Pleistocene valley incision, landscape evolution and inferred tectonic uplift in the central parts of the Balkan Peninsula – Insights from the geochronology of cave deposits in the lower part of Crna Reka basin (N. Macedonia)

Author(s)

Marjan Temovski, Alexander Wieser, Oscar Marchhart, Mihály Braun, Balázs Madarász, Gabriella Ilona Kiss, László Palcsu, Zsófia Ruszkiczay-Rüdiger

Abstract

Although the general geomorphology is reasonably well understood, not much information is available on the incision rates of rivers and related tectonic uplift in the central parts of the Balkan Peninsula. Caves in the lower part of Crna Reka drainage (N. Macedonia) provide the possibility to reconstruct the Neogene-Quaternary evolution of this area, as previous research has identified two major cave development phases: one related to Pliocene-Early Pleistocene basin infilling and establishment of lacustrine environments, and a subsequent cave development phase related to valley incision due to draining of the lacustrine systems and tectonic uplift. Here, we present new geochronological data obtained by U-Th dating on speleothems and cosmogenic nuclide burial age determination of clastic cave sediments, that provide time constraints on the Pleistocene karst and valley evolution, and an insight into the related tectonic uplift. The obtained cosmogenic nuclide burial age (2.1 ± 0.5 Ma) of the clastic cave sediments from Temna Peštera – Dragožel, further supports previous results on placing the onset of the draining of the Pliocene lakes in Macedonia in the Early Pleistocene. The similar timing obtained for the downstream and upstream parts of Crna Reka drainage suggests that the draining was more likely initiated by regional uplift, rather than headward erosion related to subsidence in the Aegean Sea. The Middle to Late Pleistocene age of the dated speleothems agrees well with the existing conceptual model for karst and landscape evolution in the area. The cumulative valley incision rates based on these radiometric data show an increase towards the present, with values of

Organisation(s)

Isotope Physics

External organisation(s)

Isotope Climatology and Environmental Research Centre, Eötvös Loránd Research Network

Journal

Geomorphology

Volume

445

No. of pages

19

ISSN

0169-555X

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108994

Publication date

01-2024

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103014 Nuclear physics, 105404 Geomorphology

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Earth-Surface Processes

Portal url

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/pleistocene-valley-incision-landscape-evolution-and-inferred-tectonic-uplift-in-the-central-parts-of-the-balkan-peninsula--insights-from-the-geochronology-of-cave-deposits-in-the-lower-part-of-crna-reka-basin-n-macedonia(f1b3e17c-15a1-4949-802c-9694c76dc1fb).html