Lithosphere - mantle interaction in a convergent zone: Understanding the evolution of the South Carpathian - Pannonian system

大陆碰撞形成的山带是板块构造的必然结果。非洲向北运动产生的碰撞主导了欧洲大陆南部的近代地质演化；亚德里亚板块（今天的意大利）向北推进到欧洲南部，形成了阿尔卑斯山脉。从阿尔卑斯山向东延伸，喀尔巴阡山脉环绕着一个下沉的地区——潘诺尼亚盆地（该地区大部分被多瑙河排干）。潘诺尼亚盆地以南的南喀尔巴阡山脉是一个既发生剪切变形又发生造山作用的神秘构造，同时潘诺尼亚盆地也在伸展。我们建议对潘诺尼亚盆地和南喀尔巴阡山脉进行地震学和地球动力学（计算机）模拟调查。我们将使用大约60个宽带地震仪阵列来记录来自遥远地震的信号，以确定喀尔巴阡山脉西南部岩石圈和上地幔的地震速度变化，在喀尔巴阡山脉的山脉从南北方向弯曲到东西方向（称为造斜）。这些数据将用于区分不同的地球动力学模型，这些模型已经提出，用于解释潘诺尼亚盆地的伸展和收敛历史，西南喀尔巴阡山脉的斜斜弯曲的发展，以及与南喀尔巴阡山脉下上部地幔在哪里以及如何发生的相关问题。了解这些过程对于评估欧洲这部分地区的地震危险性非常重要（罗马尼亚南喀尔巴阡山脉的东端是欧洲大陆地震危险性最高的地区之一），对于了解欧洲大陆如何通过地质时间演变也很重要。我们的研究不仅对我们理解大陆尺度的变形过程具有重要意义，还将为地震危险性评估以及碳氢化合物和地热能资源的勘探提供必要的背景框架。

The formation of mountain belts by continental collision is a necessary consequence of plate tectonics. The collision produced by the northward motion of Africa has dominated the recent geological evolution of the southern part of the European continent; the Adria block (present-day Italy) pushing northwards into the southern part of Europe has produced the Alpine mountain range. Extending east of the Alps, the Carpathian Mountain chain surrounds a subsiding region - the Pannonian basin (much of the region drained by the Danube River). The South Carpathian Mountain chain to the south of the Pannonian basin is an enigmatic structure along which both shear deformation and mountain building have occurred, while the Pannonian Basin was extending. We propose to undertake linked seismological and geodynamical (computer) modeling investigations of the Pannonian Basin and the South Carpathians . We will use an array of about 60 broad-band seismographs to record the signals from distant earthquakes in order to determine the variation of seismic velocity in the lithosphere and upper mantle beneath the SW Carpathians, where the mountain chain bends from a north-south to an east-west alignment (termed an orocline). These data will be used to discriminate between contrasting geodynamical models that have been advanced to explain the history of extension and convergence in the Pannonian Basin, the development of the oroclinal bend of the SW Carpathians, and the related question of where and how mantle downwelling occurs in the upper mantle beneath the South Carpathians. Understanding these processes is important for assessing seismic hazard in this part of Europe (the eastern end of the South Carpathians in Romania represents one of the most seismically hazardous regions in continental Europe) and is also important in developing an understanding of how the European continent has evolved through geological time. As well as having significance in our understanding of continent-scale deformation processes, our study will provide a background framework that is necessary for seismic hazard assessment and for the exploration of hydrocarbon and geothermal energy resources.