This paper presents palaeomagnetic results from the Miocene
offshore Pag and the twin onshore (Drnis-Sinj) basins. Earlier
magnetostratigraphic results were published from both basins,
which documented that the lake sediments were good targets for
palaeomagnetism. From the Pag basin, we sampled the oldest and
youngest segments of the 1200 m long Crnika section and obtained
statistically different palaeomagnetic directions from the two
parts. During a repeated visit to the section it was revealed
that modern gravity-driven creeping can account for this, i.e.
the results from the Pag basin should be rejected from regional
tectonic interpretation. The overall-mean palaeomagnetic
direction for the Drnig-Sinj basin has excellent statistical
parameters, its high quality is further supported by positive
regional fold/tilt and reversal tests, based on seven
geographically distributed localities. The results suggests 13-
20 degrees CCW rotation with respect to Africa and 21-27 degrees
with respect to stable Europe, during the last 15 million years.
As the External Dinarides are the loci of a complicated network
of Miocene and even younger tectonic zones, we cannot export the
observed rotation for the whole unit, but consider our results
as one step in obtaining robust kinematic constraints for the
post-Oligocene tectonic history of the External Dinarides. (C)
2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
