Abstract

This study presents the first suite of apatite fission-track (AFT) ages from the SE part of the Western Sudetes. AFT cooling ages from the Orlica-snie(z) over dotnik Dome and the Upper Nysa Klodzka Graben range from Late Cretaceous (84 Ma) to Early Palaeocene-Middle Eocene (64-45 Ma). The first stage of basin evolution (similar to 100-90 Ma) was marked by the formation of a local extensional depocentre and disruption of the Mesozoic planation surface. Subsequent far-field convergence of European microplates resulted in Coniacian-Santonian (similar to 89-83 Ma) thrust faulting. AFT data from both metamorphic basement and Mesozoic sedimentary cover indicate homogenous Late Cretaceous burial of the entire Western Sudetes. Thermal history modeling suggests that the onset of cooling could be constrained between 89 and 63 Ma with a climax during the Palaeocene-Middle Eocene basin inversion phase.