Editing Carpathian Mountains (section)

== Geology ==
[[File:Békás-szoros.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Bicaz Canyon]]
The area now occupied by the Carpathians was once occupied by smaller ocean basins. The Carpathian mountains were formed during the [[Alpine orogeny]] in the [[Mesozoic]]<ref>{{cite journal |first=D. |last=Plašienka |title=Origin and growth of the Western Carpathian orogenetic wedge during the mesozoic |journal=Geologica Carpathica |volume=53 |date=2002 |url=https://geologicacarpathica.com/data/files/files/special%20issue/P/Plasienka.pdf}}</ref> and [[Cenozoic]] by moving the [[ALCAPA (tectonic plate)|ALCAPA]] (Alpine-Carpathian-Pannonian), [[Tisza Plate|Tisza]] and [[Dacia Plate|Dacia]] plates over [[subduction|subducting]] [[oceanic crust]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Mantovani |first=E. |last2=Viti |first2=M. |last3=Babbucci |first3=D. |last4=Tamburelli |first4=C. |last5=Albarello |first5=D. |chapter=Geodynamic connection between the indentation of Arabia and the Neogene tectonics of the central–eastern Mediterranean region |chapter-url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/books/edited-volume/583/chapter-abstract/3803612/Geodynamic-connection-between-the-indentation-of |doi=10.1130/2006.2409(02) |editor-first=Y. |editor-last=Dilek |editor2-first=S. |editor2-last=Pavlides |title=Postcollisional Tectonics and Magmatism in the Mediterranean Region and Asia |publisher=Geological Society of America |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-8137-2409-6 |oclc=65425994 |series=Special Papers |volume=409}}</ref>

The mountains take the form of a [[fold and thrust belt]] with generally north [[Vergence (geology)|vergence]] in the western segment, northeast to east vergence in the eastern portion and southeast vergence in the southern portion. Currently, the area is the most seismically active in Central Europe.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Braclawska |first1=Agnieszka |last2=Idziak |first2=Adam Filip |title=Unification of data from various seismic catalogues to study seismic activity in the Carpathians Mountain arc |journal=Open Geosciences |date=1 January 2019 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=837–842 |doi=10.1515/geo-2019-0065 |bibcode=2019OGeo...11...65B |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2019-0065 |language=en |issn=2391-5447|hdl=20.500.12128/11936 |s2cid=208868314 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

The external, generally northern, portion of the orogenic belt is a Tertiary [[accretionary wedge]] of a so-called [[Flysch|Flysch belt]] (the [[Carpathian Flysch Belt]]) created by rocks scraped off the sea bottom and thrust over the North-European plate. The Carpathian accretionary wedge is made of several thin skinned [[nappe]]s composed of Cretaceous to Paleogene [[turbidite]]s. Thrusting of the Flysch nappes over the Carpathian foreland caused the formation of the [[Carpathian foreland basin]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nehyba |first1=S. |last2=Šikula |first2=J. |title=Depositional architecture, sequence stratigraphy and geodynamic development of the Carpathian Foredeep (Czech Republic) |journal=Geologica Carpathica |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=53–69 |date=2007 |url=https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/05231049GeolCarp_Vol58_No1_53_69.pdf}}</ref> The boundary between the Flysch belt and internal zones of the orogenic belt in the western segment of the mountain range is marked by the [[Pieniny Klippen Belt]], a narrow complicated zone of polyphase compressional deformation, later involved in a supposed [[strike-slip]] zone.<ref>{{cite journal |first=M. |last=Mišík |title=The Slovak Part of the Pieniny Klippen Belt After the Pioneering Works of D. Andrusov |journal=Geologica Carpathica |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=209–220 |date=1997 |doi= |url=https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/04290929GeolCarp_Vol48_No4_209_220.pdf}}</ref>

[[File:Bucegi jepiimici.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Bucegi Mountains]] in [[Romania]]]]
Internal zones in western and eastern segments contain older [[Variscan]] igneous massifs reworked in Mesozoic [[Thick-skinned deformation|thick]] and thin-skinned nappes. During the Middle [[Miocene]] this zone was affected by intensive [[calc-alkaline]]<ref name="Pácskay, Z. 2006, pp. 511 - 530">{{cite journal |last1=Pácskay |first1=Z. |last2=Lexa |first2=J. |last3=Szákacs |first3=A. |title=Geochronology of Neogene magmatism in the Carpathian arc and intra-Carpathian area |journal=Geologica Carpathica |volume=57 |issue=6 |pages=511–530 |date=2006 |doi= |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/76427110/pdf5973.pdf}}</ref> [[arc volcanism]] that developed over the subduction zone of the flysch basins. At the same time, the internal zones of the orogenic belt were affected by large extensional structure<ref>{{cite web |first=G.L. |last=Dolton |title=Pannonian Basin Province, Central Europe (Province 4808)—Petroleum geology, total petroleum systems, and petroleum resource assessment |date=2006 |id=2204–B |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/b2204B}}</ref> of the [[back-arc basin|back-arc]] [[Pannonian Basin]].<ref>{{cite journal |author-link1=Leigh Royden |last1=Royden |first1=L.H. |last2=Horváth |first2=F. |last3=Rumpler |first3=J. |title=Evolution of the Pannonian basin system. 1. Tectonics |journal=Tectonics |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=61–90 |date=1983 |doi=10.1029/TC002i001p00063 |bibcode=1983Tecto...2...63R }}</ref> The last volcanic activity occurred at [[Ciomadul]] about 30,000 years ago.<ref name="Pácskay, Z. 2006, pp. 511 - 530"/>

The mountains started to gain their current shape from the latest [[Miocene]] onward.<ref name=Starkel1969>{{Cite journal|title=L'évolution des versants des Carpates à flysch au quaternaire|journal=[[Biuletyn Peryglacjalny]]|last=Starkel|first=Leszek|volume=18|pages=349–379|year=1969|language=French}}</ref> The slopes of the Carphartian contain at some locations [[solifluction]] deposits.<ref name=Starkel1969/> Iron, gold and silver were found in great quantities{{vague|date=September 2022}} in the [[Western Carpathians]]. After the Roman emperor [[Trajan]]'s conquest of Dacia, he brought back to Rome over 165 tons of gold and 330 tons of silver.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dacia-Province of the Roman Empire |publisher=United Nations of Roma Victor |url=http://www.unrv.com/province/dacia.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713142104/https://www.unrv.com/province/dacia.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 July 2019 |access-date=14 November 2010 }}</ref>