GEOL. C ROAT. 49/2 347 ZAGREB 1996 

Ahslmcl - Note 

Evaporite Diapirism in Albania and its Influence in 
the Thrusting Process 

Tela VELAJ 

The Upper Triass ic evaporites have a wide ex ten ­
s ion in the o rogen ic zones of the con tinental margin 
(throu ghout the Albanidc- f-Iclenide-Dinaridc tectonic 
assembly), and there fo re across the Adriati c p latform. 
They constitute the substratum of all the above tectonic 
zones, playing a s ignifi cant role both in the s tructural 
model and in aiding the thrusting process. 

Genera lly, these evaporites consis t of inte rcalations 
o r anhyd rite , gypsum , chlorites, dolomites, limestones, 
multicoloured c lays e tc. Occasionally volcanic matter, 
e .g. bipiramidai quart z c ryslals arc encounte red. The 
age of the evaporites is Upper Triass ic, and is verified 
by palynologica l de te rmination with th e presence of 
species such as: Call1el'OSpOriles, Parillosporifes, Veri­
cosporifes, O\'o/ipo/is, Zonalisporifes e tc. 

In Albania, the evaporite di api rs may be encoun­
tered in three tectonic settings: 

1. Evaporite diapirs that have erupted ac ross or via 
reg ional fault plan es associated with a marked over­
thrust westwards and whi ch border the diffe rent tecto­
nic subzones o f the Ionian zone. 

a) In the wes tern front of the Inte rnal subzone (Berati 
belt ) a regional ovenhrusting fault o f 20-30 km magni­
tude can be traced. Thi s ove rthrust occ urs because of 
the presence of a large diapir sheet whi ch ou tc rops in 
depressional sec to rs such as Dumrea, Zavranona, etc. 
There arc suffic ient data (mainly seismic) showing that 
some carbonate s truc tures of western units oeeur 
beneath this overthrusting tectonic struc ture. 

Oit and Gas tnslitute. r-icr, Al ban ia. 

PROCEEDINGS 

b) In the western fron t o f the ex ternal subzone «:ika 
zone) a reg ional overthrusting fau lt exists, whic h dev i­
ates northeastward in its northern pan. The orogen over­
thru sts through thi s fau lt and the diapiric body to th e 
Apulian Platform 50-100 km and in this way hides a 
transiti ve (or platform·orogen ic) zone of inte res t for 
explorat ion. 

c) T he Kruj a tectoni c zone a lso has anothe r thrust 
fault in its weste rn frol1l covering pan of the Southe rn 
Adriatic basin. It cuts diagonally the s tructural lines and 
is a lso associated with evaporite diapirism. 

2. Evaporite diapirs which have erupted via local 
fa ult s or the individual structures of the middl e Ionian 
subzone, such as Delvina 's, Bashaj's e tc. The thrusti ng 
magnitude of this diapir sheet is of 8-1 0 km a ll ow ing 
masking of new structura l units. 

3. Evaporite diapirs which have erupted nearly verti­
cally in the centre of the carbonate anticline struc tures, 
such as Navarica's, Jan icati 's, Kardhiqi 's etc . Th ese 
diapirs generally have a cupola form. 

In the inte rnal zones the evaporites appear in tecto­
nic wi ndows of cupola shape (c.g. Korabi zone, Albani a 
and Radck, Macedonia). In th is case they are in contac t 
with the Kruja Oligocene fl ysch and Upper Cenomanian 
rudi st carbonate. Thi s led to the sugges tion that the 
Korabi evapori tes have 1.0 be lon g to the Kruja zone, 
which shows a global allochthony or the inte rnal zones 
and subduction of the external ones. 



3-IR Geologia CrO:llica 49n