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Provenance of Cretaceous synorogenic sediments from the NW Dinarides (Croatia)

Abstract

Scarce basin remnants of Cretaceous synorogenic sediments exposed in the Medvednica, Ivanščica, Žumberak Mts. and Samobor Hills of northern Croatia record the early orogenic history of the NW Dinarides. The provenance of sandstones from five clastic formations (Oštrc, Bistra, Kravljak, Vivodina and Glog) which cover a time span from Early to late Late Cretaceous was studied by combining petrography, whole-rock geochemistry, heavy mineral chemistry and detrital zircon fission track dating. These sediments record at least two major regional thermotectonic events which correlate well with those affecting both the Alps and the Tisza-Dacia unit to the north and east, and the central Dinaride region to the south. Short zircon fission track lag times in Barremian to Albian sediments indicate that continental fragments of the distal Adria plate margin underwent relatively fast, synsedimentary exhumation in the Early Cretaceous. Moreover, a clear dominance of Campanian zircon cooling ages (80–73 Ma) in Maastrichtian sandstones indicates detritus deriving from the erosion of newly and rapidly exhumed basement units which had undergone Late Cretaceous metamorphism in the Eastern Alps and/or the Tisza-Dacia region. Probably, the rapid Maastrichtian erosion generating metamorphic detritus occurred to a great extent on neighbouring Austroalpine basement units, and/or on the upper plate Tisza-Dacia unit during the subduction stage or the initial stages of the continent–continent collision with Adria. Development of the accretionary wedge probably resulted in a renewed availability of ophiolites for erosion within small and/or dynamically changing catchments, which can be deduced from the notable differences in reconstructed source lithologies for the coeval Glog and Vivodina formations. Combined evidence from sedimentary provenance indicators precludes the Dinaride (Adriatic) basement as a significant source for the Maastrichtian sediments.

1 Introduction

Provenance studies which integrate results from multiple analytical approaches offer an in-depth view into the history of clastic material and the characteristics of its source areas (e.g. Weltje and von Eynatten 2004). Apart from the benefits for reconstructing the general lithological makeup of source areas, the ability to derive information related to source rock petrogenesis and thermal history by means of heavy mineral chemistry and single grain dating techniques is of particular value in geodynamically active regions (e.g. von Eynatten et al. 1996; Ruiz et al. 2004; Mange and Morton 2007). Thus, in orogenic settings where evidence of past events is often obscured by strong tectonothermal overprint, dismemberment and erosion, clastic material provides indispensable information relating to the tectonic history of such regions if suitable analytical approaches are employed.

The Dinarides are a major segment of the Alpine orogenic belt and represent an important element in the tectonic history of the Mediterranean region. The NW Dinarides are of particular interest due to their proximity to major neighbouring tectonic units, the Alps in the north and the Tisza-Dacia unit to the east (Fig. 1). This Dinaride–Alpine–Tisza transitional area is characterized by considerable geological complexity (Haas et al. 2000). Its long-lasting deformational history included Triassic rifting and ocean spreading, two phases of ophiolite obduction and nappe stacking (Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, as well as Late Cretaceous), and severe lateral and rotational displacements in the Cenozoic (Vörös 1993; Tomljenović and Csontos 2001; Babić et al. 2002; Csontos and Vörös 2004; Haas and Péró 2004; Schmid et al. 2008; Tomljenović et al. 2008; Ustaszewski et al. 2009, 2010). In the Cretaceous, synorogenic basins formed, and were filled with clastic material composed of variable proportions of ophiolitic, continental and carbonate detritus. The remnants of these basins, exposed in northern Croatia, document the early evolution of the Dinaride orogen which has been heavily masked by Cenozoic deformation. Based on detailed petrography, litho- and biostratigraphy, previous work has already assessed the general paleogeography and sedimentary provenance of these basins, suggesting that they represent different paleogeographic settings (Babić et al. 1973, 2002; Babić 1974; Crnjaković 1979, 1981, 1989; Zupanič 1981; Zupanič et al. 1981; Lužar-Oberiter 2009). More recently, detrital Cr-spinel chemistry revealed additional details with respect to the ophiolites obducted onto the margin of the Adria plate (Lužar-Oberiter et al. 2009). These authors also provided regional correlations with coeval clastic formations in the Eastern Alps and the Transdanubian Central Range (Hungary).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Map of the Dinaride–Alpine–Pannonian region showing the major structural units of the Dinarides (after Schmid et al. 2008, with modifications in the area of the NW Dinarides after Aubouin et al. 1970; Haas et al. 2000; Tomljenović et al. 2008). ALCAPA: tectonic mega-unit which includes the Austroalpine nappes and the Central and Inner West Carpathians. Position of the study area is marked by the rectangle

In this paper we present a provenance study of sandstones from the NW Dinarides (Croatia) ranging in age from Early to late Late Cretaceous. We focus on the siliciclastic components and combine an assortment of provenance sensitive indicators, including petrography, whole-rock geochemistry, tourmaline and garnet chemistry, and zircon fission track thermochronology. The main goal of our study was to constrain the composition and dynamics of continental source terrains being exhumed and eroded during the Cretaceous orogeny of the Dinarides, as well as to shed new light on the paleogeographic relationships between the NW Dinarides and neighbouring Alpine, Tisza-Dacia, and southerly Dinaride units.

2 Geological outline of the Dinarides

The general structure of the Dinarides consists of two main tectonic domains, the External and the Internal Dinarides. The External Dinarides are dominated by thick Mesozoic platform carbonates which formed on the Adria plate and were incorporated into SW-verging structures during Cenozoic deformation (e.g. Aubouin et al. 1970; Blašković 1998; Vlahović et al. 2005; Ustaszewski et al. 2008; Korbar 2009). The tectonostratigraphic elements of the Internal Dinarides, by contrast, consist of a wide range of lithologies, and are arranged in dominantly NW–SE trending Mesozoic to Cenozoic tectonic structures (Fig. 1). Further to the southeast, these zones extend into the Hellenides. In the NW Dinarides however, in the vicinity of the Dinaride–Alpine–Tisza junction, where the study area is situated, this structural pattern is considerably complicated by Cenozoic lateral displacements and block rotations (Haas et al. 2000; Tomljenović et al. 2008), as well as obscured by the Neogene sedimentary cover of the Pannonian Basin. A large number of schemes have been established for the tectonostratigraphy of the Dinarides (e.g. Aubouin et al. 1970; Pamić et al. 1998; Dimitrijević 2001; Schmid et al. 2008). In this paper we follow the concept of Schmid et al. (2008). Accordingly, from the southwest towards the northeast, the Internal Dinarides consist of: (1) the Pre-Karst and Bosnian Flysch Unit, (2) the West Vardar Ophiolitic Unit, (3) thrusted sheets composed of partly metamorphosed post-Variscan basement units of the distal margin of Adria, and (4) the Sava Zone (Fig. 1).

The Pre-Karst is a transitional zone between the Mesozoic shallow-marine carbonate platform units of the External Dinarides (i.e. the Adriatic carbonate platform), and the more internal, basinal environments of the distal margin of Adria. It comprises Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous shallow marine, slope and deep-marine carbonates which are unconformably overlain by Upper Cretaceous clastics (Blanchet et al. 1970; Babić 1973, 1974; Dragičević and Velić 2002). Here, siliciclastic deposition was initiated earlier than in the External Dinarides further SW (Blanchet et al. 1970; Babić 1974). In the Central Dinarides these clastics have been designated as the Ugar Formation, which is dominated by clastic carbonate, typically consisting of thin-bedded marls, calcarenites and sandstones, as well as thick carbonate mass flow deposits. Based on the observation that at places it is separated by an angular unconformity from older deposits, it has been proposed to represent a Gosau-type basin formed in response to a pre-Turonian orogenic event (Schmid et al. 2008). However, such an analogy awaits further evidence since a Late Cretaceous extensional regime comparable to that leading to the opening and subsidence of the Gosau basins in the Northern Calcareous Alps (Neubauer et al. 1995; Wagreich and Decker 2001) has hitherto not been documented in the External Dinarides. The Pre-Karst unit extends into the NW Dinarides and includes the area of the Žumberak Mts. and Samobor Hills where the Albian–Cenomanian Kravljak and the Maastrichtian Vivodina formations crop out (Figs. 1, 2; Babić 1974; Zupanič 1981; Devidé-Nedéla et al. 1982).

Fig. 2
figure 2

Simplified geological map of the study area (marked in Fig. 1) showing the distribution of the studied sediments (after Basic geological map of Yugoslavia, 1:100,000; Babić et al. 2002). Below are simplified cross-sections of Mt. Ivanščica (northern and central parts modified after Šimunić et al. 1982), Mt. Medvednica (modified after Šikić et al. 1977; Tomljenović et al. 2008) and Žumberak Mts.–Samobor Hills (modified after Šikić et al. 1977; Prtoljan 2001). Color patterns in the cross-sections are analogous to those in the map key, while additional information regarding specific lithologies is noted where appropriate. Faults and thrusts are marked in red

More internally, to the east of the Pre-Karst zone, the central part of the Dinarides includes a belt of older, Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous flysch containing abundant ophiolitic detritus and representing a clastic wedge developed in front of the West Vardar ophiolite thrust sheets obducted onto the Adria plate margin (Bosnian Flysch; Blanchet et al. 1969; Hrvatović 2000; Mikes et al. 2008). In the NW Dinarides, a clastic formation with similar characteristics, the Oštrc Formation, crops out on Mt. Ivanščica (Zupanič et al. 1981; Lužar-Oberiter et al. 2009).

Prominent features of the Inner Dinaride nappe stack are extensive ophiolite bodies, either incorporated into ophiolitic mélange or representing large thrust sheets of obducted oceanic lithosphere (Pamić et al. 2002). Interpretations vary on how these Dinaric ophiolites formed. They collectively belong to the Western Vardar Ophiolitic Unit which has been interpreted to represent a single ophiolite thrust sheet formed by late Jurassic obduction of the Neotethys onto the passive margin of Adria (Bernoulli and Laubscher 1972; Schmid et al. 2008, and references therein). However, contrasting interpretations have advocated the closure of multiple ocean branches or marginal basins (e.g. Dimitrijević and Dimitrijević 1973; Robertson and Karamata 1994; Channell and Kozur 1997). The northwesternmost exposure of the Western Vardar Ophiolitic Unit is located in northwestern Croatia (Mt. Medvednica, Mt. Ivanščica and Mt. Kalnik) and is referred to as the Repno Complex (Figs. 1, 2; Babić et al. 2002). Radiolarian biostratigraphy on the blocks and palynomorph studies on the matrix of the mélange suggest that, in this area, oceanic subduction started in the Middle Jurassic and ended around the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous (Halamić and Goričan 1995; Halamić et al. 1999; Babić et al. 2002). These age data are in good agreement with independent data from several Dinaride localities on high-temperature geochronology of metamorphic soles (189–161 Ma) and on biostratigraphic dating of shallow-marine carbonates onlapping the obducted ophiolites (see Mikes et al. 2009 for a review). The mélange and large ophiolite thrust sheets are transgressively overlain by Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous shallow-marine limestones (Bortolotti et al. 1971; Charvet and Termier 1971; Charvet 1978) and shallow-marine to alluvial siliciclastic deposits. Siliciclastic-dominated units known in some detail include the studied Bistra Formation (see description below; Fig. 2) and, in the Central Dinarides, the Pogari Formation (Jovanović 1961; Hrvatović 2006).

Geochemical and biostratigraphic data from Upper Cretaceous ophiolites with bimodal volcanic suites in the northern Dinarides are regarded to indicate that a remnant oceanic basin persisted until the Late Cretaceous, probably in a back-arc setting (Karamata et al. 2000; Pamić et al. 2000, 2002; Ustaszewski et al. 2009). These ophiolites are rooted in the Sava Zone (Fig. 1) where a suture zone formed by the final collision of the Internal Dinarides with the Tisza-Dacia unit in the Paleogene (Pamić 2002; Schmid et al. 2008; Ustaszewski et al. 2009, 2010).

Occurring in tectonic contact with elements of the Western Vardar Ophiolite Unit are large thrust sheets of continental crust consisting of metamorphic and non-metamorphic Palaeozoic and Mesozoic formations, representing fragments of the Adria distal margin which have been incorporated into the nappe stack together with the ophiolites (Fig. 1). In the SE and Central Dinarides these include the Drina–Ivanjica, Jadar–Kopaonik and parts of the East Bosnian–Durmitor thrust sheets. In the NW Dinarides in Croatia this includes the sedimentary-metamorphic complex of Mt. Medvednica, and further to the NE, the continental unit of the Bükk Mts. in Hungary, which was displaced in the Cenozoic by a dextral strike-slip fault system of the Mid-Hungarian Line (Fig. 1). The studied Maastrichtian Glog Formation is part of a sedimentary succession which transgressively overlies the metamorphosed Adriatic basement complex of Mt. Medvednica (Fig. 2; Crnjaković 1979). The studied Lower Cretaceous Oštrc Formation overlies the non-metamorphic Upper Triassic to Lower Cretaceous shallow to deep marine sedimentary succession exposed in Mt. Ivanščica (Fig. 2; Zupanič et al. 1981), which likewise represents a fragment of the Adria distal margin (Babić et al. 2002). Today, Mt. Medvednica and Mt. Ivanščica both show a structural trend which is oblique to the main NW–SE trend of the Central Dinarides. Tomljenović et al. (2008) showed that this is due to their Late Paleogene 130° clockwise rotation and eastward tectonic escape, and hence their original orientation used to be parallel to the main orogenic strike of the Dinarides.

3 Stratigraphy, sedimentology and composition of the Cretaceous clastic formations

Mesozoic sediments of Mt. Ivanščica consist of passive margin marine deposits of Adria overthrust by Jurassic ophiolitic mélange of the Repno Complex described in the previous chapter (Fig. 2). The entire sedimentary succession consists of Permian clastics, Triassic clastics and carbonates overlain by Upper Triassic platform carbonates, Jurassic pelagic limestones and cherts, and Tithonian–Valanginian “Aptychus Limestones”, which are in turn overlain by the clastic Barremian–Albian Oštrc Formation (Fig. 3; Babić and Zupanič 1973, 1978; Babić 1975; Babić and Gušić 1978; Babić et al. 2002). Facies and composition of the Oštrc Formation record a dramatic change in sedimentation style due to an abrupt influx of high amounts of siliciclastic material (Zupanič et al. 1981). It consists mostly of turbiditic arenites (occasionally rudites) alternating with shales, siltstones, marls and marly limestones. The arenites are mostly of mixed carbonate-siliciclastic composition, ranging from calcarenites with typically 70–90 % carbonate component to sandstones with >50 % siliciclastic component. Their heavy mineral associations contain a very high proportion of chrome spinel (>90 % among transparent heavy minerals), which indicates, together with abundant mafic and ultramafic lithic fragments, a dominantly ophiolitic provenance with minor continental contribution (Zupanič et al. 1981; Lužar-Oberiter et al. 2009).

Fig. 3
figure 3

Chronostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic logs of the studied clastic formations and their basement (Babić et al. 2002; Lužar-Oberiter et al. 2009, and references therein). Note scale change at 150 Ma. Pie charts illustrate the average compositions of heavy mineral assemblages in the sandstones of each investigated formation (Crnjaković 1981, 1987, 1989; Zupanič 1981; Zupanič et al. 1981)

Two Cretaceous clastic formations were investigated at Mt. Medvednica. The Aptian–Albian Bistra Formation consists of shallow-marine to coastal carbonates and clastic sediments which crop out in the northern part of Mt. Medvednica (Fig. 2; Gušić 1975; Crnjaković 1989). It developed on top of the exhumed Jurassic ophiolitic mélange complex (Fig. 3; Babić et al. 2002). The Bistra Formation consists of sandstones, calcarenites, shales, marls, conglomerates, oyster biostromes, as well as occasional coal lenses and seams. The heavy mineral associations of the sandstones consist of ultrastable minerals (zircon, tourmaline and rutile, ZTR), Cr-spinel, and only minor proportions of other minerals (e.g. garnet, apatite), which reflect a mixed continental-ophiolitic provenance (Crnjaković 1989).

The Maastrichtian Glog Formation consists of alternating turbiditic sandstones and marls exposed in the S part of Mt. Medvednica (Fig. 2). It represents the youngest part of a transgressive Upper Cretaceous alluvial to deep-water succession overlying rocks of the imbricated Palaeozoic–Triassic Adriatic basement wedge which underwent Cretaceous low-grade metamorphism (Fig. 3; Crnjaković 1981, 1987; Belak et al. 1995; Belak 2005; Judik et al. 2006). Crnjaković (1981) reported a strong dominance of ZTR within the heavy mineral associations of the sandstones, with only minor proportion of other heavy minerals (e.g. epidote, garnet). In spite of scant exposures, the age and facies heterogeneity of the Upper Cretaceous succession containing the Glog Formation allows it to be tentatively correlated with the sedimentary fill of the Gosau basins in the Northern Calcareous Alps (Wagreich and Faupl 1994).

The Kravljak and Vivodina formations both consist of deep-water turbiditic deposits situated in the Žumberak Mts. and Samobor Hills, located in the SW part of the study area (Fig. 2; Babić 1974; Zupanič 1981). Babić (1974) reported an Albian–Cenomanian age for the Kravljak Formation deposits, which overlie various Upper Triassic to Lower Cretaceous carbonates (Fig. 3). The Kravljak Formation is composed of marls intercalated with turbiditic arenite (rarely rudite) layers of mixed carbonate–siliciclastic composition. Heavy mineral associations in the sandstones are dominated by ZTR, but also contain significant Cr-spinel and minor amounts of garnet and apatite (Crnjaković 1987; Crnjaković et al. 2000). The Vivodina Formation is younger, dated as Maastrichtian by planktic foraminifera (Devidé-Nedéla et al. 1982). It probably represents a continuous deep-water sedimentation following a Campanian transgression that is marked by carbonate breccias and rudist limestones, although a direct transition is difficult to observe in the field (Moro et al. 2010). The succession consists of marls, sandstones, calcarenites and calcirudites. Two types of turbiditic beds can be clearly differentiated based on their composition, grain-size, and thickness. The first turbidite type comprises thick (often >1 m) carbonate beds consisting of coarse rudite carbonate lithoclasts at their bottom which grade upward into finer-grained, mostly skeletal detritus. Zupanič (1981) reported that the upper fine-grained parts of these thick beds may contain admixtures of siliciclastic material (up to 30 %). The second type of turbidites are much thinner (predominantly 10–20 cm) sandstone beds of mixed carbonate–siliciclastic composition. For the purpose of this study, samples were only taken from this latter type of beds. Heavy mineral associations in these sandstones contain ZTR, considerable amounts of Cr-spinel as well as minor garnet and epidote/zoisite, indicating derivation from both ophiolitic and continental sources (Zupanič 1981).

4 Methods

Sampling was performed in outcrops with reliable lithostratigraphic control only, from fine- to medium-grained sandstones. Weathered outcrops and samples were avoided. The geographic locations of all sampling points are given in the Online Resource 1.

For whole-rock geochemical analysis, fresh pieces of each sample devoid of calcite veins were crushed and pulverized in an agate ball-mill. Loss on ignition (LOI) was determined gravimetrically on 1 g of sample by heating overnight at 1,050 °C. For the XRF analysis powdered samples were fused with Merck Spectromelt A12 to borate glass discs. Major and trace element concentrations (for Sc, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr, Zr, Nb, Ba, Pb, Y) were determined on a PANalytical AXIOS X-ray spectrometer at the University of Göttingen (Department of Geochemistry, Geoscience Center). Trace element concentrations have 1–2 % relative precision. All Fe is reported as Fe2O3.

For zircon fission track (ZFT) analysis and heavy mineral chemistry a sufficient number of heavy mineral grains needed to be extracted from the sandstone samples. Approximately 4–5 kg of sample was crushed with a jaw crusher, dry sieved and the <250 μm fraction was run on a Wilfley shaking table. The pre-concentrated samples were then treated with 5 % acetic acid to remove any carbonate, and the heavy fraction was separated from the undissolved residue using warm LST Fastfloat (Polytungstates Europe) heavy liquid. Zircon concentrates for preparing fission track mounts were obtained by electromagnetic separation. Heavy mineral grains remaining in the magnetic fraction were used for microprobe analyses.

For microprobe analysis tourmaline and garnet grains were mounted in epoxy, prepared by sprinkling the magnetic heavy mineral fraction or by handpicking of individual grains where low abundance was encountered. The mounts were ground and polished in consecutive steps to reduce relief at the grain–resin contacts, and then carbon coated. All microprobe analyses were performed using a JEOL electron microprobe (JXA-8900RL) equipped with five wavelength dispersive spectrometers at the University of Göttingen (Department of Geochemistry, Geoscience Center). One spot analysis was performed in the center of each grain for all garnets and a part of the tourmalines. Tourmaline grains which showed zoning on the back-scattered electron image were analyzed in more than one spot. Analytical conditions used for each mineral phase are given in the Online Resource 2.

For ZFT analysis randomly selected aliquots of zircon grains were embedded in PFA Teflon. To reveal spontaneous tracks the previously polished grains were etched with KOH–NaOH melt at 228 °C for 22–43 h. From each sample, two mounts were prepared and etched for different times. The external detector method was used. Irradiations were performed in nuclear reactors at Garching, Germany and Oregon State University, USA (neutron fluence 1.5 × 1015 n/cm2). After irradiation the attached low-U mica detectors were etched with 40 % HF at 24 °C for 25 min to expose induced tracks. Track counting was performed using a Zeiss Axioskop microscope at 1,000× magnification equipped with a computer controlled FT Stage System of T. Dumitru. At least 60 zircon grains were measured from each sample, except for sample 05-H/M-60 in which only 50 countable grains were encountered. ZFT ages were determined by the zeta method (Hurford and Green 1983), calculated using a personal ζ-factor of 124.7 ± 2.3. Visualization of the data was performed using Trackkey (Dunkl 2002).

5 Results

5.1 Petrography

With rare exceptions, all analyzed sandstones are classified as litharenites to sublitharenites with a predominantly carbonate matrix.

In the Oštrc Formation most sandstones are calcareous litharenites (Fig. 4a), but lithic wackes with a dominantly chlorite pseudomatrix also occur (e.g. sample 05-H/O-309, Fig. 4b). Intense replacement by carbonate strongly obscures the primary texture, which may hamper identification of framework grains. Carbonate grains include carbonate lithoclasts and skeletal fragments of echinoderms and planktic foraminifera, which are often silicified (Fig. 4c). Among the major framework components ophiolitic lithoclasts are the most abundant (Fig. 4a). These are common fragments consisting of serpentine and chlorite, mafic volcanic clasts with subophitic to intersertal texture, as well as fragments of devitrified glass. Sedimentary lithic fragments of shale, siltstone and sandstones are frequent. Metamorphic grains include quartzite, foliated quartz–sericite, quartz–chlorite, slate and phyllite fragments. Quartz occurs both as monocrystalline and polycrystalline grains. Chert is common and in some cases contains visible radiolaria. Feldspars occur sporadically, mostly as twinned plagioclase, but K-feldspars are also present. Cr-spinel and opaque grains can be readily identified in thin sections.

Fig. 4
figure 4

af Microphotographs of sandstones from the studied formations: a Calcareous litharenite dominated by ophiolitic rock fragments including serpentine fragments, chlorite flakes and altered mafic clasts with intersertal texture. A large metamorphic rock fragment can be seen in the upper part of the image; Oštrc Formation, sample 05-H/O-313/1. b Lithic wacke in which chlorite flakes have been “squeezed” between framework grains to form a pseudomatrix; Oštrc Formation, sample 05-H/O-309. c A silicified test of a foraminifera; Oštrc Formation, sample 05-H/O-318. d An orbitolinid foraminifera composed of agglutinated quartz grains within a litharenite; Bistra Formation, sample 05-H/B-207. e Radiolarite rock fragment with visible outlines of radiolarian; Bistra Formation, sample 05-H/B-207. f Litharenite dominated by metamorphic rock fragments; Glog Formation, sample 05-H/G-102. g Back-scattered electron image of a zoned tourmaline with a detrital core and multiple growth rims; Oštrc Formation, sample 05-H/O-318. h Heavy mineral separate dominated by zircons, many of which are at least slightly rounded; Glog Formation, sample 05-H/G-102

In the sandstones from the Bistra Formation quartz is slightly more abundant than lithic fragments (Fig. 4d). It is usually subangular to angular, and occurs as monocrystalline or polycrystalline grains. Lithic fragments include various sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous lithologies. Sedimentary lithoclasts are mostly shale fragments, while siltstone and sandstone fragments occur more rarely. Chert clasts are very common and often contain visible radiolaria (Fig. 4e). Metamorphic clasts include quartzite, quartz–sericite, quartz–chlorite and phyllite fragments. Mafic clasts with ophitic texture occur relatively rarely. Marl intraclasts occur in some samples. Observed carbonate grains are mostly skeletal fragments of Orbitolina (Fig. 4d), which can be very abundant, and echinoderms.

All examined sandstones from the Kravljak Formation are fine-grained. Carbonate replacement of siliciclastic particles and recrystallization of carbonate particles is intensive. Quartz usually predominates over lithic fragments, is subangular to angular, and most commonly monocrystalline. Metamorphic grains are common, and include quartzite, quartz–sericite, quartz–chlorite and phyllite fragments. Sedimentary lithoclasts are mostly shale fragments. For some grains, constituted of oriented or unoriented minute transparent flakes with or without small quartz grains in between, it is difficult to differentiate whether they are of volcanic origin or represent shale fragments. Chert is commonly encountered. Feldspars were rarely observed, and are largely altered. Mafic clasts with ophitic texture and serpentine clasts are rare.

In the Vivodina Formation sandstones, lithic fragments slightly predominate over quartz. Grains of ophiolitic origin are abundant. These are most commonly mafic clasts with ophitic texture or chlorite grains. Quartz occurs mostly as angular to subangular monocrystalline grains. Polycrystalline grains are less common. As in the Kravljak Formation, grains of uncertain volcanic and/or shale origin are common. Metamorphic lithic fragments include foliated quartzite and quartz–mica aggregates, as well as fine grained phyllitic fragments. Individual muscovite flakes and feldspar grains occur sporadically.

Sandstones of the Glog Formation contain similar amounts of quartz and lithic fragments, while feldspars are less common. Quartz grains are angular to subangular, mostly with undulatory extinction. Metamorphic grains strongly dominate among the lithic fragments (Fig. 4f). These include a variety of weakly to strongly foliated quartzite, quartz–muscovite and quartz–chlorite aggregates. Muscovite flakes are very common. Biotite flakes occur rarely. Among feldspars, both plagioclase and K-feldspars are present. They are in most cases weakly to heavily altered with numerous minute sericite flakes. Carbonate components include fragments of planktic foraminifera and echinoids, indistinguishable recrystallized grains and carbonate cement.

5.2 Whole-rock geochemistry

Major and trace element concentrations for 24 analyzed sandstone samples are given in Online Resource 3, and some results are summarized in Fig. 5. In the analyzed Cretaceous sandstones CaO concentrations range from 7.9 to 41.4 wt%. Positive correlation exists between CaO and loss on ignition (LOI), as well as a strong negative correlation between CaO and SiO2 (Fig. 5a–b), indicating that CaO is almost entirely associated with detrital and secondary carbonate phases.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Major and trace element geochemistry of the Cretaceous sandstones. a CaO–LOI and b CaO–SiO2 plots display strong correlations, suggesting that CaO is almost entirely associated with the carbonate content. c Classification of the analyzed sandstone samples from each formation based on the scheme of Herron (1988). d Cr/V versus Y/Ni plot (McLennan et al. 1993). Increased Cr/Ni values (and low Y/Ni), which are particularly pronounced in the samples from the Oštrc Formation, indicate a larger contribution of material from ophiolitic sources. UCC, average upper continental crust (McLennan 2001)

In Fig. 5c, compositions are plotted on the diagram of Herron (1988) which uses logarithmic ratios of SiO2/Al2O3 versus Fe2O3/K2O to distinguish between different types of sediment lithologies. SiO2/Al2O3 reflects the ratio of quartz to clay minerals, which is affected partly by the grain size and maturity of the sediment. Fe2O3/K2O reflects the amount of lithic fragments relative to feldspar. Most of our samples plot in the litharenite and Fe-sand fields. This classification agrees with the observed petrographic composition of these sandstone samples, all of which are characterized by an abundance of lithic rock fragments and quartz relative to feldspars. Some differences are evident though, most notably between the Oštrc and Glog formations. Samples from the Oštrc Formation have the highest Fe2O3/K2O ratios and all plot within the field of Fe-sand. The Glog Formation samples on the other hand all have lower Fe2O3/K2O, and all plot as litharenites. Samples from the Bistra, Kravljak and Vivodina formations plot close to the Fe-sand/litharenite boundary, though the Vivodina Formation samples tend to have higher Fe2O3/K2O values than those of the Kravljak Formation. These differences in Fe2O3/K2O ratios between different formations reflect the variable amount of contribution from mafic and ultramafic minerals, which agrees with the observed abundance of ophiolitic lithoclasts in the Oštrc Formation, their presence in the Bistra, Kravljak and Vivodina formations, and lack thereof in the Glog Formation.

The Cr/V versus Y/Ni diagram in Fig. 5d (McLennan et al. 1993) illustrates the degree of contribution from ophiolite sources. The ratio Cr/V is a measure of Cr enrichment relative to the general concentration of “ferromagnesian” trace elements, i.e. those preferentially occurring in mafic/ultramafic lithologies. Cr is concentrated in Cr-spinel, while Y is a proxy for mid to heavy rare-earth elements (REE), preferentially fractionated into garnet and other accessory minerals such as zircon and xenotime. Ultramafic and mafic source rocks are characterized by high Cr/V and low Y/Ni ratios, while felsic rocks have the opposite, low Cr/V and high Y/Ni. Oštrc Formation samples have Cr/V values in the range of 20-30, well above the other samples, as well as very low Y/Ni. Samples from the Bistra, Kravljak and Vivodina formations have Cr/V and Y/Ni values much closer to those of average upper continental crust (Cr/V = 0.8 and Y/Ni = 0.5; McLennan 2001) suggestive of some contribution from ophiolites, however, much more limited than is the case for the Oštrc Formation. On the other hand, the conspicuously high Y/Ni values (and low Cr/V) in the Glog Formation samples, well above those of the average upper continental crust, are shifted towards average values of felsic rocks (Y/N ~6; Condie 1993), suggesting a purely continental source, well in line with the observed petrographic composition.

5.3 Tourmaline chemistry

Microprobe analyses of the detrital tourmalines are given in Online Resource 4 and summarized in Fig. 6. The concentrations of Al, Fe and Mg in tourmalines have been plotted on ternary diagrams (Fig. 6a) and compared to the fields defined by Henry and Guidotti (1985). Generally, in all of the studied samples most grains carry chemical signatures characteristic of metapelitic source rocks (Fig. 6b, fields 4 and 5 = 70–79 %). The primarily metamorphic origin, as opposed to granitoid sources, is supported by their dominantly high Ti and low Zn contents (Fig. 6c; Viator 2003). Back-scattered electron imaging reveals prominent discontinuous zoning in many of the tourmaline grains, often suggesting several phases of growth. Crystals with cores (in some cases rounded) and metamorphic overgrowths (Fig. 4g) are present in each of the studied formations, likely indicating a previous phase of recycling and derivation from metasedimentary rocks. Only minor differences in the proportion of tourmaline types can be observed between Lower and Upper Cretaceous sandstones. Tourmalines which originated from granitoid sources are slightly more common in the Early Cretaceous and Cenomanian (9–15 %) than in uppermost Cretaceous sandstones (3–4 %). Most of the tourmaline analyses from the Lower Cretaceous (Oštrc and Bistra formations) fall within the field of metapelites coexisting with an Al-saturating phase, while those from the Cenomanian and uppermost Cretaceous (Kravljak, Vivodina and Glog formations) are more commonly from metapelites not coexisting with an Al-saturating phase. Furthermore, measurements falling into the field of Fe3+-rich Qtz–Tur rocks/skarns/metapelites are somewhat more common in the uppermost Cretaceous.

Fig. 6
figure 6

Detrital tourmaline compositions from Cretaceous sandstones. a Chemistry of detrital tourmalines from each of the studied formations plotted onto Al–Fe–Mg diagrams. Discrimination fields are after Henry and Guidotti (1985): (1) Li-rich granitoids, (2) Li-poor granitoids, (3) Fe3+-rich Qtz-Tur rocks (hydrothermally altered granites), (4) Metapelites coexisting with an Al-saturating phase, (5) Metapelites not coexisting with an Al-saturating phase, (6) Fe3+-rich Qtz–Tur rocks/skarns/metapelites, (7) Low-Ca metaultramafics and Cr and V-rich metasediments, (8) Metacarbonates and meta-pyroxenites. b Plot showing the proportions of tourmaline measurements falling into the fields of the Al–Fe–Mg diagrams. c Plots of Ti versus Zn in tourmalines which show a dominance of tourmalines with metamorphic affinity. Discrimination criteria is after Viator (2003)

5.4 Garnet chemistry

Microprobe analyses of the detrital garnets are given in Online Resource 5. Garnet major element compositions are plotted on (Fe + Mn)–Mg–Ca diagrams in Fig. 7, with outlines of fields as proposed by Morton et al. (2004). Most of the analyzed garnets from the Cretaceous sandstones are characterized as low-Mg and variable-Ca (Type B) grains, indicating that their dominant source were probably greenschist to amphibolite facies metasediments. However, distinctly low-Mg and low-Ca garnets, which have high Mn concentrations, are conspicuous in samples of the Bistra and Glog formations (also present in the Vivodina Formation) and may point to intermediate-acidic igneous sources (Mange and Morton 2007). High-grade granulite facies metasediments may have supplied a lesser amount of the garnets with high Mg and low Ca content (Type A). The subordinate amounts of high-Mg and high-Ca garnets (Type C) point to exposures of medium to high-grade metabasic rocks in the source area, however, these played only a local role in the supply of garnets to the Cretaceous basins, as indicated by a well-separated population in one of the Glog Formation samples (Fig. 7; Online Resource 5).

Fig. 7
figure 7

Detrital garnet compositions from Cretaceous sandstones. Classification fields are outlined after Morton et al. (2004): Field A represents high Mg, low Ca garnets which typically derive from granulite facies metasediments; Field B represents variable Ca, low Mg garnets characteristic of greenschist to amphibolite facies metasediments, but may also derive from intermediate-acidic igneous rocks; Field C represents high Ca, high Mg garnets which typically derive from medium to high-grade metabasic rocks

5.5 Zircon fission track analysis

Single grain detrital zircon fission track ages were obtained from a total of seven sandstone samples (Table 1; Fig. 8). The age populations within the bulk single grain age distributions were identified by the Popshare software (Dunkl and Székely 2002) using a Simplex algorithm and assuming Gaussian distribution for the populations (Fig. 9). The scatter assigned to the mean values refers to 1 σ of the populations. In two samples from the Oštrc Formation most of the ZFT ages range from the Carboniferous to the Cretaceous. The youngest ZFT age populations in the two Oštrc Formation samples have been identified at 134 ± 14 Ma (sample 05-H/O-311) and 145 ± 36 Ma (sample 05-H/O-309). The older single-grain ZFT ages make up more diffuse populations with means at 193 ± 65 and 219 ± 64 Ma, respectively. In the Bistra Formation sandstones the ZFT ages are equally distributed among three populations with means at 122 ± 45, 172 ± 17 and 281 ± 53. In the Kravljak Formation, the youngest population has been identified at 159 ± 30 Ma, while an older more diffuse population lies at 275 ± 51 Ma.

Table 1 Results of single grain fission track analyses of detrital zircons from Cretaceous sandstones of the NW Dinarides
Fig. 8
figure 8

Single grain fission track age distributions of detrital zircons from the Cretaceous sandstones. The black lines within the histograms represent age spectra (probability density plots) computed according to Hurford et al. (1984). Radial plots are according to Galbraith (1990)

Fig. 9
figure 9

Modeled detrital zircon fission track age populations identified within the bulk single grain age distributions by the PopShare computer software (Dunkl and Székely 2002) using a Simplex algorithm and assuming Gaussian distribution for the populations. Diamonds correspond to population means while the extents of the whiskers represent the first standard deviations. Dark gray bars indicate the depositional ages of the studied clastic formations

A clear-cut difference in ZFT age distributions exists between the Maastrichtian and all older samples (Table 1; Fig. 9). In the Maastrichtian, a young, Late Cretaceous ZFT age population clearly dominates the age distributions. In the sample from the Vivodina Formation the youngest ZFT age population is clearly identified at 76 ± 13 Ma, and incorporates most of the measured crystals. All remaining single-grain ages spread very diffusely throughout the Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic (149 ± 58 Ma), which very probably indicates that one or more additional sources were involved by the catchment system. In the Glog Formation the predominance of younger ages is the most distinct; in both analyzed sandstone samples all zircon grains belong to a single age population at 80 ± 18 Ma (sample 05-H/G-109) and 73 ± 23 Ma (sample 05-H/G-105/1).

6 Provenance and implications for Cretaceous evolution of the Adriatic margin

6.1 Early Cretaceous to Cenomanian

The Cretaceous clastic formations of the NW Dinarides record the evolution of an area which was—throughout most of the Mesozoic—situated at the northern periphery of the Adria plate, close to the western termination of the Neotethys (Fig. 10). Based on the current stratigraphic framework for the studied formations and the new sandstone provenance data presented herein, we propose a paleotectonic reconstruction of the NW Dinaride area for the Late Mesozoic (Fig. 11). Intraoceanic subduction within the Neotethys started in the late Early Jurassic, as evidenced by published geochronological ages from metamorphic soles of Dinaride ophiolites (see Mikes et al. 2009 for a compilation). This was eventually followed by one of the principal large scale events in the evolution of the Dinarides, the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous obduction of ophiolites onto the margin of Adria (e.g. Aubouin et al. 1970; Bortolotti et al. 1971; Charvet 1978; Zupanič et al. 1981; Babić et al. 2002). This orogen-wide event was accompanied by nappe stacking and the development of pro-wedge flexural basins, both in the NW Dinarides (Oštrc Formation; Zupanič et al. 1981; Babić et al. 2002) and the Central Dinarides (Vranduk Formation; Mikes et al. 2008, and references therein), as well as further to the north in the Austroalpine domain (Gerecse Hills and Rossfeld Formation; Tari 1995; Árgyelán 1996; Faupl and Tollmann 1979; Faupl and Wagreich 2000). Tomljenović et al. (2008) showed that in the NW Dinarides compressional deformation during the Early Cretaceous was accommodated by northward, orogen-parallel propagation of nappes which resulted in a weak regional metamorphic overprint, as well as orogen-perpendicular shortening in the Albian. Early Cretaceous cooling ages have been reported from the low-grade metamorphic rocks of Medvednica Mt. (Belak et al. 1995; Judik et al. 2006), the Bükk Mts. in NE Hungary (Árkai et al. 1995) and the Drina-Ivanjica Unit (Milovanović 1984). Compressional tectonics in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous were also recorded in various other parts of the Adria plate, such as e.g. the Apulian and Adriatic carbonate platforms, as well as the Austroalpine domain and the Transdanubian Central Range (Mindszenty et al. 1995; Matičec et al. 1996; Frisch and Gawlick 2003; Csontos et al. 2005; Vlahović et al. 2005).

Fig. 10
figure 10

Paleotectonic models of the Adria plate margin and neighbouring units during the Late Jurassic and Maastrichtian, with approximate position of the northwestern Dinarides (NWD). White areas continental lithosphere, grey areas oceanic lithosphere. AdCP Adriatic Carbonate Platform, B Bükk, CD Central Dinarides, GH Gerecse Hills, NCA Northern Calcareous Alps, WC Western Carpathians (compiled after Csontos and Vörös 2004; Haas and Péró 2004; Handy et al. 2009; Missoni and Gawlick 2011; Schmid et al. 2008)

Fig. 11
figure 11

Schematic cross-sections and paleogeographic sketch illustrating the tectonic evolution of the NW Dinarides and development of the Cretaceous synorogenic sedimentary formations a During the Late Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous Neotethys ophiolites are obducted onto the Adria plate margin. Exhumation of overprinted Adriatic basement is initiated. b During the Barremian–Cenomanian period there is an ongoing nappe stacking and exhumation of Adriatic basement. Flysch basins (Oštrc Formation) form in front of propagating ophiolite-continental nappes, while shallow marine to coastal environments (Bistra Formation) developed along their emerged parts. In the Albian–Cenomanian nappe advancement and associated clastic sedimentation (dashed lines Kravljak Formation) approaches the flanks of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform. c The continent–continent collision of the distal Adria margin with the Tisza-Dacia unit and/or local exhumationin the Austroalpine realm in the Maastrichtian causes the erosion of newly, rapidly exhumed basement units which supply multiple, more or less coeval basins formed both on top of and in front of the Internal Dinaride imbricate wedge. Inset map depicts a possible scenario that accounts for the sediment dispersal into the basins

This early tectonic phase had a profound impact on sedimentation by introducing siliciclastic detritus onto the Adria plate margin, which from the Late Triassic to the end of the Jurassic experienced shallow carbonate platform to deep marine pelagic deposition in a passive margin setting (Fig. 3). Although large ophiolite bodies, such as those of the West Vardar Ophiolitic Unit in the Central Dinarides, are today not exposed to such an extent in the East Alpine–Carpathian and NW Dinaride areas, the dominant mafic–ultramafic signature among framework components, in heavy mineral assemblages, and in the geochemical composition of Oštrc Formation sandstones (Figs. 4a, 5d) testifies that during the earliest Cretaceous the nappes of the NW Dinarides included significant parts composed of obducted oceanic lithosphere. Similarities in chemical composition of detrital Cr-spinels suggest that these ophiolite massifs, which were dominantly of harzburgitic composition, represented an important source of detritus on a larger regional scale (Pober and Faupl 1988; Árgyelán 1996; von Eynatten and Gaupp 1999; Jablonský et al. 2001; Lužar-Oberiter et al. 2009).

Along with the obducted ophiolites, the exhumed source units supplying siliciclastic material to the Early Cretaceous basins of the NW Dinarides also incorporated variable but significant amounts of continental lithologies (Zupanič et al. 1981; Crnjaković et al. 2000). The sandstones of the Barremian-Albian Oštrc Formation regularly contain zircon, as well as sedimentary and metamorphic lithoclasts in addition to the predominant ophiolitic material (Figs. 3, 4a; Zupanič et al. 1981). The youngest detrital ZFT age populations of 145–134 Ma in the Lower Cretaceous Oštrc Formation reveal a rather short lag time and thus reflect relatively fast exhumation of basement units, which cooled not before the earliest Cretaceous. These units are interpreted to have been thermally overprinted Palaeozoic–Mesozoic sequences of the distal Adria plate (Fig. 11a) that were incorporated into the thrust complex together with the obducted ophiolitic units (Fig. 11b). Various lithoclasts of Triassic, Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous carbonate rocks within the Barremian to Cenomanian calcarenites and calcirudites of the NW Dinarides (Oštrc and Kravljak formations) prove that the Mesozoic cover of the imbricated Adriatic basement was actively eroded during pro-wedge deposition (Babić 1974; Zupanič et al. 1981). This compares well to evidence from other parts of the Eastern Alps–Dinarides (Csontos et al. 2005; see also Charvet 1978, 1980; Császár and Árgyelán 1994; Gardin et al. 1996; Mikes et al. 2008; Schlagintweit et al. 2008; Marroni et al. 2009). The contribution of detritus from continental lithologies increased over time (Fig. 5d). Importantly, the 122 ± 45 Ma detrital ZFT population identified in the Aptian–Albian Bistra Formation (Table 1; Fig. 9) strongly suggests that cooling and exhumation of Adriatic basement units was not confined to a relatively short time interval in the earliest Cretaceous at all places, but locally continued at least to the Aptian.

At the beginning of the Late Cretaceous there is a decline in the supply of Early Cretaceous ZFT ages (Fig. 9; Kravljak Formation) even though the Adriatic basement remained the major source of continental detritus. This possibly resulted from a waning exhumation of particular segments of the Adriatic basement, which had undergone Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous thermal overprint. Furthermore, this pattern might also suggest that the relatively widely documented Early Cretaceous cooling ages (ZFT as well as K/Ar) relate to only a spatially restricted, thin zone of the Adriatic basement that was rapidly removed by hanging wall erosion in the Early to early Late Cretaceous after its incorporation into the thrust wedge. The Jurassic ZFT ages which predominate in the Kravljak Formation (Fig. 9), and are also present in the Bistra and Oštrc formations, may reflect cooling after the Jurassic thermal overprint in the distal Adria plate margin. Such ages are well documented from the Pelagonian Unit, the Eastern Alps, and the Szarvaskő–Mónosbél Nappe of the Bükk Mts. (Árkai et al. 1995; Most et al. 2001; Frank and Schlager 2006).

The older and more diffuse ZFT age populations in Lower Cretaceous to Cenomanian sandstones consist of Triassic to Late Carboniferous single grain ages, which indicate that a significant part of the exhumed Adriatic continental units were not affected by Neotethyan tectonothermal events. We suggest that these age components derive from parts of the Adriatic basement which had not experienced obduction-related thermal overprint.

Preliminary U–Pb dating of detrital zircon from the Bistra Formation (own unpublished data) has shown that many of the zircon grains which carry Jurassic FT ages have in fact Permo-Triassic crystallization ages. Permo-Triassic crystallization and cooling ages both primarily reflect the low-P high-T regional metamorphic event in the Adria plate due to rifting of the Neotethys, associated igneous activity, and subsequent cooling of the continental crust (Schuster and Stuwe 2008). Evidence of such Permo-Triassic magmatism and metamorphism is well known in the region, from both the NW and Central Dinarides (Bébien et al. 1978; Pamić 1983; Jurković and Palinkaš 2002; Pamić et al. 2004; Goričan et al. 2005), as well as the SE part of the Eastern Alps (Thöni 1999). It cannot be ruled out that the 9–15 % of granitic tourmalines (Fig. 6) detected in the Lower Cretaceous and Cenomanian sandstones, as well as the occurrence of garnets with intermediate to acidic igneous affinities (Fig. 7), in fact reflect the erosion of magmatic Permo-Triassic sources, although a derivation from pre-Variscan to Variscan basement or reworking from Permo-Triassic sediments is also possible.

It can be summarized that during the Early Cretaceous, clastic sedimentation in the NW Dinarides occurred within a flexural basin (Oštrc Formation) in front of an ophiolite-continental thrust complex as well as in shallow marine environments (Bistra Formation) which formed on top of this rapidly exhuming wedge (Fig. 11b; Babić et al. 2002; Lužar-Oberiter et al. 2009). A similar situation is recorded in the Central Dinarides, where sandstones of the Pogari and Vranduk formations display detrital ZFT age populations largely similar to those in the Oštrc and Bistra formations (Neubauer et al. 2003; Mikes et al. 2008). Nappe propagation caused siliciclastic sedimentation to migrate towards more external parts of the Adria plate (Kravljak Formation), reaching the margin of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform in the Albian-Cenomanian (Fig. 11b; Babić 1974; Lužar-Oberiter, 2009). It is possible that parts of the Early Cretaceous clastic basins (Oštrc and Bistra formations) were incorporated into the propagating nappes, although in light of the heavy mineral and ZFT data, Late Cretaceous recycling of Lower Cretaceous clastics was not significant.

A coeval erosion of continental (metamorphic and mature sedimentary) source rocks along with a predominantly ophiolitic input has also been documented in the Lower Cretaceous successions of the Austroalpine domain (Eastern Alps and Gerecse Hills—Faupl and Tollmann 1979; Pober and Faupl 1988; Császár and Árgyelán 1994; von Eynatten and Gaupp 1999). Available detrital thermochronological data indicate short lag times and hence relatively rapid exhumation in these areas as well (von Eynatten et al. 1997).

6.2 Maastrichtian

In the latest Cretaceous, the area of the NW Dinarides probably consisted of more or less coeval basins, evolved in at least two different settings (Fig. 11c). In the Maastrichtian these basins received either mixed ophiolitic-continental (Vivodina Formation) or purely continental (Glog Formation) siliciclastic detritus, and are proposed here to have formed in a pro-wedge and wedge-top setting, respectively. The overwhelming dominance of Campanian ZFT ages (80–73 Ma) in the sandstones of both the Vivodina and Glog formations clearly distinguishes them from all of the older formations studied. Older ZFT ages are either entirely insignificant (Glog Formation), or constitute only a minor proportion of the zircon grains interpreted to have been derived from a minor source component of the imbricated Adriatic basement (Vivodina Formation). The abundance of metamorphic lithoclasts, particularly in the Glog Formation (Fig. 4f), the fact that most of the analyzed zircons are rounded (Fig. 4h), as well as the dominantly metamorphic chemical signatures of tourmalines and garnets (Figs. 6, 7), altogether suggest that in the Maastrichtian the sediments were derived primarily from metamorphic sources which had undergone rapid exhumation with almost synsedimentary cooling. The lack of euhedral zircon grains indicates that the products of Late Cretaceous igneous activity known from the Sava Zone (Pamić et al. 2000; Ustaszewski et al. 2009; Starijaš et al. 2010) were not available for erosion. Meanwhile, the renewed increase in the proportion of Cr-spinel and that in whole-rock Cr/V values in the Maastrichtian Vivodina Formation (Figs. 3, 5d) are most consistent with the erosion of a West Vardar ophiolitic thrust sheet. Sava Zone ophiolites obducted onto the northern Adria margin in the Late Cretaceous (Ustaszewski et al. 2009), might also have contributed ophiolitic detritus.

Taking into account its dominantly metamorphic signature, the source of the newly exhumed material is apparently puzzling, as significant exposures of metamorphic units with Campanian cooling ages are scarce in the NW and Central Dinarides. However, Judik et al. (2006) detected relatively young, Late Cretaceous illite K–Ar ages (80 ± 13 Ma) in meta-igneous and metavolcanoclastic rocks of Mt. Medvednica. Árkai et al. (1995) reported a well-isolated but subordinate 79 ± 3 Ma K/Ar age component from a comprehensive dataset on metasedimentary and metavolcanic units of the Bükk Mts.; ZFT ages from the same units group around 90 Ma. In the Prekarst Zone (Fig. 1) of the Central Dinarides, Mikes et al. (2008) identified only a very small population of detrital ZFT ages of around 80 Ma in the Upper Cretaceous Ugar Formation. Combined evidence from sedimentary provenance indicators thus seems to preclude the Dinaride (Adriatic) basement as a significant source component for the Maastrichtian sediments.

Hence, if the material did not derive from local or more southerly Central Dinaride sources, a derivation of sediment from northerly and/or easterly sources, such as the Eastern Alps and the Tisza-Dacia unit, must clearly be taken into account, where similar zircon FT and argon ages have been widely reported (see Stüwe 1998; Tari et al. 1999; Schuster and Frank 2000; Benedek et al. 2001—their Figs 11 and 12; Dunkl et al. 2003; Wölfler et al. 2008). Detrital white mica with Late Cretaceous cooling ages occur in the Upper Gosau Subgroup of the Northern Calcareous Alps from the Campanian onwards (Fig. 1; Faupl and Wagreich 2000). They are well documented in the Austroalpine basement units of the Eastern Alps (Neubauer et al. 1995; Fügenschuh et al. 1997; Thöni 1999; Dunkl et al. 2003; Balogh and Dunkl 2005) and Western Carpathians (e.g. Koroknai et al. 2001). Also, Late Cretaceous cooling ages have been reported from the Tisza-Dacia unit (Balogh et al. 1990; Árkai et al. 2000; Lelkes-Felvári et al. 2003; Biševac et al. 2010) and the Igal Unit (Árkai et al. 1991). The continent–continent collision of the distal Adria margin with the Tisza-Dacia unit (Fig. 10), and the related suture formation that commenced along with the closure of the Late Cretaceous Sava remnant ocean, did not start until the latest Cretaceous (Ustaszewski et al. 2010).

We suggest that the marked changeover in the detrital signatures recorded by the Vivodina and Glog formations witnesses that paleo-catchments feeding the Late Cretaceous basins of the NW Dinarides already tapped the exhuming parts of the adjacent tectonic units, such as the Eastern Alps and/or—with respect to the Dinarides-Tisza collision—the upper plate Tisza-Dacia unit (Fig. 11c). With a comparable pattern, from the Campanian onwards, heavy mineral spectra of the Upper Gosau Subgroup in the Northern Calcareous Alps record a dominant switchover from an ophiolite-dominated source area to that composed chiefly of high-grade metamorphic rocks (Woletz 1967; Wagreich and Faupl 1994). Furthermore, a part of the Upper Austroalpine Unit acted as a major extension–extrusion corridor already during the Late Cretaceous (Neubauer et al. 1995; Froitzheim et al. 1997; Krenn et al. 2008), accompanied by the exhumation of structurally deeper Austroalpine units (e.g. Gleinalm Dome) and the coeval opening of the adjacent Central Alpine Gosau basins (such as the Santonian to Maastrichtian Kainach Basin—Ratschbacher et al. 1989; Neubauer et al. 1995). The relatively well-documented Late Cretaceous cooling and exhumation history of the southeastern part of the Eastern Alps allows us to propose that it formed part of the sediment source area supplying the NW Dinaride basins.

Basement thermochronological data from the Tisza-Dacia unit as summarized above demonstrate that rapid Maastrichtian exhumation generating metamorphic detritus with a short lag time could also occur on the approaching upper plate Tisza-Dacia unit, either already during the subduction stage or during the initial stages of the continent–continent collision.

7 Conclusions

  1. 1.

    Nappe stacking in the NW Dinarides, initiated prior to the Barremian, resulted in the exhumation and erosion of segments of the Adriatic basement tectonically overlain by obducted oceanic lithosphere. Such nappes were composed of low to medium-grade metamorphic rocks which supplied zircons with Early Cretaceous FT cooling ages to basinal (Oštrc Formation) and shallow-marine (Bistra Formation) depositional environments. Cooling and exhumation of basement units continued until the late Early Cretaceous.

  2. 2.

    Supply of detritus from ophiolites and continental rocks with Early Cretaceous ZFT cooling ages decreased by the Albian-Cenomanian (Kravljak Formation), and gave way to that characterized by Jurassic ZFT ages. This changeover in the source area is most probably due to an increased availability of Adriatic basement units that cooled subsequent to the widespread Middle–Late Jurassic thermal event in the Dinarides and which have not been later thermally overprinted due to obduction.

  3. 3.

    In the Early Cretaceous to Cenomanian, additional significant amounts of detrital material were derived from unreset Permo-Triassic sequences and continental units of the Adria plate affected by Permo-Triassic igneous activity and low-P high-T regional metamorphism due to rifting of the Neotethys.

  4. 4.

    In the latest Cretaceous, the NW Dinarides probably consisted of more or less coeval pro-wedge and wedge-top basins. An abrupt switchover to an overwhelming dominance of Campanian ZFT ages (80–73 Ma) in both the Vivodina and Glog formations points to widespread rapid exhumation and cooling of metamorphic basement units in the source areas. Exhumation of the southeastern Austroalpine basement and/or the Tisza-Dacia unit most probably accounts for the observed detrital ZFT age distribution in the Maastrichtian.

  5. 5.

    The Late Cretaceous continent–continent collision probably caused a major rearrangement of the catchment systems, which resulted in a renewed availability of ophiolitic source areas to erosion. Differences in reconstructed source lithologies for the coeval Glog and Vivodina formations suggest small and/or dynamically changing catchments developing on the accretionary wedge.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant 436 KRO 17/1/05 (“Zircon fission-track chronology and heavy mineral chemistry of Cretaceous clastic formations of the Croatian Dinarides”) and the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports project 119-1191155-1159 (“Evolutionary Changes of the Dinarides from Subduction to Modern Adriatic Beaches”). We are grateful to Jožica Zupanič and Marta Crnjaković for sharing with us their knowledge on the Cretaceous sediments and field relationships in the study area. Andreas Kronz kindly provided his expertise during microprobe analyses. We thank Oregon State University and Technical University of Munich (Garching) for the neutron irradiations. Robert Košćal helped in the preparation of some of the figures. We are thankful to the reviewers; Michael Wagreich and Michele Marroni, for their constructive suggestions which helped to improve the manuscript.

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Lužar-Oberiter, B., Mikes, T., Dunkl, I. et al. Provenance of Cretaceous synorogenic sediments from the NW Dinarides (Croatia). Swiss J Geosci 105, 377–399 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00015-012-0107-3

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