The Dinaride thrust belt is divided into three major tectonic units defined by changes in stratigraphy, structural style and timing of deformation. Compressional shortening began as early as the Late Jurassic in the Internal Dinarides, a unit composed of several zones of Paleozoic metamorphics and Mesozoic ophiolites. A Mesozoic carbonate platform forms the core of the Central and External Dinarides, which are distinguished by distinct differences in structural style and timing of deformation. The Central Dinarides are characterized by at least two phases of deformation. Late Jurassic and Cretaceous unconformities suggest structural uplift prior to the onset of thrusting which began in the late Eocene. Deformation involves Paleozoic basement and includes a major decollement within a Late Permian-Early Triassic clastic and evaporite unit. Thrusting within the External Dinarides is restricted to Middle Triassic and younger age units, with decollements occurring within the Middle Triassic and Late Jurassic. The latter detachment occurs within the confines of an evaporite basin, whose importance has been largely ignored in previous structural interpretations.

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