The exhumation of the western Greater Caucasus: a thermochronometric study

A thermochronometric study of the western Greater Caucasus reveals that the region has experienced two significant orogenic erosional events: one during the Triassic to Middle Jurassic (Cimmerian) period and another in the Oligo-Miocene (Alpine) era. The research, which includes 39 new thermochronometric analyses, suggests that while the core of the range west of Mt Elbrus has undergone approximately 5 km of Permo-Triassic exhumation, Cenozoic exhumation is limited to about 2.5 km. Current exhumation rates are generally low, with no evidence supporting a Plio-Pleistocene increase in climate-driven denudation. However, high exhumation rates (~1 km Ma−1) are observed on the southern flank of the range in northwest Georgia, coinciding with the largest recorded earthquake (Ms = 7.0) in the Caucasus. This localized rapid exhumation may be linked to tectonic activity, such as the decoupling of sedimentary successions from crystalline basement and the inversion of the Jurassic fill of the Greater Caucasus basin. The study highlights the need for further sampling and analysis to better understand the drivers of Alpine exhumation and Palaeogene cooling and uplift.

VINCENT, S. J., CARTER, A., LAVRISHCHEV, V. A., RICE, S. P., BARABADZE, T. G., & HOVIUS, N. (2010). The exhumation of the western Greater Caucasus: a thermochronometric study. Geological Magazine, 148(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756810000257