The Cenozoic foreland fold and thrust belt of the external Dinarides along the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea shows an overall NW-SE structural strike that changes to E-W in its central part, between Zadar and Mostar. This change is associated with a dextrally transpressive zone, named Split-Karlovac Fault. Segments of this fault straddle the Eo-Oligocene flexural foreland basin system of the external Dinarides. Two balanced cross-sections across the northern and southern segments of this transverse fault zone document highly contrasting styles of deformation and amount of shortening. The northern segment across Velebit Mountain is characterized by a triangle structure with a minimum shortening of 44 km. This triangle structure is formed by a set of thick-skinned top-SW thrust duplexes, topped by a thin-skinned passive top-NE roof backthrust. By contrast, the southern segment, traversing north of Split, shows a thin-skinned top-SW to top-S directed nappe stack, associated with a minimum shortening of 127 km and rooting into a basal detachment in the Paleozoic basement.

To better understand parameters controlling these contrasting styles of deformation, we modelled the flexural response of the foreland lithosphere that provided the accommodation space for the Eocene to Oligocene syn-orogenic Promina Beds, a prevailingly carbonate-clastic and conglomerate-bearing sequence making a part of the foreland basin fill. Tectonic load exerted by the hinterland nappe stack was estimated using the two balanced cross-sections. Estimates of tectonic load allowed modelling the amount of flexural response that yielded depth and shape of the basin containing the Promina Beds. The best fitting modelling results provided additional confidence in the validity of the balanced cross-sections.

It is shown that shortening in the two structurally contrasting segments of the thick-skinned thrust belt were contemporaneous with dextral strike-slip along the thick-skinned Split-Karlovac Fault and coeval with sedimentation of the Promina Beds. We propose that the Velebit triangle structure acted as a back-stop that prevented the propagation of the deformation front towards the SW. Instead shortening was transferred along the Split-Karlovac Fault into the southern transect, where deformation propagated towards the foreland along a successively shallowing stepped detachment. The contrasting style of Eo-Oligocene deformation probably resulted from the interplay of Permo-Triassic evaporites with the reactivation of inherited Middle Triassic normal faults to both sides of the transpressive zone.

沿亚得里亚海东岸的第纳尔外缘的新生代前陆褶皱和逆冲带显示出整体的 NW-SE 构造走向，在其中心部分，在扎达尔和莫斯塔尔之间转变为 EW。这种变化与一个名为 Split-Karlovac 断层的右旋压带有关。该断层的各个部分跨越了外部第纳尔德的始渐新世弯曲前陆盆地系统。该横向断层带北段和南段的两个平衡截面记录了高度对比的变形方式和缩短量。横跨 Velebit 山的北段以三角形结构为特征，最小缩短 44 公里。这个三角形结构由一组厚皮顶西南逆冲推力双联体形成，顶部是薄皮被动顶东北顶顶反推力。

为了更好地理解控制这些不同类型变形的参数，我们模拟了前陆岩石圈的弯曲响应，该岩石圈为始新世到渐新世同造山的 Promina 床提供了调节空间，这是一种普遍存在的碳酸盐碎屑和砾岩层序，构成了前陆盆地充填。腹地推覆岩堆施加的构造载荷是使用两个平衡的横截面估计的。构造载荷的估计允许对弯曲响应量进行建模，这些弯曲响应产生了包含 Promina 床的盆地的深度和形状。最佳拟合建模结果为平衡横截面的有效性提供了额外的信心。

结果表明，厚皮逆冲带的两个构造对比段的缩短与沿着厚皮分裂-卡洛瓦茨断层的右旋走滑同时发生，并与普罗米纳河床的沉积同时发生。我们建议 Velebit 三角形结构充当阻止变形前沿向 SW 传播的后挡板。相反，缩短沿着 Split-Karlovac 断层转移到南部断层，在那里变形沿着逐渐变浅的阶梯式分离向前陆传播。始渐新世变形的对比风格可能是二叠纪-三叠纪蒸发岩与压压带两侧继承的中三叠世正断层的再活化相互作用的结果。