The backarc Black Sea (BS) basin was formed in the Late Cretaceous at the hinterland of the Pontide magmatic arc due to subduction of Neotethys ocean below the southern Eurasian continental margin. At present the BS consists of two large sedimentary subbasins – the West- and East-Black Sea (WBS and EBS) basins filled with thick (up to 12-14 km) Cenozoic and younger sediments. The sediments mask poorly investigated crystalline crust that is assumed to represent a mosaic of accreted fragments of microplates and terranes of different affinities. Seismic refraction studies have shown that the WBS and EBS are underlain by high-velocity thin oceanic and semi-oceanic crust of 5-7 km thickness underlain by the Moho shallowing up to 20 km depth. So far little is known about the structure of the mantle lithosphere below the BS. In order to investigate the lithospheric structure of the BS we performed a 3D gravity analysis and seismic tomography study. In addition, these two independent approaches have been used to deri
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)287-303
JournalGeophysical Journal International
Volume193
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013

    Research areas

  • gravity anomalies and Earth structure, seismicity and tectonics, seismic tomography, crustal structure, Europe

ID: 7379035