Analyse quantitative des faciès carbonatés et cycles T–R de haute fréquence dans le Barrémien du Prébalkan central (Bulgarie)

Within the Emerici zone–Barremense zone biostratigraphic interval, the Barremian deposits of Central Fore-Balkan (Lovech–Veliko Tarnovo shelf) consist of a succession of several formations where alternate terrigenous argillaceous/sandy-dominated facies (Kormjansko Fm., Balgarene Fm.) and carbonate-dominated (‘Urgonian’) facies (Krushevo Fm., Emen Fm.). The qualitative and, particularly, quantitative facies analysis of the carbonate successions observed along 13 detailed cross-sections and in one drill hole show the stacking of about 40 fifth-order T–R cycles induced by numerous eustatic jerks contributing to the progressive settlement of this shelf. These high-frequency cycles of about 100 000 years must be regarded as valuable correlation tools for the subsurface hydrocarbon research. To cite this article: V. Minkovska et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Changes in Air Temperatures and Atmosphere Circulation in High Mountainous Parts of Bulgaria for the Period 1941-2008

Changes of air temperatures and atmosphere circulation at three high mountainous stations in Bulgaria are investigated for the period of 1941-2008.The three stations are located on peaks Musala,Cherni vrah and Botev,where air temperature data have good quality.Some missing data were recovered using the method of differences. A significant mean annual air temperature rise happened in high mountainous parts of Bulgaria- the warming is in the order of 0.7°C for the entire period.The increase is very prominent particularly in the last 30 years.Main contributors to this overall tendency are summer months-June,July and August.To some degree,January also could be included in this group.November trend shows temperature rise at the beginning of the investigated period.One of the causes for such a tendency is atmosphere circulation in respective months.It also shows signs of considerable reorganization in both winter and summer.There is an increase of the cases of warm atmosphere patterns typical for winter, summer and autumn seasons in Bulgaria.Meridional circulation has essential significance for air temperatures during the cold half of the year.In January and June atmosphere circulation has a substantial influence on the thermal regime of air in high mountains of Bulgaria.In July,August and November this influence is reduced.There are no cycles in air temperatures for the investigated period.     

Alpine tectonic evolution of a Jurassic subduction-accretionary complex: Deformation,kinematics and Ar/Ar age constraints on the Mesozoic low-grade schists of the Circum-Rhodope Belt in the eastern Rhodope-Thrace region,Bulgaria-Greece

Deformation of the Circum-Rhodope Belt Mesozoic (Middle Triassic to earliest Lower Cretaceous) low-grade schists underneath an arc-related ophiolitic magmatic suite and associated sedimentary successions in the eastern Rhodope-Thrace region occurred as a two-episode tectonic process: (i) Late Jurassic deformation of arc to margin units resulting from the eastern Rhodope-Evros arc–Rhodope terrane continental margin collision and accretion to that margin, and (ii) Middle Eocene deformation related to the Tertiary crustal extension and final collision resulting in the closure of the Vardar ocean south of the Rhodope terrane. The first deformational event D₁ is expressed by Late Jurassic NW-N vergent fold generations and the main and subsidiary planar-linear structures. Although overprinting, these structural elements depict uniform bulk north-directed thrust kinematics and are geometrically compatible with the increments of progressive deformation that develops in same greenschist-facies metamorphic grade. It followed the Early-Middle Jurassic magmatic evolution of the eastern Rhodope-Evros arc established on the upper plate of the southward subducting Maliac-Meliata oceanic lithosphere that established the Vardar Ocean in a supra-subduction back-arc setting. This first event resulted in the thrust-related tectonic emplacement of the Mesozoic schists in a supra-crustal level onto the Rhodope continental margin. This Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous tectonic event related to N-vergent Balkan orogeny is well-constrained by geochronological data and traced at a regional-scale within distinct units of the Carpatho-Balkan Belt. Following subduction reversal towards the north whereby the Vardar Ocean was subducted beneath the Rhodope margin by latest Cretaceous times, the low-grade schists aquired a new position in the upper plate, and hence, the Mesozoic schists are lacking the Cretaceous S-directed tectono-metamorphic episode whose effects are widespread in the underlying high-grade basement. The subduction of the remnant Vardar Ocean located behind the colliding arc since the middle Cretaceous was responsible for its ultimate closure, Early Tertiary collision with the Pelagonian block and extension in the region caused the extensional collapse related to the second deformational event D₂. This extensional episode was experienced passively by the Mesozoic schists located in the hanging wall of the extensional detachments in Eocene times. It resulted in NE-SW oriented open folds representing corrugation antiforms of the extensional detachment surfaces, brittle faulting and burial history beneath thick Eocene sediments as indicated by 42.1–39.7 Ma ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar mica plateau ages obtained in the study. The results provide structural constraints for the involvement components of Jurassic paleo-subduction zone in a Late Jurassic arc-continental margin collisional history that contributed to accretion-related crustal growth of the Rhodope terrane.     

40Ar/39Ar geochronology constraints on the Middle Tertiary basement extensional exhumation,and its relation to ore-forming and magmatic processes in the Eastern Rhodope (Bulgaria)

The interaction of distinct geologic processes involved during late orogenic extensional exhumation history of the metamorphic units in the Eastern Rhodope is refined by new and reviewing ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological and structural data. Minerals with different closure temperatures from metamorphic rocks investigated in this study are combined with those from magmatic and ore-forming hydrothermal rocks in two late stage metamorphic domes – the Kesebir-Kardamos and the Biala reka-Kehros domes. The 38-37 Ma muscovite and biotite cooling ages below 350°-300°C characterize basement metamorphic rocks that typified core of the Kesebir-Kardamos dome, constraining their exhumation at shallow crustal levels in the footwall of detachment. These ages are interpreted as reflecting last stage of ductile activity on shear zone below detachment, which continued to operate under low-temperature conditions within the semi-ductile to brittle field. They are close to and overlap with existing cooling ages in southern Bulgaria and northern Greece, indicating supportively that the basement rocks regionally cooled between 42-36 Ma below temperatures 350°-300°C. The spatial distribution of ages shows a southward gradual increase up structural section, suggesting an asymmetrical mode of extension, cooling and exhumation from south to the north at latitude of the Kesebir-Kardamos dome. The slightly younger 36.5-35 Ma crystallization ages of adularia in altered rocks from the ore deposits in the immediate hanging-wall of detachments are attributed to brittle deformation on high-angle normal faults, which further contributed to upper crustal extension, and thus constraining the time when alteration took place and deformation continued at brittle crustal levels. Silicic dykes yielded ages between 32-33 Ma, typically coinciding with the main phase of Palaeogene magmatic activity, which started in Eastern Rhodope region in Late Eocene (Priabonian) times. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages from the above distinct rock types span time interval lasting approximately ca. 6 Ma. Consequently, our geochronologic results consistently indicate that extensional tectonics and related exhumation and doming, epithermal mineralizations and volcanic activity are closely spaced in time. These new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age results further contribute to temporal constraints on the timing of tectonic, relative to ore-forming and magmatic events, suggesting in addition that all above mentioned processes interfered during the late orogenic extensional collapse in the Eastern Rhodope region.     

A Simplified Basin Model For Simulating Runoff: The Struma River GIS

A GIS-based distributed-parameter runoff simulation model for the Struma River Basin in southwestern Bulgaria calculates the monthly snow/rain proportion, direct or surface runoff, snow cover and snowmelt, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and total runoff. Simulation during the Bulgarian hydrologic year from November to October was compared with observed runoff data. The model closely replicates mean monthly runoff from climate conditions during the years 1961 –1990 as well as specific years. The simplified GIS model simulates hydrologic processes under limited data availability.     

Trace metals and organic compounds in sediment samples from the River Danube in Russe and Lake Srebarna (Bulgaria)

 In 1995 the contamination status of accumulated fine surface sediments and effluent material from the River Danube in Russe (Bulgaria) was analysed for trace metals (Hg, Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, As), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis [chlorophenyl] ethane (DDT), 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis [chlorophenyl] ethylene (DDE), 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis [chlorophenyl] ethane (DDD), and hexachlorocyclohexanes (α-, β-, γ- and δ-HCH) to achieve basic information about the River Danube in Bulgaria. The range of trace-metal levels came close to or below the intended quality criteria for the River Elbe in Germany. The only exceptions were Pb in a shipyard, exceeding the final criteria by a factor of 17, and Cr downflow from a metal factory. In one sample from a shipyard (D8) the highest trace metal concentrations were analysed in the fraction 125–2000 μm. The maximum measured PAH contents exhibited a contamination on the lower μg g^–1 d.w.-level (dry weight base), traces of PCBs, HCB and DDD/DDE were analysed in the ng g^–1 d.w.-range. DDT and HCHs were not detected in any sample. The trace-metal and organic-compounds level in sediments from Lake Srebarna (UNESCO-Biosphere Reserve) displayed completely background character. Received: 18 March 1997 · Accepted: 21 July 1998     

Seeing the forest for the trees: Local-level resource use and forest restitution in postsocialist Bulgaria

Recent legislation for the restitution of ownership rights to, and subsequent management of, formerly privately owned forests in postsocialist Bulgaria has focused largely albeit not exclusively on the restored forests from the perspective of timber production, that is, `forest' equals `harvestable timber resource'. Using ethnographic data collected in rural Rhodope Mountain communities, this paper presents a local-level perspective on forests and forest use, including the meaning that forests hold for local residents as a source of non-timber forest products such as mushrooms and medicinal plants, of animal pasture, and of firewood for household heating and cooking. This local social perspective is then contrasted with the timber-resource focus of the forestry legislation and subsequent planning for forest use. The scale of forest ownership – in part a function of the restitution legislation – is also addressed in relation to the practicalities of resource management. Generally, the paper demonstrates a mismatch between the postsocialist forestry legislation and local practice and conditions with regard to forests and the natural resources therein. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Spatial Inequality,Foreign Investment,and Economic Transition in Bulgaria*

This study analyzes the possibility of increased regional economic inequality in Bulgaria following the collapse of Soviet-style Communism, which promoted spatial egalitarianism in development policies. Spatial equilibrium (neoclassical) and spatial concentration (cumulative causation) models of regional development in market economies suggest different trends. International investments reported in Business Eastern Europe from 1989 through 1992 are analyzed to test the hypothesis that regional inequalities are increasing as the cumulative causation school suggested they would. Analysis of date, location, type of transaction, and sector variables reveals Sofia's development as a service center and sectoral changes that may have regional implications if the pace of foreign investment quickens. The evidence fails, however, to refute the neoclassical spatial equilibrium model and also fails to dispel the possibility that residual influences of Communist policies are discouraging foreign investment and preventing market-driven spatial adjustments.     

Source parameters of four strong earthquakes in Bulgaria and Portugal at the beginning of the 20th century

Using original seismograph records and bulletin data we re-determined theorigin time, location, seismic moment (M₀) and magnitudes(M_S and M_w) for four earthquakes in the beginning of the20th century. These are two strong earthquakes April 4, 1904 nearKrupnik, Bulgaria (M_w = 6.8, M_S = 7.2 respectively), the April 231909 earthquake near Benavente, Portugal (M_S = 6.3), and the June14, 1913 earthquake near Gorna Orjahovitza, Bulgaria (M_S = 6.3).Twenty-nine traces from original records have been analysed, a largenumber of original station bulletins have been consulted and a consistentmethodology for analysing these early 20th century instrumentalinformation is presented.In spite of a thorough effort in re-assembling and quality control of theoriginal data, large inaccuracies remain in the improved instrumentalepicentre locations and origin times. The seismic moment estimates weobtained (2.3 10¹⁸ M₀ 3.9 10¹⁹Nm) are the first ever determined for these events. The magnitudeestimates (6.3 M_S 7.2 and 6.2 M_w 7.0) are robust and systematically lower than most of previousestimates for all earthquakes (Gutenberg and Richter, 1954; Christoskovand Grigorova, 1968; Karnik, 1969). For the largest Krupnik event ourestimates agree with those of Abe and Noguchi (1983b) and Pacheco andSykes (1992). The studied earthquakes all occur in moderately seismicactive regions, therefore our results may have significant consequences forhazard estimates in those regions.