Late Cretaceous paleogeodynamics of Bulgaria

The Tethyan system consisted in the Late Cretaceous of four plates, and namely Eurasia, the Oceanic Neotethys, Apulia (+ Menderes) and Africa (+Arabia). The Balkan microcontinent was situated between the Neotethys (Vardar ocean) and the Dobrogea cimmerian orogen. It was an integral whole (Albian-Turonian), or was fragmented through extension (Coniacian — Campanian). The paleogeodynamic environments persisted through a given stage, and changed in time as follows: 1) limnic and graben environments (Albian? — Cenomanian?); 2) shallow epicontinental seas (Albian — Turonian); 3) moderately deep epicontinental sea (Coniacian — Maastrichthian), Kula marginal sea (Turonian — Maastrichtian) and Emine marginal sea (Turonian — Paleocene), and Srednogorie intra-arc trough (Coniacian — Campanian); 4) superimposed shallow seas or aluvial (fluvial) environment (Maastrichtian). Their formation is controlled by the Turonian and Coniacian extension, and their end is due to collisions with folding and thrusting after the Campanian, after the Maastrichtian, and during the Paleocene. The collisions were of the types continent-arc and arc-continent. The orogenesis migrated in time from the south to the north. The paleogeodynamic evolution proceeded according to the model of the passive continental margin (Albian-Turonian),or active continental margin, with the Balkanide island-arc system and igneous activity (Coniacian — Campanian).