showing the shape of the infra-Mesozoic cover lateral ramp responsible for the structure observed in the
section of Figure 11

Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2 241

Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.

HINTERLAND PROPAGATING THRUST SEQUENCE

d

::~ :::::ii::::~::ii: ~ ::::~ i : : i i i i l i : i i ~ : iiiiiiiiiiiilililiiiiiiiiiii

:iiii~iiii::i::ii~:ii~:i~:iiililililililii~i:iii:::ili
::::ii:i::iiiiiii::ii
::il iiiii::i::iii::iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiliiiliiii::ii.
i: iiiiiiiiiiii i i~ ~iiiii:i::i: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

::::::::::: :::::::: ::::::::i::: :: .:::::::::+:':':':':':':':"""""""'"'": .........

:::::::::::::::::: ~:!: : ~: :~::: :i::::i:::ii::: i: :i i:i:! !: :!:!:i:! !:::! !: :i !:::i !:::i:!:::i i:::i: :::::: :: "
:::::::::m::::::~:::::: ..:::::::::::::::::: :::.: :: :i::: :: i:::::i:::i:i::i:i::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::'

iiiiiiiiie ....

DEXTRAL

BALKANIC
MESOZOIC
TRANSTENSION

FORELAND PROPAGATING THRUST SEQUENCE ~-~

b
coyer

i:~:i:~:~:~:~:~:i:~:~:i:~iii~iiiiiiiiiiiiiii~iiiiiii~ii~:i~i:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::i:~:i:~:~:i:~:~:i:i:i:i:i:~:~:~:~:~
i~i=. • ............ ~:i~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~: .~:~:~:~i~i~:~:~:~:.......................
~:~:~:~ ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
~::~i~~::~~i~ ~ ~ ~

I
basement /
LATE CRETACEOUS
EARLY TERTIARY
BLACK=SEA EXTENSION

Figure 13 Cartoon showing the main structural and geodynamic differences between the onshore and offshore Balkans. Note that the
upper section has the thick and rigid Mesozoic Moesia Platform to the north, whereas the lower section has the Late Mesozoic-Early
Tertiary opening of the Black Sea in the foreland. This strong difference has certainly conditioned the Tertiary structural evolution of the
Balkans, which in fact have a more advanced and deeper thrust belt front in the Black Sea section due to the absence of the Moesia
Platform. In the upper section there are thrusts which have been active in out-of-sequence, whereas these kinematics are less
expressed in the lower section.

242 M a r i n e a n d P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2
 Structura/ evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. DogEoni et al.

[ I ~,,,,,,,, I.~.~...~.] .o.c,,o c.,s,.o

f!ii!i!!iiit ,oo.., I +.+.+.+.+. .*+. +*+ *+ +* + *t

÷++*÷÷+
MAGMATIC ROCKS (UPP i
CRETA)

,
III I I I I I II UPPER CRETACEOUS p__~ JURASSIC/TRIASSIC
I I I ] I

Figure 14 The Neogene-Quaternary extension or transtension in the Eastern Balkans is oriented N30-45 °. Pull-aparts trend
N110-140° and right-lateral transfer-transtensional faults N90-110°. The tensional tectonics overprinted the pre-existing thrust belt
and the geometry of the extension was controlled by the inherited folds and thrusts. Base tectonic map after Cheshitev and K&nchev
(1989)

M a r i n e a n d P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2 243
Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.

SW 3 km LINE BV-18B/A-92 NE
I i

Burgas Basin Normal fault-propagation fold

Figure 15 Uninterpreted and interpreted segment of the seismic line BV-18B/A-92. The Emine fault bounds the Burgas Basin to the NE.
Along the Emine fault there are frequently folds which may be interpreted as fault propagation-foldstruncated by the upward motion of
the normal or right-lateral transtensional fault. See location in Figure 1

244 M a r i n e a n d P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2
 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Dogfioni et al.

IFAULT-PROPAGATION FOLD I

TRUNCATED FOLD BY THE UPWARD

PROPAGATION OF THE NORMAL FAULT

Figure 16 The concepts of fault-propagation folding may also be applied to tensional environments. The normal fault propagates
upwards and cross-cuts the earlier overlying accommodation fold, or forced fold (Withjack et aL, 1990). This evolution could explain
some of the structural relationships along the offshore seismic expression of the Emine Line

Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2 245

Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Doglioni et al.
on the basis of thickness variations of the sedimentary
cover and on the structural undulations of the Balkans.
Transfer zones of the Tertiary thrust propagation may
coincide with the margins of these inherited Mesozoic
discontinuities. The northern limit of the Neogene
extension-transtension is mainly located along the
Emine Line, or the southern border of what we now
call Balkans, or Stara Planina. Moving seaward, the
extension which marks the northern limit of the Burgas
half-graben is transferred in a broader area of horst and
graben particularly visible in the seismic lines to the SE.
The Balkans themselves are characterized by a lower
and wider structural and morphological relief in the
Black Sea, and also the later extension follows this rule,
scattering into a series of features which cross-cut the
earlier thrust belt, sometimes with different strike.
Moreover, the eastern Balkans and their continuation
in the Black Sea are deeper and tilted eastward and
south-eastward by the Neogene passive continental
Black Sea margin thermal(?) subsidence.
Neogene extension
Several young (Neogene and Quaternary) N40-60 °
trending grabens are present in the eastern Balkans
(Figure 14). They are particularly evident at
the southern margin (Emine Graben and Burgas
depression), but they are also present within the
Balkans themselves. The Late Eocene extension is also
supported for the occurrence of coal and black shales
and marls of this age filling the Bffrgas basin. Grabens
are in general asymmetrical, with master faults dipping
80-40 ° south-westward. On seismic lines, the normal
faults appear to be very steep and they should cross-cut
in ramp the basement. From the dimensions of the
rollover anticline in the hanging wall we may also infer
a flattening into the middle crust. Fault propagation
folding may be observed along the Emine Line:
N Sea, but the trend of the structures gradually change
Figure17 The Burgas Basin formed on the limb of the
reliever anticline in the hanging wall of the Emine Line. The
north-westward termination of the basin is controlled by the
E - W trending right-lateral transfer zone of the Emine Line along
which the reliever ends. The basin developed mainly during
Neogene and Quaternary times
246 Marine and Petroleum Geology 1996 Volume 13 Number 2
folding due to the superficial accommodation of the
sedimentary cover to a deeper normal or transtensional
fault was later cross-cut by the upward propagation of
the Emine Line itself. This produces an apparent drag
folding along the normal fault plane (Figures 15 and
I6). Grabens have an en echelon distribution, the
extension being transferred through N70-90 ° right-
lateral transfer faults (e.g. the Emine Line, Figure 17).
In other words, the E - W trend of the Balkans has been
inverted by right-lateral transtension during Neogene
and Quaternary times. The normal and transtensive
faults are growth structures, as indicated by the thicker
Neogene and Quaternary sediments within the graben
and the onlap and pinch-out geometries on the graben
margins or on the related strike-slip transfer faults. The
length of the graben is controlled by the transfer faults.
This determines the dimensions and the slope of the
Neogene basins. For instance, the north-westward
termination of the Burgas Depression in a 'synclinal'
periclinal shape is generated by the transition between
the rollover anticline of the Emine Line hanging wall
and its termination along the E - W transfer fault
(Figure 17).
Normal faults and transtensive faults cross-cut the
earlier compressive features: thrust sheets are displaced
and disconnected, generating a complicated net of
isolated blocks. The transtensional tectonics followed
directions of the earlier transpressive features,
indicating a rheological control of the inherited
convergent structure on the younger tensional features.
At the southern margin of the Balkans, the right-lateral
transtension occurred on the reverse limb of a fault-
propagation fold (e.g. near Ajtos, along the Emine
Line). The en echelon distribution of the grabens has
been controlled by the earlier en echelon distribution of
thrusts and folds. The main transtensional area at the
southern margin of the Balkans separated the main
original connections of the thrust planes of the Balkans
with the Sredna Gora thrusts to the south. This
structural evolution may also be traced into the Black
from the E - W trend of the Balkans to the N W - S E
strike, indicating pure Palaeogene compression and
later Neogene extension inverting and cross-cutting the
compressive features.
Those graben and transfer faults are widespread all
around Bulgaria (e.g. the Sofia Graben), representing
the most recent (seismically active) structural style.
Tensional and transtensional tectonics cross-cut the
earlier compressive or transpressive features of the
Balkanic tectonics. In fact flat N-NE-vergent thrust
planes are offset in the entire Bulgarian region by
normal faults or right-lateral transtensive faults.
As a consequence, the entire thrust belt has been
dismembered by the Neogene-Quaternary right-
lateral transtensional ( E - W trending transfer faults)
and extensional ( N W - S E trending grabens) tectonics.
The present seismicity (Dotzev and Yunga, 1988;
Eva et al., 1988; Onescu et al., 1990; Stanishkova and
Slejko, 1991) agrees with a right-lateral transtensional
component of the E - W tectonic elements at the
southern end of the Balkans. However, the northern
margin appears to be under active transpression,
as an indication that the Moesia Platform is still
moving westward relative to the Balkans. The Neogene
 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Dogfioni et al.

I WSW I /
3 km LINE BV-18B/A-92 /
L
ENE
I I
206 292 338 406 530 533 623 721 770

I Ancient submarine canyons I Present submarine canyons along the continental slope toward the Black Sea I

Figure 18 Uninterpreted and interpreted segment of the seismic line BV-18B/A-92. Along the continental slope of the Black Sea we
observe submarine canyons (due to either contouritic currents or turbiditic distributary systems or subaerial erosion?). Note that
similar features may be described in the underlying Neogene sequences. Truncation surfaces are sealed by progradational systems.
See location in Figure 1

M a r i n e and P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2 247

Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Dogfioni et al.

LATE CRETACEOUS-EARLY PALAEOGENE

S. N
Northward Advancing
Thrust Belt
Rhodope-Srednogorie )

BALKANS MOESiA PLATFORM

Mesozoic Dextral
Transtension & Extension

10 km
I I

Figure 19 N - S section indicating the palaeogeography and palaeotectonics of the eastern Balkans. The northward propagation of the
thrust belt occurred at the fragmented southern margin of the Moesia Platform. The Mesozoic tectonics were mainly right-lateral
transtensional along the E-W Balkanic trend. The Moesia Platform was characterized by thin cover (low subsidence) and carbonate
platform facies, whereas the adjacent basin to the south was filled by marly pelagic limestone in the north and terrigenous flysch in the
south, at the front of the advancing thrust belt during the Late Cretaceous and the Early Palaeogene. The vertical scale is exaggerated

.
.............

3 km
! I

Figure 20 The main mechanism of shortening in the Balkans is the fault-propagation folding (A), as indicated by the overturned limbs.
of the accommodation folds. This is controlled by the thin bedding of the basinal facies. Fault-bend folding frequently overlaps the first
mechanism with undulating patterns of the thrust planes. Normal or right-lateral transtensional faults later cross-cut the thrust belt (B).
They are fairly steep (60-80 °) and enter the upper crust

248 M a r i n e a n d P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2
 Structural evolution of the eastern Balkans: C. Dogfioni et al.

,...........,.,,....,......,...
....,.,.,.,.,.,...,...,.,.,.,...,.,
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
.....,......,..............
NEOGENE-L.PALEOGENE

E.PALEOGENE

iiii:iiiiiiii
iiii iiii!i!'iiii!J CRETACEOUS

JURASSIC/TRIASSIC

PALEOZOIC N

Black sea

~'~ Extension

suRGAS sAStN
: _.ii 'W :

Figure 21 Schematic block diagram of the Neogene Emine fault changing from transtension in the E - W segments to extension in the
oblique trends, and cross-cutting the earlier thrusts. The Burgas Basin rollover anticline terminates to the north along the Emine
transfer zones

M a r i n e and P e t r o l e u m G e o l o g y 1996 V o l u m e 13 N u m b e r 2 249

S t r u c t u r a l e v o l u t i o n o f the e a s te r n B a l k a n s : C. D o g l i o n i et al.
e~tension-transtension is connected to the Turkish-
Tracia-Aegaen stretching, which is also responsible for
the main tectonic setting of Bulgaria. The Sofia graben
represents an analogue on a larger scale of the Burgas
pull-apart, limited to the north and south by E - W
trending transfer right-lateral transtensional zones.
The present sea bottom along the continental slope
towards the Black Sea is often marked by submarine
canyons (Figure 18). These features are useful for the
study of the stratigraphic architecture of Neogene
sediments that are strongly discontinuous and show
progradational patterns towards the offshore, filling
irregular morphologies which mark the most important
unconformities and sequence boundaries.
Concluding remarks
The Balkans are the product of the Palaeogene left-
lateral transpression of the Mesozoic basin located to
the south of the Moesia Platform (Figure 19). The
thrust belt has been later stretched during the Neogene
by right-lateral transtension. The three-dimensional
structural setting of the Balkans may be analysed in
terms of the stratigraphic position of the d6collement
planes, the distance between the ramps of the thrust
planes and the amount of displacement of each thrust.
The same method offers the best way to unravel
the later Tertiary extension-transtension: position of
d6collements and distances between ramps. These
values are variable along the strike due to several
transfer zones. One major structural difference in the
Balkans is given by the pre-existing differences in
the foreland. The onshore Balkans had the Moesia
Platform, whereas the offshore Balkans found at their
front the opening basin of the Black Sea. In fact, the
offshore Balkans are more advanced and have deeper
thrust planes. D6collement planes plunge south-
eastward throughout a series of lateral and oblique
ramps. Out-of-sequence thrusts occur in the onshore.
Thermal subsidence, sea-level changes and a variable
propagation style of the thrust belt interacted during
Tertiary times, inheriting the complicated Mesozoic
architecture which mainly controlled transfer zones.
However, the main undulation of the thrust belt
occurred at the passage between the E - W trending
Balkans, with its left-lateral transpression at the
southern margin of the Moesia Platform, and the
N W - S E trending Balkans, in almost pure compression,
buried underneath the Black Sea. In general, the
structural style of the onshore and offshore Balkans
had a similar evolution: Palaeogene thrusting and
Neogene stretching (Figures 20 and 21). However, the
two environments deeply differ in many other aspects:
the thickness of the Mesozoic cover, the depth of the
Tertiary d6collements, the presence in the foreland of
the Moesia or the deep Black Sea, etc. The field studies
have been very useful in unravelling the main
geometries and kinematics of the Balkans, but they
cannot definitely predict facies and thickness of the
Mesozoic and Palaeogene cover of the offshore areas
due to the continuous facies evolution of these evolving
margins.
Acknowledgements
The paper benefited from the critical reading of A. W.
250 M a r i n e and P e t r o l e u m Geology
Bally and D. G. Roberts. We thank A. La Sorsa for
stimulating this research and I. Kfinchev for the
invaluable introduction to the Balkans' geology.
A. Serafini Fracassini kindly improved the English.
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