Project Details
Projekt
Constraining Neogene to Quaternary exhumation rates in contractional vs. extensional segments of the Dinarides-Hellenides transition using calcite/dolomite thermoluminescence thermochronology
Subject Area
Geology
Term
since 2025
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 560303655
With this proposal we aim to study the Neogene to recent deformation in contraction- vs. extension-dominated structural settings in the transition zone between the Dinarides and Hellenides in Albania by applying calcite/dolomite thermoluminescence (TL) dating as an ultra-low temperature thermochronometer. In the Dinarides and Hellenides thrust belts the use of conventional methods such as zircon and apatite fission-track as well as (U-Th)/He analyses was hitherto severely restricted by the absence of those minerals in the prevalence of carbonatic successions deposited on the Adriatic passive margin during Mesozoic times. TL dating, which measures trapped electrons from radioactive decay, can be used to date cooling of bedrock below 50–70 °C with a temporal range back to about 10 Ma, making it a powerful tool for assessing the exhumation history in areas previously deemed unsuitable for “classical” low-T thermochronology approaches requiring zircon and apatite. This will allow us to better understand the timing of upper crustal deformation and exhumation patterns exerted by mantle-driven processes of subduction rollback and slab breakoff in the Dinarides and Hellenides.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
Subproject of
SPP 2497:
Plate Deformation and Geohazards: The Eastern Margin of the Adriatic Plate (DEFORM)
International Connection
Albania, Slovenia
Cooperation Partners
Professorin Dr. Ana Fociro; Dr. Bardhyl Muceku; Dr. Kujtim Onuzi; Professor Dr. Marco Vrabec
