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Late Orogenic vertical movements in the

Carpathian Bend Zone - seismic constraints on
the transition zone from Orogen to Foredeep

Article in Basin Research · December 2006

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2006.00306.x

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 Basin Research (2006) 18, 521–545, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2006.00306.x

Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian

Bend Zone ^ seismic constraints on the transition
zone from orogen to foredeep
K. A. Leever, n, w L. Matenco, n, w G. Bertotti, n, w S. Cloetingh n, w and G. G. Drijkoningen n, z
n
Netherlands Centre for Integrated Solid Earth Sciences (ISES), Amsterdam,The Netherlands
wFaculty of Earth and Life Sciences,Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam,The Netherlands
zDepartment of Applied Earth Sciences, Delft University of Technology,The Netherlands

ABSTRACT
Postcollisional tectonic movements in orogens and their adjacent foreland basins related to intraplate
stresses and the presence of a remnant slab are likely to induce signi¢cant deformations overprinting
the existing patterns of nappe emplacement. In the Carpathian Bend Zone, Romania, vertical
motions associated with very limited postorogenic intraplate shortening are of similar magnitude as
those generally caused by large orogenic deformations. In the Latest Miocene^Pliocene, up to 6 km of
postcollisional sediments of remarkably parallel strati¢cation were deposited in a basin extending
over a large part of the present-day orogen.The Early Quaternary featured a dramatical change as the
orogen was uplifted while subsidence continued in the basin, tilting the basin £ank adjacent to the
orogen to a vertical position.The remnant slab presently below the Bend zone inVrancea is the prime
mechanism to have driven the Pliocene subsidence.The Quaternary changes and the eastwards
migration of the pattern of vertical motions can be explained by large- scale folding, in response to the
overall compressive regime that is recorded in the whole Pannonian-Carpathian area.

INTRODUCTION basins and their temporal relation with the shortening tak-
ing place in the orogen. In this contribution, we di¡erenti-
The development of basins adjacent to mountain chains,
ate between the orogenic stage and the late orogenic stage.
referred to as foreland basins or foredeeps, is commonly
The orogenic stage refers to active collision, associated
explained by the £exural isostatic response of the litho -
with major shortening (4100 km), nappe stacking and
sphere to orogenic loading by thrusting (e.g. Beaumont,
crustal thickening. In contrast, we de¢ne the late- orogenic
1981) and (un)loading due to surface mass redistribution
stage as the subsequent period, postdating the main stages
by erosion and sedimentation (e.g. Flemings & Jordan, of contraction that features only limited shortening and
1989; Johnson & Beaumont, 1995), which is partly climate
deformation.
controlled (e.g. Schlunegger & Simpson, 2002). Although
Low-temperature thermochronology and subsidence
‘hidden loads’ have been inferred where basement de£ec-
analysis have documented substantial vertical movements
tion is larger than expected from thrust loading only (Roy-
in a late orogenic stage (e.g. Bertotti et al., 2003). In simple
den & Karner, 1984), it is typically assumed that foredeep
cases, these movements consist of a couple of exhumation/
subsidence is basically controlled by the load of the thrust
uplift in the mountain belt and subsidence in the adjacent
sheets, and that it ends when shortening ends. Ongoing
basin, often coeval (e.g. Bertotti et al., 2006). In more com-
erosion will then lead to uplift of the belt and the £anks of plex cases, the sign of vertical movements of speci¢c parts
its foredeeps at a wavelength controlled by the rigidity of
of the system may change through time (e.g. Bertotti et al.,
the lithosphere.
2001). These movements cannot be reconciled with the
These scenarios are attractive because of their simpli-
models of foredeep development described above.
city. However, their overall validity has recently been ques-
The coexistence and importance of (late orogenic) ver-
tioned by the discovery of signi¢cant deviations occurring
tical movements are clearly visible in the transition zone
in natural examples, especially during the last stages of or-
connecting the mountain belt with the adjacent basin. In
ogeny (e.g. Cloetingh et al., 2004).These anomalies mainly
the classical model, foredeeps are wedge- shaped basins
concern the magnitude and timing of vertical movements thickening towards the orogen where the basement de£ec-
in the fold-and-thrust belts and adjacent sedimentary
tion is largest. Sediments are deposited in front of the
actively deforming zone and dip towards the orogen. Post-
Correspondence: K. A. Leever, Netherlands Centre for Inte-
grated Solid Earth Sciences, De Boelelaan1085, 1081 HVAmster- orogenic uplift due to erosional unloading may result in a
dam,The Netherlands.Tel. 131 20 598 7278; Fax: 131 20 598 9943; (slight) basinward dip (e.g. the Alps ^ Cederbom et al.,
E-mail: [email protected] 2004). However, in several cases, the sediments adjacent

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 521
K. A. Leever et al.

to the thrust front have been observed to show a steeply tectonic activity in the wedge.This requires a di¡erent me-
basinward-dipping geometry, too steep to be explained chanism: one that can cause su⁄cient subsidence to ac-
by the classical model. Pre- and syntectonic sediments commodate the deposition of a large pile of postorogenic
can arrive at such a basinward dip by tectonic wedging/the sediments and subsequently reverse the sign of the verti-
formation of a triangle zone (sensu Jones, 1996), whereby cal motions and exhume and fold them. The tilted sedi-
the foredeep sediments are separated by a detachment ments of the transition zone represent the geometric link
horizon from the underlying tectonic wedge. The best relating movements in the mountains and in the basin
known example is the Alberta Syncline in the Southern and, more speci¢cally, between the uplift of the mountain
Canadian Rocky Mountains (e.g. Spratt & Lawton, 1996). chain and the basin subsidence.
Modelling has shown that the formation of a triangle zone In this contribution, we present the results of our work
requires a weak detachment horizon and is enhanced by on the transition zone connecting the SE segment of the
syntectonic sedimentation (Bonini, 2001). In contrast, Carpathian belt with its foredeep (Fig. 1), the FocSani De-
the western £ank of the foredeep adjacent to the SE Car- pression. This basin has accommodated more than 10 km
pathian Bend Zone (Romania) features steeply basinward- of Miocene^Quaternary sediments. Up to 6 km of sedi-
dipping sediments that largely postdate the main stages of ments have accumulated after the end of major contraction

Fig. 1. (a) General location map of the FocSani basin and the adjacent thin- skinned units in the Romanian Carpathians orogenic system
(from Sa
ndulescu,1984, slightly modi¢ed with foreland structures fromVisarion etal.,1988; Ra
ba
gia & Matenco,1999). BB, Brasov basin;
TSB, T |“ rgu Secuiesc basin. (b) Simpli¢ed crustal scale structural section across the SE Carpathians. Location in Fig.1a. Modi¢ed after
Schmid et al. (in press).

522 r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

(Ta
ra
poanca
et al., 2003). On the neighbouring orogenic mitrescu & Sa
ndulescu, 1970). From the end of the Sarma-
side, between 2 and 5 km of erosion has taken place in the tian onwards, this collision led to the locking and a
fold-an-thrust belt during the last 10 Myr (e.g. Sanders generalized exhumation of the mountain belt (e.g. Sanders
et al., 1999; Merten et al., 2005). Quantitative understand- et al., 1999). At the same time, the main hinterland basin,
ing of vertical and horizontal movements in the basins i.e. Transylvania, was uplifted and eroded (e.g. Ciupagea
associated with the Carpathians is important also because et al., 1970; Ciulavu et al., 2002).
this orogen is the type locality for models addressing unu- In front of the Carpathians, a foredeep basin developed
sual variability in plate kinematics during the late stages of with substantial along- strike variations in width and
orogeny (e.g., Royden, 1993; Chalot-Prat & Girbacea, 2000; thickness. Maximum subsidence rates in the entire fore-
Wortel & Spakman, 2000; Sperner et al., 2001; Gvirtzman, deep took place in Sarmatian time (Fig. 4), coeval with
2002; Cloetingh et al., 2004; Knapp et al., 2005). Di¡erent and related to collision of the East and South Carpathians
models obviously lead to di¡erent interpretations of the with their forelands (Matenco et al., 2003). The largest se-
large intermediate mantle-depth Vrancea seismicity (e.g. diment thicknesses are observed in the FocSani Depres-
Oncescu & Bonjer, 1997). sion (Figs 1^3; e.g. Matenco et al., 2003; Ta
ra
poanca
et al.,
The abundance of models is partly the consequence of 2003), which has consistently been the most subsiding area
the paucity of data, especially those able to constrain the throughout the Miocene to Present (Bertotti et al., 2003).
geometry of the transition between the Carpathian orogen Classical geodetic levelling (e.g. Popescu & Dragoescu,
and the FocSani Depression. As a consequence, the magni- 1986) and preliminary GPS (e.g. Van der Hoeven et al.,
tude and timing of vertical movements and tilting in the 2005) studies have shown that the FocSani Basin is still ra-
area are poorly de¢ned.To bridge this gap, the Netherlands pidly subsiding with up to 3 mm year
1. Meanwhile, the
Research Centre for Integrated Solid Earth Science (ISES) neighbouring orogenic wedge experiences a rapid uplift
acquired in 2002 a series of high-resolution seismic lines of up to 2^3 mm year
1.
(lines A, C, D, Fig. 2), aiming at a detailed reconstruction
of the subsurface continuation of the exposed stratigraphy.
The bend zone
Two of these seismic lines, along the Putna and R|“ mnicu
Sa
rat valleys, display with high accuracy the structure of The Carpathian Bend Zone is the transition between the
the western and inner £ank of the FocSani Basin (Figs 2 N^S- striking East Carpathian belt and the E^W-trending
and 3).The third one targets Quaternary deformations tak- South Carpathian orogen (Fig.1).The orogenic nappe pile
ing place further eastwards and within the foreland plat- in the study area (e.g. Sa
ndulescu, 1988) is composed of a
form units. After a presentation of the seismic lines, we stack of basement and Mesozoic cover nappes (Middle
will expand our analysis across the orogen to capture the Dacides), tectonically overlying the thin- skinned £ysch
entire wavelength of the vertical motions, going from the nappes deformed during the closure of the Outer Dacidian
Transylvania Basin in the west to the Carpathian foreland trough. In the Bend Zone, the main detachment, i.e. the
in the east. Finally, we propose a model for the late oro - Pericarpathian thrust front, is buried below Upper Mio -
genic movements in the area. cene ^ Quaternary sediments (e.g. Dicea, 1995; Matenco
& Bertotti, 2000; Fig. 1).
The Bend Zone has a number of distinctive features.
REGIONAL GEOLOGY AND TECTONIC It is the site of the most recent tectonic activity of the en-
tire Carpathians arc. Following the early Late Miocene
SETTING: ROMANIAN CARPATHIANS
(Sarmatian) collision and after a Latest Miocene^Early
AND FORELAND Pliocene period of relative thrusting quiescence, con-
The Carpathians are a highly arcuate orogen formed in re- traction in the Bend zone apparently restarted in Late
sponse to the Alpine collision between the upper plate(s) Pliocene^Quaternary times (Wallachian phase, senso Sa
n-
(Tisza-Dacia and Alcapa, senso Bala, 1986) and a relatively dulescu, 1988), with o10 km shortening (Matenco &
stable European foreland in a lower plate position (e.g. Du- Bertotti, 2000). This led to the formation of small- scale
mitrescu & Sa
ndulescu, 1970; Burch¢el, 1976; Royden, out- of- sequence thrusts with roughly SW-ward vergence
1988; Sa
ndulescu, 1988; Csontos, 1995; Krzywiec, 2001 (see also Hippolyte & Sa
ndulescu, 1996; Morley, 1996;
and references therein; Fig.1).The Alpine tectonic history Zweigel et al., 1998). This deformation is coeval with the
of the Romanian part of the Carpathians may be brie£y regional Pliocene^Quaternary inversion, which a¡ected
summarized (Sa
ndulescu, 1988) into a Mesozoic period of the Pannonian (e.g. Horva¤th, 1993; Bada et al., 1999; Fodor
extension associated with the formation of two oceanic ba- et al., 1999, 2005) and Transylvania (e.g. Ciulavu et al.,
sins (Transylvanides and outer Dacidian trough) and their 2002) basins.
subsequent polyphase closure starting in the Cretaceous A second unusual feature of the Bend Zone is its Plio -
and culminating with the Sarmatian continental collision cene^Quaternary denudation (up to 5 km of erosion), lar-
in the external domain (10^11 Ma). This collision re£ects gely postdating other East and South Carpathians areas,
the stage when the nonthinned lower plate starts to under- where major exhumation (45 km) took place during Mid-
plate during convergence, leading to thrusting on top of dle-late Miocene (Badenian^Sarmatian) times (Sanders
the undeformed foreland (regarding the timing, see Du- et al., 1999).

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 523
K. A. Leever et al.

Fig. 2. Detailed geological map of the SE Carpathians foreland with the location of depth data used in the present study (simpli¢ed
from1:200 000 maps published by the Geological Institute of Romania). Bold black lines indicate the shallow seismic lines (lines C, D, A)
and the industry line (line B), displayed in Figs 5^7 and 10, respectively.Triangular toothed lines: main (nappe bounding) thrusts in the
orogen; Block-toothed lines: Sarmatian, recent normal faults; VHW,Vrancea half-window; TSB, Tirgu Secuiesc Basin; PCF,
Peceneaga^Camena fault; TF,Trotus fault; W1,W2, location of the wells used for the depth conversion of the Independen]a line (Fig. 7).

The Bend Zone is still seismically active.Whereas seis- The Carpathian foreland and the FocSani
micity is minor in other segments of the Carpathians Depression
chain, the SE part of the belt releases the largest strain ac-
cumulation in continental Europe (e.g.Wenzel et al., 1999). The undeformed foreland of the Carpathians is composed
The high earthquake recurrencies (25 years for Mw 47 of an amalgamation of three major units with di¡erent
and 50 years for Mw 47.4) are limited to a spatially re- geometries and characteristics. They represent cratonic
stricted, 40  80  200 km, seismogenic volume (Onces- continental platforms (senso Twiss & Moores, 1992) with
cu & Bonjer, 1997) located at 100 km SE of the expected Precambrian crystalline rocks and a Palaeozoic^Mesozoic
position of the plate boundary (e.g. Radulian et al., 2000). sedimentary cover. These units (Fig. 1) comprise the

524 r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

Fig. 3. Geological map draped over a 90 -m resolution DEM (SRTM, Rabus et al., 2003) along the western £ank of the FocSani basin.
Lines C, D and B represent locations of the seismic lines in Figs 5, 6 and 10. Legend for geological units as in Fig. 2. Note the high
elevation of the Pliocene^Quaternary strata and their deep burial in the frontal foredeep. Note also the location of the FocSani basin
Pliocene depocentre roughly in the frontal part of line B. PV, Putna valley; RSV, R|“ mnicu Sa
rat valley.The thick black line in the centre of
the basin represents the contour of
1000 m of the base Quaternary horizon, whereas the dashed line is the FocSani basin axis (after
Matenco et al., in press).

East-European, Scythian and Moesian platforms. A fourth separated at various time levels from the main Tethyan
unit is North Dobrogea, which contains remains of a realm (e.g. Kovac
et al., 1999; R˛gl, 1999). Extreme subsi-
Hercynian orogen, which was subsequently subjected to dence values are observed in a restricted area of the Dacic
Mesozoic rifting and inversion (e.g. Seghedi, 2001). Basin, 30  50 km in surface, known as the FocSani De-
The part of the foreland adjacent to the Carpathian pression. Here, up to 13 km of sediments were deposited
Bend Zone, corresponding to the Moesian Platform, has during Neogene-Quaternary times (Ta
ra
poanca
et al.,
been the site of major subsidence since the Middle Mio - 2003).
cene (e.g., Dicea,1995; Ra
ba
gia & Matenco,1999). Foredeep Strong subsidence in Middle to Late Badenian times
sediments are almost entirely shallow lacustrine to near- (Middle Miocene) postdates the regional deposition of
shoreline continental deposits, deposited in an Eastern evapourites and accommodates the deposition of thick
Paratethys domain (Dacic Basin senso Jipa, 1997), spatially clastics. Normal faults (Ta
ra
poanca
et al., 2003) indicate a

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 525
K. A. Leever et al.

period of limited NNE^SSWextension. Coeval with colli-

sion, thick clastic sediments are deposited during the Sar-
matian, associated with further normal faulting related to
£exural bending of the underthrust foreland plate (Ta
ra
-
poanca
et al., 2003; Leever et al., 2006).
During the late orogenic stage (i.e. post-Late Sarma-
tian), foreland subsidence continued only in the Moesian
block, with particularly high values in the FocSani Basin.
Upper Miocene (Meotian^Pontian) sediments are shal-
lowwater clastics and are overlain by Pliocene prograding
deltaic bodies that ¢lled the Dacic Basin, except for the
FocSani area (e.g. Jipa, 1997). Here, subsidence accelerated
during the Pliocene^Quaternary, whereas its western part
was progressively uplifted, imposing a shift of the depo -
centre towards SE (Matenco et al., 2003; Ta
ra
poanca
et al.,
2003).

The FocSani Basin flanks

The western FocSani Basin £ank, i.e. its transition to the
Carpathian thrust belt, is characterized by a 5^6 km thick
sequence of Late Miocene^Pliocene shallow lacustrine se-
diments, dipping towards the east (Fig. 3). The western
limit of the succession is a poorly exposed fault zone that
forms the contact with the Subcarpathian nappe.The geo -
metry and kinematics of this fault are ambiguous: surface
structural observations by the authors indicate an east ver-
gent thrust, whereas existing interpretations of the struc-
ture at depth suggest a large scale backthrust, forming a Fig. 4. Lithostratigraphic column of the exposed Upper
triangle zone rooted in the buried Pericarpathian thrust Miocene^Quaternary sediments on the western £ank of the
(Roure et al., 1993; Matenco & Bertotti, 2000). FocSani basin and correlation between the standard Tethys and
The westernmost foredeep sediments are Upper Sar- Eastern Paratethys ages used in the present study (after R˛gl,
1999). Ages in italics are the absolute values obtained by
matian^Meotian sandy turbidites changing upsection to
magnetostratigraphy (Vasiliev et al., 2004, 2005).
¢ner-grained Pontian^Lower Dacian turbidites and even-
tually to Upper Dacian^Romanian shallow lacustrine de-
posits (Marinescu et al., 1981; Fig. 4) The (sub)vertical dips
in the Sarmatian deposits gradually decrease to 151 in the
ACQUISITION, PROCESSING AND
upper Pliocene strata.The Miocene to Pliocene succession DEPTH CONVERSION OF THE SHALLOW
is overlain by massive gravels (C|“ ndeSti gravels) deposited SEISMIC LINES
by sheet £ows (senso Einsele, 2000) in a shallow lacustrine In this section, we present the three high-resolution shal-
to alluvial environment and dated as Uppermost Plio - low seismic lines that were acquired in 2002 in the frame-
cene(?)^Lower Pleistocene. The gravels dip 5^101 to work of the ISES project CARFOR. Two of the seismic
the E and display an unconformable contact with the un- lines (location in Figs 2 and 3) are located on the western
derlying Pliocene strata north of the Putna valley (Figs 2 £ank of the FocSani Depression; the third one traverses
and 3). The C|“ ndeSti gravels presently crop out at eleva- the eastern £ank of the basin and the Peceneaga^Camena
tions of up to 1km, and are unconformably covered by sev- fault system.
eral levels of Middle Pleistocene^Holocene loess and
alluvial deposits, locally dipping up to 2^31 (Necea et al.,
Acquisition and processing, quality of the
2005).
sections
The eastern £ank of the FocSani Depression is very dif-
ferent from the western one and characterized by eastward The sections on the western basin £ank cross the Car-
shallowing of the basin £oor overprinted by a regional sys- pathian foothills along the Putna (line C, Fig. 5) and R|“ m-
tem of presently active normal faults. This system is spa- nicu Sa
rat valleys (line D, Fig. 6), perpendicular to the
tially juxtaposed with the Peceneaga^Camena fault (Fig. structural grain of the late orogenic foredeep sediments.
2, Matenco et al., in press), a deep crustal fracture with a The Putna and R|“ mnicu Sa
rat valleys are easily accessible
Moho o¡set of 5 km (Ra
dulescu et al., 1976) separating and provide an almost continuous succession of outcrops
the Moesian platform from the Neogene buried part of necessary for surface calibration of the structural study
the North Dobrogea orogen (Visarion et al., 1988). and for age control provided by the palaeomagnetic

526 r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

Fig. 5. High-resolution shallow seismic line C on the western £ank of FocSani Basin along Putna valley (location in Fig. 3). (a)
Interpreted seismic section, vertical scale in seconds two-way travel time. (b) Depth- converted seismic line using velocity model 1 (Fig.
8a).

sampling (Vasiliev et al., 2004). In the western part of the two -way travel time (TWT).The vertical resolution in the
pro¢les, acquisition was stopped where dips exceeded upper part of the sections is ca. 20 m. At 2- s TWT this is
40^501. The elevation di¡erence along the sections is reduced to 40 m. Attenuation of the high-frequency signal
approximately 400 m, with forested and accentuated ter- is generally observed at depth. In the lower part of the wes-
rain in the western part of the sections (Fig. 3). The third tern sections (C and D, Figs 5a and 6a), the low signal-to -
seismic line, located near the village of Independen]a noise ratio (SNR) is ascribed to the steep (4401) dip of the
(Fig. 2), traverses the eastern £ank of the FocSani Basin strata. Here, the sections are characterized by low-ampli-
and the Peceneaga^Camena fault system (line A, Fig. 7). tude, cross- cutting events that steeply dip in both direc-
The position of this line was selected on the basis of avail- tions, a side e¡ect of processing (migration). At some
able oil industry seismic lines, in an area where deforma- locations, the signal is disturbed by (sub)vertical ‘noise
tion concentrates on a narrower zone, i.e. along fewer shadows’ that penetrate the entire section, generally corre-
faults with higher o¡sets. sponding to steep topographic features (e.g. at 13.8 km in
The seismic lines were acquired and processed by SC section C, Fig. 5). A short wavelength ( 15 ms) signal is
Prospectiunii SA (Bucharest, Romania). Acquisition was observed down to 1sTWTand 30 ms below in the areas
designed such as to enhance the vertical and horizontal re- not a¡ected by the noise shadows. In the R|“ mnicu Sa
rat
solution by very close spacing of geophones and shot- section (Fig. 6), low- to intermediate-amplitude re£ectors
points, and using a high-frequency pulse (Table 1). An are very continuous (over a distance of 44 km), with regu-
array of 12 geophones was used at each receiver location, larly occurring ( 0.25 s) high-amplitude signals. A high-
160 live channels being organized in a split spread with a amplitude, low-frequency signal occurs in the upper 0.5 s
width of 800 m. Processing of the seismic lines was per- in the extreme east of the section. Also the Putna line
formed in a standardized way, as is indicated in Table 2. (Fig. 5) is characterized by highly continuous re£ectors.
The images obtained from our high-resolution seismic Only between 14.5 and 17 km, an irregular, low-frequency,
lines are generally of high quality (Figs 5^7) with clear re- low- continuity signal is observed in the upper 0.5 s, possi-
£ectors visible within and well below the target depth of 1s bly linked to faulting, the zone below being dominated by

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 527
K. A. Leever et al.

Fig. 6. High-resolution shallow seismic line D on the western £ank of FocSani Basin along R|“ mnicu Sa
rat valley (location in Fig. 3).
(a) Interpreted seismic section, vertical scale in seconds two -way travel time. (b) Depth- converted seismic line using velocity model 1
(Fig. 8a).

noise. The Independen]a line (Fig. 7) has a good penetra- neighbouring wells (wells W1 and W2, Fig. 2) from which
tion up to 2.5 s TWT. Noise dominates below this depth, mean interval velocities for the main stratigraphic hori-
preventing the accurate de¢nition of the contact between zons were extracted.
the foredeep succession and the pre-Neogene basement. Three di¡erent velocity models (Fig. 8a) were tested for
In the target interval of o1s area, the section shows de- depth- converting sections C and D. Model 1 is based on
tailed strata truncations, whereas the stratigraphy is con- interval velocities derived from processing (Fig. 8b and c),
strained by well ties and corroborated by the seismic Model 2 uses velocities from regional velocity maps (Fig.
facies.This allows for a detailed kinematic reconstruction, 8b and c;Ta
ra
poanca
et al., 2003) and Model 3 applies a lin-
not available so far in the published seismic lines (e.g. Ta
r- early downwards increasing velocity. Sensitivity analysis by
a
poanca
et al., 2003). Fault di¡ractions are often observed comparing the dips of the depth- converted sections with
along the section, whereas the high frequencies are attenu- ¢eld measurements showed that depth conversion accord-
ated below 1.5 s. ing to Model 1 is most reliable.

Depth conversion Model 1

We performed an accurate time-depth conversion of the For this model, velocities were obtained from processing.
seismic lines on the western £ank of the FocSani Depres- Processing velocities, however, are imaging velocities,
sion (Lines D and C, Figs 5 and 6) in order to detect used in stacking and migration for proper lateral position-
changes in thicknesses, that are critical for positioning ing of the horizons (Etris et al., 2001).They are not, strictly
the FocSani Basin depocentres at various geological time speaking, the vertical velocities required for proper depth
intervals. In the absence of direct time-depth constraints conversion and therefore they must be ultimately cali-
from neighbouring wells, depth conversion is based on ve- brated with ¢eld or well data. Because these velocities also
locity modelling (Etris etal., 2001).The results of three dif- contain a horizontal component, the values tend to be
ferent velocity models are discussed below. For line A (Fig. overestimated (by up to 30% for shales) due to anisotropy.
7), we used time^depth relationships derived from two Depth conversion requires interval velocities, which were

528 r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

Fig. 7. High-resolution shallow seismic line A in the SE part of the FocSani basin crossing the contact between the Moesian platform
and the North Dobrogea Orogen across the Peceneaga^Camena fault system (location in Fig. 2) (a) Interpreted seismic line, vertical scale
in seconds two-way travel time. (b) Depth- converted seismic line showing projected positions of wells W1 and W2 (Fig. 2).

derived from root-mean- square (RMS) velocities over city information is reliable down to approximately 800 m.
horizontal intervals of 300 ms. At depth, the e¡ects of the The velocities obtained from the upper interval (0 to
poorly consolidated near- surface sediments as present on 300 ms, Fig. 8b and c) are compatible with the ‘standard’
the RMS velocities cancel out, because for the determina- values in Table 3, while the two deeper intervals ( 300 to
tion of interval velocities, di¡erences of RMS velocities 900 ms) produce much higher values. The velocities
are taken from di¡erent depth levels.With the acquisition show a trend of eastwards-decreasing values, which is
spread of 800 m used for our sections, the processing velo - more gradual for section D (R|“ mnicu Sa
rat) than for sec-

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 529
K. A. Leever et al.

Table 1. Acquisition parameters of the shallow seismic lines Table 2. Processing sequence of the shallow seismic lines
(Figs 5^7) (Figs 5^7)

Spacing Shot points at 20 m receivers at 5 m Primary seismic ¢eld data loading and input of all relevant
information
Source 0.1kg of dynamite at 2 m depth Trace editing (noisy or dead channels, reverse polarity, etc.)
Receiver Array of 12 geophones, 10 Hz Inline geometry header load
Live channels 160 First break picking and the editing of their values in the database
Sample rate 1ms Refraction statics with DRM method and apply refraction statics
Record length 4s in all trace headers
F^K ¢ltering and/or band pass ¢ltering (if necessary, depending
upon data quality)
Surface consistent deconvolution
Velocity analysis and residual static corrections in two passes at
tion C (Putna).This trend coincides with the properties of least
the sediments exposed along the seismic sections: these DMO
change from well- consolidated massive calcareous sand- CDP/ensemble Stack
stones in the west to poorly consolidated Romanian sands Band pass Filter
and Quaternary gravels/loess in the east. Keeping in mind F^X deconvolution
the reservations about the application of processing velo - FD time migration
cities for depth conversion, the velocities that we used (Ta- Band pass ¢lter
ble 4) are therefore based on those in the upper interval, F^X deconvolution
extrapolated downward along the stratigraphic intervals. Normalization (AGC) applied any time when necessary to
enhance data quality or when requested by some processing
operation
Model 2
Along horizon maps based on the interpretation of seismic
pro¢les through the entire FocSani Basin and adjacent re-
gions, velocities have been calculated from 60 wells for ¢ve tion targets, the closest well with time-depth constraints
Neogene^Quaternary intervals (Ta
ra
poanca
et al., 2003). being at a distance of 20 km. Because of lack of seismic data
Of these, we used the Meotian and Pontian maps. The on the western £ank of the FocSani Depression when these
maps turned out to be rather coarse for our high-resolu- maps were generated (Ta
ra
poanca
et al., 2003), the depths

Fig. 8. (a) Velocity models tested for depth conversion. Model 1: each interpreted interval is assigned a velocity based on processing
velocities; Model 2: well-derived velocities along regional horizon maps where V2,V3,V4 are velocities for Pliocene^Quaternary,
Pontian and Meotian, respectively; Model 3: velocity increases linearly with depth. Di¡erent velocities indicated by shades of grey:
darker colour represents higher velocity. (b)Velocity data along Putna and (c) along R|“ mnicu Sa
rat sections.Thin lines: interval velocities
derived from processing (used in Model 1, Fig. 8a). Note eastward decrease for all intervals. Heavy lines: velocities derived from regional
velocity maps (Model 2, a).

530 r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

Table 3. Standard seismic velocities (compressional wave veloci- ing trend of the sediments was not taken into account in
ties) in km/s (from Kearey et al., 2002) this model. Models 1 and 2 give very similar results for line
C (Putna), showing a deviation of up to 51 in the eastern
Unconsolidated materials Sedimentary rocks
part of the section. For the R|“ mnicu Sa
rat section (line
Sand (dry) 0.2^1.0 Sandstones 2.0^6.0
D), the best results are obtained by Model 1: the dips of
Sand (water- saturated) 1.5^2.0 Tertiary sandstone 2.0^2.5
the depth- converted section deviate by only 21 from the
Clay 1.0^2.5
¢eld data.The depth- converted sections in Figs 5b and 6b
are thus obtained from the velocities in Model 1 (Table 4).

Table 4. Input velocities (in m/s) used for depth conversion, de-
rived from processing velocities (Model 1) and regional velocity RESULTS OF SEISMIC INTERPRETATION
maps (afterTa
ra
poanca
et al., 2003; Model 2).The names of the in- Interpretation of the depth- converted shallow seismic
tervals shown in the left column correspond to the intervals in
lines (Figs 5 and 6), together with a third line traversing
Figs 5 and 6
the contact between basin and thrust belt just to the north
Rimnicu Sarat of the R|“ mnicu Sa
rat valley (Fig. 9, locations in Fig. 2), al-
Putna section, V (m/s) section, V (m/s) lowed us to constrain the kinematics of the western £ank of
Interval Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 the FocSani Basin and to de¢ne the nature of the contact
between the foredeep sediments and the thrust wedge.
Topo 1750 1750 1750 1750
Q-Rm-Dc ^ 2150 ^ 2230
Pontian ^ 2400 ^ 2500 Geometry of the folded Pliocene^Quaternary
Meotian ^ 2650 ^ ^ strata on the western flank of the FocSani
Q3 ^ ^ 1500 ^ Basin
Q2 ^ ^ 1600 ^ For the interpretation of the shallow seismic lines (Figs 5
Q1 1750 ^ 1700 ^
and 6) we projected the formation boundaries derived from
R6 1800 ^ 1800 ^
R5 1900 ^ 1900 ^ the 1 : 200 000 geological maps to depth (Figs 2 and 3).
R4 2100 ^ 2000 ^ The ¢rst- order structure imaged along the Putna sec-
R3 2350 ^ 2100 ^ tion is an asymmetric syncline (Fig. 5b). Re£ectors are
R2 2400 ^ 2200 ^ steep and E-ward dipping in the W, become horizontal,
R1 2400 ^ 2300 ^ subsequently acquire a gentle dip to the Wand regain their
D2 ^ ^ 2400 ^ subhorizontal position towards the eastern termination of
D1 2500 ^ 2500 ^ the line. Re£ectors are continuous over large distances
(o4 km), with mostly subparallel strata with no lateral ter-
minations. A normal fault system in the eastern part of the
line distributes o¡set ( 150 m) towards the surface along
of the Meotian and Pontian horizons are underestimated smaller amplitude (tens of metres) antithetic and synthetic
with respect to our sections.These horizons constrain the faults. In the upper part of the section, a very strong re£ec-
intervals to which the velocities (Table 4) for Pliocene^ tor is observed reaching the syncline centre at 700 m
Quaternary, Pontian and Meotian are attributed. Figure depth. Its westward surface prolongation corresponds to
8b and c shows that the velocities obtained for both the the contact between the Lower Pleistocene gravels of the
Putna and the R|“ mnicu Sa
rat section are relatively con- Candesti formation (e.g. Necea et al, 2005) and ¢ne-
stant, corresponding to realistic values for Tertiary sand- grained sands and silts of Romanian age (Figs 2^4). The
stone (Table 3). contact is conformable in the seismic line, even though
further north (north of SuSi] a valley, Fig. 2) this formation
unconformably covers the older strata. In contrast, a clear
Model 3
intra-Quaternary unconformity can be observed at the
As seismic velocities will generally increase with depth base of the Middle-Upper Pleistocene loess (Fig. 5).
due to compaction, this velocity model assumes simply a The R|“ mnicu Sa
rat section basically images a large, E-
linearly downwards-increasing velocity, vz 5 v01kz, where ward-dipping monoclinal structure, with inclinations of
z is the depth in m, v0 is the velocity at z 5 0 (1750 m s
1), beds gradually decreasing towards the E (Fig. 6b). Horizons
and k is the rate of change in velocity with depth (k 5 0.5). are continuous and sub-parallel with basically no sign of
Integration gives the depth-time relation: z 5 v0  onlaps to indicate tectonic tilting during deposition of the
(ekt^1)/k, where t is the one-way travel time in seconds. strata. In the upper, easternmost part of the section a velo -
Comparing the dips from the depth- converted sections city contrast between the Middle-Upper Pleistocene loess
with ¢eld measurements, Model 3 shows the largest devia- and the Lower Pleistocene gravels is clearly marked by a
tion for both sections, up to 8^91 in the western part of the high-amplitude re£ector associated with the gravels. The
sections. This is due to the fact that the eastwards-young- sheet- £ow-type gravel- sandstone alternation induces

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 531
K. A. Leever et al.

1.1 1.1
Q1
R3 D2 R1 R2 R3 R5 Q1
R2 1.0
1.0 R1 R4 R6
Q2
normalized thickness

normalized thickness
0.9
0.9
0.8
0.8
0.7
0.7
0.6
0.6
0.5
0.5 syncline axis
0.4
0.4 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6
Q2 D2 Q1
R1 R2 R3 Q1

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
distance along section (km) distance along section (km)

Fig. 9. Normalized orthogonal thickness along depth- converted seismic sections. (a)Putna section. R1-3, intra-Romanian; Q1-2,
Quaternary. Note eastward-decreasing thickness for intra-Romanian strata in contrast with Quaternary layers that are thickest around
the syncline axis. (b) R|“ mnicu Sa
rat section. D2, Dacian; R1-6, intra-Romanian; Q1, Quaternary. Eastward-thinning trend is again
restricted to Pliocene sediments.

remarkably high-amplitude re£ectors due to internal con- the thickness Quaternary interval even increases towards
trasts in lithology. Middle-Upper Pleistocene deposits the east, again indicating an early Quaternary (Late Plio -
display onlap/o¥ap patterns, where the E-ward thickening cene?) shift of the depocentre.
is locally associated with proximal onlaps, indicating a
syntectonic/folding character.
Transition between the FocSani Basin and the
We analysed the lateral thickness changes by measuring
East Carpathians orogen
the orthogonal thickness of the interpreted intervals along
the depth- converted sections. Along the Putna section The overall picture derived from the two high-resolution
(Fig. 9a), measurements were stopped west of the faulted seismic sections is con¢rmed by industry lines such as
zone. For better comparison, the measured thicknesses the one situated immediately westwards of the Quaternary
were normalized with respect to their westernmost value. depocentre of the FocSani Basin (Fig.10).This line images
In both sections, the Pliocene intervals show an east- the westernmost part of the FocSani Basin, characterized
wards-thinning trend, with up to a 60% decrease (horizon by a series of parallel re£ectors, from the steeply dipping,
D2 in section D, Fig.9b). Along the Putna section, the east- continuous and high-amplitude Upper Sarmatian re£ec-
ward thinning along the Romanian intervals is irregular, tors to more gently dipping, lower-amplitude Romanian
the fastest thinning taking place in the eastern part of the strata. In the W, the steepened lower portion of the FocSani
section (from 11km). The Quaternary intervals show a dif- Depression is in contact with a complex of thrust sheets
ferent pattern in that they are thickest around the syncline belonging to the Subcarpathian nappe, bounded at its base
axis (9 km). This indicates an early Quaternary eastward by the Pericarpathian thrust.
shift of the basin depocentre. Thickness changes in the In the upper part of the interpreted section (Fig. 10b
R|“ mnicu Sa
rat section are more regular. The thickness and c), west-dipping Subcarpathian nappes tectonically
changes are largest in the western part of the section for overlie the E-ward steepened sediments of the FocSani De-
the oldest intervals (D2, R1-3). This pattern starts to pression. In the ¢eld, this contact (at 7 km from the wes-
change for the younger Romanian intervals (R4 -6), and tern termination of the line) is poorly exposed all along the

Fig. 10. Interpreted deep seismic line B at the contact between the thin- skinned thrust belt and the western £ank of the FocSani basin
(location in Figs 2 and 3). Seismic and velocity data courtesy of Forest Oil International and Romanian National Agency for Mineral
Resources. (a) Seismic line, vertical scale in secondsTWT; (b) line drawing and interpretation. (c) Depth- converted interpretation.
Conversion in depth was made using average interval velocities derived from neighbouring wells (e.g.Ta
ra
poanca
et al., 2003).Vertical
scale in kilomrtres, no exaggeration. Pg, Palaeogene; Ec, Eocene; Ol, Oligocene; Bd, Burdigalian; Bn, Badenian; Sm1, Lower Sarmatian.
Sediments corresponding to the actual foredeep succession (Lower-Middle Sarmatian) are shaded grey. Interpretation of outcropping
part of Subcarpathian Nappe further constrained by surface observations. No discontinuity is evident between the Sarmatian wedge-
top sediments and the overlying parallel- strati¢ed succession. Note the elevated basement position below the thin- skinned belt with
respect to the adjacent foreland, attributed to late- stage Quaternary out- of- sequence basement-involved faulting and folding of the
entire system. Further description in the text.

532 r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

western £ank of the FD. In the Putna valley, the contact is Rtefa
nescu et al., 2000). Rocks are highly deformed and do
marked by a breccia of clastic rocks dragged by diapirs of not provide consistent kinematic indicators. Across the
Lower Miocene salt rising along the contact during and contact, over a distance of 500 m towards the W, the out-
after nappe emplacement (‘salt-breccia’, e.g. Mrazec, 1907; cropping strata change from subvertical, well- exposed

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 533
K. A. Leever et al.

calcareous Upper Sarmatian sandstones to highly de- cited above a basement-involved reverse fault has addi-
formed and roughly westward-dipping, Lower Miocene tionally been interpreted. The basement and the Pericar-
¢ne-grained sandstones and clays. Internal deformation pathian thrust are displaced by this steep, W-dipping
of the latter consistently indicates an eastward direction reverse fault which accommodates a displacement of
of thrusting (e.g. Morley, 1996). Determining the internal o500 m.
geometry of the thrust sheets is not straightforward from
this seismic line. Four thrust sheets with100^200 m o¡sets Recent active faulting along the eastern flank
are inferred in the hanging-wall of the frontal- exposed of the FocSani Basin
thrust by surface correlation.
In the lower part of the section, the substratum of the The Independen]a line (line A, Fig. 7, location in Fig. 2)
outcropping Subcarpathian nappes and of the FocSani se- shows the eastern termination of the FocSani Basin, im-
quence shows re£ectors of generally low amplitude, stee- aged by the progressive eastward thinning of all sedimen-
pening from E to W, similar to the trend of the overlying tary units. Thinning is partly accommodated by a large
sediments. The interpretation of this part of the section number of normal faults with o¡sets (in the section plane)
is based on correlation of the seismic facies to the deposits in the order of tens of metres at the base Quaternary level,
in other frontal zones of the Subcarpathian nappe where sometimes increasing at depth. These faults belong to the
the seismic lines are controlled by wells (such as the system of the Peceneaga-Camena fault (Fig. 2, Matenco
Buzau-Teleajen area, see Rtefa
nescu et al., 2000). High- et al., in press). The most remarkable feature is the fault in
amplitude, low-frequency re£ectors, corresponding to the central- eastern part of the line (at 10 km), associated
Oligocene sandstone- shale alternance, are truncated by with large roll- over antithetic tilting of Quaternary strata,
thrust faults in the centre of the section at depths of 6^8 s which caused a di¡erence in surface topographic elevation
(Fig. 10a). The overlying seismically transparent level similar to its o¡set ( 100 m). At depth, the o¡set at the
corresponds to Burdigalian salt and low- contrast turbi- base Neogene unconformity level is higher ( 300 m), in-
dites, covered in turn by more re£ective Upper Badenian dicating that Quaternary faulting reactivates a previous
sandstones. Sarmatian event. Most of the other normal faults truncat-
The nature of the contact between the thrust complex ing the upper sequences only caused thickness changes in
and the sediments of the FocSani Depression, in the dee- the Quaternary series, which points to a Quaternary acti-
pest part of the basin overlying the frontal part of the vation. Earlier normal faults, presently inactive, can be ob-
wedge, is di⁄cult to determine unambiguously from this served at the Sarmatian, and subordinately at the Badenian
line. Truncations of re£ectors are observed below a trans- level. These faults were probably created during the Bade-
parent interval around 10 km (5 s)^1 TWT, suggesting an nian extension (Ta
ra
poanca
et al., 2003) and subsequent
erosional unconformity. A similar intra-Sarmatian uncon- Sarmatian normal faulting related to thrust loading
formity was interpreted by Rtefa
nescu et al. (2000) in the (Leever et al., 2006), locally involving a limited amount of
southern part of the Bend Zone. A favourable alternative dextral strike^ slip movement (see also Ta
ra
poanca
et al.,
interpretation, again derived from observations in the 2003). The latter might explain the structural inversion
southern part of the Bend Zone (Pro¢les X and XI in Ma- (lower syncline, upper anticline) observed in the Sarma-
tenco & Bertotti, 2000), is that of a wedge top depozone tian in the central-western part of the section (at 4^5 km).
sensu DeCelles & Giles (1996): Sarmatian sediments were Overall, the Quaternary (to present day) deformations
deposited on top of the frontal part of the actively deform- are distributed along numerous normal faults in a wide
ing Subcarpathian Nappe. In any case, the backthrust that zone of deformation with clear topographic expression.
was previously proposed by Matenco & Bertotti (2000) can
be excluded from these seismic data: at the surface, the
tilted Focsani succession is overridden by an east-vergent
REGIONAL CROSS SECTIONS AND
thrust.
Below the Pericarpathian thrust at the base of the de-
RESTORATIONS
formed wedge, our interpretation is speculative. However, The shallow seismic data provide a new and very detailed
the fault- controlled increase in thickness in Badenian picture of the architecture of the western £ank of the Foc-
sediments was imaged by deep seismic studies (Bocin Sani Depression adjacent to the Carpathians fold-and-
et al., 2005) and inferred by Ta
ra
poanca
et al. (2003). The thrust belt. In the following, we integrate the new seismic
most remarkable feature is the position of the Pericar- data with literature sources to construct a couple of sec-
pathian thrust itself, at 6 km depth in the western part tions from the western part of the FocSani Depression to
of the section and deepening to 410 km towards the east, the internal nappes of the East Carpathians. Restoration
constrained by the interpretation of deep crustal re£ection of these sections images the kinematic late orogenic evolu-
lines, which indicate in this area a velocity increase from tion of the Carpathian Bend Zone.We distinguish between
2^3 to 5 km s
1 (Bocin et al., 2005; Panea et al., 2005), char- the Lower-Middle Sarmatian sediments that were depos-
acteristic for the limit between the Neogene evapourites/ ited in the actual foredeep, where the generation of accom-
clastics and the Mesozoic carbonates. Although it is not modation space was directly related to de£ection of the
well controlled by the seismic line, based on the studies lower plate as a result of orogenic loading, and the younger,

534 r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

late- orogenic Focsani succession, for which the accom- pathians orogen, the resolution of the seismic line that
modation space is not genetically linked to the Carpathian images the contact between the frontal part of the wedge
collision. and the Focsani succession, is not su⁄cient to determine
unambiguously the nature of the contact. The alternative
interpretations: an erosional contact or wedge top deposi-
Geological cross sections from
tion, does not have signi¢cant implications for the kine-
E-Transylvania into the FocSani Basin
matics. The interpretation of an erosional unconformity
In order to derive an overall picture of the late orogenic de- between the wedge top and the Middle Sarmatian sedi-
formations that a¡ected the belt and its foreland as a single ments implies that collision resulted in uplift and exhu-
unit, two regional cross- sections (Fig. 11) were con- mation of the frontal part of the wedge (Figs 12f and 13f).
structed. They start in the west in the Quaternary Tirgu Middle Sarmatian out- of- sequence thrusting was accom-
Secuiesc Basin, that unconformably overlies the internal panied by subsidence of the frontal part of the wedge (Figs
nappes of the East Carpathians. They then traverse the 12e and 13e). The interpretation of wedge top deposition
outer Moldavidian nappes and continue into the FocSani would imply continuous subsidence of the frontal part of
Basin (Fig. 2). The cross- sections incorporate the two the wedge since Sarmatian collision.
high-resolution seismic lines along the western FocSani The basement of the £ysch belt and its foredeep, the
£ank. Moesian Platform, has an undulating shape, occurring at
Data used for construction of the cross- sections were a shallow depth (6^7 km) below the thrust belt in the west
taken both from the seismic interpretations presented and at more than11km at the frontal part of the wedge. It is
above and from literature sources. The structure of the dissected by normal faults that have been reactivated as re-
frontal (Tarca
u, Marginal Folds and Subcarpathian) verse faults in the western part of the sections, displacing
nappes was extrapolated at depth from surface informa- the Badenian^lower Sarmatian detachment level below
tion available from existing geological maps.This extrapo - the allochtonous £ysch belt by 1^2 km upwards (e.g. at 30
lation was correlated with interpretations of Dicea (1995), and 50 km in Fig. 11a). Movement along these faults partly
Matenco & Bertotti (2000) for the detailed architecture of accommodates the basement uplift below the wedge. The
the thrust sheets, and with those from Ra
dulescu et al. northern section (Fig. 11a) shows the eastern limit of the
(1976), Bocin et al. (2005), Panea et al. (2005) and Hauser et basin at the Peceneaga-Camena fault system.
al. (2001) for the position and structural geometry of the
basement of the lower plate, beneath the thrust sheets.
Restoration of the cross sections: method and
The overall structure of the FocSani Basin east of our lines
constraints
was taken from Ta
ra
poanca
et al. (2003) and Matenco et al.
(2003, 2005). Palinspastic restoration of the two lines (Figs 12 and 13)
From W to E, the sections show the Tarcau, Marginal was performed using 2D Move, assuming £exural slip
Folds and Subcarpathian nappes, which are part of the unfolding (e.g. Suppe, 1983) combined with a fault parallel
Moldavidian tectonic units (Sa
ndulescu, 1988) deformed £ow mechanism (Egan et al., 1997) to restore the thrusting
in the Neogene. They are overridden by more internal movements. The Latest Miocene^Late Pliocene subsi-
units in the extreme western part of the sections. In the dence was restored using a simple vertical shear mechan-
east, the tilted autochtonous foredeep succession partly ism. Decompaction and palaeobathymetry were generally
overlies the frontal part of the wedge. Signi¢cant ignored, but errors induced are probably relatively
(440 km) late Miocene underthrusting is evident from minor, as the entire late orogenic succession is character-
the far westward extent of the Badenian sediments in the ized by shallow water sediments (cf. Allen & Allen, 2002,
basement. Chapter 8).
In the northern section (Fig. 11a), the Marginal Folds Restoration of Quaternary-age folding was achieved by
nappe crops out in the Vrancea Window (Fig. 3). Along (a) removing the Quaternary sediments from the FocSani
the southern section (Fig. 11b) and further south, this Depression, (b) tilting the upper Pliocene beds back to
nappe no longer crops out; it laterally wedged out. Here, horizontal including the underlying thrust system and
the internal deformation in theTarcau nappe is mainly ac- basement and (c) compensating for exhumation/uplift in
commodated by backthrusts (Fig. 11b). the western part of the section, including restoration of
Both sections show the folded middle Sarmatian^Qua- the deep reverse faults. A displacement of 1.5 km along
ternary foredeep sediments overlying the frontal part of the frontal- exposed Subcarpathian thrust was suggested
the £ysch belt, the Subcarpathian nappe. The Lower Sar- and required by the restoration. The restoration implies a
matian sediments (sm1) are coarse-grained calcareous total amount of thick- skinned Quaternary shortening of
sandstones from a deltaic environment and represent the 4^5 km, in agreement with the values inferred by e.g. Ma-
actual foredeep succession, occurring both as deformed tenco & Bertotti (2000) for the Wallachian phase.The Qua-
wedge top sediments (Ford, 2004; DeCelles & Giles, ternary basement uplift in the western part of the section
1996, Fig. 11b) and adjacent to the wedge in the foredeep is constrained by low-temperature thermochronology,
depozone, reaching thicknesses of 2^3 km. As noted in which provides an estimate of ca. 5 km of exhumation ex-
section Transition between the FocSani Basin and the East Car- perienced by the presently exposed nappe system during

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 535
536
K. A. Leever et al.

(a)

Q Quaternary
qp Pleistocene
r Romanian
d Dacian
p Pontian
m Meotian
sm U Sarmatian (post-tectonic)
L-M Sarmatian (syn-tectonic)
bn Badenian
bd Burdigalian (+/− salt)
ol Oligocene
ec Eocene
K Cretaceous

(b)

Fig. 11. Regional geological cross sections of the external thrust nappes and the adjacent FocSani foreland (locations in Fig. 2). Depth information is derived from the shallow seismic results of the
present study and Dicea (1995), Matenco & Bertotti (2000), Ta
ra
poanca
et al. (2003), Ta
ra
poanca
(2004), Bocin et al. (2005) and Panea et al. (2005). Projected wells are shown. Intermediate block senso
Visarion et al. (1988). (a) Regional cross section enclosing the Putna shallow seismic line (Fig. 5). (b) Regional cross section enclosing the R|“ mnicu Sa
rat shallow seismic line (Fig. 6). Sediments
corresponding to collision stage shaded grey. Description in the text.

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

Fig. 12. Restoration of the post-nappe stacking evolution of the northern cross section (along the Putna section, Figs 5 and 11a).The
restoration shows the two di¡erent stages of late orogenic evolution: Latest Miocene^Pliocene general subsidence (d^b) followed by
5 km of Quaternary shortening and tilting (a). Further description in the text.

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 537
K. A. Leever et al.

(a) Present

WNW 20 40 60 80 100 km ESE

0 0

5 5

10 10

15 km 15 km

(b) Top Pliocene (Top Romanian)

20 40 60 80 100 km

0 0

5 5

10 10

15 km 15 km

(c) Top Miocene (Top Pontian)

20 40 60 80 100 km

0 0

5 5

10 10

15 km 15 km

(d) Top Meotian

20 40 60 80 100 km

0 0

5 5

10 10

15 km 15 km

(e) Top Middle Sarmatian

20 40 60 80 100 km

0 0

5 5

10 10

15 km 15 km

(f) Top Lower Sarmatian

20 40 60 80 100 km

0 0

Quaternary Sarmatian
5 5
Romanian Sarmatian (syn-coll.)
10 Dacian thin-skinned 10
Pontian foreland, pre-collision
15 km Maeotian 15 km

Fig. 13. Restoration of the post-nappe stacking evolution of the southern cross section (along the R|“ mnicu Sa
rat section, Figs 6 and11b).
The restoration shows the two di¡erent stages of postorogenic evolution: Latest Miocene^Pliocene general subsidence (d^b), followed
by 5 km of Quaternary shortening and tilting (a). Further description in the text.

538 r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

Quaternary times (U^Th/He and apatite ¢ssion track data an o¡set of 2 km. Displacement along these faults is
from Sanders etal.,1999; Merten etal., 2005).The space ob- transferred to the surface by folding in mechanically weak
tained between the present day and top-Pliocene surface layers.Tilting of the western £ank of the present-day Foc-
positions was speculatively ¢lled with the eroded part of Sani Depression resulted from this uplift, whereas subsi-
the nappe system and with sediments of the FocSani De- dence continued in the core of the syncline that evolved
pression. to the east of the uplifting zone. The syncline core de¢nes
The reconstruction of the Romanian-age (Figs 12b and the position of the Quaternary depocentre. In the western
13b) geometry of the eroded part of the FocSani Basin, ex- £ank of the syncline, the inclination of pre-Quaternary
tending west over the entire length of the section, is con- sediments ranges from15 to 201 in Romanian layers to sub-
strained by the fauna of the pre-Quaternary sediments of vertical in Upper Sarmatian. Our reconstruction attri-
the Brasov and Tirgu Secuiesc Basins (location in Figs 1 butes 651 of the tilting of the Sarmatian strata to the
and 2). The Pliocene lacustrine sediments in these basins Quaternary events (Figs 12a and 13a), which implies that
contain fauna assemblages similar to the ones in the Dacic 251 tilting must have been previously acquired by di¡er-
Basin (i.e. FocSani type; Marinescu & Papaianopol, 1995; ential subsidence in Latest Miocene-Pliocene times (Figs
Olteanu, 2003), requiring a connection between the basins 12 and 13b and c).Total uplift of the orogen accumulates to
across the present-day orogen. 5 km, the maximum subsidence in the basin amounts to
The subsequent stages (Figs 12 and 13c^f) were recon- 2 km. The Quaternary folding is asymmetric, with gentle
structed by £exural slip unfolding after stepwise removal western and steep eastern £anks. An alternative mechan-
of the sediment overburden. ism that was proposed previously, invokes low-angle
thrusts to explain the exhumation of the Vrancea half win-
dow (Fig. 2, Roure et al., 1993) and could also explain the
Kinematic evolution: patterns of vertical
elevated basement position below the belt. However, due
movements and horizontal deformations
to the lower angle faults, this mechanism requires a much
During the last stages of nappe emplacement, the thin- larger amount (20 km) of shortening to explain the ob-
skinned wedge had reached the stable Moesian platform served Quaternary uplift.
(Figs 12 and 13e^f). The wedge has a thickness of 2^3 km
in its frontal part (see also Dicea,1995; Matenco & Bertotti,
2000) and is gradually thickening westwards, its elevation
close to sea level. The syntectonic Lower Sarmatian sedi- DISCUSSION
ments occur below and in front of the wedge front, and The restoration of geometries and timing of vertical
on top of it in intramontaneous (piggy back) basins. Ero - movements in the transition zone between the Carpathian
sion a¡ects the exposed parts of the actively deforming Bend and the adjacent FocSani Depression has shown that
wedge. Subsidence was accompanied by local normal most of the subsidence in the foreland and subsequent ex-
faulting, such as along the Peceneaga^Camena fault in the humation/uplift in the mountains took place after cessa-
Putna pro¢le (Fig. 12e). tion of major shortening in the Middle Sarmatian (Figs
The Upper Sarmatian^Pliocene period (Figs 12 and 12 and 13). We were able to distinguish a ¢rst Latest Mio -
13d^b) was characterized by homogeneous subsidence. cene^Pliocene stage characterized by generalized subsi-
Sediments were deposited in a generally lacustrine envir- dence of the entire area adjacent to and including the
onment. In our reconstruction, the resulting large and present-day thrust belt, and a second, Quaternary, stage
deep sedimentary basin extends well over the present- characterized by exhumation and uplift in the internal
day orogen. In the Late Pliocene, the western margin of sectors and ongoing subsidence in the centre of the pre-
the proto -FocSani Depression lies only a few kilometres sent-day FocSani Basin. In the following, we present our
from the Transylvania Basin, leaving little space for a pro - results in the regional geodynamic framework.
nounced morphology in the SE Carpathians.
The pattern of vertical movements changed signi¢ -
Regional Latest Miocene^Pliocene
cantly at the beginning of the Quaternary when subsidence
subsidence in the Moesian domain
in the western part of the proto -FocSani Depression chan-
ged to uplift (compare Figs 12 and 13b and a).The present- The ¢rst period of Latest Miocene-Pliocene (Late Sarma-
day undulated geometry of the main sole thrust and its tian^Romanian) subsidence is common to the entire Moe-
deepest point in an apparently unrealistic external posi- sian domain but shows exaggerated values in the FocSani
tion (see Bocin et al., 2005) do not re£ect the situation dur- Basin (Figs 12 and 13e^b). Adjacent to the South Car-
ing nappe emplacement. Rather, it is due to the pathians, the Getic Depression is characterized by exten-
Quaternary di¡erential uplift and subsidence associated sive Sarmatian wedge-top sedimentation and up to 1km of
with a total shortening of some 5 km. An anticline^ syn- late orogenic sediments (Ra
ba
gia & Matenco, 1999). The
cline couple was formed by uplift in the thrust belt and foredeep of the East Carpathians, from the end of contrac-
subsidence in the foredeep. tion, was gradually ¢lled towards the south. Upper Sarma-
Uplift of the orogen was partly accommodated by re- tian sediments showing southward prograding deltaic
verse faulting in the core of the anticline. The faults have structures occur as far north as Piatra Neamt (471N, Ta
ra
-

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 539
K. A. Leever et al.

(a) Cross section continuous continuous (b) Map view

uplift subsidence

Pl - Q Brasov Up.Q Tg. exposed Q tilting Focsani Stable NDO

normal faults
Secuiesc nappe stack pulses collapse

Moesia NDO

hinterland λ/2 ~60km λ/2 60-70km λ/4

basins (orogen, uplift) (basin, subsidence)

Fig. 14. Schematic representation of the migrating Quaternary folding in the external East Carpathians and their foreland. NDO,
North Dobrogea Orogen. (a) Upper Quaternary migration of the folding null point; (b) map view: Wavelength re- equilibration on the
eastern £ank of the FocSani basin through the collapse by normal faulting of the NNE part of the North Dobrogea Orogen, near the
oblique Peceneaga^Camena fault.The area of faulting is the widest in the north, where a larger part of the NDO basement block has
been a¡ected by the eastward-migrating folding-related subsidence or null axis.

poanca
, 2004), whereas Meotian^Dacian sedimentation is lifted) position of the former depocentre at that time. Re-
constrained to the Moesian platform, south of the Trotus cent detailed geomorphological studies distinguished
fault (Fig. 2). In the FocSani Depression, postcollisional three stages for the Quaternary tilting (Necea et al., 2005).
subsidence has thus created a basin with upto6 km of sedi- The present-day area of maximum subsidence, moni-
ments (Ta
ra
poanca
et al., 2003) in the almost total absence tored by GPS measurements (subsidence rate up to
of any genetically related faults. On the west £ank of the 3 mm year
1,Van der Hoeven et al., 2005), is located even
Bend Zone, the Brasov Basin accumulated up to 300 m of further to the east and corresponds to the area of mini-
Pliocene lacustrine sediments, its fauna showing a con- mum topography along the Siret river at 2.5 m above sea le-
nection with the FocSani Basin at that time (Marinescu et vel. Its tributaries (R|“ mnicu Sa
rat, Buzau) are reorienting
al., 1981; Figs 12 and 13b). From our sections, we recon- towards this zone (Fig. 14a, Fielitz & Seghedi, 2005),
structed the approximate position of the Latest Miocene^ whereas Siret itself has migrated eastwards, as shown by
Pliocene depocentre (Figs 12, 13d^b and 14). the abandoned Upper Pleistocene^Holocene river mean-
ders (Matenco et al., in press) and the steep escarpments
on its eastern £ank.
Quaternary contraction and inversion in the
The Quaternary^recent foredeep subsidence is not
Pannonian^Carpathian system
transferred to the buried prolongation of the North Do -
In the early Quaternary, the patterns of uplift and subsi- brogea Orogen (NDO), which shows a limited uplift as
dence changed signi¢cantly. Deposition of coarse-grained suggested by GPS measurements (1^2 mm year
1, Van
continental^ shallow lacustrine gravels and sands (Can- der Hoeven et al., 2005). The di¡erence between the rela-
desti formation, see also Marinescu et al., 1981; Necea et tively stable NDO and subsiding Moesia is accommodated
al., 2005) strongly contrasts with the Late Pliocene deposi- by a large normal fault system (Fig. 2), much wider in the
tional environment of ¢ne-grained lake sediments. This north in the prolongation of the Putna cross section than
coarse facies points to a new proximal source area, i.e. the further south where it is crossed by the Independen]a seis-
emerging hinterland. In our seismic sections, the gravels mic line (Fig. 7). As shown in this seismic line and in the
conformably overlie the lower series, but further to the restored Putna section (Fig. 12), the fault system was initi-
north and west the contact is unconformable. The gravels ally activated during Sarmatian times, only along the main
crop out at present elevations of up to 1000 m, where they trace of the Peceneaga-Camena fault. During the Quatern-
dip towards the east at 91. ary, a larger area east of this fault has been a¡ected, creating
Uplift and erosion started west of the present-day basin this wide system of normal faults. Across the fault zone
margin and supplied the coarse-grained sediments. In from west to east, the age of the outcropping sediments in-
time, it migrated eastward, also a¡ecting the newly depos- creases from lower Holocene^Upper Pleistocene^Middle
ited Candesti gravels, uplifting and tilting it to its present Pleistocene (Fig. 2).
elevation and angle.The axis of the resulting syncline (Fig.
5) is the depocentre for the Candesti conglomerates and
Mechanisms for the two-stage Latest
represents an area of continuous Pliocene^Lower Qua-
Miocene-recent evolution of the Focsani area
ternary subsidence. Currently, the syncline axis resides in
the foothills and is incised by the Putna and Susita rivers A large number of qualitative models have been proposed
(Fig. 14a). Middle-Upper Pleistocene loess deposits un- to explain the unusual features in the SE Carpathians.
conformably overlie (in Putna section at 12 km, Fig. 5) the These models involve mechanisms such as roll-back of
lower Quaternary deposits, indicating a subaerial (up- an oceanic lower plate [e.g., Royden, 1993 (continental)

540 r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545
 Late orogenic vertical movements in the Carpathian Bend Zone

delamination Girbacea & Frisch, 1998; Chalot-Prat & Gir- and redistribution of the stress ¢eld in a weak Car-
bacea, 2000; Gvirtzman, 2002; Knapp et al., 2005, slab tear pathians^Pannonian domain (e.g., Bada et al., 1999). Our
and detachment Wortel & Spakman, 2000], or a thermally observations in the Bend Zone support this folding me-
re- equilibrating slab (Cloetingh et al., 2004). We will chanism as a reasonable explanation of the eastward-mi-
brie£y discuss the implications of our new constraints on grating patterns of uplift and subsidence.
the magnitude and timing of vertical movements and tilt- Although the recent uplift of the Bend Zone, with its
ing in the area on the existing models that did not recog- highest relief centered on the earthquake hypocentres
nize the two separate stages, and propose an alternative might be explained by one of the (detaching) slab models
explanation. (see e.g. Bertotti et al., 2003), the geometry of the steeply
The model of Royden (1993) associates deep foreland tilted western £ank of the FocSani depression and in parti-
basins with roll-back of the subducting plate. However, as cular the syncline in the northern section (Fig. 5) can only
roll-back is active during underthrusting and necessarily be explained by compressional folding. Moreover, from
stops after collision, this mechanism could not explain the positions of the Latest Miocene^Recent depocentres,
the large amount of post- orogenic sediments in the FocSa- an eastward migration of the uplift- subsidence couple is
ni Depression. A similar problem in timing arises for the evident. The wavelength of the Quaternary folding can be
delamination models. These imply (Girbacea & Frisch, estimated from the width of the subsiding and uplifting
1998; Chalot-Prat & Girbacea, 2000) that extension in the regions (Fig.14).The migration of the folding is expressed
Brasov/Tirgu Sequiesc Basins due to magmatic doming is in the following as the migration of its ‘null points’, which
simultaneous with subsidence in the FocSani Basin and separate regions of uplift and subsidence, and where, as a
tilting of its western £ank.The events are placed in Sarma- consequence vertical movements are zero.
tian time. Slab break- o¡, ¢nally (Wortel & Spakman,
2000), would result in generalized uplift and not the up-
Folding: wavelength and time migration
lift- subsidence couple we observe. For further discussion
of lithospheric mantle control on vertical movements, see From our reconstructions for the Pliocene^Pleistocene
Bertotti et al. (2003). We do agree that the downward force transition (Figs 12 and 13a and b), the position of the null
exerted by the remnant, steepened slab as recognized point to the east of the anticline uplifting the orogen and
on tomography (e.g. Weidle et al., 2005) is the cause for tilting the western FocSani £ank is di⁄cult to estimate, but
the anomalous Latest Sarmatian^Pliocene and ongoing it must have been to the west of the presently exposed
subsidence. Candesti gravels. It migrated eastwards during the Qua-
However, the shallow position of the basement below ternary, folding the lower Pleistocene strata and ¢nally
the wedge (Bocin et al., 2005) and the changed patterns of causing a gradual tilting of Pleistocene^Holocene strata
vertical motions in the second evolutionary stage (see sec- (Necea et al., 2005). On the west side of the orogen, the
tion Kinematic evolution: patterns of vertical movements and o500-m thick Pliocene^Quaternary Brasov Basin is con-
horizontal deformations) are not easily associated with slab nected on its eastern margin with the o100-m thick
control. They do correlate with the contractional episode Upper Quaternary T |“ rgu Secuiesc Basin (Fig. 14a). The
widely known at the entire Carpathian^Pannonian scale present surface elevation of the Brasov Basin is at 500 m,
as the second inversion moment (e.g. Horva¤th, 1993). The having accumulated up to 200 m of continental Quatern-
age of this event in our study area is Quaternary, whereas ary sediments (Ghenea et al., 1979, Chalot-Prat & Girbacea,
elsewhere it started locally during the Pliocene. The mag- 2000) and experienced a net uplift of 300 m since the end
nitude of the Quaternary di¡erential vertical motions in of the Pliocene. The E^W extent of T |“ rgu Secuiesc
the Carpathian Bend Zone is up to 7 km. Up to 2-km sub- Basin gives an indication of the distance that the folding
sidence in the foredeep is constrained by our seismic data, null point has migrated during the Quaternary, 20 km
and 5 km of erosion in the adjacent orogen is constrained (Fig. 14a and b).
by thermochronology (Sanders et al., 1999) and corrobo - The geometry of the Quaternary subsidence in the Foc-
rated by our reconstructions. Similar coeval patterns of Sani Basin was directly imaged by our study and starts from
subsidence and uplift as in the Carpathian Bend Zone, the eastward-migrating null point on the western FocSani
but of reduced magnitude, are known in the o500-m Basin £ank and ends in the east at the Peceneaga^Camena
thick, Pliocene-Quaternary Tisza sub-basin of the Great fault. Because this fault is oblique with respect to both the
Hungarian plain (e.g. Horva¤ th & Cloetingh, 1996; direction of the orogen and the syncline axis, the distance
Thamo¤ -Bozso¤ et al., 2002), and the actively uplifting between the null points apparently increases southwards,
Transdanubian Central Range (e.g. Fodor et al., 2005; from 35 to 70 km (Figs 12^14a). The key issue here is
Ruszkiczay-Rˇdiger et al., 2005). the previously described Quaternary normal faults system,
The mechanism responsible for the Quaternary di¡er- which accommodates the subsidence of Moesia with re-
ential vertical movements in the Pannonian domain has spect to the North Dobrogea Orogen. As pointed out by
been previously inferred as crustal/lithospheric buckling Matenco et al. (in press), this system has Quaternary defor-
(e.g., Horva¤ th & Cloetingh, 1996; Bertotti et al., 2003; Cloe- mation ages younger towards the east. This can be ex-
tingh et al., 2004).The compressional stress ¢eld responsi- plained in two ways. One explanation is the tendency of
ble is most commonly explained by the Adriatic plate push the folding mechanisms to widen the subsiding area in

r 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 18, 521^545 541
K. A. Leever et al.

the northern foreland to a similar 70 km half wavelength sently vertical positions is partly inherited from earlier
as in the south, and comparable with the 60-km value of di¡erential subsidence, partly acquired during the overall
the inner Carpathians uplift zone. The second potential anticlinal growth and partly the result of local structures.
explanation relates to the striking coincidence of the width Total Quaternary shortening is in the order of 5 km as re-
of the normal fault system, 20 km, with the earlier de- vealed by our reconstructions and is transferred towards
scribed distance on which the null-point migrates during SE and E along dextral strike^ slip faults (Matenco et al.,
the Quaternary and with the width of the Targu Secuiesc 2003) and the high-angle reverse faults that are commonly
Basin. In this line of reasoning, the gradual formation of ascribed to the Wallachian deformation (e.g., Hippolyte &
Quaternary normal fault younger in age to the east can be Sa
ndulescu, 1996).
explained as a migration of a third null point eastwards, the
one that separates the subsidence in Moesia with the uplift
of the North Dobrogea orogen (Fig. 14).
One general conclusion can be drawn whichever are ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
these later mechanisms. The folding has a wavelength of The Netherlands Research Centre for ISES has provided
120 km and displays a clear eastward migration in time. ¢nancial support for the acquisition of the high-resolution
shallow seismic lines and for supporting the research car-
ried for this publication. SC Prospec]iuni SA that carried
CONCLUSIONS out the acquisition and processing, in particular M. Milea
and M. Mitroi, are gratefully thanked for the good colla-
The late orogenic evolution of the external part of the East boration and support, and last but not the least for the nice
Carpathians and their foreland is characterized by two dis- discounts provided in the ¢nal price of the lines.The pro -
tinct periods. A ¢rst Latest Miocene^Pliocene (Upper cessing team of B. Ha
ra
bor is gratefully acknowledged for
Sarmatian^Romanian) period of generalized subsidence professional processing and careful analysis of the ac-
in the entire domain is subsequently followed by o5 km quired data. L. Matenco thanks the very nice and pleasant
Quaternary shortening with signi¢cant di¡erential verti- ‘Sase, vine clientu’ moments spend in the ¢eld with the
cal movements in the studied area. fantastic acquisition team 12 of Prospec]iuni. The knowl-
The Latest Miocene^Pliocene period of subsidence is edge obtained through the collaboration with the Univer-
common in the entire Moesian domain but shows exagger- sity of Bucharest Structural Geology and Basin Analysis
ated values in the FocSani Basin. This subsidence, most team (C. Dinu, V. Mocanu, V. Diaconescu) has often been
likely driven by the slab below Vrancea, has created a basin used in the interpretations.Thanks are also due to Marius
with up to 10 km of sediments in the almost total absence Stoica for the palaeontology references. The thorough
of any genetically related faults. The Pliocene FocSani Ba- work and constructive comments of the reviewers, P.
sin was in connection with the Brasov basin, and the depo - Krzywiec, S. Schmid and L. Royden, and the editor, H.
centre overlay the frontal part of the thrust belt. Sinclair, were bene¢cial for the focus and presentation of
The second, Quaternary, stage of folding is the result of the manuscript and are greatly appreciated.
a contractional episode widely known at the entire Car- This is the Netherlands School of Sedimentary Geol-
pathian^Pannonian scale as the second inversion moment. ogy (NSG) publication no. 20061001
The age of this event in our study area is Quaternary,
whereas elsewhere it started locally during the Pliocene. It
involved di¡erential vertical motions of up to 7 km, com-
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