PRESENT DAY MOVEMENTS OF THE EXTERNAL ALBANIDES, BASED ON GPS DATA, IN RELATION TO THE REGIONAL GEODYNAMICS

Abstract

From the geological point of view, Albanides are part of the folded Mediterranean Alpin belt. It extends to the south in Dinarides and Helenides, along the eastern coasts of the Adriatic and Ionian Sea. From this region further east, through the Aegean Sea, they contionues in Taurides. As the whole, these units are associated in the Dinarides-Albanides-Helenides-Taurides arc. Its western outline takes place in a confrontation againts the Adria micro plate. Nowadays, the movement of the Adria micro plate is crucial to through light into the geodynamic evolution, stress build mechanism and consequently strain accommodation in the western folded flank of the Dinarides-Albanides-Helenides-Taurides chain as well as the whole Mediterranean. After the GPS deployment in Southeastern Europe, aiming the monitoring of the geodynamic movements along the Adria conturs against the African and Eurasia major plates, a number of 6 permanet GPS stations were also deployed in Albania within the Nato “Science for Peace” program. Furthemore, a network of repeated stations was built, during a 6 years period, starting from the year 2000. Based on Albanian GNSS data the overall geodynamics of the Albanian crust and the surrounding region is pointed out. This paper aims to describe these results within the most comprehensive description of the local and regional tectonics.