New structural and petrologic data on Mesozoic schists in the Rhodope (Bulgaria): geodynamic implications

Structural analysis of low-grade rocks highlights the allochthonous character of Mesozoic schists in southeastern Rhodope, Bulgaria. The deformation can be related to the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous thrusting and Tertiary detachment faulting. Petrologic and geochemical data show a volcanic arc origin of the greenschists and basaltic rocks. These results are interpreted as representing an island arc-accretionary complex related to the southward subduction of the Meliata–Maliac Ocean under the supra-subduction back-arc Vardar ocean/island arc system. This arc-trench system collided with the Rhodope in Late Jurassic times. To cite this article: N.G. Bonev, G.M. Stampfli, C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Aegean

The Aegean region is a concentrate of the main geodynamic processes that shaped the Mediterranean region: oceanic and continental subduction, mountain building, high-pressure and low-temperature metamorphism, backarc extension, post-orogenic collapse, metamorphic core complexes, gneiss domes are the ingredients of a complex evolution that started at the end of the Cretaceous with the closure of the Tethyan ocean along the Vardar suture zone. Using available plate kinematic, geophysical, petrological and structural data, we present a synthetic tectonic map of the whole region encompassing the Balkans, Western Turkey, the Aegean Sea, the Hellenic Arc, the Mediterranean Ridge and continental Greece and we build a lithospheric-scale N-S cross-section from Crete to the Rhodope massif. We then describe the tectonic evolution of this cross-section with a series of reconstructions from ~70 Ma to the Present. We follow on the hypothesis that a single subduction has been active throughout most of the Mesozoic and the entire Cenozoic, and we show that the geological record is compatible with this hypothesis. The reconstructions show that continental subduction (Apulian and Pelagonian continental blocks) did not induce slab break-off in this case. Using this evolution, we discuss the mechanisms leading to the exhumation of metamorphic rocks and the subsequent formation of extensional metamorphic domes in the backarc region during slab retreat. The tectonic histories of the two regions showing large-scale extension, the Rhodope and the Cyclades are then compared. The respective contributions to slab retreat, post-orogenic extension and lower crust partial melting of changes in kinematic boundary conditions and in nature of subducting material, from continental to oceanic, are discussed.     

中、上扬子北部盆-山系统演化与动力学机制

中国南方中生代经历了中国大陆最终主体拼合的陆缘及其之后的陆内构造演化。晚古生代末期,在秦岭—大别山微板块与扬子板块之间存在向西张口的洋盆,即勉略古洋盆。中三叠世末期开始,扬子板块相对于华北板块发生自南东向北西的斜向俯冲碰撞作用,扬子北缘晚三叠世至中侏罗世发育陆缘前陆褶皱逆冲带与前陆盆地系统。晚侏罗世至早白垩世,中国东部的大地构造背景发生了重要的构造转变,中、上扬子地区处于三面围限会聚的大地构造背景。在这种大地构造格局下,中、上扬子地区晚侏罗世至早白垩世发育陆内联合、复合构造与具前渊沉降的克拉通内盆地系统。自中侏罗世末期开始,扬子北缘前陆带与雪峰山—幕阜山褶皱逆冲带经历了自东向西的会聚变形过程及盆地的自东向西的迁移过程和收缩过程。扬子北缘相对华北板块的斜向俯冲导致在中扬子北缘的深俯冲及超高压变质岩的形成。俯冲之后以郯庐断裂—襄广断裂围限的大别山超高压变质地块在晚侏罗世向南强逆冲,致使扬子北缘晚三叠世至中侏罗世前陆盆地被掩覆和改造。     

Evidence for Neotethys rooted within the Vardar suture zone from the Voras Massif, northernmost Greece

Three conflicting models are currently proposed for the location and tectonic setting of the Eurasian continental margin and adjacent Tethys ocean in the Balkan region during Mesozoic–Early Tertiary time. Model 1 places the Eurasian margin within the Rhodope zone relatively close to the Moesian platform. A Tethyan oceanic basin was located to the south bordering a large “Serbo-Pelagonian” microcontinent. Model 2 correlates an integral “Serbo-Pelagonian” continental unit with the Eurasian margin and locates the Tethys further southwest. Model 3 envisages the Pelagonian zone and the Serbo-Macedonian zone as conjugate continental units separated by a Tethyan ocean that was sutured in Early Tertiary time to create the Vardar zone of northern Greece and former Yugoslavia. These published alternatives are tested in this paper based on a study of the tectono-stratigraphy of a completely exposed transect located in the Voras Mountains of northernmost Greece. The outcrop extends across the Vardar zone, from the Pelagonian zone in the west to the Serbo-Macedonian zone in the east.Within the Voras Massif, six east-dipping imbricate thrust sheets are recognised. Of these, Units 1–4 correlate with the regional Pelagonian zone in the west (and related Almopias sub-zone). By contrast, Units 5–6 show a contrasting tectono-stratigraphy and correlate with the Paikon Massif and the Serbo-Macedonian zone to the east. These units form a stack of thrust sheets, with Unit 1 at the base and Unit 6 at the top. Unstacking these thrust sheets places ophiolitic units between the Pelagonian zone and the Serbo-Macedonian zone, as in Model 3. Additional implications are, first, that the Paikon Massif cannot be seen as a window of Pelagonian basement, as in Model 1, and, secondly, Jurassic andesitic volcanics of the Paikon Massif locally preserve a gneissose continental basement, ruling out a recently suggested origin as an intra-oceanic arc.We envisage that the Almopias (Vardar) ocean rifted in Triassic time, followed by seafloor spreading. The Almopias ocean was consumed beneath the Serbo-Macedonian margin in Jurassic time, generating subduction-related arc volcanism in the Paikon Massif and related units. Ophiolites were emplaced onto the Pelagonian margin in the west and covered by Late Jurassic (pre-Kimmeridgian) conglomerates. Other ophiolitic rocks formed within the Vardar zone (Ano Garefi ophiolite, Unit 4) in latest Jurassic–Early Cretaceous time and were not deformed until Early Tertiary time. The Vardar zone finally sutured in the Early Tertiary creating the present imbricate thrust structure of the Voras Mountains.     

Basement types of the Thrace Basin and a new approach to the pre-Eocene tectonic evolution of the northeastern Aegean and northwestern Anatolia: a review of data and concepts

In northwestern Turkey, the pre-Eocene basement of the Thrace Basin consists of the Strandja-Rhodope metamorphics in the north/northwest, the ?stanbul-Zonguldak Paleozoic sequence in the northeast, a tectonic mixture of the fragments from the Sakarya Continent and pre-Upper Cretaceous ophiolites in the southeast, and the uppermost Cretaceous–Paleocene transgressive sediments. The ophiolites belong to a Dogger-Early Cretaceous oceanic basin (the Northeastern Vardar Ocean) between the Rhodope and Sakarya Continents. The NE-trending oceanic branch closed diachronously during the early Late Malm to the northeast but during latest Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous time toward the main Vardar Ocean in the southwest. During the final closure, the suture zone acted as a strike-slip fault zone. The latest Cretaceous–Paleocene transpressional to transtensional activities caused the juxtaposition of different basement types and the development of a tectonic mixed zone (the Biga–Armutlu–Ovacik Zone) between the Rhodope and Sakarya Continents. Under the regional N–S compression, on the plate overlying the north/northeastward-dipping Vardar subduction zone, the southwestward escape of an area of crust bounding by the WNW-trending Balkan-Thrace Dextral Fault Zone to the north and the NE-trending Biga–Armutlu–Ovacik Sinistral Zone to the southeast caused a triangular-shaped and isolated depression area for the deposition of the uppermost Cretaceous–Paleocene transgressive sediments in a transtensional setting. The tectonically bounded depression area constitutes also a necessary accommodation space for the deposition of the initial deposits of Early Eocene age in the Thrace Basin.     

Geologic evolution of Bulgaria in light of plate tectonics

The Balkanide is a mobile belt within a micro-continent, which included both the Moesian Platform and Rhodope Massif. This micro-continent was rotated counter-clockwise during the Jurassic mainly in response to the sea-floor spreading of the Vardar ophiolite trough. The rotation led to the consumption of Triassic Tethys along the Dobrogea—Crimea—Caucasus Trend, producing the Cimmerian orogenic belt. Cretaceous rotation of the Italo-Dinaridian micro-continent led to the consumption of the Vardar ophiolites. An island arc (Macedonia—Rhodope—North Anatolia) was present at the consuming plate margin. Middle and Late Cretaceous marginal basins behind this arc included the Srednogorie and the Black Sea. Submarine volcanics, radiolarian cherts, and hemipelagic marls were deposited in the Srednogorie “eugeosyncline”. This sequence was folded during the early Tertiary Alpine orogeny, when the front of the Rhodope Massif was overthrust onto the Balkanides. The Black Sea meanwhile remained undeformed and can thus be considered a fossilized Cretaceous marginal basin.     

Structure and tectonic evolution of the Pirin-Pangaion Structural Zone (Rhodope Massif,southern Bulgaria and northern Greece)

The Pirin-Pangaion Structural Zone occupies the south-western part of the Rhodope Massif. It consists of Proterozoic amphibolite facies metamorphic rocks of the Rhodopian Supergroup, and granitoids of Hercynian, Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene age. The pre-Hercynian structure of the zone is dominated by an interference pattern of three superimposed fold generations of NE-SW and NW-SE trends. These structures are cut by Hercynian granitoids, and the entire complex is affected by late Hercynian or early Alpine conical folds. The zone was overthrusted by the Ogražden and Kroussia Units (Serbo-Macedonian ‘Massif’) along the north-east vergent Mid-Cretaceous Strimon overthrust, and by the Central Rhodope Zone of the Rhodope Massif, along the south-west vergent Meso-Rhodopean Overthrust. With this thrusting event, the Pirin-Pangaion Structural Zone was brought together with the Serbo-Macedonian ‘Massif’ and the Central Rhodope Zone to form the Late Cretaceous Morava-Rhodope Zone, which acted as a ‘plateau’ along the southern edge of the Eurasian plate. Late Cretaceous granitoid magma of crustal origin intruded this zone, whereas north of it the Srednogorie volcanic island arc was the site of igneous activity with magmas originating in the upper mantle. The West Thrace Zone developed as a Palaeocene to Oligocene depression superimposed over the older basement obliquely to the southern periphery of the Rhodope Massif. In the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene, this depression represented a volcanic island arc with mantle-derived basic to intermediate magmas; contemporaneous granitoid magmas formed through crustal melting in the thickened crust of the Rhodope Massif (Pirin and Pangaion Units included). Early Miocene thrusting was most intense in the Pangaion Unit, and was followed by Late Miocene to Quaternary extension.     

Tectonic units of the Alpine collision zone between Eastern Alps and western Turkey

We present a map that correlates tectonic units between Alps and western Turkey accompanied by a text providing access to literature data, explaining the concepts used for defining the mapped tectonic units, and first-order paleogeographic inferences. Along-strike similarities and differences of the Alpine-Eastern Mediterranean orogenic system are discussed. The map allows (1) for superimposing additional information, such as e.g., post-tectonic sedimentary basins, manifestations of magmatic activity, onto a coherent tectonic framework and (2) for outlining the major features of the Alpine-Eastern Mediterranean orogen. Dinarides-Hellenides, Anatolides and Taurides are orogens of opposite subduction polarity and direction of major transport with respect to Alps and Carpathians, and polarity switches across the Mid-Hungarian fault zone. The Dinarides-Hellenides-Taurides (and Apennines) consist of nappes detached from the Greater Adriatic continental margin during Cretaceous and Cenozoic orogeny. Internal units form composite nappes that passively carry ophiolites obducted in the latest Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous or during the Late Cretaceous on top of the Greater Adriatic margin successions. The ophiolites on top of composite nappes do not represent oceanic sutures zones, but root in the suture zones of Neotethys that formed after obduction. Suturing between Greater Adria and the northern and eastern Neotethys margin occupied by the Tisza and Dacia mega-units and the Pontides occurred in the latest Cretaceous along the Sava-İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture zones. The Rhodopian orogen is interpreted as a deep-crustal nappe stack formed in tandem with the Carpatho-Balkanides fold-thrust belt, now exposed in a giant core complex exhumed in late Eocene to Miocene times from below the Carpatho-Balkan orogen and the Circum-Rhodope unit. Its tectonic position is similar to that of the Sakarya unit of the Pontides. We infer that the Rhodope nappe stack formed due to north-directed thrusting. Both Rhodopes and Pontides are suspected to preserve the westernmost relics of the suture zone of Paleotethys.     

Petrology, geochemistry and geodynamic implications of Jurassic island arc magmatism as revealed by mafic volcanic rocks in the Mesozoic low-grade sequence, eastern Rhodope, Bulgaria

In the eastern Bulgarian Rhodope, mafic extrusive rocks and underlying greenschists are found in the Mesozoic low-grade unit, which represents the northern extension of similar sequences including the Evros ophiolites in Thrace (Greece). Both rock types define a suite of low-Ti tholeiitic basalts to transitional boninitic basaltic andesites and andesites and associated metapyroclastites (greenschists), intruded at its base by diorite dikes of a boninitic affinity. Mafic lavas and greenschists display large ion lithophile element (LILE) enrichment relative to high-field strength elements (HFSE), flat REE patterns of a slight light REE depletion, a strong island arc tholeiite (IAT) and weak MORB-like signature. All these rocks are characterized by negative Nb anomalies ascribed to arc lavas. They have positive Nd_i values in the range of + 4.87 to + 6.09, approaching the lower limit of MORB-like source, and relatively high (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (15.57–15.663) at low (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (18.13–18.54) ratios. The Nd isotopic compositions coupled with trace element data imply a dominantly depleted MORB-like mantle source and a contribution of subduction modified LILE-enriched component derived from the mantle wedge. The diorite dike has a low Nd_i value of − 2.61 and is slightly more Pb radiogenic (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (15.64) and (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (18.56), respectively, reflecting crustal contamination. Petrologic and geochemical data indicate that the greenschists and mafic extrusive rocks represent a magmatic assemblage formed in an island arc setting. The magmatic suite is interpreted as representing an island arc–accretionary complex related to the southward subduction of the Meliata–Maliac ocean under the supra-subduction back-arc Vardar ocean/island arc system. Magmatic activity appears to have initiated in the north during the inception of the island arc system by the Early–Middle Jurassic time in the eastern Rhodope that most likely graded to back-arc spreading southwards as represented by the Late Jurassic MORB-type Samothraki Island ophiolites. This tectonic scenario is further constrained by paleotectonic reconstructions. The arc–trench system collided with the Rhodope in the Late Jurassic times.     

Geodynamic evolution of ophiolites from Albania and Greece (Dinaric-Hellenic belt): one, two, or more oceanic basins?

All the geological constraints for an exhaustive reconstruction of the Triassic to Tertiary tectonic history of the southern Dinaric-Hellenic belt can be found in Albania and Greece. This article aims to schematically reconstruct this long tectonic evolution primarily based on a detailed analysis of the tectonic setting, the stratigraphy, the geochemistry, and the age of the ophiolites. In contrast to what was previously reported in the literature, we propose a new subdivision on a regional scale of the ophiolite complexes cropping out in Albania and Greece. This new subdivision includes six types of ophiolite occurrences, each corresponding to different tectonic units derived from a single obducted sheet. These units are represented by: (1) sub-ophiolite mélange, (2) Triassic ocean-floor ophiolites, (3) metamorphic soles, (4) Jurassic fore-arc ophiolites, (5) Jurassic intra-oceanic-arc ophiolites, and (6) Jurassic back-arc basin ophiolites. The overall features of these ophiolites are coherent with the existence of a single, though composite, oceanic basin located east of the Adria/Pelagonian continental margin. This oceanic basin was originated during the Middle Triassic and was subsequently (Early Jurassic) affected by an east-dipping intra-oceanic subduction. This subduction was responsible for the birth of intra-oceanic-arc and back-arc oceanic basins separated by a continental volcanic arc during the Early to Middle Jurassic. From the uppermost Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous, an obduction developed, during which the ophiolites were thrust westwards firstly onto the neighboring oceanic lithosphere and then onto the Adria margin.     

华南、华北地块中生代构造演化与超高压变质岩的折返机制

本文在讨论中国东部现有构造演化模式基础上，着重从华北与华南地块之间板块尺度的动力学过程剖析秦岭－大别中生代造山带构造演化，以及大别－苏鲁超高压变质地体的形成和折返过程。晚二叠世－中三叠世华南地块向华北地块持续挤压，陆壳大规模俯冲导致超高压变质作用的产生，而华北地块在晚三叠世至早侏罗世发生快速逆时针旋转，使得这一地区上地幔深度的超高压变质地体快速折返至下地壳。由于超高压变质地体侵位后，地壳结构、构造的差异，在南北地块的进一步挤压下，造成中国东部晚侏罗世－早白垩世郯庐断裂带的巨大左行剪切。     

东亚大地构造发展的重要转折

本文根据现实主义原则和现代地质学理论,分析综合了东亚构造地质、古地磁、古生物地理、地质年代学等方面的一些最新研究成果,提出东亚古亚洲洋构造系和古特堤斯构造系向环太平洋主动陆缘的转变最终出现在中侏罗世,著名的燕山运动正是这一重要构造转折的产物。     

雅鲁藏布中新生代深水沉积盆地形成和演化(Ⅲ)——喜马拉雅被动大陆边缘构造沉降分析

喜马拉雅特提斯中、新生代属印度板块北部被动大陆边缘。对充填这个被动大陆边缘的沉积物用“反剥法”(backstrippiog)进行研究,恢复了从被动大陆边缘到前陆盆地的抓降史。对分离出的盆地构造沉降曲线与McKenzie模式图版进行对比相关性分析,判断认为被动大陆边缘成熟期主要为热耗散沉降,前陆盆地时逆冲推覆动力为主要影响因素。     

Evolutionary model for Alpine Corsica: mechanism for ophiolite emplacement and exhumation of high-pressure rocks

A tectonic model of Alpine Corsica is proposed based on geological studies. Its evolution starts after the Jurassic with intraoceanic subduction, followed by mid-Cretaceous subduction of the European continental margin under the oceanic segment of the Adriatic plate. After subduction of the continental crust to a depth of ≈ 150 km, slices of crustal material are buoyantly uplifted together with high-pressure oceanic rocks (ophiolites and 'schistes lustrés'). High pressure–low temperature continental gneiss units overthrust the outer segments of the European crust, while producing a normal sense motion along the upper surface of the rising crustal body. During the Eocene, the closure of the remnant Ligurian oceanic basin separating the proto Corsican belt and Adria, resulted in a second orogenic phase with the emplacement of unmetamorphosed ophiolitic nappes which overthrust the previously exhumed and eroded HP belt. This Corsican model suggests an original evolutionary path for orogenic belts when continental collision is preceded by intraoceanic subduction.     

浅变质岩在示踪大别—苏鲁造山带大陆板块俯冲与折返过程中的意义

中国大别-苏鲁造山带为大陆板块俯冲形成的碰撞造山带,该带北缘和内部产有原岩时代为新元古代-晚古生代的浅变质岩。这些浅变质岩对应于扬子板块北缘前寒武变质基底和扬子板块北缘古生代大陆架沉积物,形成过程于印支期扬子板块向北俯冲过程中的刮削作用密切相关,与大洋板块俯冲过程中刮削形成的加积楔具有类似的动力学过程。对大别-苏鲁造山带浅变质岩的深入研究,不仅有助于揭示大陆板块俯冲过程中高压-超高压岩石形成与折返过程,而且确定了扬子板块与华北板块之间的缝合线位置位于大别造山带北淮阳带的北部和苏鲁造山带的五莲-蓬莱群的北侧。     

Granitoids from Western and Northwestern Anatolia: Geochemistry and Modeling of Geodynamic Evolution

Magmatic rocks of variable age and composition crop out extensively in Western and Northwestern Anatolia. In the present study we subdivide these granitoids according to their ages. The young granitoids (Late Cretaceous to Late Miocene) develop high-temperature metamorphic aureoles. Six isochronous belts are defined, which become progressively younger from north to south. The late Eocene to late Miocene granitoid belts are curved and open to the southwest. The old granitoids (Cambrian to Middle Jurassic) are present in the northwestern and northern parts of Anatolia. Many of their radiometric ages are disturbed as a result of later tectonic events responsible for the present-day structure of Western Turkey. Except for Cambrian granitoids, these rocks result from a series of northward-dipping subduction zones of Hercynian to Late Carboniferous age, along the Karakaya trench up to the Late Triassic, along and north of the Izmir-Ankara zone during the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous, and possibly north of the Hellenic subduction zone since the Paleogene.     

Continental convergence in the Alps

Collision of continental plates in the Alps, in less than 5 · 10⁶ y during the late Eocene, was preceded by a paired metamorphic belt in both plates of the south-dipping suture, and accompanied or succeeded by a high-t/low-p metamorphic event anomalously located in the lower plate. This event did not result from crustal burial because it peaked too soon after collision. Additional heat may have come from a second subduction zone dipping northward underneath the lower plate and/or from post-collisional friction along a subhorizontal décollement in the crust of the lower plate, evident in a seismic low-velocity layer. Décollement and partial anatexis on the LVL, thick-skinned warping, folding, and kinking of the nappes and their South Alpine root zone, and possibly the parautochthonous Jura folding are post-collisional, typically Alpine, distortions of the otherwise normal subduction model.     

Sedimentological and Petrographical Aspects of Upper Miocene Evaporites in the Beypazari and Çankiri-Çorum Basins,Central Anatolia,Turkey

The Southeast Anatolian orogen is a part of the eastern Mediterranean-Himalayan orogenic belt. Development of the Southeast Anatolian orogen began with the first ophiolite obduction onto the Arabian platform during the Late Cretaceous, and it continued until the Miocene. Its lingering effects continue to be discernible at present. During the Late Cretaceous-Miocene interval, three major deformational phases occurred, related to Late Cretaceous, Eocene, and Miocene nappe emplacements. The Miocene nappes are composed of ophiolites and metamorphic massifs.

For a decade, field studies in the region have shown that strike-slip tectonics played a role complementary to the major horizontal effects of the nappe movement, as indicated by: (1) fault systems active during the Eocene; (2) different Eocene rock units composed of coeval continental and deep-sea deposits and presently tectonically juxtaposed; and (3) other stratigraphic and structural data obtained across the present strike-slip fault zones.

These strike-slip faults possibly resulted from oblique subduction of the mid-oceanic ridge underneath the northerly situated Yuksekova ensimatic island-arc complex, causing a gradual cessation of the island-arc system. The subduction also led to the development of a back-arc pull-apart basin, i.e., the Maden basin, which opened on the upper plate. The geologic history in Southeast Anatolia resembles the development of the San Andreas fault system and subsequent tectonic evolution.     

Late Cretaceous blueschist facies metamorphism in southern Thrace (Turkey) and its geodynamic implications

A blueschist facies tectonic sliver, 9 km long and 1 km wide, crops out within the Miocene clastic rocks bounded by the strands of the North Anatolian Fault zone in southern Thrace, NW Turkey. Two types of blueschist facies rock assemblages occur in the sliver: (i) A serpentinite body with numerous dykes of incipient blueschist facies metadiabase (ii) a well‐foliated and thoroughly recrystallized rock assemblage consisting of blueschist, marble and metachert. Both are partially enveloped by an Upper Eocene wildflysch, which includes olistoliths of serpentinite–metadiabase, Upper Cretaceous and Palaeogene pelagic limestone, Upper Eocene reefal limestone, radiolarian chert, quartzite and minor greenschist. Field relations in combination with the bore core data suggest that the tectonic sliver forms a positive flower structure within the Miocene clastic rocks in a transpressional strike–slip setting, and represents an uplifted part of the pre‐Eocene basement. The blueschists are represented by lawsonite–glaucophane‐bearing assemblages equilibrated at 270–310 °C and ～0.8 GPa. The metadiabase dykes in the serpentinite, on the other hand, are represented by pumpellyite–glaucophane–lawsonite‐assemblages that most probably equilibrated below 290 °C and at 0.75 GPa. One metadiabase olistolith in the Upper Eocene flysch sequence contains the mineral assemblage epidote + pumpellyite + glaucophane, recording P–T conditions of 290–350 °C and 0.65–0.78 GPa, indicative of slightly lower depths and different thermal setting. Timing of the blueschist facies metamorphism is constrained to c. 86 Ma (Coniacian/Santonian) by Rb–Sr phengite–whole rock and incremental ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar phengite dating on blueschists. The activity of the strike–slip fault post‐dates the blueschist facies metamorphism and exhumation, and is only responsible for the present outcrop pattern and post‐Miocene exhumation (～2 km). The high‐P/T metamorphic rocks of southern Thrace and the Biga Peninsula are located to the southeast of the Circum Rhodope Belt and indicate Late Cretaceous subduction and accretion under the northern continent, i.e. the Rhodope Massif, enveloped by the Circum Rhodope Belt. The Late Cretaceous is therefore a time of continued accretionary growth of this continental domain.