I GEOL. C ROAT. 50/2 173 - 180 2 Figs. ZAGREB 1997 The Development of Croatian Geoscience as Reflected by the Study of Dinaridic Ophiolites Jakob PAMIC Key words: Dinaridic ophiolites, Genetically rela ted sedimentary fo rmations, Flysch period, Geosyncline period, Plate tectonics. Abstract ror approxi mately 120 years since the beginni ng of Eu ropean geology up to Ihe present day. Croatian geoscience has incl uded intens ive geological research of the Dinaridc Ophiolite zone. Rese­ arch rCSll ll.~ can be grouped into severa l peri ods depending on the basic predominant approaches of EUfope:\J1 and World geology. ( 1) During Ihe nysch period, oph iOlites were spati all y connected wi th the Ilysch formations. (2) During the geosyncli nal period ophiolites were classi fi ed inlo the "Dialxls-Hornslcin Fornmtion'·. (3) During thc tr.m­ sit ional periocl, characterized by thc elaboration or the Basie Geologi­ cal Map, a voluminous data were co llec ted which could not be incor­ porated in geosyncl inal idcas. (4) The last per iod is charactcrizcd by modern geodynamic in terpretations resul ting rrom global tectonics. 1. INTRODUCTION As carbonate rocks, limestones and dolomites char­ acterize the external unil s of the orogen ic belts, ophi­ olilic rocks (u ltramafi cs, gabbro, d iabase-basalt ) and genelica ll y related radio lar ite and clasti c formations represent a characteristic feature of the internal units of the Phanerozoic orogenic systems. The ophiolitic com­ plexes or the orogenic belts represented one of the 111051 comp lex problems or World geology until the appear­ ance o r the idea of plate tectonjes. From the very begin­ ning or European geology to the present day, Croatian geologists have been very acti ve in the investigation of ophiolites. With in the hugc Mesozo ic Alpine-Himalayan bclt , the Dinaridic ophi olilcs occupy an important pos ition, not only because o r their large quantites bu t also by their typi cal geologica l and petrological development. The Dinaridic op hiolites st retch from the Hrvatsko Zagorjc mountains in the northwest and continuc a Croatian Academy o f Sciences and Arts, Ante Kovacica 5, HR -lOOOO Zagreb, Croatia. Kljucne rijeci: di naridski ofioliti , genetski povczane sedimcntne form acije, Oisno razdoblje, geos ink li­ nalno razdoblje, tektonika ploca. Sazetak Hrvatska je geoznanost, ad samih poCctaka ~\grebacke gcologijc sve do d:lI13.snj ih dana 1I intervalu od oko 120 god ina, bi ta intenzivno ukljucenn 11 geolosko izucllvanj e Ofioli tne zo ne Dinarida. ReZlll lllti lih istrazivJllja mogu se podijeliti u nekoliko razdoblja, II zav isnost i od osnovnih prevladavajuCih pri stupa curopske, od no sno svj etske geologije. ( I ) Fli sno razdoblje. koje je orio litne stijcnc vczn lo za n isne tvorevinc. (2) Geosi nkl inalno razdobtje. kojc jc ofioli tne stijene o buhvacalo u tzv. dijabaz-roznjacku ro rmaciju. (3) Prij e lazno raz­ dobljc, koje se karakteriz ira izradom Osnovne geoloske karle, odnos­ no prikuptjanjcm obimne raktografije koja se vise nije mogta tlunClciti gcosinktinalnom koncepcijom. (4) Sadasnje razdoblje koje se karak· tcrizira 1ll0dcrnim geod in:llnskim illterpretacijama proizislim iz tek­ lonike ploe:l. NW-SE direction through Banovi na to Bosnia and fur­ ther through Serbia 10 the Vardar zonc and Mirdita zone of the NOI1h Hellenides (Fig. 1). 2. CHRONOLOGICAL PRESENTATION OF GEOLOGICAL IDEAS 2.1. FLYSCH PERIOD Prior to inauguration of Croatian geoscience and the first systematic inves tigations of ophiol ites, VUKOTJ­ NOVIC ( 1853) mentioned a findin g of serpentinites in Mt. Kalnik. Croat ian geoscience started its development simulta­ neously wilh European geoscience. Duro Pilar, the fou ­ nder of Croatian geology, was inc luded in the first investigmion of the Dinaridic ophiolites at a time when the Dinar ides had not been defined as a mountain sys­ tcm. He separated "Cretaceous fly sch" in parts of the presen t Dinaride Ophiol ite zone, and emphasized thaI This paper was presented at the scientific meeting dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the life of Professor Milan Herak, held on March 5th, 1997 in Zagreb 174 0, 12], _ 0 .0" ~,D" = r.':':'7l L..=..J f t::.:..::..:.:. 12 Geologia Croalic;t son N A IIIIIIL D" O. El" 50 100 km -=-====' Fig. I Geological sketch-map of the Dinaridcs and North Hellenides showing Ihe position o f the ophiolite complexes (PAMle. 1982) . Legend: I) Carpathian s; 2) Scrbo-Macedoniall Mass; 3) Sumadija Ilysch: 4) Pelagonidcs :md Korab: 5) Mesozoic-Palaeogene ca rbonate platform: 6) all ochthonous Palaeozo ic-Triassic complexes: 7) Mesozoic clastics of the passive continental margin: 8) Ophiolite zone; 9) ultramafic mas­ sifs: 10) radioJaril CS: 1 I) Late Cretaceous- Palaeogene Ilysch of the active co ntinental margin; 12) Alpine granites and andesites: 13) Nco­ gcnc-Qu:ncrnary sedi mentary rock s; 14) transversal fault s. Ultramafic mass ifs: Z) Zlatibor; V) Yarda; Sa) Banija; K) Kozara; Lj) Ljubic; B) BOlje; 0) Ozren; KK) Kri vaja-Konjuh ; Ma) Maljen; I) Ibar: G) GoleS. Transversal fau lts: Z.l) Zagreb - Zemplen; Sa) Sarajevo; Sp) Skadar­ Pee. "thc Latc Cretaceous terminates in Bosnia as in adja­ cen t countries by the flysch which includes large quan­ tities of igneous rocks" (PILAR, 1882, p. 17), i.e., the ophiolites. He included sedimentary rocks surrounding ophiolites into the Jurassic and Cretaceous and was or the op inion that "the zone of igneous rocks represents only a facies within the flysch formations" (PILAR , 1882, p. 5 1). He also emphasized the regional , geologi­ cal occurrence of ophiolites claiming that they stretched from Bosnia northwes tward into Hrvatsko Zagorje in Croatia. KISPATIC (1897, 1899) continued Pi lar's work on the Bosnian ophiolit es. His monograph "Crysta lline rocks from the Bosnian Serpentinite zone" includes mainly petrographic data, but some were used for geo­ dynamic considerati ons. At that time Kispatic clearly noticed that Iherzolites, (predomi nan t ultramafic rocks), were characterized by typ ical metamorphi c fabrics. He recogn ized that these rocks have "a ligned" structure and that " the alignment does not represent an exception but a characteristic reature of the Bosnian Iherzolites" (KlSPATIC, 1897, p. 226). Based on these data KISPATIC (l897, p. 230) drew the heretical conclusion that "crystalline rocks from the Bosnian serpentinite zone, except meJaphyres and dia­ bases, should be classified as crystalline schists and that they belong to Archean rormations". Characteristic par­ allel structures in Iherzolitcs clearly indicate that these rocks originated in the same way as in associated amphiboli tcs and both of them represent primord ial rocks. If one bears in mind that the fundamental ideas con­ cern ing the uppe r mantIc, Mohorovicic di scontinu ity, asthenosphere etc., were unknown in the late 19th cen­ tury then it can be said that KispatiC's ideas were nearl y ingenious. First of all , he noticed consanguinity of Pamic: 'l1u! DevclopmCn1 of Cro:uian Geoscience ;IS Reneet.;:d by the Study of Dinaridic Ophiolites 175 ophiolite rocks which represent , indeed implay that they were, prim eva l rocks that camc from the " Earth interior". Due 10 the ract that these primordial rocks lie beneath Tri assic and Palaeozoic formation s, they could only have been considered to be on ly of an Archean age according to ideas of that time. Kispati c em ph asized that thc Bosnian ophio litic rocks have regional s ignatures continu ing no rthwest­ ward into Croatia to ML Medvedn iea. Although he was not a geologist senSl/ stricto he was persistent in his inco rrect opinion o r the Archean age or the Bosnian ophi olites (KISPATIC, 1917) and he argued with KAT­ ZER ( 1919) who correctly claimed that a gabbro occur­ ring in the area o f Doboj was of Mesozoic age. In the samc way Kispatic d isputed the age o f the Mt. Fruska Gom serpentinites wi th KOCH (1882) who class ified these rocks as belongi ng to the Late Cretaceous. Fol low ing Pil ar' s idea, GORJANOVIC-KRAM­ I3ERGER ( 1908) separated serpentinites on the first map of Ml. Medvednica. The serpentinite occurrence has a very important position because it is located along the boundary be twecn the "Oriental land" and " Eastern Alpine branch". l ie was of the opinion that gabbro, dia­ base and melaphyre association, toge th er with Upper Cretaceous sedimentary co untry rocks, stretched [rom ML Medvedni ca northeastward to MI. Kalnik. KOCH (J904) and POllAK (1914) published similar concep­ tually based idea on the Mts. Kalnik and Medvenica. Tn this way, the Croat ian geoscientists la id the foun ­ dations of the knowledge of the Dinarid ic ophiol ites in the earliest way of European geoscience. The work of MOHOROVIC IC ( 1909) who was a geophys icist not undertaking research on ophiolites should also be rec­ ognized frolTl thi s per iod . His study o r the Pokupsko ea rthquake resulted in hi s discovery of the layered struct ure of the Earth, and the bou nda ry be tween the c ru st and upper mantle was named Ihe Mohorov ic ic di scontinu ity in his honour. Accord ing to modern geo­ dynamic ideas, rocks of the Ophiolite association arc generated c lose to this di scontinuity. There fore, this was a contribution to global geological knowledge of great importance by Croatian geoscience. 2,2, GEOSYNCLINE PERIOD A ft er this f irst sllccessful period du ri ng the hislori­ cal investiga tion of the Dinaridic ophiolites, Ihe minera­ logica l-pe trol ogica l school of Zagrcb University (under the leadership of Tucan), was vcry active in the investi­ gation of crys talline rocks from the Vardar zone. TAJDER ( J938) studied the Dren 130ula ophiolites in Mazedonia, which form the larges t fragment o r Meso­ zoic ocean ic crust in Europe. MARIe ( 1933) produced first comp lex geo logical-petrological study of ophio­ lites from the southeaslernmost parts of Serbia, includ­ in g the first analytica l data for sedimentary rocks sur­ rounding the oph iolites. This period of the research ac ti vity on oph ioli tes was preceded by ve ry important pape rs publi shed by foreign geologists : AMPFERER & HAMMER ( 1917, 19 18) , HAMMER (1921) and PILGER (1939, 194 1, J 942), who strongly influenced our subsequent investi ­ gations of the Dinaddie ophiolites. These authors intro­ duced the teml " Diabas-Hornste in Formation" compris­ ing ophiol ites and gene tically re lated sed imentary roc­ ks. This term was lIsed for the next fift y years. MAJER (1956) was the firs t o f our geosc ienti sti s who studied ophiolites from Mt. Sara, positioned in the area of the southeasternmost Dinarides adjoining th e Vardar zone. Besides the first modern petrological data, he produced the first detailed geological map, and dis­ covered that these ophio lites, as distinguished frol11 the Bosnian ones, occur in metamorphic rocks o r the Kacanik· Veles Fo rmati on. He did not use at that time the pre vailing oph ilite hypo thes is in hi s geod ynamic interpretation. Afterward s a ttenti on was focused on the Bosni an oph iol ites . Geoscienti sts were greatly interested in the age of th e Diabas- Horn ste in Form at ion as shown in numerous and bitter disc llss ions. However, the absurdi­ ty was the fac t that basic strati graphic data for these di sc llss ions had been mi s interpreted. T he Dina ridic ophio lites including the surrounding gene tically related sedimentary rocks, a re in many areas spatially acco m­ pan ied by smaller or large r Illasses of Triass ic and Pal aeozo ic carbonat e and cla sti c rocks , in which are also included Middle Triassic volcanics. The age of the Diabas-T-lornstein Form at ion as a whole was de ter­ mined on the basis of fossil findings in these ac tually a ll oc hthonous Triass ie and Palaeozoi c form ations. Based on this criterion, the age of the Diabas- Ho rnste in Formati on varied from o ne area to another from the Permian up to the Late Triass ic, rarely up to the Juras­ sic, depending on available palaeontological data from the allochthonous fo rmations. Such an approach gave rise to additional mi sconceptions, and to the Middle T riass ic volcanic-sedi ment ary formation s pos iti o ned outside the Ophiolite zone were also g iven the name Diabas- Hornstcin Formation (e,g, JOVANOVIC , 1957, 1960; PAMle, J961 ), Step by step, during mapping over a comparativcly short period of tim e, new data were co llected which proved that two magmatic-sedim enta ry formati o ns ex isted: the Middl e Triass ic formatio n, gene ti cally re lated to the carbonatc pl atform, and a second forma­ tion gene ti cally rela ted to the ophi olites (rAMIe, 1963). At that time the supposed Jurassic age of the ophio­ litcs was based mainly on data on the geological map or Bosnia and Hercegovina carried out by KATZER ( 1906 and others). Over scvera l map sheets he included ophio­ li tes in his " it" unit to which Jurassic 10 Lower Cre ta­ ceous ages were assigncd. At approximately the same time, interes t was gener­ ated in ophiolites from the Hrvatsko ZagOlje area of the northwestern Dinarides. Initial results furth er co mpli ­ cated the "ophiolite probl em". In the Tvan sc iea and Samoborska Gora Mts" HERAK (1956, 1960) discov- 176 N A " I k 'W~ " II 45 0 nJ r ' 10km 1n 2n ~"-I 4m~ 51 w"l 6 ,,~ Fig. 2 Structural -geological map of the Krivaja-Konjuh ul tramafic massif (pAMIC Ci aI., 1977). Geographical position of the Kri­ vaja-Konjuh massif is marked on the geological sketch-map of tile Dinaridcs (F ig. 1). Legend: I) ultramafics; 2) amphibolites; 3) gabbros; 4)coul1try rocks, mainly Jurassic/Early Cretaceous graywackes and shales-ophiolite melange; 5) statistical dip of folialion; 6) fault. ered a close spatial connection between the typical Upper Cretaceous flysch , and the formation composed or sandstone with ophio lites, which is correlative in facies with analogous formations of the Dinaridc Ophi­ olite Zone. He cautiously included the ophiolites in the Uppe r Cretaceous which had a grcat intluence on the cnsuing geological mappi ng of the ophioli te terrenes of north Croatia. HERAK (1960, p. 117) concludcd thal: "New data obtained represent evidence that the Dinar­ idie Ophiolitc zone continues northwestward more fur­ ther than it was prcsumcd", obviously bearing in mind the then time prevailing geotectonic schemes of KOBER (1929) and PETKOVIC (l958). Also in this period KRANJEC (1969) described conformable diabase bodies in the palaeontologically documented Upper Cretaceous flysch of MI. Majevica, in northeast Bosnia whieh overl ie the Dinaride Ophio­ lite complex. 2.3. TRANSITIONAL PERIOD The geosyncline period preceded the elaboration of the Basic Geological Map in whieh the Dinaride Ophio­ lite Zone was also included. In late 1950 ' s and early 1960's, the mapping of the middle parts of the Dinaride Ophiolite Zone in Bosnia began. During this period some ideas were clarified and very important results obtained. 1) It was quite clear that ophiolite bodies wcre included in the Oiabas-Hornstei n Formation which was idcntified with KATZER's (1906) "it" unit composed mainly of sandstone and shale. 2) A unit was mapped which was composed mostly of radiolarite interlayered with shale and micrite with synsedimentary basalt. The unit had a large stratigraph­ ic span from the Middle/Late Triassic to the Early Cre- Geologin Croatica 50/2 taceous. In spite of the fact that radio larites are charac­ teristically associated wi th ophiolites (STEINMANN, 1926) this radiolarite fornlation had 110t been connected with ophiolites at this time. 3) Under the influence of Aubouin 's students (BLA­ NCHET, 1975 and others) the allochtonous character of the Triassic rocks was discovered. Those a re also very common as olis toliths in the Diabas-Hornstein Forma­ tion. It than became quite c lear how the previous idea that these Triassic formations wcre normal members of the the Diabas-Hornstein Formation was incorrect. 4) Mapping also included structural analyses of large ultramafic bodies. Identifying Kispatic's "allign­ ment", i.e. the foliation, it was discovered that internal structures of the ultramafic bodies were not com­ formable with the structures of the surrounding geneti­ cally related sediments. Based on their obvious tectonic contact it was concluded that the ultramafics were intruded as solid bodies (Fig. 2). It was further discov­ ered tha t larger ultramafic masses were thrust onto the surrounding sedimentary rocks of the Diabas-Hornstcin Formation, and that associated gabbro and diabase bod­ ies are also in tectonic contact with the surrounding sediments. 5) It was noticcd that amphibolites, in some places with eclogites, occur along the marginal parts of ultra­ mafic massifs with com mon interlayering. This repre­ sented evidcnce for KISPATlC's (1897) idea on the mutual close genetic relationship between the ultrama­ fic rocks and amphibolites. 6) It was also quite obvious that the interlayering of basalts with shales and graywackes of the Diabas-Horn­ stcin Formation occurred at many outcrops. Some of these new data were successfully published even in foreign journals, and reprcscnted the basis for the search for new solutions and more adcquate inter­ pretations amplify. On the basis of new structural and petrological data correlated with new geophysical pro­ specting data from recent oceans, it was concluded, 5-6 years before new ideas on plate tectonics appeared, that the Dinaridic ultramafic bodies intruded as solid bodies (protrusions), and that they originated at deep parts of the lithosphere, i.e., the upper mantle (pAMIC, 1964; TRUBELJA & PAMIC, 1965). In this transitional period, new data obtained in the early elaboration of the Basic Geological Map of the Bosnian part of the Ophiolite zonc, clearly showed that the geosyncline concept was unable to explain the com­ plex probl em of ophiolite generation . Ophiolite rese­ archers of the northwestern Dinarides did not have such problems at that time because they only began about 10 years later with the mapping of their ophiolite terrenes. 2.4. PLATE TECTONIC PERIOD ISACKS et al. (1968) published their geophysical pioneer paper on plate tectonics which was soon fol­ lowed by many geological publications (e.g. DEWEY ramie: 111e Development of Croali;lIl Geoscience as Reflected by the Study of Dinaridic Ophiolites 177 & DIRD, 1970, and others). 11 seems [hat no single geo­ logical problem experienced such rcvolutionary cha­ nges in interpretation as did that or the orogenic ophio­ lites. In a few years several crucial papers (COLE­ MAN, 1971, 1977; DEWEY, 1976; MOORES & JAC­ KSON , 1974 ancI others) essent ially changed our con­ ceptions of ophiolites. The new ideas were accepted very quickly and after a few years the term "Diabas-I-lornstein Formation" had been forgotten. As sometimes happens in such decisive situations, it appeared a dangerous exaggeration with "new" ideas. In fact , in these first years, tendency was expressed that the complex problem of the Dinaridic ophiolites would be covered by the term "melange". Working on the Californian ophiolites, HSUE ( 1968) rccnvcred GREENLY's (1919) idea on [he "An­ kara melange" in Turkey in order to emphasize the chaotic features of the ophiolite complexes. This mela­ nge idea was very quickly accepted for the Dinaridie ophiolites. According to this, the Dinaridic ophiolitic complex as a whol e was interpreted as a huge melange, i.e., the chaotic formation which originated at first by an olistostrome mechanism with subsequent processes or recyc ling, i.c. , [ce[onics (DIMITRTJEVIC & DIM!­ TRIJEVIC , 1973). Based on these idcas, all ophioli[ie rocks including large ultramafic massifs with surfaces of 500- I 000 km 2 were considercd to represcnt olis­ toliths included in the melange. 3. DISCUSSION The advent of plate tectonic theory generated a host oj" new ideas with the potcntial to significantly alter the basic approach to ophiolitic investigation. Howevcr, by not entirely rejecting ideas concerning the chaotic fea ­ tures of ophiolites these telTenes have been continuous­ ly mapped, new data systematically collected and con­ s idered and interpreted according to new geodynamic ideas, i.e., plate tectonics. Numerous papers have been published on ophiolites from different parts of the Dinaridc Ophioli[e zonc (BAIlIC c[ a!., 1979; BELAK c[ a!., 1995; LANPHERE e[ a!., 1975; LUGOVIC c[ a!., 1991; MAJER, 1978 , 1991; MAJER e[ a!., 1979; PAM IC, 1982, 1993; HERAK, 1991, 1995; SIKIC e[ a!., 1979; SIMUNIC & SIMUNIC, 1979; SIMUNIC et a!., 1981; SPARICA, ]981; SPARICA e[ a!., 1979; SUSNJAR & GRIMANI, 1986; TRUB ELJA e[ a!., 1995; ZUPANIC e[ a!., 198 1 and others) from which the followin g conclusions may be drawn: 1) Ophiolitic rocks are spatially and genetically l"Ciated to two differellt formation s which originated ill two dilTerent environments. a) The Radiolarite Formation in which radiolarite prc­ dominates over shale, micrite and sy nsed imentary b<:lsall. This formation originated in the pelagic parts of the Dinaridic Tethys from the Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous. b)The shale-graywacke formation, also with synsedi­ mentary basalts, which covers most of the Dinaride Ophiolite zone. Normal profiles with "bed to bed" alternating shale, graywacke and basalt are only pre­ served ill somc areas. Lithologically homogeneous telTenes composed only of graywacke, or shale, or basalt alone are rare. No characteristic fossils to date have been found in the graywacke and shale, but based on uncharacteristic microfoss il s found in rare interstrati[ied micrites, a Jurassic age can be suggest­ ed. Early palaeo floristic data suggest an Early Creta­ ccous age [or the sedimentary parts of the graywa­ ckes. However, the shale-graywacke formation is mainly chaotic and represented by melange. The graywackes arc included in a shaley-silty matrix in the form of flow-ball and slumps as well as larger or smaller frag­ ments of indegenous basalts. These arc associated with tectonically embedded erratic blocks of limestones, which originated in diffcrent environments from the Middle Triassic to the Tithonian -Valanginian. T-Iow­ ever, the most common and characteristic arc tectoni ­ cally included fragments of ophiolites - diabase, gabbro and serpent ized peridotite, the size of which ran ges from a few millimetres-centimetres to hu ge bodies reaching decaki!ometre in diametrc. Consequently, in their completc development, the Dinaridie ophiolites arc spatially associated with the shale-graywacke for­ mation. The opinion prevails thai the shale-graywacke for­ mation of the Alpine-Himalaya belt originated alo ng the active Tethyan marg in . For the Dinarides there are insufficient analytical data on the sedimentological fea­ lures of [he formation (TISLJAR, 1973; BABIC e[ a!. , 1979). When subduction processes began at the end of the Late Jurassic and the beginning of the Early Creta­ ceous, rocks of the Mesozoic oceanic crust were empla­ ced in the shale-graywacke formation. The emplace­ ment (obduction) was accompanied by dismembering of the obducting oceanic crust and subseq uent sou th­ westward thrusting. 2) Duc to this emplacement and the chaoti c charac­ ter of the shale-graywacke [ormation, rocks of the oceanic crust, i. e., the ophiolites, are preserved as tec­ tonic fragments regardless of size. The field relation ­ ships and geophysical prospecting data suggest that the largest ultramafic massifs, a few hundred kilometres in the surface area, represent sheets, up to 2000 m thick, which were thrust onto the shale-graywacke formation and the melange, respectively (Fig. 2). Isotope crystal­ li zat ion ages measured from ultramafics, mnphibolites and gabbro-diabases range between J89 and 136 Ma which co rrespond to the Lias to Neocomian period s. These data, together with the aformentioned strati­ graph ic data indicate that the Dinariclic oceanic crust was generated during the Jurassic and lower parts of the Cretaceous. Such a conclusion filS with the global inter­ pretation of the Alpine-Himalayan belt. )"/X Lieologla CroalH.:a :Juri, 3) The Dinaridic ophiolitcs are in many areas Acknowledgement unconformably overlain by conglomerate, breccia and lithic sandstone in which ophiolites and genetically The author is indebted to Professors V. MAJER and related sedim entary rocks are redeposited. Laterally, Lj. BABIC [or the cri tical reading of the draft of the this formation is in some places interlayered with reef manuscript. limestones of Tithonian-Valanginian age, but in some other places the overstepping sequences are Late Juras­ sic to Late Cretaceous in age. 4) The Dinaridic ophiolites are overlain by allo­ chthonous Tri ass ic formations of the typical Alpine develop ment , only loca lly with Lias limestone, and Palaeozoic semimctamorphic formations, i.e. the Pan­ non ian Nappe (MILADINOVIC, 1974) or [he Palaeo­ zoic-Triass ic Nappe (PAMIC & JURKOVIC , 1996) . Stacki ng of the allochthonous masses was accompanied in some areas by greensc hi st faci es metamorphism which look plase 125-115 Ma ago (BELAK e[ aI. , 1995). Emplacement of these nappes was probably related to the final phascs of Latc Jurassic/Early Creta­ ceous obd uction processes. This conclus ion is support­ ed by the fact that the Palaeozoic-Triassic nappes arc unconformab ly overlain by Lower Cretaceous clastic rocks including ophiolites and genetically related sedi­ ments. 5) The Dinaride Ophiolite Zone is bounded in the sout hwest by Mesozoic clastic and carbonate sedimen­ tary rocks of the passive continental margin of the Dinaridic Tethys - "flysh bosniaque" of the French geologis[s (AUBOUIN e[ a I. , 1970). These formation s are Jurassic and Cretaceo us in age and thus penecon­ temporaneous with the generation of the Dinaridi c oceanic crust. 6) The Dinaride Ophiolite Zone as a whole is over­ lain north ward by formations of the Late Cretaeeous­ Palaeogene fly sc h which are part ly preserved in the Prosara, Motaj ica and Majev ica Mts. of the northern­ most Dinarides (the Vardar Zone sensu lalo). The Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene fl ysch, which is synsed imenta­ rily intcrlayered with upper mantle basa lts and conli­ nental crust rh yolites, is in some places underlain by strongly tcctonized ophiolite melange ind icating that the evolution of ophiolites also continued through the Late Cretaceous. In the northern part , rocks of the Late Cretaceous­ Palacogene flysch we re affected by Alpine regional metamorphism rela ted to the main Alpine deformatio­ nal event (the Pyrennean phase). The metamorphism was accompani ed by synkinemati c granite plutonism whose Sr-isochron age is 48 Ma. 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