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最近的地质演化；向北推进到欧洲南部的阿德里亚地块(今意大利)形成了阿尔卑斯山山脉。喀尔巴底山脉向东延伸至阿尔卑斯山，环绕着一个下沉的地区--潘尼翁盆地(该地区的大部分地区被多瑙河排干)。潘诺尼亚盆地南侧的南喀尔巴山山脉是一个神秘的构造，在潘诺尼亚盆地伸展的同时，沿其发生了剪切变形和造山作用。我们建议对帕尼奥尼亚盆地和南喀尔巴底山脉进行地震学和地球动力学(计算机)联合模拟研究。我们将使用一个由大约60个宽带地震仪组成的阵列来记录来自远距离地震的信号，以确定喀尔巴底西南部山链从南北弯曲到东西走向(称为造山斜)的岩石圈和上地幔中地震速度的变化。这些数据将被用来区分不同的地球动力学模型，这些模型被用来解释潘诺尼亚盆地的伸展和会聚历史，喀尔巴底山脉西南部的造山斜弯曲的发展，以及南喀尔巴鄂山脉下的上地幔在哪里以及如何发生地幔下涌的相关问题。了解这些过程对于评估欧洲这一地区的地震灾害很重要(罗马尼亚南喀尔巴底山脉东端是欧洲大陆地震危险性最大的地区之一)，对于了解欧洲大陆在地质时期的演化情况也很重要。除了对我们理解大陆尺度的变形过程具有重要意义外，我们的研究还将为地震灾害评估以及碳氢化合物和地热能源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.