Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences (Turkish J. Earth Sci.),A.M.
Vol.NIKISHIN
20, 2011, pp.
Copyright ©TÜBİTAK
ET571–634.
AL.
doi:10.3906/yer-1005-22
First published online 28 February 2011

Late Palaeozoic to Cenozoic Evolution of the Black SeaSouthern Eastern Europe Region:
A View from the Russian Platform
ANATOLY M. NIKISHIN1, PETER A. ZIEGLER2,
SERGEY N. BOLOTOV1 & PAVEL A. FOKIN1
1

Geological Faculty, Moscow State University, Vorobyevy Gory, 119991 Moscow, Russia
(E-mail: )
2
Geological-Palaeontological Institute, University Basel, Bernoullistr. 32, 4065 Basel, Switzerland
Received 21 May 2010; revised typescript receipt 13 January 2011; accepted 15 February 2011
Abstract: A synthesis of the Late Palaeozoic to Cenozoic evolution of the Black Sea region and the southern parts
of the East European Platform (EEP) is presented. During Carboniferous to Early Permian times the Cordillera-type
Euxinus Orogen evolved along the southern margin of the EEP in response to progressive closure of the Rheic and
Palaeotethys oceans and the accretion of Gondwana-derived continental terranes. Permian development of the northdipping Palaeotethys subduction system along the southern Pontides margin of these terranes was accompanied by
important compressional intraplate deformation on the EEP. The Mesozoic to Palaeogene evolution of the southern
parts of the EEP, was goverened by closure of Palaeotethys, accretion of the Gondwana-derived Cimmerian terrane
and gradual closure of the Neotethys, involving repeated opening and closure of back-arc basins. Five discrete tectonic
subduction-related cycles are recognized, each commencing with back-arc extension and terminated with back-arc
compression. The timing of these cycles is: (1) latest Permian to Hettangian, (2) Sinemurian to early Callovian, (3) late
Callovian to Berriasian, (4) Valanginian to Paleocene and (5) Eocene to Recent. The duration of the individual cycles
was of the order of 30–50 My. During back-arc extension, rifted basins developed along the southern margin of the

EEP whilst during back-arc compression compressional stresses were exerted on it, albeit at varying levels during the
different tectonic cycles. On the EEP, Late Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic intraplate tectonics are expressed by such
phenomena as rifting, extrusion of plateau basalts, inversion of pre-existing tensional basins, gentle lithospheric folding,
regional uplift and subsidence.
Key Words: East European Platform, Black Sea, Caucasus, Turkey, geological evolution, dynamics, subduction, rifting,
intraplate tectonics

Karadeniz ve Güneydoğu Avrupa’nın Geç Paleozoyik–Tersiyer Evrimi:
Rus Platformu’ndan Bir Bakış
Özet: Bu çalışmada Karadeniz bölgesi ve Doğu Avrupa Platformu’nun (EEP) güney kesiminin Geç Paleozoyik–Tersiyer
evrimi ile ilgili bir sentez sunulmuştur. Karbonifer ve Erken Permiyen’de EEP’nin güney kenarında Reik ve Paleotetis
okyanuslarının kapanmasına ve Gondwana’dan gelen parçaların Avrasya’ya eklenmesine bağlı olarak Kordillera tipi
Öksenus orojeni gelişmiştir. Permiyen’de Paleotetis’in Pontidlerin güney kenarı boyunca kuzeye doğru dalmasına bağlı
olarak EEP içinde önemli levha-içi skışmalı deformasyonlar meydana gelmiştir. EEP’nin güney kenarının Mesozoyik
ve Paleojen evrimi Paleotetis’in kapanması, Gondwana kökenli Kimmeriyen kıtasının Avrasya’ya eklenmesi, Neotetis’in
tedrici olarak kapanması ve yay-ardı havzaların açılması ve kapanması ile denetlenmiştir. Bu dönemde beş tane dalmabatma ile ilgili, yay-ardı genişleme ile başlayan ve yay-ardı sıkışma ile biten çevrim tanımlanmıştır. Bunlar: (1) en Geç
Permiyen–Hettanjiyen, (2) Sinemuriyen–erken Kalloviyen, (3) Geç Kalloviyen–Berriaziyen, (4) Valanjiniyen–Paleosen,
(5) Eosen–günümüz. Bu çevrimlerin süresi 30–50 milyon sene mertebesindedir. Yay-ardı genişleme sırasında EEP’nin
güney kenarı boyunca rift havzaları açılmış, yay-ardı sıkışma sırasında EEP’nin güney kenarı değişik derecelerde
sıkışma tektoniğine maruz kalmıştır. EEP’deki Geç Paleozoyik, Mesozoyik ve Tersiyer levha-içi tektoniği, riftleşme, plato
bazaltlarının çıkışı, genişlemeli havzaların inversiyonu, yumuşak litosferik kıvrımlanma, rejyonal yükselme ve çökme
ile karakterize olur.
Anahtar Sözcükler: Doğu Avrupa Platformu, Karadeniz, Kafkasya, Türkiye, jeolojik evrim, dinamiks, dalma-batma,
riftleşme, levha içi tektoniği

571


GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE


Introduction
Whereas the Mesozoic and Cenozoic evolution of
basins occurring on the Peri-Tethyan shelves of
Western and Central Europe is well documented
(Ziegler 1989, 1990; Dercourt et al. 1993, 2000; Golonka
2000, 2004; Stampfli et al. 2001a, b), little information
has so far been published on the Peri-Tethyan basins
of Eastern Europe. However, Russian geologists have
assembled a large database in collaboration with
colleagues from countries surrounding the Black Sea,
partly within the framework of such international
projects as EUROPROBE, PeriTethys, IGCP-369, ILP,
MEBE, DARIUS (see Dercourt et al. 2000; Stampfli
et al. 2001a, b; Gee & Stephenson 2006; Barrier &
Vrielynck 2008).
In this paper we summarize the palaeogeographic
and palaeotectonic evolution of the southern part of
the East-European Platform (EEP) and discuss the
potential relationship between observed intraplate
deformations and the development of the Tethyan
belt, drawing on recent compilations and syntheses
(Nikishin et al. 1996, 1997, 1998a, b, 1999, 2000,
2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010; Ziegler et al.
2001; Stephenson et al. 2001; Golonka 2004; Moix
et al. 2008; Okay et al. 2008; Robertson & Ustaömer
2009; Kalvoda & Babek 2010).
The area addressed includes the Precambrian
East-European Craton (EEC), the Late Palaeozoic
Scythian Orogen and the Uralian domain which
fringe it to the south and east, respectively, and the

Mesozoic to recent orogenic systems of the BalkanBlack Sea-Scythian-Caucasus region (Figures
1–3). The palaeotectonic and palaeogeographic
restorations of this area presented in this paper are
based on a compilation of all available geological
and geophysical data. These maps form the base
for assessing the relationship between intraplate
deformations observed on the EEP and changes
in plate boundary conditions in the Tethyan and
Uralian belts.
The EEC and the Scythian Platform formed
together the EEP. During Late Palaeozoic times the
EEC was bordered, in recent coordinates, to the
southwest by the Variscan Orogen, to the south by
the Euxinus Orogen (new name, see below), and to
the east by the Uralian Orogen, all of which were
tectonically active. The EEC was bounded to the
572

west and northwest by the Arctic-North Atlantic
Caledonides, and to the northeast by the Baikalian
Timan-Pechora-Eastern Barents Sea Province (or
Timanides). During Mesozoic and Cenozoic times,
the evolution of the western and northern margins of
the EEP was mainly controlled by processes related
to the opening of the Arctic-North Atlantic Ocean,
whereas development of its southern margin was
controlled by processes governing the evolution of
the Tethyan system.
Late Palaeozoic Euxinus Orogen
The Early Permian setting of the EEC and the

orogenic system, which was active along its southern
margin during Carboniferous to Permian times,
is summarized in Figure 4. This orogenic system,
which extended from the Rhodope-Moesia area into
the Caucasus-Turan area, parts of which are exposed
in areas flanking the Black Sea, is here termed the
Euxinus Orogen, referring to ‘Pontus Euxinus’, the
ancient Greek name for the Black Sea (Nikishin et al.
2005).
The Euxinus Orogen, similar to the Variscan
Orogen forming its western prolongation, contains
a number of Gondwana-derived continental terranes
(e.g., Belov 1981; Ziegler 1989, 1990; Dercourt et al.
1993, 2000; Robinson 1997; Pharaoh 1999; Golonka
2000; Yanev 2000; Nikishin et al. 2001; Stampfli et al.
2001a, b; Vaida et al. 2005; Zakariadze et al. 2007;
Moix et al. 2008; Kalvoda & Babek 2010). However,
unlike the Himalaya-type continent-to-continent
collisional western parts of the Variscan Orogen,
the Euxinus Orogen remained in Late Palaeozoic
times in an Andean-type continent-ocean collisional
setting (Ziegler 1989; Stampfli et al. 2001a, b; Ziegler
& Stampfli 2001). The evolution of Euxinus orogenic
system was governed by subduction of the Rheic
Ocean and the accretion of Gondwana-derived
continental fragments to the southern margin of
Baltica. This subduction system was apparently
activated in Ordovician times, controlling the
accretion of such terranes as Eastern Avalonia,
Armorica and Moravo-Silesia to Baltica during the

Caledonian orogeny (Ziegler 1989; Pharaoh 1999;
Cocks & Torsvik 2006). During the Devonian,
intermittent cycles of back-arc extension and
compression controlled the opening of the oceanic


East-Barents Sea

A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

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Figure 1. Index map of East European Platform, showing main rifted basis. Coloured zones denote highly inverted rifts and backarc basins.

Rheno-Hercynian Basin in the Varsican domain and
the evolution of the Dniepr-Donbass-KarpinskyPeri-Caspian rift system on the southern parts of the
EEC, as well as the accretion of additional continental
terranes, such as the Aquitaine-Cantabrian block, to
the Variscan domain. In the Variscan, as well as in the
Euxinus system, orogenic activity sharply increased
during Late Visean times. Crustal shortening
terminated in the Variscan Orogen at the end of the

Westphalian whereas orogenic activity persisted in
the Euxinus Orogen until the Early Permian (Ziegler
1989, 1990; Tait et al. 1997; Nikishin et al. 2001, 2005;
Stampfli & Borel 2004).
Unlike the northern parts of the Variscan Orogen,
and even more than its southern parts, the Euxinus
Orogen was severely disrupted during Mesozoic and
Cenozoic times by repeated phases of back-arc rifting
573



ian foredeep

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SE
A

TURAN
PLATFORM

areas with oceanic
or transitional crust
foredeep basins

faults and faulted
scarps

major thrust zones

Abbreviations: Dz– Dzirula massif; Kh– Khrami
massif; SS– Sevan suture;
SO– Sevan-Ordubad Basin.

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ARABIAN
PLATE

suture

Meso-Cenozoic folded belts

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Eastern Pontides

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Figure 2. Schematic tectonic map of Black Sea region (modified after Nikishin et al. 2005).

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Basin

GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE


A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

Precambrian continental lithosphere

Lithosphere of Precaspian region


EURASIAN PLATE
PRECAMBRIAN & PALAEOZOIC CRUST +
MESOZOIC & CENOZOIC DEFORMATIONS

ophiolites

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backarc basin

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Mesozoic oceanic lithosphere
Precambrian continental lithosphere

AFRICAN PLATE
Figure 3. Main crustal units of the Black Sea-Caspian region. 1– Mesozoic to Paleocene subduction zone, 2– Recent subduction zone,

3– thrust belt with detached subducted slabs (modified after Nikishin et al. 2005).

and was overprinted by multiple orogenic pulses
(Nikishin et al. 2001, 2005). This renders it difficult
to reconstruct its architecture and to correlate its
now dispersed components. In the following we
review the different elements of Euxinus Orogen and
the characteristics of allochthonous terranes they
include.
Dobrogea Orogen
The Dobrogea Orogen forms the suture between
the EEC and the Late Precambrian Moesian
micro-continent (Figure 2) and consists of Upper
Ordovician to Devonian accretionary complexes
and Carboniferous to Early Permian marine to

continental molasse-type sediments (Carapelit
Formation). The main folding phase occurred
probably during the Visean, prior to the deposition
of the Carapelit formation (Kruglov & Tsypko 1988;
Sandulescu et al. 1995; Pharaoh 1999). The Carapelit
Formation was intruded by Upper Carboniferous–
Permian granitoids (Sandulescu et al. 1995; Seghedi
2009; Balintoni et al. 2010). In the Pre-Dobrogea
Depression, corresponding to the northern foreland
basin of the Dobrogea Orogen, Upper Carboniferous
and older EEC passive margin sequences are overlain
by synorogenic Upper Visean–Serpukhovian greycoloured, coal-bearing lower molasse series, derived
from the rising orogen to the south. These grade
upward into Stephanian to Permian red-coloured

575


GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

UR

St.Petersburg

AL

Kazan’

IA

Early Permian,
Sakmarian- Oslo
Artinskian

N
O
R

Riga

O

G

Moscow


E

N

ary
goj
Mu

IC

NIDE

Warsaw

S
VA
R

Precaspian
basin

Volgograd

T

Ustyurt

Kiev


IS

CI

Donbass
foldbelt

DE

S

Ukrain
ian Ar
ch

200 0

L

E

EDO

B

Minsk Voron
ezh
Arc
h


CAL

Do

bro

200 400 km

gea

E

Moesia

LEGEND
palaeoenvironments
and sediments

Balkan

Rh

od

op

.P
W

on


U
tid

XI

es

Karpinsky

foldbelt

Scythian
orogen

N

Kara-Bogaz

O R O G E N I CGrB E L T
eat Cauc
US
And

ruso

v

asus orogen


Shats

ky

Dzirula

E. Pontides

Kura
Karaba
kh

PALAEOTETHYS OCEAN

e

continental sands and shales
shallow marine, sands and
shales
shallow marine, carbonates mainly
evaporites and dolomites
I I I I I

deeper marine clastics and shales
deeper marine shales and carbonates

tectonic symbols:

eroded land:
cratonic areas and inactive

foldbelts, low to intermediate relief
active foldbelts, high relief

normal faults
subduction zones
active thrust fronts

Precambrian terranes
within collisional belts
intraplate volcanism

oceanic floor
hypothetic Devonian oceanic crust

Figure 4. Early Permian palaeogeographic/palaeotectonic map of the southern parts of the Eastern Europe Platform (modified after
Nikishin et al. 2005).

continental clastics, which contain Lower Permian
(?) volcanics, ranging from basalts to andesites and
rhyolites to ignimbrites (Belov et al. 1987, 1990;
Kruglov & Tsypko 1988).
During the Visean docking of the Moesian
Platform against the southern margin of the EEC the
Dobrogea Orogen underwent its main deformation
phase (Yanev 2000). Subsequently, Dobrogea was
repeatedly affected by compressional events until
Early Permian times; however, the timing and scope
576

of these late phases of the Dobrogea orogeny are still

poorly constrained.
Moesian Terrane
The Moesian terrane, which is located southward
adjacent to the Dobrogea Orogen (Figure 2), is
characterized by a Upper Precambrian Panafrican
basement that is covered by an up to 10 km
thick, nearly continuous Cambrian to Neogene


A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

sedimentary sequence (Tari et al. 1997; Yanev
2000; Vaida et al. 2005; Seghedi 2009; Kalvoda &
Babek 2010). The Gondwana affinity of this microcontinent is evidenced by the faunal content of
its Cambro–Ordovician series, as well as by the
occurrence of Upper Ordovician glacio-marine
deposits. The Moesian terrane was probably detached
from Gondwana at the end of the Ordovician, was
transferred across the Palaeotethys and began to
collide with the Rheic arc-trench system at the
transition from the Devonian to the Carboniferous.
During its accretion to the EEC, the Moesian Platform
was subjected to repeated compressional events until
Middle Permian times (Yanev 2000).
Balkan Terrane
The Balkan Terrane is located southward adjacent
to the Moesian Terrane and is characterized by
deformed Ordovician to Upper Carboniferous
sediments (Figure 2). As Ordovician to Devonian
series of the Balkan Terrane differ from those of the

Moesian Platform, Yanev (2000) suggested that it
represents a separate entity that probably collided
during the Early Carboniferous (intra-Visean Sudetic
event) with the Moesian terrane. Subsequently
both terranes underwent further compressional
deformation until mid-Permian times.
Rhodope Terrane
The Rhodope or Rhodope-Thracian Terrane is located
to the south and southwest of the Balkan Terrane
(Figure 2) and is characterized by a very complex
pre-Mesozoic structure. Yanev (2000) shows that its
basement consists of a Precambrian (?) and a Variscan
metamorphic complex, which underwent polyphase
orogenic deformation. The Palaeozoic sedimentary
record of the Rhodope Terrane is poorly constrained
(Moix et al. 2008). However, the occurrence of
granitoids, ranging in age between 340 Ma and 320
Ma, indicates that during Carboniferous times it was
affected by major orogenic activity. This suggests
that during the Late Palaeozoic the Rhodope and
Balkan terranes were incorporated, into the branch
of the Euxinus Orogen, which fringed the Moesian
Platform to the south (Ziegler 1989; Stampfli et al.
2001a, b).

Western Pontides
The Western Pontides or İstanbul Terrane, located
in northwestern Turkey (Figure 2), probably formed
during pre-Cretaceous times the eastern prolongation
of the Moesian Terrane (Okay et al. 1994). Similarly

to the latter, the basement of the Western Pontides
Terrane was consolidated during the Panafrican
Orogeny (Okay et al. 2008). Moreover, the Palaeozoic
sedimentary sequences of both terranes show
considerable similarities (Okay et al. 1994, 2008;
Şengör 1995; Yılmaz et al. 1997; Kozur & Stampfli
2000; Kalvoda & Babek 2010). The İstanbul Zone
of the Western Pontides is characterized by a nearly
complete Lower Ordovician to Upper Carboniferous
sedimentary sequence, which was deformed during
the Hercynian Orogeny (Okay & Tüysüz 1999;
Okay et al. 2008). Visean pelagic sediments, grading
laterally into shallow water carbonates, are overlain
by Visean to Bashkirian flysch and shales and grade
upwards into Upper Carboniferous coal-bearing
series (Kozur & Stampfli 2000; Okay et al. 2006,
2008). This suggests that the İstanbul Zone formed
part of a Carboniferous foreland basin that was
associated with the eastern prolongation RhodopeBalkan branch of the Euxinus Orogen.
Eastern Pontides and Sakarya Terrane
Southward adjacent to the İstanbul Terrane, and
separated from it by the Intra-Pontide suture, lies the
Hercynian-deformed Sakarya Terrane which extends
eastward over a distance of some 1500 km into the
Eastern Pontides (Figure 2). Its basement consists
of Precambrian (?) to Palaeozoic metamorphic
rocks that were intruded by Devonian and Early
Carboniferous to Early Permian granitoids (Okay
et al. 2008). Thick Upper Carboniferous to Lower
Permian (?) shallow marine to continental, molassetype sediments unconformably overlay this basement

complex (Okay & Şahintürk 1997; Okay 2000; Okay
et al. 2008).
Great Caucasus Orogen
The Palaeozoic basement exposed in the central parts
of Great Caucasus (Figures 2 & 4), can be subdivided
into the following units (Letavin 1980, 1987;
Belov 1981; Somin 2007, 2009): (1) a Palaeozoic
577


GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

metamorphic sequence that is intruded by Palaeozoic
granitoids; (2) Upper Palaeozoic, mainly deep-marine
sediments containing intersliced ophiolites and arcrelated volcanics; (3) a Middle to Upper Devonian
subduction-related magmatic island arc complex of
unknown subduction polarity. Isotopic zircon data
(Somin 2007, 2009) document exclusively Palaeozoic
ages (±460, 450–280 My) for these metamorphic,
intrusive, volcanic and sedimentary rocks.
According to stratigraphic and structural data,
a main phase of folding and large-scale thrusting
occurred during the early(?) Visean (Belov 1981).
Upper Visean strata are mainly developed in a
continental molasse-type facies. The Middle to Upper
Carboniferous is represented by coal-bearing grey
clastics containing andesites, rhyolites and basalts.
Lower Permian continental red-beds contain flows of
andesites, dacites and trachytes. The Upper Permian
is partly represented by shallow-marine sediments.

During Middle Carboniferous to Early Permian
times the setting of the Great Caucasus segment of
the Euxinus Orogen was probably akin to an Andeantype magmatic belt (Mossakovsky 1975; Somin 2007,
2009). There are considerable similarities between
the basement of the Great Caucasus and the Eastern
Pontides.
Pre-Caucasus or Scythian Orogen
In the Pre-Caucasus area, located to the north of
the Great Caucasus, the Palaeozoic and older(?)
basement is concealed by Mesozoic and Cenozoic
sediments (Figures 2 & 3). Thus, its evolution is only
constrained by subsurface data. Numerous deep
wells penetrated below Mesozoic sediments highly
folded, thrusted and regionally up to greenshist facies
metamorphosed Palaeozoic black shales, cherty
shales, chloritic shales, phyllites and silty shales
that contain rare carbonates (Letavin 1980, 1987;
Belov 1981). Limited palaeontological data give Late
Devonian–Early Carboniferous ages, and in a few
cases possible Early Palaeozoic to Middle Devonian
ages. In some zones, possibly corresponding to a
volcanic arc or a rift, andesitic and basaltic volcanics
were encountered (Belov 1981). The main phase of
folding, thrusting and uplift occurred during late
Visean–Serpukhovian times (Letavin 1987). The
pre-Caucasus segment of the Euxinus Orogen, also
578

referred to as the Scythian Orogen, was intruded
by many Carboniferous–Lower Permian granitoids

(Letavin 1980, 1987; Belov 1981). During Middle
to Late Carboniferous and Permian times, some
minor molasse-type basins developed within the preCaucasus segment of the Scythian Orogen (Belov
1981). Although Kostyuchenko et al. (2004) and
Chalot-Prat et al. (2007) argue for a Precambrian age
of the Scythian Orogen, there is no hard data that it
contains some Precambrian terranes. Nevertheless,
our new, still unpublished age determinations
on detrital zircons from Cretaceous to Paleocene
turbiditic sandstones of the Great Caucasus
yielded numerous ages of ±613 Ma. This suggests
that the Scythian Orogen may indeed contain a
so far unidentified Late Neoproterozoic terrane,
comparable to İstanbul and Moesian terranes.
Crimea
Also in Crimea, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments
largely conceal the Palaeozoic and older basement
(Figure 2; Muratov 1969; Letavin 1980; Gerasimov
1994; Nikishin et al. 2005). Nevertheless, borehole
data permit to define four basement units. The
South Crimean unit is buried beneath the Mesozoic
South Crimean Orogen; however, along its northern
boundary a metamorphic zone contains remnants of
Upper Precambrian(?)–Palaeozoic ophiolites (mainly
talc-bearing shales and serpentinites; Muratov 1969;
Gerasimov 1994). The northward adjacent Simferopol
unit consists of a metamorphic, possibly Upper
Precambrian complex (Muratov 1969; Kruglov &
Tsypko 1988). Further north, the Novoselovskoe unit
represents a fold belt, which contains metamorphosed

Devonian–Lower
Carboniferous
deep-marine
mudstones and volcanics, including remnants of
a volcanic arc (Muratov 1969; Gerasimov 1994);
however the presence of Lower Palaeozoic sediments
cannot be excluded (Kruglov & Tsypko 1988).
In the Crimean segment of the Scythian Orogen
the main orogenic event, though only poorly
constrained, presumably occurred during Visean,
pre-Serpukhovian times. Lower Jurassic flysch,
exposed directly to the south of the Simferopol unit,
contains in a few places huge olistoliths, the oldest
of which consist of Serpukhovian–lower Bashkirian
shallow-water limestones and Upper Permian


A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

bioherms (Muratov 1969; Mazarovich & Mileev
1989a, b). Although the source of these olistoliths
is unknown, Serpukovian development of shallowwater conditions suggests that by this time the preexisting Early Carboniferous deep-water trough had
been closed. This is compatible with the postulated
Visean main deformation phase of the Crimean
segment of the Scythian Orogen, the most external
unit of which may correspond to the very poorly
controlled Late Palaeozoic Sivash molasse basin
(Letavin 1980).
Unfortunately, available lithological data and
age constraints provide only a fragmentary picture

of evolution of the Palaeozoic Crimean basement
that was severely overprinted by Mesozoic orogenic
activity.
Dzirula and Possibly Related Terranes
The Dzirula Terrane, which is located in Georgia
just to the south of the Great Caucasus (Figure 2),
is characterized by a Upper Precambrian basement
that yielded isotopic ages in the range of 800–540 Ma
and contains Neoproterozoic (±800 Ma) ophiolites,
as well as by deformed, probably Lower Palaeozoic
sediments (Zakariadze et al. 2000, 2007). These
complexes are covered by an up to 1300-m-thick
Visean–Bashkirian volcano-sedimentary sequence
that contains rhyolitic lava flows and pyroclastics.
Similar to the Great Caucasus, also the Dzirula
Terrane was intruded by Permo–Carboniferous
granitoids, which yielded isotopic ages in the 330–280
Ma range (Zakariadze et al. 2000, 2007). Geochemical
data show that the Permo–Carboniferous granitoids
were intruded under a supra-subduction setting
(Zakariadze et al. 2000, 2007).
With its Panafrican–Upper Neoproterozoic
basement, the Dzirula Terrane was probably derived
from Gondwana and was accreted during the Early
Carboniferous to the southern Great Caucasus
segment of the Euxinus Orogen. This is compatible
with the occurrence of subduction-related K-granites
in the Trans-Great Caucasus area, which yielded ages
in the range of 330–280 Ma (Zakariadze et al. 2007;
Nikishin et al. 2001).

The basement of the Karabakh Terrane (Figure
2), which is located to the southeast of the Dzirula
Terrane, is exposed in small areas only. However, as

it is very similar to that of the Dzirula Terrane it may
actually form part of it (Milanovsky 1996; Zakariadze
et al. 2007).
Thick Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments cover the
basement of the Shatsky, Kura and Andrusov blocks
(Figure 2). Geophysical data indicate that the Shatsky
Block forms the offshore prolongation of the Dzirula
Terrane. No data are available on the pre-Mesozoic of
the Kura and Andrusov blocks, which probably also
formed part of Precambrian or Palaeozoic terranes
prior to the Late Cretaceous to Palaeogene opening
of the Eastern Black Sea.
Karpinsky Fold Belt
The Karpinsky Swell bounds the pre-Caucasus
segment of the Scythian Orogen to the North (Figures
2 & 4). It represents the inverted southeastern
part of the Devonian Dniepr-Donbass-Karpinsky
rift (Milanovsky 1996; Sobornov 1995; Nikishin
et al. 1996, 2001, 2005; Stephenson et al. 2001;
Kostyuchenko et al. 2004). According to reflectionseismic data, the Karpinsky Swell involves a nearly
15–20-km-thick sequence of folded sediments, the
bulk of which is Carboniferous in age (Brodsky et
al. 1994; Kostyuchenko et al. 2004). However, no
strata older than Bashkirian have been penetrated
by wells (Letavin 1980). Bashkirian–Asselian series
consist mainly of claystones, shales and siltstones.

An angular unconformity is evident at the base of
the Artinskian molasse (Nikishin et al. 2001). This
indicates that the main deformation phase of the
Karpinsky Basin, involving folding and thrusting
of its sedimentary fill, occurred in pre-Artinskian
times, possibly during the Sakmarian.
Wells and reflection-seismic data from the
northern flank of the Karpinsky Swell indicate
that it was thrust northwards by at least a few tens
kilometres over the margin of adjacent peri-Caspian
Basin (Kapustin 1982; Brodsky et al. 1994). Well
data from this external Karakul-Smushkovoe thrust
belt and its associated foredeep basin show that
Tournaisian(?), Visean and lower Serpukhovian
series are developed in a relatively shallow-marine
carbonate facies and contain bioherms. By contrast,
upper Serpukhovian–Bashkirian sediments consist
of deep-water cherty carbonates and radiolarites,
containing volcanic ash. Mainly argillaceous
579


GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

sediments represent Moscovian and Gzhelian
series, whereas the Asselian is developed in a flyschtype facies (Nikishin et al. 2001). The rapid late
Serpukhovian–Bashkirian subsidence of the North
Karpinsky zone probably reflects tectonic loading
of the southern margin of the peri-Caspian Basin by
the evolving Karpinsky-Karakul-Smushkovoe thrust

belt, the main deformation of which occurred during
the Early Permian (Sakmarian), as evidenced by
borehole and seismic data (Kapustin 1982; Brodsky
et al. 1994; Volozh et al. 1999; Nikishin et al. 2001).
From Late Visean times onwards, the evolution
of the Karpinsky Basin was paralleled by orogenic
activity in the Caucasus and pre-Caucasus segment of
the Scythian Orogen. During Visean to Asselian times
the Karpinsky Basin was gradually incorporated into
the flexural foreland basin of the Scythian Orogen
from which clastics were shed into it (Letavin 1987).
Similarly, the Dniepr and Donbass segments of the
Devonian Dniepr-Karpinsky rift experienced during
their Carboniferous post-rift evolution repeated
phases of accelerated subsidence (Nikishin et al. 1996;
Stovba et al. 1996; van Wees et al. 1996) that probably
can be related to the development of the Scythian
Orogen. This suggests that large flexural foreland
basins developed during Carboniferous times along
the northern flank of the evolving Scythian Orogen,
remnants of which are now only preserved in the
inverted Donbass and Karpinsky Basin.
Cordilleran-type Euxinus Orogen
The Euxinus Orogen, as summarized in Figure 4,
was characterized by a very complex structure and
included a number of continental Gondwana-derived
allochthonous terranes. These terranes formed part
of the composite Hunic Terrane that was detached
from Gondwana during the Late Ordovician–Early
Silurian, components of which were incorporated

into the Euxinus Orogen during Late Devonian to
Carboniferous times in conjunction with progressive
closure of the Rheic Ocean and opening of the
Palaeotethys (Stampfli et al. 2001a, b; Stampfli &
Borel 2004; Cocks & Torsvik 2006). Within the
Euxinus Orogen well-defined allochthonous
continental terranes are the Moesian-West Pontides,
Rhodope, and the Dzirula (Balkan, Eastern Pontides,
Shatsky, Karabakh, Kura - ?) terranes. In the Turan
580

area possible allochthonous continental terranes
are the Kara-Bogaz and Usturt blocks (Golonka
2000). The Euxinus Orogen contains also Lower
Palaeozoic ophiolites (Great Caucasus), Ordovician
(?) to Devonian subduction-related accretionary
complexes (Dobrogea), Devonian volcanic arcs
(Great Caucasus) and Carboniferous to Lower
Permian molasse basins and widespread granitic
plutons.
The Early Permian southern margin of the
Euxinus Orogen is thought to coincide with the
ophiolitic suture which extends from the Vardar
zone on the Balkan Peninsula via the İzmir-AnkaraErzincan zone of Turkey to the Sevan zone of
Armenia and Azerbaijan (Robinson 1997; Okay
2000; Stampfli et al. 2001a, b; Nikishin et al. 2005).
Continental terranes and fragments of Upper
Palaeozoic basement blocks, which are interpreted
as forming part of the Euxinus Orogen owing to
their Permo–Carboniferous deformation, are all

located to the north of this suture. On the other
hand, continental terranes located to the south of this
suture were not affected by Permo–Carboniferous
orogenic processes and therefore are attributed to the
composite Cimmerian terrane, which was rifted off
the northern margin of Gondwana during Permian
times and was accreted to the Euxinus Orogen during
the Mesozoic Cimmerian orogenic cycle, involving
closure of the Palaeotethys Ocean (e.g., Ziegler 1989;
Dercourt et al. 2000; Golonka 2000; Stampfli et al.
2001a, b; Stampfli & Borel 2004; Cocks & Torsvik
2006).
During the Early Permian the southern margin
of the Euxinus Orogen was associated with the
Palaeotethys arc-trench system that fringed the
southern margin of the accreted Gondwana-derived
Moesia-Rhodope, Pontides and Dzirula terranes. The
tectono-stratigraphic record of the Euxinus Orogen
is, however, too fragmentary to determine the
docking age of its different allochthonous terranes
and of potential suture sealing overstep sequence.
Nevertheless, there are indications that the evolution
of this orogen involved multiple deformation phases,
going back as far as the Siluro–Ordovician, as evident
in the Great Caucasus. Orogenic activity apparently
increased sharply during the Early Carboniferous
(Late Visean?), presumably in response to closure


A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.


of the Rheic oceanic basin and the docking of e.g.,
the Moesia, Balkan, Western Pontides terranes to
the southern EEC margin. This was accompanied
and followed by rapid subsidence of the Scythian
foreland basin in the Donbass-Karpinsky-PeriCaspian domain, of molasse basins in the Caucasus
and Balkan domains and the onset of flyschtype sedimentation in the Western Pontides. Late
Carboniferous and Early Permian orogenic phases
controlled the further evolution of these basins and
ultimately the suturing of the accreted terranes to the
southern margin of the EEC. This is exemplified by
the Early Permian regional compressional event that
caused, amongst others, large-scale thrusting in the
Karpinsky Basin, inversion of the Dniepr-Donbass
rift and final folding of the Dobrogea belt. Moreover,
Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian subductionrelated granitoids occur throughout the Euxinus
Orogen.
By Early Permian times, the megatectonic setting
of the Euxinus Orogen was of an Andean continentocean collisional type with the Palaeotethys
subduction zone dipping northward beneath it
(Figure 4). Westward the Euxinus Orogen graded
into the Variscan Orogen, the western parts of which
had entered a Himalaya-type continent-to-continent
collisional stage already during Early Carboniferous
times (Ziegler 1989, 1990; Stampfli et al. 2001a, b;
Cocks & Torsvik 2006). Northeastward the Euxinus
Orogen graded into the Uralian Orogen the southern
parts of which had entered a Himalayan-type
collisional stage during the Late Carboniferous–
Early Permian (Bogdanov & Khain 1981; Milanovsky

1996).
During Sakmarian to Artinskian times the
Euxinus Orogen was regionally uplifted and subjected
to erosion. Its post-orogenic collapse commenced
during the Kungurian–Late Permian (Nikishin et al.
1996 2001, 2005; Afanasenkov et al. 2008; Murzin
2010).
Triassic to Hettangian Early Cimmerian Tectonic
Cycle
During the Early and Middle Triassic, the area
of the former Euxinus Orogen was affected by a
major cycle of back-arc rifting, resulting in the
opening of the presumably oceanic South Crimea-

Küre-Svanetia Basin (Ustaömer & Robertson 1994;
Nikishin et al. 2001, 2005; Stampfli et al. 2001a, b).
At the same time rifting affected Western Siberia
and the Urals, the Pechora Basin, the Arctic-North
Atlantic domain, the Western Tethys belt as well
as Western Europe (Ziegler et al. 2001; Nikishin et
al. 2002). Moreover, the Teisseyre-Tornquist line,
which extends from Denmark to the Black Sea and
marks the boundary between the Precambrian EEC
and the West and Central European domains of
Caledonian and Variscan crustal consolidation, was
tensionally reactivated (Ziegler et al. 2001; Nikishin
et al. 1998b, 2001, 2002) (Figure 5). Whilst elsewhere,
crustal extension persisted to various degrees into
Early Jurassic times, the Black Sea domain was
affected during Carnian to Hettangian times by a

major compressional pulse, referred to as the Early
Cimmerian Orogeny. At the same time a major
orogenic pulse affected the northernmost Urals and
Novaya Zemlya. Below we review the Triassic–Early
Jurassic evolution of the EEP and its southern and
eastern margins.
Scythian Platform
On the Scythian Platform, Upper Permian(?), Lower
and Middle Triassic sediments are preserved in the
East pre-Caucasus area in the East Manych, Kayasula,
South Buzachi and Mozdok troughs, and in the West
pre-Caucasus-Crimea area in the Northern CrimeaAzov and Novo-Fedorovsk troughs (Figures 5 & 6;
Slavin 1986; Lozovsky 1992; Nikishin et al. 1998a,
b, 2001; Dercourt et al. 2000). The Stavropol High
of the central pre-Caucasus domain separates these
areas. Further to the west, the extensional system
of the Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone extends from the
North Danish Basin through the Polish Trough
under the Carpathians and reappears in the Triassic
Dobrogea rift (Kutek 2001; Seghedi 2001). On the
Scythian Platform, un-metamorphosed Triassic (or
Permo–Triassic) sediments rest unconformably on
deeply truncated greenshist facies Palaeozoic strata.
This significant metamorphic step indicates that the
Scythian Orogen was deeply eroded during Permian
times.
The stratigraphic and magmatic record of
the Scythian Platform indicates that it was
compressionally deformed during late Carnian to
581



GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

K

Early Triassic
200 0

Barents Sea
Basin

KR

ra
ho
c
Pe asin
B

200 400 km

W.Siberia
Rift
System

?
Baltic Shield

U


Mezen
Basin

R
A
L

St.-Petersburg

N.Sea
Basin

M

Riga

ow
osc

S

EAST -EUROPEAN CRATON

Oslo

in
Bas

Moscow

Minsk

LEGEND
palaeoenvironments
deeper marine,
mainly shales
carbonates,
mainy shallow marine
deltaic and coastal
clastics
shallow marine,
mainly shales
continental alluvial
and lacustrine
non-deposition areas:
mainly low relief
volcanics and
volcaniclastics

m
he sif
o
B as
M

Turan
Platform

iep


Kiev

h

Paris

Dn
ug

Massif

i

Precaspian
Basin

Warsaw

o
Tr

B
P
M raba Amsterdam Berlin olish
as n
sif t
an
Armorican

r B

as

in

tectonic symbols
rift basins
continental slope
subduction zone

asin Kar

EMT

Moesian
Platform

NF

Do

bro

S.Crimea-Kure-S

ge

a

?


East-Srednegorie
Basin

?

pinsky Bas SBuz
in

PK
St
a
Kayasula
Hi vro
Basin
gh po
l

NCA

N.

oceanic floor
abbreviations:
rift basins: K– Korotaikha,
KR– Kos’yu-Rogovaya,
NCA– North Crimea-Azov
NF– Novo-Fedorovsk
EMT– East Manych Trough
Sbuz– South Buzachi
PK– Pre-Kuma uplift


Donets B

Ukrainian Shield

s-Tr
tide
P on

vanetia
B

Mozdok
Basin

asn
i

?

anscaucasus terran ?
e(-s)

PALAEOTETHYS

Figure 5. Early Triassic palaeogeographic/palaeotectonic map of the East-European Platform (modified after Nikishin et al. 2005).

Hettangian Early Cimmerian Orogeny with main
deformations occurring during late Carnian–preNorian times, at the Rhaetian/Hettangian transition
and during the Hettangian (Nikishin et al. 1998a, b,

2001). Moreover, during the Late Triassic a broad,
E–W-trending calc-alkaline magmatic belt developed
on the Scythian Platform.
On the Scythian Platform, Upper Triassic
sediments occur in four main regions, namely in
the Nogaisk Basin of the East pre-Caucasus area, in
the Kuban basins of the West pre-Caucasus area, in
the Karpinsky Basin, and in a system of smaller, ill582

defined basins of the Crimean-Azov region (Figures
6 & 7). In these basins, Norian-Rhaetian series rest
unconformably on early Carnian and older strata,
indicating that these precursor basins were inverted
prior to the resumption of sedimentation (Nikishin
et al. 2001). So far, Hettangian sediments have not
been identified on the Scythian Platform and appear
to be regionally missing. Moreover, a regional
unconformity separates Late Triassic from younger
strata, with all Triassic basins of the Scythian Platform
showing evidence for inversion during the final
pulses of the Early Cimmerian orogeny (Nikishin et
al. 1998a, b, 2001).


Kungurian-U. PermianTriassic(?)

Jurassic

L. Cretaceous


U. Cretaceous

Kungurian salt(?)

0

10 20

30 км

Devonian(?)

Carbon-Low. Permian(?)

N

Figure 6. Geological interpretation of a seismic line through the South Buzachi Basin (modified after Afanasenkov et al. 2008; Murzin 2010). For location see Figure 5. The
South Buzachi Basin is a partly inverted Permian (Kungurian–?) to Triassic graben. Triassic sediments are calibrated by wells. Interpreted Kungurian salt is typical
for the adjacent Precaspian Basin.

Palaeozoic
basement(?)

Cz

Kurmangazy High

South Buzachi Basin

rift-postrofit megasequence


S

A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

583


GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

Pay-Khoy Orogen

Barents Sea
Basin

Late Triassic,
Norian

Pec

hor

aS
we

?

AL

nS


UR

ll

Tim
a

we

IA

ll

W. Siberia

N
M
OU
BE
LT

?

St.-Petersburg

N

Vyatka Swell


AI
NT

EAST - EUROPEAN CRATON

Oslo
N.Sea
Basin
Oka-Tsna
Swell

Riga
Moscow

o
Tr

Bas

ug

in

h

n
ia
em sif
h
s

Bo Ma

Armorican
Massif Paris

Precaspian
Basin

?

Donets
Basin
Karpinsky Basin

Ukrain
ian Ar
ch

Tuarkyr S

NB

continental alluvial
and lacustrine
deltaic and coastal
clastics
shallow marine,
mainly shales

shallow marine,

mainly carbonates
intraplate volcanics
and volcaniclastics
Moesian
calc-alkaline
Massif
volcanics

intracontinental
swells and foldbelts,
mainly moderate relief

Shatsk

y

W
.P
on
tid
es

evaporite
deeper marine,
mainly shales

areas of non-deposition

Dzirula


Kura
Kara
bakh
s
ic
ias accretion co
Cimme
mplexes andte
Tr
rrane rian
s (?
)

active foldbelts,
high relief

E. Pontides

tectonic symbols
rift basins

well

?
KB

palaeoenvironments

low relief


DonMedveditsa
Swell

Em
ba

Vor
one
zh A
Dn
rch
Kiev iepr

Warsaw

Po
Berlin lish

S.

B
M raba
as nt
sif

S we
ll

Minsk
Amsterdam


transcurrent
faults
subduction
zone

continental
slope
main collision
suture

thrust
zones
oceanic
floor

abbreviations:
KB– Kuban Basin;
NB– Nogaysk Basin

İzmir-Ankara-Sevan
ocean

200

0

Elbor

z


accreted Iranian
terrane

200 400 km

Figure 7. Norian palaeogeograpnic/palaeotectonic map of the East-European Platform (modified after Nikishin et al. 2005).

East Pre-Caucasus Area
For the East pre-Caucasus area reliable stratigraphic
data show that sedimentation resumed during the
Early Triassic under marine conditions and persisted
at least until early Carnian times. Rifted basins were
characterized by deeper-water conditions whereas
intervening unextended areas were occupied by
reef-fringed carbonate platforms (Nikishin et al.
1994, 1998a, b, 2001; Dercourt et al. 2000). For
instance, in the East Manych Trough, located along
the southern flank of the Karpinsky Swell, shallowwater carbonates grade upwards into deeper-water
clays, marls and carbonates. Subsidence of this
584

basin was accompanied a mafic-felsic bimodal riftrelated volcanism (Nikishin et al. 1998a, b). Similarly,
sedimentation in the Kayasula Basin was carbonate
dominated. The high, separating the East Manych
and Kayasula troughs, was covered by a reef fringed
pre-Kuma carbonate platform. Preliminary data from
the Mozdok Basin indicate the presence of turbiditic
sediments, suggesting that this trough may have
formed part of an Early to Middle Triassic passive

margin (Nikishin et al. 2001). The partly inverted
South Buzachi Basin in the Northern Caspian Sea area
represents the eastern prolongation of the Karpinsky
Swell (Figures 6 & 7). Recent drilling data indicate


A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

that the South Buzachi Basins contains Lower(?)Middle Triassic shales, siltstones and sandstones,
and Upper Triassic(?) carbonates (Afanasenkov et al.
2008; Murzin 2010).

poorly known. Correspondingly, the Early Triassic
palaeogeographic/palaeotectonic reconstruction of
the EEP, as given in the Figure 5, must be considered
as tentative.

Following late Carnian partial inversion and
erosion of the East Manych-Kayasula-Mozdok
system of basins, the Nogaisk Basin developed on
top of them during the Norian and Rhaetian. This
basin contains an up to 1.5-km-thick continental
to shallow-marine sequence of silts, sands and
conglomerates that includes a significant amount of
calc-alkaline andesite and rhyolite flows, ignimbrites,
tuffs and reworked volcanic rocks (Nikishin et al.
2001; Tikhomirov et al. 2004). In the southern parts
of this basin, volcanic rocks attain thicknesses of up
to 1.5 km.


Similarly the Kuban Basin underwent significant
structural changes during the Late Triassic (Figure
7). In its different parts, Norian and Rhaetian series
consist variably of flysch, bioherms and shallowmarine clastics (Boiko 1993; Prutsky & Lavrischev
1989), whilst in the vicinity of the Great Caucasus a
reef belt developed (Boiko 1993). In the Crimea-Azov
region, Upper Triassic strata are mainly developed in
a flysch-type facies in the Novo-Fedorovsk, South
Crimea and Azov-North Crimea troughs. In these
basins, a possible unconformity separates Triassic
from Lower Jurassic strata, reflecting their partial
inversion at the transition from the Triassic to the
Jurassic (Slavin 1986; Nikishin et al. 2001). In Central
and Northern Crimea, a few wells penetrated poorly
dated possibly Upper Triassic dacites, andesites and
diorite intrusions (Slavin 1986).

West Pre-Caucasus – Crimea
Although the biostratigraphic control on Triassic
sediments occurring in the West pre-Caucasus Crimean area is less reliable (Nikishin et al. 1998a,
b, 2001), it is obvious that the Northern CrimeaAzov and Novo-Fedorovsk troughs contain Lower
Triassic(?) to lower Norian turbiditic clastics, clays
and carbonates (Figure 5; Slavin 1986; Boiko 1993).
In the Kuban Basin, Early to Middle Triassic series
consist of carbonates and clastics. Overall, palaeowater depths apparently increased towards the Great
Caucasus area (Boiko 1993). Triassic development
of the South Crimean Trough is indicated by the
accumulation of the thick, though poorly dated
Tavric flysch that finds its equivalents in the Central
Pontides Küre Basin (Ustaömer & Robertson 1994,

1997; Robinson & Kerusov 1997; Nikishin et al. 2001,
2005) and possibly also the Karakaya Zone of Turkey
(Okay et al. 1996; Yılmaz et al. 1997).
Quantitative subsidence analysis carried out on
selected wells from the East pre-Caucasus area and
Crimea show that both areas subsided rapidly during
the Early and Middle Triassic (Bolotov 1996; Nikishin
et al. 1996). This rapid subsidence and the occurrence
of Lower–Middle Triassic basalts and bimodal
volcanics are consistent with intracratonic or backarc rifting. However, due to insufficient geochemical
data on these volcanic rocks, we cannot discriminate
between these two types of rifting. Moreover, it must
be realized that the outlines of the respective rifts is

In the Kuban Basin, some wells penetrated
beneath Cretaceous strata thick calc-alkaline
volcanic sequences of a possible, though not proven,
Late Triassic age. Upper Triassic volcanics occurring
in the Nogaisk-Kuban-Crimea region indicate that a
large calc-alkaline magmatic province had developed
on the Scythian Platform during the early phases
of the Early Cimmerian Orogeny (Khain 1979).
These volcanics were deeply eroded during Jurassic
times. Although available geochemical data suggest
this magmatic activity was subduction related
(Tikhomirov et al. 2004), this has to be confirmed by
additional analyses.
On the Odessa Shelf of the Black Sea, just west of
Crimea, a deep well penetrated a few hundred metres
thick Norian flysch-type, sequence containing

some tuff horizons and andesitic and rhyolitic
volcanicalstics (Ulanovskaya & Shevchenko 1992).
This suggests that a more or less continuous Norian
volcanic belt extended from the East pre-Caucasus
area to the Odessa Shelf and possibly to Dobrogea.
Great Caucasus
The highly deformed Dizi complex, which outcrops
on the southern slope of the Great Caucasus in
585


GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

Svanetia (Georgia), consists of a Devonian to Triassic
sediments and volcanics. It is commonly assumed
that the Dizi Basin came into existence during the
Devonian and persisted until it was closed at the
Triassic/Jurassic transition (Belov 1981; Kazmin
& Sborschikov 1989; Somin 2007). Devonian–
Carboniferous shales and sandstones, containing
some volcanics and carbonate blocks (olistoliths?),
are unconformably overlain by Permian shales and
sandstones and Triassic clastics. Triassic sediments
are in tectonic contact with older ones. According
to our interpretation, the Dizi complex represents
a Devonian to Carboniferous accretionary prism
that, upon closure of the Dizi suture, was covered by
Permian marine molasse-type sediments (Nikishin
et al. 2001). During the Triassic, this suture was
tensionally reactivated and developed into a rifted

basin. The occurrence of Sinemurian sediments,
which rest unconformably on strongly deformed
Triassic series (Belov 1981; Kazmin & Sborschikov
1989; Somin 2007), indicates that the Triassic Dizi rift
was strongly inverted during the Early Cimmerian
orogeny, involving the collision of the Dzirula
Terrane with the Scythian Platform (Figures 7 & 8;
Kazmin & Sborschikov 1989; Nikishin et al. 1998b;
Somin 2007).
Dniepr-Donets Basin and Karpinsky Swell
Triassic continental clastics, attaining thicknesses of
up to 500 m in the Dniepr Basin (Figures 1 & 5), and
rest unconformably on Permian and Carboniferous
sediments (Lozovsky 1992; Kabyshev et al. 1998;
Dercourt et al. 2000). Subsidence analysis show
that the Dniepr-Donets Basin experienced a phase
of accelerated subsidence during the Triassic (van
Wees et al. 1996). Although there is no evidence for
syndepositional Triassic extensional faulting, this
subsidence phase may be tensional in origin.
Around the Triassic/Jurassic transition, the
Karpinsky Swell was reactivated and thrust over the
southern margin of the Precaspian Basin (Sobornov
1995; Nikishin et al. 1998a, b). This was paralleled
by a phase of partial inversion of the Donbass Basin
(Figure 8; Stepanov 1944; Stovba & Stephenson 1999;
Stephenson et al. 2001; Nikishin et al. 2001, 2005).

586


Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone
The Teisseyre-Tornquist Zone (Figures 1 & 5) was
reactivated during latest Carboniferous and Early
Permian times as a major dextral wrench zone that
terminated in the Oslo Graben of Norway (Ziegler
1989, 1990). Superimposed on the TeisseyreTornquist Zone, the tensional North Danish Basin,
the Polish Trough and the Dobrogea Basin (Kutek
2001; Nikishin et al. 2001; Seghedi 2001, 2009)
developed during Late Permian and Triassic times,
forming part of a large rift system.
The Dobrogea Orogen, that experienced a last
compressional deformation during Middle Permian
times (Sandulescu et al. 1995), was disrupted by
rifting starting in the Late Permian (Seghedi 2009).
Magmatic activity commenced at the same time
with the extrusion of felsic and basic volcanics and
culminated during the late Early and early Middle
Triassic (Spathian to middle Anisian) when E-MORBtype pillow basalts were extruded in the axial parts of
this basin (Sandulescu et al. 1995; Nicolae & Seghedi
1996; Seghedi 2001; Stampfli et al. 2001a). Whether
these pillow basalts, which were extruded in a basin
characterized by pelagic Hallstatt-facies carbonates,
indicating considerable water depths, represent true
oceanic crust, is uncertain. During the Anisian, the
North Dobrogea Basin entered its post-rift stage that
lasted till the late Carnian onset of Early Cimmerian
orogeny (Seghedi 2001, 2009; Nikishin et al. 2000).
During the late Carnian, compressional
deformation of the North Dobrogea Basin
commenced, as evidenced by the deposition of

flysch-types series, locally resting unconformably on
truncated lowest Triassic sediments or the basement
(Seghedi 2001; Nikishin et al. 2000). This deformation
is taken as a far-field effect of the Early Cimmerian
Orogeny, which affected particularly the southern
margin of the Moesian Platform.
Moesian Platform
During the earliest Triassic and again during the
early Carnian–early Norian the southern parts of the
Moesian Platform were affected by intracontinental
rifting, leading to the subsidence of the east–


A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

Pay-Khoy Orogen

Barents Sea
Basin
Pe

ch

nS

Sw

we

ell


W. Siberia

N
IA
AL

Tim
a

ora

UR

Main tectonic structures of
Norian –
Hettangian
transition

ll

UN

MO

Riga

oceanic or microoceanic basin
intraplate volcanics


Kiev

Dn

iep

remnant flysch
basin
long-wave cratonic
arche
rift basin

low relief uplifts

continental slope

intraplate inversion
swells and orogens

subduction zone

active orogenic
belt

main collision
suture

Ukrain

ian Ar


nez

Vyatka Swell

DonMedveditsa
Swell

hA

r B
asi

Precaspian
Basin

S.
Em

Vor
o

h

LEGEND
intracontinental
,ntracontinental
sedimentarybasins
basins
sedimentary


n
ia
m if
e
h ss
Bo Ma

ug

Armorican Paris
Massif

Warsaw

Po
Berlinlish

o
Tr

B
M raba
as n
sif t

Sw e
l

Minsk

Amsterdam

ba

Moscow ?

Oka-Tsna
Swell

l

N.Sea
Basin

LT

St.-Petersburg

BE

Oslo

IN
TA

EAST - EUROPEAN CRATON

rch

n


Donets
Swell
Karpinsky Swell

ch
And

S
Ar tav
ch rop

rus

ov

Shats

ky

Mangy

shlak S
well
Tuarkyr S
well

ol

Dzirula


Kura
KSC
E. Pontides
cretion
s
Kara
ba
ac
c
omplexes
an
ic
and Cimmeri terran kh Elborz
Po
es (
ss
a
W.
i
?)
Tr

Moesian
Massif

de
nti

İzmir-Ankara-Sevan

ocean

accreted Iranian
terrane (?)

abbreviation:
KSC– Kure-South Crimea Basin

Figure 8. Norian to Hettangian palaeotectonic map of the East-European Platform (modified after Nikishin et al. 2005).

west-trending East Srednegorie Basin. This was
accompanied by widespread extrusion of volcanics
and a distinct uplift of its northern rift-shoulder.

fringed the Moesian Platform to the south (Tari et al.
1997; Banks 1997; Georgiev et al. 2001).

During the late Norian–Hettangian Early
Cimmerian Orogeny, this rifted basin was
compressionally deformed and incorporated into
a foreland basin. At the same time, the southern
parts of the Moesian Platform were deformed
into gentle north-verging anticlinal structures and
uplifted, giving rise to the development of a regional
unconformity. These structures form the external
parts of the Early Cimmerian Strandzha Orogen that

Pontides
In the western and central Pontides, evidence for
Scythian to Carnian rifting and associated alkaline

magmatism comes from the İstanbul and Devrekani
blocks, respectively. Detachment of these blocks
from the Scythian Platform resulted in the opening
of the presumably oceanic South Cimea-KüreSvanetia Basin, the northern parts of which probably
correspond to the South Crimean Trough (Figure
587


GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

5) (Ustaömer & Robertson 1994, 1997; Banks &
Robinson 1997; Stampfli 2000; Stampfli et al. 2001a,
b; Stampfli & Borel 2004). In both basins Upper
Triassic and Lower Jurassic flysch-type series were
deposited, partly on oceanic basement.

probably relates to docking of this Cimmerian
terrane complex against the southern, active margin
of Eurasia (Pickett & Robertson 1996; Yılmaz et al.
1997; Ziegler et al. 1998; Okay 2000; Stampfli et al.
2001a, b).

According to Stampfli (2000), Stampfli et
al. (2001a, b) and Stampfli & Borel (2004) late
Permian–Early Triassic steepening and roll-back
of the Palaeotethys subduction zone, located along
the southern margin of the Pontides-Transcaucasus
terrane (Sakarya Zone), was accompanied by backarc rifting controlling early to middle Triassic opening
of the oceanic South Crimean-Küre-Svanetia backarc basin. Geochemical data on ophiolites, derived
from the Küre Basin, indicate that its oceanic crust

was generated under a supra-subduction setting and
thus, cannot be considered as part of Palaeotethys
s.str. (Ustaömer & Robertson 1994, 1997; Banks &
Robinson 1997; Stampfli 2000; Stampfli et al. 2001a,
b; Stampfli & Borel 2004). During the late Permian–
early Triassic cycle of back-arc extension continental
fragments were also separated from the southern
margin of the Pontides Terrane (Şengör et al. 1990;
Okay & Mostler 1994; Okay et al. 1996; Yılmaz et
al. 1997), possibly by arc-parallel shear movements
in response to oblique subduction of Palaeotethys
(Natal’in & Şengör 2005). Corresponding Hercyniandeformed continental crustal slices occur in the
Permo–Triassic Karakaya accretionary wedge of
the Pontides-Sakarya Zone (Okay et al. 2002).
Development of this accretionary wedge testifies to
continued northward subduction of Palaeotethys
(Okay 2000; Okay et al. 2002; Stephenson et al. 2004).

The Late Triassic to Hettangian İzmir-AnkaraErzincan suture, marking the boundary between
the Sakarya and Cimmerian terranes to the south,
is characterized by the Permo–Triassic Karakaya,
Orhanlar, Çal and Küre subduction-accretionary
complexes, the middle to upper Norian syn-collisional
arkosic Aodul unit and the Nilüfer ophiolites.
Significantly, Hercynian basement slices occur both
above and below Nilüfer ophiolites. Eclogites and
blueschists occurring along this suture yield ages in
the range of 214–192 Ma and 205–215 Ma (Okay &
Monie 1997; Okay 2000; Okay et al. 2002). The oldest
post-orogenic deposits overstepping this suture are

shallow-marine Sinemurian sandstones (Okay 2000).

Late Triassic (Carnian) collision and subduction
resistance of the Triassic Nilüfer oceanic plateau with
the Sakarya arc-trench system may underlay the onset
of the Early Cimmerian Orogeny and the associated
phase of back-arc compression (Ziegler et al. 1998;
Okay 2000). In the course of the Early Cimmerian
orogenic cycle the remnant Palaeotethys was closed
and destroyed by the end of the Triassic (Yılmaz et
al. 1997) in response to its northward subduction
beneath the Pontides-Sakarya terrane and partly by
subduction beneath the Cimmerian Sanadaj-SirjanElborz Terrane (Pickett & Robertson 1996; Okay
2000; Stampfli et al. 2001a, b). The end Triassic–
earliest Jurassic peak of the Early Cimmerian Orogeny
588

The Early Cimmerian orogenic pulse affected
apparently the entire Pontides and probably involved
southward subduction of the South Crimean-KüreSvanetia Basin, as a conjugate to the north-dipping
Sakarya Palaeotethys subduction zone (Yılmaz
et al. 1997; Banks & Robinson 1997; Ustaömer &
Robertson 1997; Stampfli 2000; Stampfli et al. 2001a,
b; Stampfli & Borel 2004; Nikishin et al. 2001).
East-European Platform
On the EEP, Triassic strata occur in the MoscowMezen Basin, located to the north of Moscow (Figure
5; Lozovsky 1992; Dercourt et al. 2000), and in the
Polish part of the large Northwest European Basin
(Ziegler 1990).
In the Moscow-Mezen Basin, lowest Permian–

Lower Triassic strata are dominated by continental
clastics (Milanovsky 1996; Lozovsky 1992; Lozovsky
& Esaulova 1998). Middle and Upper Triassic
deposits are missing and Mid-Jurassic sediments rest
on truncated Lower Triassic clastics. Whether Middle
and Upper Triassic strata were deposited and eroded
prior to the Mid-Jurassic transgression is uncertain.
During Late Triassic and Early Jurassic times the
EEP was apparently uplifted, probably in response
to the build-up of compressional intraplate stresses
originating in the Early Cimmerian Orogen along


A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

its southern margin and in the Uralian Orogen
on its eastern margin. This is compatible with the
development of minor inversion structures, such as
the Vyatka Swell that is superimposed on the Riphean
and Devonian Vyatka rift, the Oka-Tsna Swell along
Riphean Pachelma rift and the Don-Medveditsa Swell
along the Devonian Don-Medveditsa Rift (Figures 7
& 8; Nikishin et al. 1996). However, as these inversion
structures were truncated and unconformably
covered by Mid-Jurassic series, the timing of their
development in not very closely constrained.
On the other hand, the sedimentary record of the
Keuper series (Upper Ladinian to Lower Rhaetian)
in the eastern parts of the Northwest European Basin
clearly reflects an episodic and progressive uplift of

the western parts of the EEP, possibly involving broad
lithospheric folding (Ziegler 1990).
Early Cimmerian Orogeny
During Late Triassic–Hettangian times, the southern
and northeastern margins of the EEP were sites of
essentially synchronous major orogenic activity
(Figures 7 & 8). Although the evolution of these two
orogenic systems was controlled by widely differing
plate kinematics, they testify to an important phase
of plate boundary reorganization.
The Early Cimmerian Orogeny, which affected the
entire southern margin of the Scythian and Moesian
platforms, the Pontides and the Trans-Caucasus
domain, was associated with an important phase
of back-arc and intraplate compression. In a N–S
direction, the area involved in the Early Cimmerian
Orogen extended from the Karpinsky Swell in the
north to the Pontides in the south over a distance of
some 700 km.
In the course of the Early Cimmerian Orogeny,
the Palaeotethys was closed, the Sakarya subduction
system abandoned whilst a north-dipping Neotethys
subduction system developed along the southern
margin of the Cimmerian terranes (Figures 7 & 8;
Nikishin et al. 1998b, 2001b; Stampfli et al. 2001a,
b; Ziegler & Stampfli 2001; Stampfli & Borel 2004;
Ustaömer & Robertson 2010). This was accompanied
by the build-up of major compressional stresses in
the back-arc domain of the South Crimea-KüreSvanetia Basin, causing its closure. As in the domain


of the Great Caucasus the Early Cimmerian backarc suture forms a linear zone, large-scale strike-slip
movements may have occurred along it during Late
Triassic-Hettangian times (cf. model of Natal’in &
Şengör 2005). Moreover, during the early phases of
the Early Cimmerian Orogeny the north-dipping
Sakarya subduction zone propagated apparently
westwards, activating the southern margin of the
Moesian Platform as evidenced by the development
of the Srednegorie Orogen (Pickett & Robertson
1996; Ustaömer & Robertson 1997; Stampfli et al.
2001a, b; Georgiev et al. 2001).
Sinemurian to Mid-Callovian Mid-Cimmerian
Tectonic Cycle
Following the Early Cimmerian orogenic pulse,
the EEP was flanked to the south by the northdipping Neotethys subduction zone along the
southern margin of the Pontides-TranscaucasusCimmerian terrane assembly (Figure 9). Sinemurian
to Aalenian development of a system of rifted basins
on the Scythian Platform, rapid subsidence of the
Great Caucasus-South Crimea Trough speak for a
resumption of back-arc extension. This cycle of backarc extension came to an end at the transition from
the Aalenian to the Bajocian with the onset of the
Mid-Cimmerian Orogeny that terminated towards
the end Bathonian–early Callovian (Nikishin et al.
2001, 2005; Ustaömer & Robertson 2010).
Great Caucasus – South Crimea
The large Great Caucasus deep-water basin came
into evidence during the Early Jurassic. To the
west it probably linked up with the remnant South
Cimea-Küre and North Dobrogea basins (Muratov
1969; Panov & Guschin 1987; Mazarovich & Mileev

1989a, b; Rostovtsev 1992; Panov et al. 1994, 1996;
Nikishin et al. 1998a, b, 2001). The Early to Middle
Jurassic chrono/lithostratigraphy for the eastern part
of this trough and the adjacent Scythian Platform is
given by Nikishin et al. (2001). A tentative Toarcian
palaeogeographic reconstruction of the area is
provided by the Figure 9.
The Great Caucasus Trough began to subside
during the Sinemurian, as indicated by the occurrence
of shallow-water clastics containing conglomerates.
589


GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

Early Jurassic,
Early Toarcian

?

Vorkuta

?

?

Perm
Oslo

St.-Petersburg

Riga

Precaspian
Basin

Minsk
lis

200 400 km

h

Tr
o

Warsaw
ug

Volgograd

Dniepr Basin

h

Kiev

H
AT
RP IN
CA AS

B

I I
I I
I
I I
Moesia
N

IA

LEGEND
palaeoenvironments
and sediments

continental
clastics
Continental clastics

deltaic, coastal and shallow
marine, mainly clastics
shallow marine, mainly clastics

CRIMEA - GREAT CAUCASUS BASIN

Transcaucasus

Pontides
Srednegori


lkan Basin Sakarya
Ba

?

e-

200 0

Moscow

I I
I
I I
I I I
I I I I

Po

?

İzmir-Ankara-Sevan Ocean

Iran

shalow marine, mainly carbonates

arc-related
volcanism


I I I I

eroded land:
cratonic,
low relief

trough slopes
subsidence
axes

555

tectonic symbols:
normal faults

deeper marine clastics and shales

subduction
zones
spreading
axes
oceanic floor

Figure 9. Toarcian palaeogeographic/palaeotectonic map of the East-European Platform (modified after Nikishin et al. 2005).

Upwards these grade into upper Pliensbachian to
lower Aalenian deeper-water shales (Figure 10a).
Rapid late Sinemurian and Pliensbachian subsidence
of this basin was accompanied by the extrusion
590


of basalts and rhyolites and the emplacement of
numerous dyke swarms (Panov & Guschin 1987).
Although Toarcian dykes consist of MORB-type
basalts, there is no evidence for the occurrence of


A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

a

b

c

d

e

Figure 10. Representative outcrops in the western Great Caucasus region. (a) Aalenian deep-water shales to the north of Tuapse city
(Indyuk villiage region). (b) Upper Jurassic carbonate section Malaya Laba River near Psebay City. Upper part– layered
carbonate platform, middle and lower parts– sedimentary breccia, possible slope of carbonate build-up. (c) Cenomanian
pillow-basalts in Western Caucasus Trough, Agva River, north of Sochi City. (d) Early Oligocene Maykopian sequence
on Agoy Beach near Tuapse City, showing alternation of shales and debris flows. Debris flows contain fragments of
Cretaceous to Eocene Great Caucasus Trough sediments. (e) Chevron folds close to Tuapse City involving Paleocene
pelagic cherts alternating with turbiditic siltstones.

591



GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

Lower Jurassic ophiolites in the Great Caucasus.
This questions whether in the Great Caucasus
Basin Early Jurassic crustal extension had proceed
to crustal separation and the opening of a small
back-arc oceanic basin. The onset of compressional
deformation of the Great Caucasus-South Crimea
Trough was heralded by the upper Aalenian and
Bajocian influx of breccias and coarser clastics along
its southern margin (Nikishin et al. 2001). However,
in its central parts marine sedimentation persisted
until late Bathonian times.
In the Trans-Caucasus area, the occurrence of
very thick island-arc volcanics, dated as Sinemurian
to Hauterivian (Nikishin et al. 2001, 2005; Zakariadze
et al. 2007) with a Bajocian maximum, reflects
increased activity along the Neotethys subduction
zone during the Mid-Cimmerian Orogeny (Figures
11 & 12).
Scythian Platform
The Scythian Platform, forming the northern
shoulder of the Great Caucasus-South Crimea rifted
basin, remained an area of non-deposition during
Sinemurian times. However, during the Pliensbachian
and Toarcian, it was transected by a system of narrow,
probably extensional, shallow-water basins (Panov et
al. 1996). Pliensbachian subsidence of these basins
was accompanied by the extrusion of rhyolites,
dacites, andesites and basalts (Panov & Guschin

1987; Hess et al. 1993). The Scythian Platform was
broadly overstepped during the late Aalenian and
Bajocian by shallow marine sediments, which were
deposited in a foreland-type basin.
The bimodal volcanism occurring in the Great
Caucasus-South Crimea Trough and on the Scythian
Platform was initially interpreted as subductionrelated (Hess et al. 1993), but is now considered as
rift-related (Koronovsky et al. 1997). Nevertheless,
there is some evidence for a possible Early Jurassic
andesitic, probably subduction-related volcanism
in the Transcaucasus region (Lordkipanidze
1980; Knipper et al. 1997; Ustaömer & Robertson
2010). According to our interpretation, the upper
Sinemurian to lower Pliensbachian rhyolitic volcanics
of the Great Caucasus area reflect a combination of
subduction- and rift-related magmatism, implying
592

that the Great Caucasus Trough developed by backarc extension involving the disruption of a magmatic
arc.
South Crimea Trough
After its partial inversion at the Triassic–Jurassic
transition, subsidence of the South Crimea Trough
resumed and persisted until the end of the Early
Jurassic–beginning of Aalenian (Nikishin et al. 2001).
Its earliest Middle Jurassic pre-Aalenian (or intraAalenian) inversion resulted in intense folding of
the Triassic to Lower Jurassic Tavric flysch, which is
unconformably overlain by Aalenian–Early Bajocian
paralic and molasse series and Upper Bajocian arcrelated volcanics (Figure 13a–c). In turn, these are
unconformably covered by upper Callovian redbeds, giving upwards way to Oxfordian and younger

carbonates. Inversion of the South Crimea Trough
was accompanied (?) and followed by subductionrelated calc-alkaline, mainly Bajocian magmatic
activity, including the intrusion of gabbros, diorites
and plagiogranites (Muratov 1969). The Middle
Jurassic age of this magmatism is supported by
new Ar/Ar datings (~169; 172–160 Ma) (Meijers et
al. 2009). The Mid-Cimmerian orogenic belt of the
South Crimea extended westwards into the area of the
North Dobrogea where Middle Jurassic flysch-type
clastics testify to continued inversion movements
(Nikishin et al. 2000; Seghedi 2001, 2009).
Central Pontides
The Küre flysch of the Central Pontides is considered
to be equivalent to the Tavric flysch of Crimea
(Robinson & Kerusov 1997; Ustaömer & Robertson
1997). In the Pontides domain, the Küre Basin was
closed during the Mid-Cimmerian Orogeny. This
was accompanied by the obduction of oceanic crust,
and a Middle Jurassic intrusive, subduction-related
magmatism (Ustaömer & Robertson 1997; Yılmaz et
al. 1997).
Eastern Pontides
In the external domain of the Eastern Pontides, which
at this time was located adjacent to the Caucasus
area, an E–W-trending East Pontides Basin began


A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

Middle Jurassic,

Bajocian

Vorkuta

Perm

z

e

n

B

a

s

in

Pechora
Basin

I I

M

o

s


c

o

w

-M

e

St.Petersburg

Oslo
Riga

Po

lis

Moscow

Minsk
h

Tr
o

ug


Dn

iep

Precaspian Basin

rB

as

h

in

Volgograd

Kiev
I I
I I
I
I I
I I
I I
I I I
I I I I I I

200 400 km

N
IA

TH N
PA I
R S
A A
C B

200 0

I
I I

LEGEND
palaeoenvironments
and sediments

I

I
I I
I I
I I
CAUCASUS

BASIN

Moesian
Platform

İzmir-Ankara-Sevan Oce


an

continental, sands and shales
shallow marine, sands and shales
deeper marine clastics and shales
eroded land:

tectonic symbols:

low relief

normal faults
trough slopes

I I I I

subsidence
axes

subduction
zones
spreading
axes
oceanic floor

arc-related
volcanism
rift-related
volcanism


Figure 11. Bajocian palaeogeographic/palaeotectonic map of the East-European Platform (modified after Nikishin et al. 2005).

593


GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK SEA, SE EUROPE

Middle Jurassic,
Late Bathonian – Early Callovian

Vorkuta

Ba

si

n

Pechora
Basin

Oslo

w-

M

ez

en


Perm

M

os

co

St.Petersburg
Riga

Moscow

Minsk
Po

lis

h

Tr
o

ug

Dni

Warsaw
h


Precaspian Basin

epr

Bas

Volgograd

in

Kiev
I I
I I
I
I
I I
I I
I I
I I I I I I I I

LEGEND
palaeoenvironments
and sediments

N
IA
TH N
PA I
R S

A BA

200 400 km

C

200 0

I I
I I

I
I I
I I
I I

EA

DO

IM

BR

Moesian
Platform

CR

OG


S.

EA

CAUCASUS
PO NTIDES

continental to coastal, sands
and shales
shallow marine, sands and shales

ACTIVE OROG

İzmir-Ankara-S

ENIC BELT

evan Ocean

shallow marine, shales and carbonates
shallow marine, mainly carbonates

eroded land:
cratonic and inactive foldbelts, low to
intermediate relief
active foldbelts, high relief

tectonic symbols:
normal faults


I I I I

deeper marine clastics and shales

spreading axes

trough slopes

subduction zones

subsidence axes

oceanic floor

Figure 12. Late Bathonian–Ealy Callovian palaeogeograpnic/palaeotectonic map of the East-European Platform (modified after
Nikishin et al. 2005).

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A.M. NIKISHIN ET AL.

a

d
Synrift 2,
carbonates,
olistoliths


~12 metres

c

b

e

Shallow-marine
carbonates

Synrift 1,
conglomerates

f

Figure 13. Representative outcrops in the Southern Crimea. (a) Lower Jurassic part of the Tavric Flysch, Bodrak River,
Bakhchisaray region, showing alternation of turbiditic sandstones, siltstones and shales and pelagic shales. (b)
Aalenian to Early Bajocian Bitak Molasse near Simpheropol City, Strogonovka Village, consisting of conglomerates
and sandstones. (c) Coastal cliff exposing Bajocan pillow-basalts at Cape Fiolent close to Sevastopol and Balaklava.
(d) Callovian to Oxfordian(?) synrift conglomerates, debris flows and carbonates of Pakhkal-Kaya section close to
Alushta City and Demerdzhi Mountain. (e) Late Jurassic deep-water turbiditic conglomerates, Ordzhonikidze City,
East Crimea, Feodosia region. (f) Callovian–Late Jurassic(?) Koba-Kaya carbonate build-up with marginal slope,
close to Nonvyi Svet City, Sudak region.

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