TERTIARY EXTENSION DEVELOPMENT AND EXTENSION COMPRESSION INTERPLAY INTHE WEST CARPATHIAN MOUNTAIN BELT/

This paper describes palaeostresses calculated from fault-striae data, the inferred palaeostrain patterns and determines the inter-relation of the compression and extension during the Tertiary development of th e West Carpathians. The calculated stress and inferred strain patterns for the Palaeogene-Burdigalian indicate that the ancestral West Carpa thians formed a more-or-less straight orogenic belt. This belt underwe nt contraction and uplift in its narrow frontal zone, stretching along its strike during the Paleocene-Chattian, and regional contraction an d uplift during the Chattian-Burdigalian. The strain/stress pattern is similar to the collision-related pattern known from the Eastern Alps for the Paleocene-Burdigalian. During the Burdigalian-Tortonian, the c alculated and inferred West Carpathian stress and strain patterns indi cate narrow frontal contractional and lateral sinistral transpressiona l zones in the orogenic front and broad extensional and dextral transt ensional zones in the orogenic interior. The stress/strain pattern is similar to the subduction-related pattern known from areas such as the Hellenic or Sunda/Banda Arcs. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.