Project Description

The project “Integrated U-Pb and Re-Os geochronology of the magmatic, sedimentary and metamorphic history of Paleozoic terranes separated by the Thracian suture during Variscan orogeny” started on December 14^th 2023. The three-year long project is funded by the National Science Fund contract № КП-06-Н74-4 under the “Competition for financial support for basic research projects – 2023” call.

The project aims a completely new to Bulgarian science and a rare non-traditional to world science geochronological method such as Re-Os of graphite, in order to be applied in areas affected by the poorly constrained in geochronological terms Variscan metamorphism (Late Paleozoic). The latter resulted from the convergence between Eurasia and Peri-Gondwanan terranes (Balkan Zone, Serbo-Macedonian Massif, Sakar-Strandzha Zone). This project also includes studies on the age of metamagmatic and metaclastic protoliths using U-Pb zircon method to constrain the time span between the maximum age of basin’s opening and the minimum age of basin’s closure (regional metamorphism).