Sedimentary basin tectonics from the Black Sea and Caucasus to the Arabian Platform: introduction

The Palaeozoic to recent evolution of the Tethys system gave way to the largest mountain chain of the world extending from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans - the Alpine-Himalayan Mountain chain, which is still developing as a result of collision and northwards convergence of continental blocks including Apulia in the west, the Afro-Arabian Plate in the middle and the Indian Plate in the east. This Special Publication addresses the main problems of the middle part of this system incorporating the Balkans, Black Sea and Greater Caucasus in the north and the Afro-Arabian Plate in the south. Since the Early Mesozoic a number of small to large scale oceanic basins opened and closed as the intervening continental fragments drifted northwards and diachronously collided with and accreted to the southern margin of the Eurasian Plate. Despite the remarkable consequences of this, in terms of subduction, obduction and orogenic processes, little is known about the timing and palaeogeographic evolution of the region. This includes the amounts of shortening and interplay between synconvergent extension and compression, development of magmatic arc and arc-related basins and the timing and mechanism of their deformation. The chapters presented in this Special Publication present new information that help to fill some of the gaps of the puzzle