Neogene tectonic sequence stratigraphy and regional structure of the Serbian segment of the Pannonian Basin

The Serbian segment of the Pannonian Superbasin, with its numerous syn-rift subbasins, is covered by extensive industry subsurface data due to mainly hydrocarbon exploration and production. In northern Serbian region marine conditions were established during at the beginning of the Middle Miocene, coinciding with the formation of a gateway to the global marine realm. This event was linked to accelerated rifting, changes in extension style, and rapid deepening of paleo-water depths across interconnected subbasins. Instead of using rift sequence stratigraphy, this study focuses on the basin fill in terms of tectonic system tracts using the rift initiation, climax, and post-rift terminology to explain sedimentation rate and transgressive-regressive patterns. Structurally, the Serbian Pannonian Basin experienced high-strain extension in spatially variable manner during the entire Neogene. On a sub-regional scale, the various subbasins bound by large normal faults are segmented and connected by major transfer zones, previously interpreted as strike-slip faults. Two major throughgoing transcurrent fault systems are highlighted which were not fully appreciated previously as to their kinematic role in the opening of the basin system. The analysis of the map-view distribution of the extensional polarity in the Serbian basins offers new insights into the evolution of the basin system.