AN ATTEMPT TO DEFINE A NEOTECTONIC PERIOD FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHERN EUROPE

The 'neotectonic period' is the youngest period of tectonic evolution and extends up to the present. The beginning of the neotectonic period during the Cenozoic may be regarded as having begun when characterist ic changes in the tectonic evolution of a region of interest have occu rred for the last time. Changes in the different tectonic facets, whic h characterize the evolution of a region, need not be simultaneous, an d hence the times of the last change may differ between facets. This l eads to the definition of a 'transitional time interval' wherein eleme nts of both the 'palaeotectonic' and neotectonic period are present. T he length of this transitional time interval depends on the regional g eological evolution. Where a broad transitional time interval exists, the beginning of the neotectonic period may be defined by the earliest time marker by when most of the characteristic changes of the tectoni c evolution of the region had occurred. In defining the neotectonic pe riod in central and northern Europe, data on the evolution of the nort hern Mid-Atlantic ridge and the northern Mediterranean convergence zon e, inversion tectonics in northern and central Europe, rifting, region al subsidence and uplift, and the tectonic stress field as well as the evolution of the calcalkaline and alkaline volcanism in central Europ e have been taken into account. The chronological evolution of these ' characteristics' for the Cenozoic have been analysed with a view to id entifying the advent of the neotectonic period. The transition from th e end of the palaeotectonic period to the beginning of the neotectonic period extends from the middle early Miocene to the Miocene - Pliocen e boundary. The earliest time by when most of the characteristic chang es in the tectonic evolution of northern and central Europe had occurr ed is the early late Miocene. Thus, the neotectonic period can be cons idered to have begun at approximately 10 Ma before present.