CRETACEOUS TECTONOCHRONOLOGY OF THE CENTRAL-WESTERN CARPATHIANS, SLOVAKIA

During the Cretaceous, the Central Western Carpathians (CWC) evolved a s an intracontinental thrust belt by progradational shortening from th e inner (Meliatic) towards the outer (Penninic-Vahic) bounding oceanic domain. The Early Cretaceous basement nappe stacking in the internal CWC zones was coeval with distension in the external zones, followed b y a collapse of the overthickened crust, unroofing of the Veporic meta morphic core complex and gravity gliding of the cover nappe systems to wards the unconstrained Tatric foreland in mid-Cretaceous times. In th e Late Cretaceous, shortening affected the external CWC zones and the Vahic ocean was consumed. The available data on the geochronological, magmatic, metamorphic, structural, lithostratigraphic and sedimentolog ical record of these processes are reviewed and their broad-scale tent ative interpretation is presented.