Authors: Stojadinovic, U., Randjelovic, N., Toljić, M., Trivić, B., Maleš. M. & Grujovski-Stanisavljević, M.

Abstract
The Timok Magmatic Complex (TMC), part of the Late Cretaceous Apuseni–Banat–Timok–Srednogorie (ABTS) volcano-sedimentary belt in the Carpatho-Balkanides, represents a case study of a basin developed within the overriding plate above two adjacent subduction systems of opposite polarity, the NE-dipping Neotethys and the W-dipping Ceahlău–Severin. This study reconstructs the tectonic evolution of the TMC basin through field-based structural and kinematic analyses to constrain the mechanisms controlling deformation in a multi-slab setting. The results define three successive deformation phases. The oldest phase records Late Cretaceous extension and asymmetric basin formation, characterized by strong strain localization along upper-crustal normal faults. This phase was controlled by rollback of the Neotethyan slab, enabling efficient transfer of deformation into the upper crust and direct coupling between active faulting and calc-alkaline magmatism. The subsequent phase corresponds to the latest Cretaceous–earliest Paleogene basin inversion, expressed by a progressive transition from contractional to transpressional deformation. This stage was controlled by the closure of the Ceahlău–Severin Ocean and the onset of Carpathian collision, with shortening localized along inherited extensional basin structures. The youngest phase reflects Oligocene–Middle Miocene post-orogenic deformation. It is characterized by strain partitioning and strike-slip faulting related to oroclinal bending of the Carpatho-Balkanides, which controlled segmentation and sedimentary reorganization of the TMC basin and the broader ABTS belt. Keywords: Fault kinematics; Deformational evolution; Slab interaction; Timok Magmatic Complex; Serbian Carpathians