Morpho-tectonic evolution of the Crimean mountains (Ukraine) as constrained by apatite fission track data |
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| Authors: | Tomá &# Pá nek,Martin Dani&# í k,Jan Hradecký , Wolfgang Frisch |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, Ostrava 710 00, Czech Republic;;Institute of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Sigwartstraße 10, D-72076 Tubingen, Germany;;John de Laeter Centre of Mass Spectrometry, Applied Geology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Apatite fission track thermochronology (AFT) is used to investigate the low-temperature thermal evolution of the Crimean Mountains and provide new insights into the geodynamic and geomorphic evolution of the westernmost tip of the Caucasus–Crimean fold-and-thrust belt. The vast majority of the samples taken from Jurassic sedimentary and magmatic rocks revealed AFT ages in the range of 51–32 Ma. These ages, together with modelled cooling paths, show that the mountain range experienced a thermal overprint after the Late Cimmerian orogeny. We interpret the overprint in terms of the burial of Cimmerian structures by a thick pile (>4 km) of platform sediments during Early Cretaceous–Late Eocene times. This scenario implies that highly elevated palaeosurfaces of Early Cretaceous age survived in large part because of the protection provided by thick accumulations of platform deposits. Since final uplift in the middle Pliocene, the palaeosurfaces have been significantly degraded and dissected by fluvial incision and large-scale landslides. |
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