Tectonic implications of the GPS velocity field in the northern Adriatic region

Abstract

Continuous and episodic GPS observations between 1991 and 2004 show that Adria moves independently of both stable Eurasia and Nubia. Adria moves NNE at 3-4.5 mm/yr increasing from N to S relative to Eurasia and may be fragmenting along the Gargano-Dubrovnik seismic zone. The observed 2-3 mm/yr of N-S Adria-Eurasia convergence is taken up by contraction across a narrow (∼70 km) zone in the Eastern Alps and concomitant extrusion of the Alpine-North Pannonian unit. The Adria-Central Dinarides boundary is a broader collisional zone with intense 1-1.5 mm/yr shortening near shore and 2 mm/yr spread across the Dinarides. The remaining 1-2 mm/yr motion E of the Alps and NE of the Dinarides is absorbed by the inverted contracting Pannonian basin leaving no significant deformation above 0.5 mm/yr in the Western and Northern Carpathians, and European Platform. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.