Alpine plate kinematics revisited: The Adria problem

Tectonic evolution of the Alpine Tethys is controlled by the plate movement s of Africa, Europe, and the Adriatic microplate. It is, however, unclear t o which extent and at what times the motion of Adria was related to Africa. Kinematic models which assume a rigid connection between Africa and Adria have difficulties in explaining the Alpine rock record. Reconstructions bas ed on the Alpine record are, on the other hand, in conflict with the involv ed kinematics. To resolve these conflicts, they require complicated motions or the introduction of additional microplates. Here we present a solution which is based on a rigid connection between Africa/Adria during Jurassic/C retaceous times. Our model requires only four plates, involving Africa, Eur ope, Iberia, and Adria. It describes a self-consistent kinematic evolution of the western Tethyan microplate motions from Jurassic to Miocene times. T he initial (Early Jurassic) plate configuration was found by iterative forw ard modeling. The resulting Jurassic plate configuration is unusual and pro vides new insights into Alpine geology. The obtained model is, however, in good agreement with the available geological data and suggests that the ass umption of independent movements of Adria during Jurassic/Cretaceous times is not a necessity.