New paleomagnetic results from the Upper Cretaceous red marls of the Pieniny Klippen Belt, Western Carpathians: Evidence for general CCW rotation and implications for the origin of the structural arc formation Emő Márton a, ⁎, Jacek Grabowski b , Dušan Plašienka c , Igor Túnyi d , Michał Krobicki e, f , János Haas g , Mihály Pethe h a Geological and Geophysical Institute of Hungary, Paleomagnetic Laboratory, Stefánia út 14, H-1143 Budapest, Hungary b Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute, Paleomagnetic Laboratory, Rakowiecka 4, 00-975 Warsaw, Poland c Comenius University, Department of Geology and Paleontology, Mlynská dolina G, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia d Slovak Academy of Sciences, Geophysical Institute, Paleomagnetic Laboratory, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 28 Bratislava, Slovakia e Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute, Upper Silesian Branch, Królowej Jadwigi 1, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland f AGH University of Science and Technology, Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Cracow, Poland g MTA-ELTE Geological, Geophysical and Space Science Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Geology, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary h Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Geophysics and Space Science, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary abstract article info Article history: Received 31 August 2012 Received in revised form 25 January 2013 Accepted 29 January 2013 Available online xxxx Keywords: Paleomagnetism Tectonics Pieniny Klippen Belt Carpathians Oroclinal bending The Pieniny Klippen Belt (PKB) is a narrow arcuate structure separating the Central and Outer Western Carpathians formed during several Cenozoic deformational stages. The primary aim of this study was to obtain paleomagnetic constraints for the mechanism of formation of the arc. We investigate Albian–Santonian red pelagic marls from 14 localities, distributed along a strike length of ca. 400 km. AMS measurements reveal a pattern characteristic of weakly deformed sedimentary rocks and magnetic lineations do not correlate with the general strike of the PKB. Paleomagnetic analysis revealed well defined hematite-based ancient magnetization components at 13 localities, which are dated using fold- and inclination tests. A within-locality fold test is negative for two localities exhibiting large CCW rotations of similar magnitude situated at the two ends of the PKB. Remanences of pre-folding age were documented for 11 localities, with an overall mean paleomagnetic direction of D = 311°, I= 53°, and α 95 = 11°. The indicated general CCW rotation most probably took place during the Miocene, together with Western Central and Outer Carpathians. Paleolatitudes for the PKB indicate a considerable separation from the southern margin of stable Europe leaving space for coordinated rotation. A paleomagnetic oroclinal test involving all localities with pri- mary magnetizations was negative. When localities with monoclinal steep dips are omitted due to possible decli- nation bias, the overall mean paleomagentic direction does not change significantly, but correlation is observed between the general trend of the PKB and the paleomagnetic declinations. Thus, we conclude that the present shape of the arc can be partly due to oroclinal bending. This must have happened before Oligocene since paleomag- netic declinations for neighboring Paleogene basins in the Central and Outer Western Carpathians reveal a uniform CCW rotation of ca. 50° magnitude, irrespective of the position of the localities in relation to the Carpathian arc. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. 1. Introduction The Western Carpathians, like all other Alpine collisional mountain systems, are characterized by a zonal structure. The main divisions are provided by two narrow subparallel zones regarded as oceanic sutures and/or ancient plate boundaries (e.g. Froitzheim et al., 2008). One of them, the Meliata suture separates the Internal and the Central Western Carpathians, the other, the Pieniny Klippen Belt (PKB) is the dividing zone between the Central and the Outer Western Carpathians (Fig. 1). The origin of the Western Carpathian arc has not yet been clearly explained by application of the paleomagnetic method. The typical pa- leomagnetic approach applied to reveal the nature of orogenic arc is an “orocline test” which compares paleomagnetic declinations and struc- tural trends in a well defined stratigraphic horizon, from sampling local- ities situated in several parts of the arc differing in structural orientation (e.g. Speranza et al., 1997; Weil and Sussman, 2004; Weil et al., 2001). This type of investigations was performed by Bazhenov et al. (1980) on Upper Cretaceous red marls in the Pieniny Klippen Belt (PKB) of Poland and western Slovakia. In the conclusions it was suggested that the curva- ture of the PKB had been acquired in post-Early Campanian times, Tectonophysics xxx (2013) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: +36 1 2480378. E-mail addresses: paleo@mfgi.hu (E. Márton), jacek.grabowski@pgi.gov.pl (J. Grabowski), plasienka@fns.uniba.sk (D. Plašienka), geoftuny@savba.sk (I. Túnyi), michal.krobicki@pgi.gov.pl, krobicki@geol.agh.pl (M. Krobicki), haas@ludens.elte.hu (J. Haas), mifimester@gmail.com (M. Pethe). TECTO-125775; No of Pages 13 0040-1951/$ – see front matter © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2013.01.027 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Tectonophysics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tecto Please cite this article as: Márton, E., et al., New paleomagnetic results from the Upper Cretaceous red marls of the Pieniny Klippen Belt, Western Carpathians: Evidence for general CCW rotation and..., Tectonophysics (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2013.01.027