OLLIER C.D. & PAIN C.F.
The Apennines, the Dinarides, and the Adriatic Sea: is the Adriatic Microplate a reality?
Pages 167-175
Abstract
The Apennines and the Dinarides consist of nappes thrust towards the Adriatic Sea, which is underlain by largely undisturbed rocks. Plate tectonic reconstructions are very varied, with supposed subduction in many different directions. Besides this there is an over-ruling concept that a plate called the Adriatic (or Adria) Plate moved north from Africa to Europe where its collision helped to create the Alps. Some think the plate is still moving. The total tectonic setting, together with palaeontological and seismic data, suggests that the older model of two converging nappe belts meeting a common foreland best fits the observed facts.