palaeomagnetic evidence for block rotations in the western greek rhodope summary the rhodope massif has been traditionally considered to be a pre mesozoic element that remained stable during the tertiary this idea has been partly supported by previous palaeomagnetic results on plutonic and volcanic rocks ranging in age from palaeocene to oligo miocene however new palaeomagnetic data from additional sites on tertiary magmatic rocks of the western greek rhodope show declination values indicating in most cases a clockwise rotation whereas inclinations are systematically lower than those corresponding to the actual latitudinal position of the rhodope our results together with previously published ones are discussed in the light of recent ideas proposed for the rhodope and the north aegean region we suggest that at least the western part of the greek rhodope has been clockwise rotated after the oligocene north south to ne sw extension tilted the formations towards the north or north east producing apparently high inclinations if the alternative pole position for eurasia proposed by westphal 1990 is adopted

timing kinematics and cause of aegean extension a scenario based on a comparison with simple analogue experiments abstract since the early 1970s most geodynamic models proposed for the eastern mediterranean consider that the initiation of extension in the aegean during the late middle miocene or later was a direct consequence of the westward extrusion of anatolia away from the arabia eurasia collision front in the late 1990s a few models have taken into account the increasing evidence for an earlier initiation of aegean extension arising mostly from the analysis of deformation within the various alpine metamorphic complexes of the area based largely on our own investigations we first present a review of the data that reliably constrain the minimum age for the initiation of extension in these complexes it shows that regional scale extension with a pattern of stretching orientations similar to that of the pliocene pleistocene was already strongly active in the aegean before the onset of arabian indentation into eurasia lower miocene vs middle or upper miocene this implies that the initiation of aegean extension did not result from the lateral extrusion of anatolia instead extension may have started owing to a process of gravity spreading of the continental lithosphere that had previously been thickened during alpine collision the main arguments favouring this interpretation are presented and a preliminary scenario is proposed for the neogene evolution of the eastern mediterranean in which lateral extrusion of anatolia occurred lately during southward spreading of the aegean lithosphere in order to test this hypothesis further physical experiments simulating the horizontal spreading of a continental lithosphere toward a free boundary have been carried out the analysis of various elements of the deformation field displacements strain rotations fault pattern and kinematics both in the experiments and in the aegean domain reveals an excellent agreement between the two not only do early stages of aegean extension appear to fit the gravity spreading hypothesis but so does the recent to present internal deformation of the aegean transverse e w active shortening observed in the northern aegean is commonly taken as one of the most striking pieces of evidence that aegean extension results from the lateral extrusion of anatolia the experiments indicate that such transverse shortening may equally develop as a result of pure gravity spreading associated with a pattern of faults and rotations that compares well with that of the northern aegean pure dextral shearing along some strands of the north aegean trough fault system and the related development of an asymmetric pattern of faults in the northern aegean are eventually the only features that evidently arise from the extrusion of anatolia since less than 3 ma finally we argue that during the early stages of aegean extension since at least 21 ma and until ca 11 ma the distribution of extensional strain on a regional scale has been controlled by the distribution of earlier thickening post thickening thermal weakening through partial melting of deep levels of the crust probably accounts for the localization of extensional strain within the areas of thick crust restoring the aegean in its most likely configuration at the onset of bulk crustal extension suggests that 1 the extensional strain rate remained roughly constant or has eventually decreased since the onset of aegean extension and 2 the amounts of extension before and after 16 ma have been roughly equal

seismotectonics of western anatolia regional stress orientation from geophysical and geological data abstract available fault plane solutions of shallow earthquakes occurring in the central part of western anatolia were reviewed in order to determine the stress directions active in this region data on 66 shocks were used for numerical analysis with the p and t dihedra method some of these data being used in further determination of stress tensors through numerical methods despite uncertainties on depth determinations results were found consistent and in agreement with those of geological analyses independently carried out on recent and active faults selections from the data were adopted on the basis of areal distribution magnitude and depth of earthquakes variations in stress axes orientation with depth seem significant and related to increasing influence of crustal anisotropy near the surface the dominant trend of the present day extension in this region as indicated by the analysis of available earthquake mechanisms is nne ssw with a corresponding azimuth of the 3 axis n25 e the stress regime is extensional with dominant normal fault motions and increasing importance of strike slip faults from south to north this pattern of stress in western turkey is consistent with kinematic reconstructions indicating a westward and southwestward motion of anatolia and aegea relative to eurasia

extrusion and radial spreading beyond a closing channel abstract the development of experimental models of an extruding spreading zone beyond a closing channel is studied and a possible natural example described the strain pattern folding and radial displacements within the extruding spreading zone are analysed folds developed in the closing channel are either passively rotated or refolded when carried into the spreading zone a simple theoretical model of the experiments demonstrates that the stretching lineation is radial and parallel to the displacement direction towards the base and the front of the extruding spreading zone but perpendicular towards the top an intermediate domain with no stretching lineation separates the radial and concentric domains and corresponds to a transition through a uniaxial oblate ellipsoid k 0

first palaeomagnetic results from the cycladic massif greece and their implications for miocene extension directions and tectonic models in the aegean abstract the aegean region is characterised by major fault bound blocks with markedly contrasting structural trends recent models account for these variations either through differential block rotation or through a process of radial extension the cycladic massif in the back arc region to the hellenic trench represents a critical area where apparently divergent extension directions are observed this contribution provides the first palaeomagnetic results from this area magnetic remanence and ams data are presented for middle miocene granodiorites on the islands of mykonos and naxos these rocks are exposed in the footwalls of major extensional detachments within the metamorphic core complexes that characterise the cycladic massif a clear correlation between the orientation of an l s fabric developed within the intrusions and the magnetic fabric data is observed demonstrating the presence of a normal magnetic fabric of extensional origin the mean extension directions inferred from the orientations of the maximum axes of the magnetic susceptibility ellipsoids are markedly divergent at 064 mykonos and 351 naxos northeasterly in situ magnetic remanences are observed on mykonos whereas those on naxos are directed to the nnw neither direction corresponds to the appropriate palaeomagnetic reference direction for the miocene standard palaeomagnetic tilt corrections cannot be applied at these sites because of the lack of palaeohorizontal markers deviations of in situ remanences away from the reference direction are potentially due to rotation around any one of an infinite number of net tectonic rotation axes each of these may be arbitrarily decomposed into components of tilting and vertical axis rotation geologically realistic solutions which restore the in situ magnetisations back to the reference direction may be found by consideration of regional structural trends assuming that tilting is controlled by the major block bounding faults these solutions indicate significant components of differential vertical axis rotations across the cyclades mykonos is bound by nw se trending regional faults and is shown to have rotated clockwise by ca 22 in contrast naxos is bound by ene wsw trending structures and has rotated anticlockwise by ca 33 the apparent divergence of extension directions inferred from both the magnetic anisotropy and structural data is resolved by correcting the mean ams data for subsequent rotation using the rotation solutions derived from the magnetic remanence data the data imply that the primary middle miocene extension direction in the cycladic massif was nearly uniform along a nne ssw azimuth we consider that the uniform extension direction and opposing senses of block rotation determined for this portion of the cycladic massif are most consistent with a recent model describing deformation within the aegean in terms of a system of broken fault bounded slats within this scenario mykonos occupies a position on a clockwise rotating slat which continues northwest at least as far as evvia a major ene wsw trending fault between the islands previously identified on shallow seismic sections separates this domain from an anticlockwise rotating slat which includes naxos

tectonics and topography for a lithosphere containing density heterogeneities the purpose of this paper is to clarify the dynamic role of lithospheric density heterogeneities in particular with respect to mountain building and other processes of intraplate deformation density anomalies within or just beneath the lithosphere constitute major sources for tectonic stress fields the product of their magnitude by their depth is shown to characterize their ability to induce deformation this rule of the density moment directly yields the lithospheric thickening or thinning rate when applied to structures of large lateral extent for anomalies of lateral extent that is small in comparison with their depth the deformation is vertically inhomogeneous and has been computed with the help of simple physical models of a stratified viscous newtonian lithosphere the analytical treatment is based on fourier transform continent continent collision thickens not only the crust but the entire lithosphere the cold root underlying a mountain chain induces strong regional compressive stresses able to sustain the mountain bulding process without further help from forces transmitted from far away thus the continental lithosphere is in a somewhat metastable mechanical state adiabatic i e rapid thickening or thinning tends to grow further once initiated tectonic phases of strong compression correspond to the climax of such instabilities the response of models with cold lithospheric roots of various intensities has been computed both in two and three dimensions they yield velocity distributions and stress fields instructive comparisons are made with earthquake focal mechanisms and in situ stress measurements in the alpine and appalachian regions in the presence of lateral variations of the mechanical properties of the lithosphere the tectonic style is not only function of the local topography and of the nature of its compensation deformations in neighbouring provinces are coupled as shown by 3 dimensional models for example thickening sustained by a cold lithospheric root may generate extension in peripheral zones of weakness these last results illustrate the point that the computation of regional tectonic stresses requires the knowledge of the density anomalies within the lithosphere on the one hand and of geometrical constraints related to lateral mechanical heterogeneities on the other

high temperature life without photosynthesis as a model for mars discoveries in biology and developments in geochemistry over the past two decades have lead to a radical revision of concepts relating to the upper temperature at which life thrives the genetic relationships among all life on earth links between organic and inorganic compounds in geologic processes and the geochemical supply of metabolic energy it is now apparent that given a source of geochemical energy in the form of a mixture of compounds that is far from thermodynamic equilibrium microorganisms can take advantage of the energy and thrive without the need for photosynthesis as a means of primary productivity this means that life can exist in the subsurface of a planet such as mars without necessarily exhibiting a surface expression theoretical calculations quantify the geochemically provided metabolic energy available to hyperthermophilic organisms in submarine hydrothermal systems on the earth and help to explain the enormous biological productivity of these systems efforts to place these models in the context of the early earth reveal that substantial geochemical energy would have been available and that organic synthesis would have been thermodynamically favored as hydrothermal fluids mix with seawater

exhumation and doming of the thasos metamorphic core complex s rhodope greece structural and geochronological constraints abstract the thasos island metamorphic core complex s rhodope n aegean sea was generated between 26 and 13 ma progressive extensional tectonics was associated with upwarping of the deeper parts of this core complex to a narrow gneiss dome and with formation of a steep topographic high we present a combined structural microstructural and geochronological study that constrains the deformation time path of progressive extension and exhumation thasos island consists of three superimposed more or less flat lying metamorphic units with downward decreasing geochronologic ages which are separated by two systems of low angle normal detachment surfaces trending nw se the upper unit stayed in supracrustal level since 50 ma representing the upper plate during an early phase of extension not later than 26 23 ma upper levels of the core complex intermediate unit underwent pervasive mylonitization with top to the sw shear from about 21 ma onward the intermediate unit was rigid and top to the sw slip continued at least until 13 8 ma on the discrete detachment surface that separates the core complex from the upper plate yet in the 21 15 ma period deeper levels lower unit still deformed plastically and deformation successively concentrated in zones of high strain and in discrete detachment surfaces that caused decoupling of the lower from the intermediate unit these indicate downdip movements in opposite sense associated with doming of the lower unit at that stage simultaneously the intermediate unit was fragmented on high angle normal faults that sole into the dome bounding detachment surface and roof into the core complex bounding detachment surface these faults confine tilt blocks that are arranged around the lower unit gneiss dome doming of the core complex occurred simultaneously with subsidence of basins located on the upper plate

active crustal deformation from the azores triple junction to the middle east the co seismic crustal deformation along the africa eurasia eurasia arabia plate boundary from the azores triple junction 30 w up to the karliova triple junction 41 e is examined based on the moment tensor summation of mainly post 1964 earthquakes with ms 5 0 strain rates range from 10 8 yr to 10 6 yr while values exceeding 10 7 yr were calculated for the back arc aegean area and for the north anatolian fault zone a remarkable stability in the azimuth of the component of compression and of extension is observed in the area that extends west of italy 17 e up to the azores triple junction along this region the deformation is taken up by compression along a mean direction of n140 with rates from 1 1 to 2 8 mm yr and by extension along a mean direction of n50 with rates from 2 4 to 12 0 mm yr at the gloria fault and in the surrounding area dextral strike slip motion occurs at a rate of 11 mm yr from sicily up to the eastern end of the hellenic arc the crust is compressed at azimuths in the range n20 n31 with an average value of 26 5 this compression is occurring at a rate of 1 21 mm yr with an average value of 9 8 mm yr in the back arc aegean area extension is occurring along a mean azimuth of n156 with a rate of 5 2 3 8 mm yr the average shortening rate along the convex side of the hellenic arc is 12 mm yr from the eastern end of the north anatolian fault 41 e up to the northern aegean trough extension along n68 n179 and compression along n158 n89 occurs which results in dextral strike slip motion the rate of extension reduces from east to west from 30 mm yr to 5 mm yr while the rate of compression reduces from 17 mm yr to 5 mm yr the northwards motion of arabia results in a n31 trending compression at a rate of 7 mm yr along the east anatolian fault zone

modes of continental lithospheric extension experimental verification of strain localization processes abstract three modes of continental lithospheric extension narrow rift wide rift and core complex were studied by means of analogue experiments the experimental method is based on models which simulate an idealized lithospheric strength profile and are scaled for gravity various styles of lithospheric extension were induced by systematic variation of brittle upper crustal thicknesses narrow rifting occurs during stable lithospheric extension when the resistance of the brittle upper crust dominates the deformation process wide rifting results from unstable lithospheric extension when the brittle upper crust is thin and ductile flow in the lower crust allows expansion of the deformation zone periodic instabilities with two wavelengths dominate wide rifting core complex mode extension is transitional between unstable and stable lithospheric extension it begins as a distributed zone of unstable extension due to thin upper brittle crust but lower crustal flow induced by the gravity force causes a relocalization of strain into narrow zones transitions between the three modes of extension are characterized in terms of competition between the strength of lithosphere and gravity forces as well as between stable and unstable deformation processes

lateral extrusion in the eastern alps part 1 boundary conditions and experiments scaled for gravity lateral extrusion encompasses extensional collapse gravitational spreading away from a topographic high in an orogenic belt and tectonic escape plane strain horizontal motion of wedges driven by forces applied to their boundaries in the eastern alps it resulted from 1 an overall northerly compression apulia against eurasia 2 a strong foreland bohemian massif 3 lack of constraint along a lateral boundary carpathian region and 4 a previously thickened gravitationally unstable thermally weakened crust eastern alpine orogenic belt six indentation experiments reproduce lateral extrusion at lithospheric scale the models have two to four lithospheric layers with a mohr coulomb rheology for the upper and a viscous rheology for the lower crust the lithosphere rests upon a low viscosity asthenosphere a broad indenter a narrow deformable area and a weakly constrained eastern margin fullfill as closely as possible conditions in the eastern alps indentation produces both thickening in front of the indenter and escape of triangular wedges lateral variations in crustal thickness become attenuated by gravitational spreading the overall fault pattern includes domains of reverse strike slip oblique normal and pure normal faults strike slip faults in conjugate sets develop serially the narrow width of the deformable area and the strength of the foreland determine the angles between the sets gravitational spreading produces a rhombohedral pattern of oblique and pure normal faults along the unconstrained margin opposite the unconstrained margin the indenter front shows thrusts and folds intersecting with the conjugate strike slip sets a triangular indenter favors spreading high velocity of indentation favors escape high confinement limits lateral motion inhibits spreading and favors thickening lateral extrusion in the eastern alps is best modeled by 1 a weak lateral confinement 2 a broad and straight indenter 3 a narrow width of the deformable area and 4 a rigid foreland crustal thickening lateral escape and gravitational spreading all contribute to the overall deformation

new paleomagnetic data from oligocene formations of northern aegea new paleomagnetic data obtained from volcanic and plutonic formations in thrace northern aegea show that this region has not undergone any significant rotation since the lower oligocene the mean value of the inclination is shallower than expected on the basis of a geocentered dipole field implying a large northward drift of about 1000 km although a comparison with published data from bulgaria leads to a puzzling large shortening between these two regions the measured shallow inclinations are coherent with most of other paleomagnetic studies from oligocene formations throughout the entire mediterranean area together with published results from chalkidiki peninsula our data suggest that the circum rhodopean belt was almost rectilinear and trending e w in lower oligocene time

u pb and 40ar 39ar geochronology of the symvolon granodiorite implications for the thermal and structural evolution of the rhodope metamorphic core complex northeastern greece north aegean continental lithosphere was thickened by southwest vergent thrusting and continental subduction within the alpine collisional orogen but has subsequently been greatly extended on a northeast southwest axis in the back arc of the hellenic subduction zone crosscutting relationships with two granodiorite bodies emplaced at 31 33 ma the xanthi and eastern vrondou plutons constrain a pre mid oligocene origin of alpine convergent structures in northeastern greece post alpine thinning of the north aegean nappe pile began in earliest miocene time and has been accommodated by a succession of distinct structural systems the earliest of these the symvolon shear zone appears to represent a midcrustal coaxial rupture of the falakron marble series a carbonate platform 5000 m thick that was subducted northeastward beneath high grade rocks of the rhodope metamorphic province in late alpine time zircon and titanite u pb dates and hornblende 40ar 39ar dates obtained in this study constrain the intrusion and incipient mylonitization of the symvolon or kavala granodiorite within the symvolon shear zone at 21 22 ma following its emplacement the symvolon body resided at temperatures between 300 c and 500 c for 5 7 m y during which coaxial deformation may have continued within a widening symvolon rupture the strymon valley detachment a regionally south west dipping low angle normal fault succeeded the symvolon shear zone in middle miocene time southwestward displacement of the serbo macedonian gneiss complex by as much as 80 km in the hanging wall of this detachment facilitated the unroofing of the rhodope metamorphic core complex including the falakron marble series and several tertiary plutons in its footwall biotite and k feldspar 40ar 39ar dates from 11 1 0 2 ma to 15 5 0 3 ma yielded by symvolon granodiorite samples document the cooling of the rhodope core complex below 150 c 300 c during its southwestward progressive exhumation in the footwall of the strymon valley detachment

late cenozoic extension in northeastern greece strymon valley detachment system and rhodope metamorphic core complex the strymon valley detachment system accommodated at least 25 km of extension at the northern margin of the aegean extensional province from middle miocene through early pliocene time the primary detachment surface is exposed as a gently southwest dipping low angle normal fault similar to those widely known in core complex settings of the u s basin and range province for more than 150 km along strike from the aegean sea coast in northeastern greece northward into the struma valley of southern bulgaria hanging wall rocks in the strymon valley detachment system moved in a s53 w direction relative to the footwall resulting ultimately in the tectonic unroofing of the rhodope metamorphic core complex several segments of the strymon valley detachment have previously been interpreted as thrust faults formed during a miocene compressional event our results negate the principal evidence for this event and imply instead that extensional deformation has characterized the northern aegean region since at least middle miocene time displacement ceased on the strymon valley detachment with the late pliocene development of the strymon and drama basins we propose that those basins together with the other principal basins of the northern aegean region are subsiding above an active northeast dipping extensional detachment zone that forms a unified kinematic system with the western offshore continuation of the dextral north anatolian strike slip fault the north aegean trough if this hypothesis is correct then the north aegean trough the western strands of the north anatolian fault and the principal modern depocenters of the northern aegean region may all have originated no earlier than late pliocene time

temporal variation in the stress field of the aegean region we use a forward numerical model to analyse the intra plate stress field in an area of active extension of continental lithosphere the aegean region recent tomographic images of the hellenic subduction zone offer the unique opportunity to address the relation between the evolving aegean stress field and temporal variations in the subduction process to this extent we apply our model to both the present day and the late pliocene situation regarding the current situation it is found that subduction related forces largely explain the observed pattern of tension results obtained for the pliocene indicate that detachment of the slab subducted below western greece may have controlled the observed temporal variation in the pattern of tension

prediction of faulting from the theories of elasticity and plasticity what are the limits elasticity rigid plasticity and elasto plasticity are the simplest constitutive models used to describe the initiation and evolution of faulting however in practice the limits of their application are not always clear in this paper we test the behaviour of these different models using as examples tectonic problems of indentation of a die compression with basal shear bending of a plate and normal faulting around a dike by comparing the results of these tests we formulate some guidelines that may be useful for the selection of an appropriate constitutive model of faulting the theory of elasticity reasonably predicts the initiation of the fault pattern but gives erroneous results for large strains the theory of rigid plasticity is more appropriate for large deformations where the geometry of faults can be found by the method of characteristics this method works well for zones of failure that are not severely constrained by elastic material outside e g when faults are connected to the free surface a viscous substratum or a zone of weakness non associated elasto plasticity is the most complete theory among those considered in this paper it describes the evolution of faults from the initiation of localized deformations to the formation of a complicated fault network

physical properties and state of the crust and upper mantle of the eastern mediterranean sea deduced from geophysical data abstract by evaluating the geophysical information available for the eastern mediterranean sea ems a crustal thickness map and some conclusions as to the nature of the crustal type were drawn it was found that the ionian abyssal plain is floored by an oceanic type of crust which is 14 km thick and covered by sediments of the order of 8 km thick the herodotus abyssal plain in the levantine sea is floored by a crust 22 km thick and covered by sediments ranging between 10 and 15 km thick the eastern mediterranean rise extending more or less continuously from the apulian plateau to rhodes and the south of the antalya basin is of a thickness ranging between 28 and 34 km the thickness of its sedimentary cover is of the order of 10 km the borders of the eastern mediterranean sea are built up of thick continental crust for example the hellenides of western greece range between 40 and 44 km thick and western turkey has a similar crustal thickness the crust of sicily also exceeds 40 km whereas the southern and eastern borders of the ems are approximately 30 32 km thick tectonically the northern border of the ems is built up of active continental margins defined by the calabrian hellenic and cyprus antalya arcs whereas the southern border represents a passive continental margin controlled mainly by subsidence and stretching to the east the dead sea megashear limits the area the deep basins of the eastern mediterranean sea are tectonically controlled by subsidence and partial stretching the mediterranean ridge or rise is still an area of dispute regarded by some authors as a subsiding continental fragment and separated from the hellenic arc by the hellenic trench whereas others consider it to be a zone of crustal shortening thickened mainly by thrusting both the western and southwestern borders of the mediterranean rise and the hellenides are controlled by compressional processes similar to those deforming the calabrian arc the stravo and pliny trenches to the east southeast border of the hellenic arc are partly affected by strike slip movements various plate tectonic models of the area have been proposed by several authors though the complexity of the deformation hardly permits reliable reconstructions the lack of reliable paleomagnetic information and the absence of linear magnetic anomalies do not favour the application of plate tectonic concepts vertical processes due to the uprising of lithothermal systems below the hellenic and calabrian arcs may also be regarded as the driving force controlling the present day deformation

mechanisms of blueschist creation and preservation in an a type subduction zone mount olympos region greece deformation and metamorphism in the mount olympos region greece are the result of subduction of continental crust a type subduction during the alpine orogeny new structural and petrologic data from this region provide insight into the creation of low geothermal gradients in a type subduction zones and the preservation of blueschist facies assemblages early convergent deformation was accompanied by greenschist amphibolite facies metamorphism blueschist facies mineral assemblages overprinted higher grade assemblages during large scale episodic shortening that occurred during and after continental collision prehnite pumpellyite facies assemblages are postkinematic with respect to contractional fabrics but predate a prolonged period of extension that was not accompanied by metamorphism under plating and extension permitted unroofing and preservation of the blueschists with no over printing by greenschist facies assemblages

subcrustal microearthquake seismicity and fault plane solutions beneath the hellenic arc subcrustal seismicity recorded in the southern aegean sea during a 7 week microearthquake study was low compared with shallow seismicity most intermediate depth seismicity occurred beneath the western and eastern ends of the hellenic arc this distribution confirms that a slab of lithosphere is being subducted at a very shallow 15 angle for 200 km beneath the western end peloponnese but more steeply beneath the eastern end dodecanese we could locate only one intermediate depth event beneath the central pan of the arc where teleseimically located intermediate depth earthquakes also are infrequent t axes for most of the 22 focal mechanisms of subcrustal earthquakes are roughly parallel to the local dip direction of the seismic zone between depths of 40 and 80 km the mechanisms are more confused than at greater depth perhaps because some of these earthquakes did not occur within the downgoing slab earthquakes deeper than 80 km and within the subducted slab have nearly horizontal p axes that trend nne ssw in the eastern part and nnw sse in the western part of the arc these deeper mechanisms show horizontal p axes along strike perhaps in response to the contortion of the slab or to the westward motion of turkey as well as lengthening downdip probably in response to gravity acting on excess mass in the slab thus the short slab both downdip and along strike subducting beneath the aegean is subjected to a more complex set of forces than the long slabs of the pacific

southern menderes massif an incipient metamorphic core complex in western anatolia turkey in the southern sector of the menderes massif north of selimiye milas augen gneisses interpreted as a deformed peraluminous granite have been dynamothermally metamorphosed and are surrounded by and intrude a regionally metamorphosed palaeozoic envelope the granitic rocks exhibit a moderately dipping mylonitic foliation and nne ssw trending mineral elongation lineation the progressive deformation of the granitic rocks produces a structural sequence typical of an extensional shear zone marked from bottom to top by a very thick extensive zone of mylonites followed in turn by brecciated mylonite and cataclasite the kinematic indicators exhibit a top to the south down dip sense of shear these structures are attributed to exhumation of the granitic rocks of the massif along a major south dipping normal sense shear zone that accommodated crustal extension during late oligocene collapse of the orogen in western turkey thus the southern menderes massif may be interpreted as the exhumed footwall of a major extensional shear zone and possibly as an incipient core complex

paleomagnetic evidence for cenozoic clockwise rotation of the external albanides abstract a paleomagnetic study of 750 samples obtained from 55 late eocene to middle pliocene sedimentary sites demonstrates a clockwise rotation of about 45 of the external zones of albania this rotation occurred either in two phases of roughly equal amplitude during the early middle miocene and plio pleistocene or in a single phase with a clear acceleration of the movement during the plio pleistocene the good agreement of these results with those from southern albania and northwestern greece indicates that a large geographical area is involved in the rotation the active aegean compressive front thus extends much farther north than hitherto believed and the rotational pattern is not significantly distorted by the tectonic discontinuities recorded by geological studies the external zones of the albano hellenic belt appear to have rotated virtually as a single entity from the peloponnesos to northern albania over a deep decollement level probably involving the basement itself

the oligocene xanthi pluton northern greece a granodiorite emplaced during regional extension the xanthi pluton is one of a series of oligocene subduction related granodiorites in northern greece its emplacement was controlled by major faults it is located on the ene trending kavala komotini fault zone which probably originated as a strike slip fault geophysical data show that the pluton is laccolith shaped extending many kilometres south of the fault andesitic dykes several million years older than the pluton indicate a ne sw directed extensional stress field mineral lineations plunging to the sw reflect continued extension during cooling of the pluton subsequent jointing and dykes of aplite and lamprophyre reflect continued extension although this could result from extensional pull apart at a bend during dextral strike slip motion on the kavala komotini fault there is no evidence for subsequent strike slip deformation furthermore two similar laccolithic plutons are unrelated to the kavala komotini fault and the regional extent of thick oligocene sediments suggests an extensional environment during the extension that created a ramp space along the listric fault bounding the xanthi basin into which the granite was intruded the kavala komotini fault acted as a transfer fault reactivation of early joints occurred during late oligocene early miocene compression faults within the pluton parallel to the kavala komotini fault accompanied extension during neogene basin formation emplacement of subduction related magma into ramp space developed along listric faults to produce laccolith like plutons may be a common feature of back arc extension

palaeomagnetic results from southern albania and their significance for the geodynamic evolution of the dinarides albanides and hellenides abstract mesozoic and cenozoic rocks were studied in three tectonic units in southern albania the area belongs to the ionian zone outer albanides rock magnetic investigations comprising alternating field and thermal cleaning stepwise acquisition of isothermal remanent magnetization and hysteresis experiments were carried out they established magnetite and titanomagnetite as the main carriers of the natural remanent magnetization in the high field behaviour haematite and goethite can also be seen several fold tests on the site and on a regional scale indicate that the directions are characteristic these directions prove a general clockwise rotation of about 40 since the tortonian using all available palaeomagnetic data from albania individual movements of the different tectonic units within the inner and outer albanides can be deduced this is also valid for the albanian alps which are understood to be the southernmost part of the dinarides

east west extension and holocene normal fault scarps in the hellenic arc examination of surface fault traces with spot images and in the field corroborates the inference that the active tectonics of southern peloponnesus and crete are dominated by approximately north south normal faulting and approximately east west extension the heights of holocene normal fault scarps yield first order regional estimates of fault slip rates between 0 1 and 2 3 mm yr most of the surface scarps probably ruptured during past earthquakes such as that which destroyed sparta in 464 b c on the sparta fault the holocene average slip rate and the recurrence time of large earthquakes may be 1 mm yr and 3000 yr respectively the regional pattern of quaternary faulting suggests that the east west extension near the hellenic subduction zone is fast about 5 10 m y the change from north south to east west extension in the late pliocene 2 4 ma implies that the aegean is starting to collide with the northern margin of africa

a comparison of satellite laser ranging and seismicity data in the aegean region in this study we compare the strain rates obtained from earthquake moment tensors in the time interval 1911 92 in greece with measured velocities of slr stations relative to eurasia we find that the slr measurements do not require strain different in orientation from that seen in the earthquakes but simply more of it the clearest deficit is in the se aegean where earthquakes this century can account for virtually none of the measured slr strain rates by contrast in the northern aegean and nw turkey the earthquakes can account for a substantial part 50 of the measured strain rates by using both geodetic and seismic data to localize apparent deficits in seismically released strain this study represents a first step towards using space based geodesy for crude regional seismic risk assessment

a fore arc origin for the thrace basin nw turkey hydrocarbon bearing thrace basin occupies much of the european part of turkey the middle eocene to oligocene sequence in the centre of the basin exceeds 9 km in thickness based on the stratigraphy structure and the regional context of this basin we propose that it developed as a fore arc basin between the medial eocene and the oligocene above the northward subducting intra pontide ocean its post miocene history has been dominated mainly by wrench tectonics resulting from the activity of the now deactivated northwestern strand of the present day north anatolian fault zone

the hellenic subduction zone a tomographic image and its geodynamic implications new tomographic images of the hellenic subduction zone demonstrate slab penetration in the aegean upper mantle to depths of at least 600 km beneath greece the lower part of the slab appears to be detached at a depth of about 200 km whereas it still seems to be unruptured beneath the southern aegean schematically we derive minimum time estimates for the duration of the hellenic subduction zone that range from 26 to 40 ma this is considerably longer than earlier estimates which vary between 5 and about 13 ma

the tectonic development of the hellenic arc and the sea of crete a synthesis abstract we use field analyses together with interpretation of aerial photographs orbital imagery and sea beam data to define more accurately the geometry of fault systems in the hellenic arc the tectonics of the area are dominated by extensional processes related to normal faulting we then use sea beam data previous oceanographic studies and extrapolation of field analyses on surrounding islands to describe the fault pattern of the cretan sea basin which is found consistent with the land fault pattern the mechanisms of the late neogene and quaternary deformation of the central and southern aegean region are analysed in terms of stress trajectories as revealed by field studies of fault populations we then examine the subsidence of the sea of crete in terms of a model of uniform stretching of the lithosphere the opening of the sea of crete was cylindrical and did not result in bending of crete this leads us to modify the southern portion of an earlier kinematic reconstruction of aegea in agreement with recent paleomagnetic results the implications of the opening of the sea of crete on the tectonic evolution of the straits to the west and east of crete are discussed finally the uplift of the outer arc is explained by underplating due to subduction

new evidence and model on the evolution of the southeast anatolian orogen this paper describes the orogenic evolution of the southeast anatolian orogenic belt based mostly on new geologic data collected from its constituent tectonic units in the course of new mapping programs of the past decade the southeast anatolian orogenic segment of the alpides may be divided into three approximately east west trending zones from south to north they are the arabian platform followed by a zone of imbrication and then a zone of nappes the arabian platform includes a mostly marine sedimentary succession deposited from early cambrian to middle miocene time the zone of imbrication is a narrow belt sandwiched between the arabian platform and the zone of nappes it consists of imbricated thrust slices emplaced onto a late cretaceous to early miocene sequence the zone of nappes is the highest tectonic unit consisting of two stacks of nappes simply designated the lower and upper nappes the lower nappe is represented by the slices of a polyphase metamorpbic ophiolitic assemblage and the maden group the upper nappe rests on the lower nappe and is represented by the bitlis and poturge metamorphic massifs southeastern anatolia underwent two major episodes of alpide deformation the first occurred during the late cretaceous period when ophiolite was emplaced on the arabian platform this event was not the consequence of a continental collision the ophiolite obduction onto the arabian platform was followed by a regionwide extension and a new marine transgression over the platform immediately after the ophiolite obduction the second episode of deformation occurred during middle eocene miocene time in two distinct stages as a result of the progressive elimination and complete closure of the ocean s which led to the collision between the zone of nappes located to the north being a part of eurasia and the arabian plate the maden marginal basin formed north of the subduction zone that eliminated the ocean between eurasia and arabia along the southern margin of the taurus belt and abutted the arabian plate much later during the final collision the second episode of deformation formed the present orogenic segment leading to the amalgamation of different tectonic units these amalgamated nappes collided with the arabian plate and welded onto it at the latest stage of the orogenic evolution during the miocene epoch

miocene detachment in crete and exhumation p t t paths of high pressure metamorphic rocks a major problem posed by the geology of crete is the horizontal contact of an upper unit without miocene metamorphism onto a metamorphosed lower one with early miocene high pressure low temperature hp lt parageneses this very sharp contact is roughly parallel to the major oligo miocene thrust planes which were reactivated as a large scale detachment which allowed exhumation of high pressure units we describe the extensional deformation and the metamorphic evolution of the lower plate most first order deformation features relate to the retrogression from high pressure to low pressure conditions a n s pervasive stretching is observed everywhere often associated with a top to the north sense of shear the extreme variation of thickness of the phyllite quartzite nappe upper part of the lower plate is probably the result of large scale boudinage similar to the one seen in large outcrops the most important observation is the systematic occurrence of fresh carpholite immediately below the base of the tripolitza nappe except in northwestern crete where a late extensional shear zone is present deeper in the nappe pile carpholite is systematically retrograded this observation reveals a drastically different pt history for the upper part of the phyllite quartzite nappe it also suggests that the late extensional shear zone found along the northern side of crete cuts inside the metamorphic structure and brings the nonmetamorphosed tripolitza nappe directly in contact with the deeper parts of the phyllite quartzite nappe pt t paths suggest a fast temperature decrease in the top of the phyllite quartzite during retrogression and hence during the top to the north shear the deeper part of the phyllite quartzite nappe shows a low temperature regime throughout but its pt path includes an isothermal decompression in the first stage we produce a tentative map of domains having experienced similar pt trajectories during decompression the overall cool regime is related to the continuous underthrusting of cola continental units during exhumation isothermal decompression observed in the core of the phyllite quartzite nappe implies fast exhumation during extension and the faster cooling of the upper part is related to a continuous displacement toward the north of a cooler unit during exhumation single grain 39ar 40ar ages obtained on phengites 15 25 ma in various structural sites are in good agreement with these conclusions and with the geological context suggesting that underthrusting of cold units at the front the accretionnary complex occurred contemporaneously with unroofing below a north dipping detachment near the top of the wedge the age of this detachment is bracketed between the end of the high pressure event 20 ma and the deposition of the breccia early to middle miocene in the neogene basins

travel time tomography of the european mediterranean mantle down to 1400 km abstract the 3 d p wave velocity structure of the mantle below europe the mediterranean region and a part of asia minor is investigated this study is a considerable extension of an earlier tomographic experiment that was limited to imaging upper mantle structure only here the earth s volume under study encompasses the mantle to a depth of 1400 km and we increase the number of international seismological centre isc data for inversion by a factor of four by taking more years of observation and by including data from teleseismic events the most important departure from the earlier study is that we do not use the jeffreys bullen model as a reference model but an improved radially symmetric velocity model the pm2 model which is appropriate for the european mediterranean mantle our inversion procedure consists of two steps first the radial model pm2 is determined from the isc delay times by a nonlinear trial and error inversion of the data as opposed to the jeffreys bullen model the new reference model has a high velocity lithosphere a low velocity zone and seismic discontinuities at depths of 400 and 670 km next the isc data are corrected for effects related to the change in reference model and inverted for 3 d heterogeneity relative to the pm2 model we follow this two step approach to attain a better linearizable tomographic problem in which ray paths computed in the pm2 model provide a better approximation of the actual ray paths than those computed from the jeffreys bullen model hence the two step scheme leads to a more credible application of fermat s principle in linearizing the tomographic equations inversion results for the 3 d heterogeneity are computed for both the uncorrected isc data and for the pm2 data the data fit obtained in the two step approach is slightly better than in the inversion of isc data using the jeffreys bullen reference model a comparison of the tomographic results demonstrates that the pm2 data inversion is to be preferred to assess the spatial resolution an analysis is given of hit count patterns sampling of the mantle by ray paths and results of sensitivity tests with 3 d synthetic velocity models the spatial resolution obtained varies with position in the mantle and is studied both in map view and in cross section in the well sampled regions of the mantle the spatial resolution for larger scale structure can qualitatively be denoted as reasonable to good and at least sufficient to allow interpretation of larger scale anomalies a comparison is made of the results of this study with independent models of s velocity heterogeneity obtained in a number of investigations and with a prediction of the seismic velocity structure of the mantle computed from tectonic reconstructions of the mediterranean region in the context of this comparison interpretations of large scale positive anomalies found in the mediterranean upper mantle in terms of subducted lithosphere are given specifically addressed are subduction below southern spain below the western mediterranean and italy and below the aegean in the last region a slab anomaly is mapped down to depths of 800 km

late palaeogene neogene evolution of the triple junction region near maras south central turkey the marao region of turkey includes the anatolian arabian african triple junction the african arabian margin is marked by left lateral transtension along the dead sea kara su rift motion on the anatolian arabian boundary is partitioned between the left lateral east anatolian fault and a fold thrust belt termed the engizek zone equivalent to the bitlis suture further east the african anatolian boundary lies along the cyprus misis andirin trend and is expressed near the triple junction as the aslantao iskenderun zone now undergoing slow left lateral transtension the neogene evolution of these boundaries is largely recorded in the stratigraphy and structure of the basins that lie along the anatolian arabian lice basin and anatolian african aslantao iskenderun basin boundaries these basins appear to have developed in the early miocene along major strike slip zones large half graben in the pre neogene 9basement9 of the western misis andirin block developed contemporaneously with motion on the anatolian african boundary these extensional features evolved subsequent to the intense shattering of the mesozoic carbonate sequence in the misis andirin block and its mixing with panels of deep water palaeogene strata to form an extensionally disrupted assemblage transpression and conversion of both anatolian african and anatolian arabian boundaries to fold thrust belts occurred in the late miocene transpression continues along the anatolian arabian boundary but transtension has recurred along the anatolian african boundary since the pliocene

the relationship between strain rates crustal thickening palaeomagnetism finite strain and fault movements within a deforming zone the deformation of continental lithosphere generally does not occur on a single fault but is distributed over a zone up to a few hundred kilometers wide if the deformation rate is constant throughout the zone and if the velocity is continuous everywhere and does not change with time the deformation gradient tensor can be obtained analytically this tensor directly determines the amount of crustal thickening and is related in a complicated manner to the finite strain tensor the declination of remnant magnetization measured within the zone can also be rotated by the deformation because palaeomagnetic measurements are generally made on rigid blocks which have not been deformed there is no simple relationship between such rotations and the finite strain expressions for all these quantities are obtained in terms of the velocity gradients which are taken to be constant the history of western north america is used to illustrate the relationship between the present deformation by strike slip and thrust motions the rotations of the remnant magnetization vectors and the shape of accreted terranes at the surface distributed deformation is taken up by motion on faults which separate the zone into blocks the displacement rate on the faults their strike and the finite rotations of the blocks are all controlled by the velocity gradients analytic expressions relating these quantities are obtained a deforming zone containing normal faults which crosses central greece takes up both strike slip and extension and illustrates the relationship between the structures within and the motion across the zone a similar but more complicated zone in northeastern iran involves both strike slip and shortening

aegean paleomagnetic inclination anomalies is there a tectonic explanation abstract more than a decade of paleomagnetic research in the aegean area mainly by french investigators c laj c kissel and their colleagues has provided a valuable data base for the evaluation of cenozoic aegean tectonics systematic rotations are documented and have been interpreted by the original investigators in the light of the evolution of the hellenic arc however less attention has been paid to the significance of the paleomagnetic inclinations which also are anomalous twenty one out of 22 paleomagnetic studies performed to date within the general aegean region have yielded paleolatitudes that are too shallow when compared with reference curves for either africa or eurasia suggesting northward relative transport with respect to both continents sedimentary volcanic and plutonic units are involved ages range from oligocene to pliocene some of these apparent paleolatitude anomalies may merely be the result of inclination flattening in certain kinds of clastic sedimentary rocks however shallow inclinations in igneous rocks cannot be so easily dismissed the explanation for these anomalously shallow inclinations does not appear to lie with the reference curves because several other reference curves calculated in several different ways yield essentially the same result we suggest that the paleomagnetic pattern may reflect real northward displacement of crustal blocks within the aegean region measured with respect to both europe and africa the amount of displacement appears to increase systematically to the west the pattern of local block rotations noticed by earlier investigators argues that the displacement did not involve a single coherent aegean block but rather a collection of smaller blocks moving quasi independently geological consequences of northward relative displacement of the aegean block ought to include mid tertiary and or later compressional structures in the north e g rhodope and extensional structures in the leading edge of the african plate

intrusion age of pan african augen gneisses in the southern menderes massif and the age of cooling after alpine ductile extensional deformation

seismotectonics and seismic hazard modelling for southern bulgaria the seismotectonics of southern bulgaria and its surroundings have been reviewed and analysed and a catalogue has been compiled for the region we show that for southern bulgaria the seismicity characteristics focal mechanisms and stress inversions a confirm the hypothesis that the neotectonics of this region are similar to that of northern greece and the northern aegean sea with presently n s extension b indicate that the seismic energy release is mostly related to normal faulting with possibly some small strike slip component in the struma fault zone c result for this region in a frequency magnitude relation that suggest characteristic magnitudes around ms 7 0 and d indicate that seismic activity occurs in crustal fault zones rather than crisp fault planes a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis psha for southern bulgaria represents a typical case of seismic hazard for a tectonically complex region with large uncertainties in model parameters we show using a monte carlo approach that large uncertainties in seismic characteristics have relatively little effect on the psha output especially when compared with uncertainties associated with the attenuation function uncertainties in the seismotectonic model emerge strongest for the regions around pazardjik and jambol the western and eastern tails of the maritsa fault zone for six important economic centers in southern bulgaria we present the seismic hazard and their uncertainties with respect to attenuation and seismicity modelling our psha maps show for example regions with significant seismic hazard that exceed with 50 confidence a 1 annual probability of the peak ground acceleration exceeding 0 3 g future psha improvements for the region can be obtained by in order of decreasing significance a carefully mapped site responses or more accurate regional attenuation models b additional constraints on the seismic zones and c better constrained magnitude frequency distributions for example with independent regional strain rate information

quaternary evolution of the corinth rift and its implications for the late cenozoic evolution of the aegean summary we present geological and morphological observations at different scales to constrain rates of faulting and the distribution of deformation in the seismically active aegean region we focus first on the 130 km long corinth rift an asymmetric graben where a flight of terraces of marine origin are uplifted we show that the edges of the terraces lie in the footwall of the normal fault bounding the corinth rift and correspond to sea level highstands of laic pleistocene age using a detailed analysis of aerial and spot imagery supported by field observations we have mapped 10 terrace platforms and strandlines ranging in elevation from 10 to 400 m over distances of 2 to 20 km from the fault the elevation of the terraces inner edges was estimated at 172 sites with an error of 5m this data set contains a precise description of the uplift and flexure of 10 different palaeohorizontal lines with respect to the present sea level to date the deformation we correlate the corinth terraces with late pleistocene oxygen isotope stages of high sea level stands and with global sea level fluctuations using a thick elastic plate model consistent with our current understanding of the earthquake cycle and a boundary element technique we reproduce the geometry of the shorelines to constrain both mechanical parameters and the slip on the fault we show that the seismogenic layer behaves over the long term as if its elastic modulus were reduced by a factor of about 1000 all the terraces are fitted for fault slip increasing in proportion to terrace age and the component of regional uplift is found to be less than 0 3 mm yr 1 the best fits give a slip rate of 11 3 mm yr 1 on the main rift bounding fault over the last 350 kyr other geological and morphologic information allows us to estimate the total age of the main fault 1 ma and to examine the mechanical evolution of the corinth rift the minimum observed sediment thickness in the gulf places an extreme check on the results of the modelling and a lower bound on slip rate of 6 7 mm yr 1 40 per cent less than estimated with modelling even this slip rate is nearly 10 times higher than for comparable features in most of the aegean and elsewhere in the world at a larger scale the spacing and asymmetry of the rift systems in the aegean suggest strain localization in the upper mantle with slow extension starting 15 myr ago or earlier the more recent 1 myr rapid phase of rifting in corinth partly reactivated this earlier phase of extension the younger faulting in corinth appears to result from its present location in the inhomogeneous stress field process zone of the south westward propagating tip of the southern branch of the north anatolian fault we extend these relations to propose a mechanical model for the late cenozoic evolution of the aegean as the arabia europe collision progressed in eastern turkey it caused anatolia to move to the west and the north anatolian fault to propagate into the aegean where the early slow extension started to be modified about 5 ma ago the process of propagation dramatically increased the activity of some but not all of the earlier rifts the model we present is compatible with tectonic observations as well as with the seismicity the palaeomagnetic rotations and the displacement field now observed with gps and slr

crustal scale geometry and kinematics of late orogenic extension in the central aegean cyclades and ewia island abstract the aegean continental domain is known to be the site of widespread back arc extension since at least the middle miocene overprinting structures related to the mesozoic cenozoic hellenic orogeny features attributed to early thrusting include the overall ductile deformation within two broad belts that have suffered hp lt metamorphism across the aegean this study summarizes the results of a structural study in the central aegean area cyclades and evvia island examining in particular the relationship between ductile and brittle deformation on a regional scale extension appears to be responsible for most of the ductile deformation within hp rock units that have experienced penetrative greenschist facies and higher grade metamorphic overprinting on each island studied progressive extensional deformation has occurred through the development of a major normal sense detachment zone down to depths of about 18 25 km the geometry of the extensional system on the scale of the central aegean is described taking into account the characteristic features of the regional scale ductile strain field at least two probably three subparallel major north dipping detachment zones are identified trending nw se in the northwestern cyclades and e w in the southeastern cyclades both with initial dips estimated at around 30 45 the present geometry of the extensional system implies that these detachment zones and related metamorphic core complexes interfere with each other two main evolutionary models are considered which can account for such a kinematic link between parallel detachment zones structural data favour the sequential development of synthetic major detachments zones in a direction opposite to the sense of dip of the detachments early oligocene lower miocene detachment type extension in the area studied is related to a late orogenic post thickening back arc setting

study of the crustal thickness and the subducting lithosphere in greece from gravity data the area of greece has experienced a complex tectonic history dominated by the subduction of the african plate beneath eurasia in this study the variations of the crustal thickness in the area of greece were obtained by means of the multiple source werner deconvolution mswd method applied to gravity data thicknesses of 40 49 km are estimated beneath the hellenides mountain belt to the west eastward thinning of the crust to thicknesses ranging from 25 km in the north to 30 km in the south is seen in the aegean region these results are in good agreement with recent seismological results demonstrating that the mswd method successfully treated the problem using the crustal model we derived we computed the gravity effect of the crust and extracted it from the bouguer anomaly we also extracted the gravity effect of the subducting lithosphere from the bouguer anomaly producing a residual map where most of the original gravity variation has been successfully removed the remaining anomalies appear related to near surface features and an area of low velocity mantle in the central aegean sea

salt flow and diapirism related to extension at crustal scale abstract the analysis of the structure and history of salt diapirs in large ancient evaporitic basins such as the southeastern north sea basin suggests that diapirism is controlled by crustal scale extension laboratory experiments on small scale models designed to simulate configurations comparable to the southeastern north sea basin show that diapirs which grow in a sedimentary cover during basement extension can develop close to basement normal faults or at a significant distance from them if the displacement on the basement faults is transfered horizontally along the salt layer for given values of salt viscosity strain rate and friction coefficient in brittle rocks the pattern of salt diapirism in a particular area depends on the ratio of cover thickness to salt thickness as well as the absolute thicknesses of cover and salt layers the experiments give criteria for identifying different types of diapirs and provide models of horizontal flow in a salt layer undergoing extension and diapir development some dynamic implications of the experiments are applied to the southeastern north sea basin

an analog experiment for the aegean to describe the contribution of gravitational potential energy the southern aegean seafloor exhibits clear evidence of internal deformation stretching as shown by tectonics seismology and space geodesy we use an analog three layer laboratory experiment of sand silicone putty and honey to investigate the deformation of the southern aegean lithosphere the model is installed in a box and confined by a vertical wall we open a gate in the wall and observe the deformation of the two upper layers due to buoyancy forces the general pattern of the deformation of the southern aegean is found in the analog model we observe the formation of an arc spreading outward with time the extension is radial in the inner part but parallel to the arc in the external part and of comparable importance at both ends of the gate we observe strike slip motion dextral in the western part sinistral in the eastern part rotation clockwise in the western part counterclockwise in the eastern part of up to 40 is seen on both sides of the gate but is also present with a smaller amplitude far in the internal region partially due to distributed shear the spreading is associated with the thinning of the two upper layers and affects a region of dimensions comparable to the length of the free boundary this spreading does not propagate inward with time some pieces of material located near the active boundary remain undeformed during the experiment

constraints on arabian plate motion and extensional history of the red sea analysis of the geologic and geophysical data from the western and northern margin of the arabian plate combined with data from the red sea gulf of aden leads to an interpretation of arabian plate motion that supports an episodic extensional history in the red sea and gulf of aden phase 1 extension began in medial to late eocene and was caused by the nw propagation of the reoriented central indian ridge spreading center it stretched and thinned continental crust along numerous wrench and normal faults that reactivated preexisting structures first phase extension stopped when the arabian plate terminally sutured to eurasia in the medial miocene and halted northward movement of arabia relative to africa the combined african arabian plates moved north more slowly constricting and thickening continental crust in the bitlis zagros sutures while the red sea remained technically quiescent and accumulated salt by the early pliocene continued northward movement was accommodated by lateral extrusion of large continental wedges north of the bitlis zagros sutures this allowed arabia to move northward faster than africa and reopen the red sea where phase 2 extension was expressed by seafloor spreading extension within the red sea gulf of aden rift system has been controlled by the interactions and effects of two factors 1 convergent processes between the north margin of the arabian plate and the eurasian plate to the north and 2 northwest propagation of extension associated with the medial eocene reorganization of the central indian spreading center

geodetic determination of tectonic deformation in central greece from 1900 to 1988 the global positioning system has been used to measure the relative displacements of fifteen monuments in a hundred year old triangulation network spanning part of the aegean extensional basin these displacements reflect the tectonic deformation of the region over the past century showing more than one metre of north south extension across the network the crust in this region appears to contain a few slowly deforming blocks separated by more rapidly deforming zones

the north anatolian fault zone distributed neogene deformation in its northward convex part abstract the north anatolian fault zone is composed of two almost rectilinear branches which join in a northward convex bend in this bent zone the pontide anatolide collisional system has been cut across by two transpressional belts of fold and thrust and wrench faults of lower neogene age these structures were reactived during the neotectonic period the time of deposition of the pontus group for both of these deformational events and up to the present the tectonic regime remained generally transpressional with a nw se direction of compression and a ne sw direction of extension it is only recently during the upper pleistocene that the dextral wrench faults became more localized and more straight than previously the complexity of the eastern part of the north anatolian fault zone is better understood if one takes into account the role of inherited miocene pliocene transpressional structures

strain models within spreading nappes abstract internal strain within nappes and thrust sheets is especially important in the understanding of emplacement mechanisms in this paper strain patterns within spreading nappes are investigated theoretically and experimentally three types of spreading nappe are distinguished using various boundary conditions spreading gliding spreading and extruding spreading nappes each type is placed in its proper natural environment strain components and strain gradients are summarized from the use of scale models performed with analogue materials mathematical computations from experimental modelling allow the calculation of 1 1 the schistosity trajectories in vertical flow planes 2 2 the relationship between stretch and transport direction and 3 3 the spatial distribution of different types of strain ellipsoid these provide some tests which make it possible to demonstrate in the field whether nappes are or are not gravity induced finally some field examples from the central alps and the pyrenees are briefly discussed they provide good support to the strain models presented in the present paper

a first coincident normal incidence and wide angle approach to studying the extending aegean crust abstract the aegean sea is a broad area of submerged continental crust undergoing active extension to varying degrees a combined near normal incidence and wide angle seismic recording programme was conducted in the western aegean sea in 1993 with the principal objective of testing the popular hypothesis that lower crustal deformation particularily extension is expressed as a seismically layered lower crust llc across the southern margin of the cretan trough i e north cretan offshore margin a llc was indicated by wide angle arrivals that was not apparent on either the coincident near normal in cidence profile or on older low frequency refraction records north of the northern margin of the cretan trough beneath the cyclades a domain of strong reflectivity is recorded from the middle to lower crust here the near normal incidence sections also show this typical llc reflectivity on the wide angle sections a distinct interface is suggested in addition at a larger depth than that previously assumed for the moho discontinuity the structural images and interpretations derived from the new seismic data so far do not clearly support either a pure shear crustal stretching or an asymmetric simple shear extension model for the aegean sea our results appear to be consistent with a tectonic model where middle crust mobilised by flow coincides spatially with upper crust that has been thinned by active extension of an orogenically thickened crust and expressed near the surface as an exhumed metamorphic core complex

exhumation of deep crustal metamorphic rocks and crustal extension in arc and back arc regions we adress the problem of exhumation of metamorphic rocks in arc and back arc positions based on observations of the aegean and tyrrhenian back arc regions in both regions back arc extension has been active for 25 ma at least while convergence and crustal thickening was going on at the thrust front compressional structures are reworked in the back arc domain as extensional flat lying detachments which allow unroofing of the metamorphic pile metamorphic rocks suffer first a dynamic burial during nappe stacking and then fast exhumation when they reach the extensional region we describe a continuous process of burial and exhumation that is contemporaneous with the migration of the thrust front toward external zones the front of extension follows behind at approximately one hundred kilometers at the convergence front continuous subduction of a cold oceanic slab or continuous accretion of continental units keeps a cool p t gradient and hp lt metamorphic rocks are formed at depth the overall cool environment leads to a deep brittle ductile transition and thus to a resistant crust which can sustain its large thickness while the thrust front propagates forward parts of the accretionary wedge which were formed earlier enter the back arc domain which can be already under extension and which is warmer because of a greater distance to the cold slab and the presence of the volcanic arc the brittle ductile transition rises in the thick crust which then becomes unstable and subsequently collapses the exhumation history of metamorphic rocks below detachments is two fold 1 a constantely thickening crust is unroofed by flat lying detachments which rework early thrusts this first period is characterized by a good preservation of hp lt parageneses 2 the second period is when rocks are in the zone of crustal scale extension of the back arc region deep crustal metamorphics are exhumed below flat lying detachements which affect the whole crust

the large 1956 earthquake in the south aegean macroseismic field configuration faulting and neotectonics of amorgos island abstract new field observations of the seismic intensity distribution of the large m s 7 4 south aegean amorgos earthquake of 9 july 1956 are presented interpretations based on local ground conditions structural properties of buildings and peculiarities of the rupture process lead to a re evaluation of the macroseismic field configuration this together with the aftershock epicentral distribution quite well defines the earthquake rupture zone which trends ne sw and coincides with the amorgos astypalea trough the lateral extent of the rupture zone however is about 40 smaller than that predicted for aegean earthquakes of m s 7 4 this discrepancy could be attributed to sea bottom topography changes which seem to control the rupture terminations and to relatively high stressdrop with respect to other aegean earthquakes fault plane solutions obtained by several authors indicate either mainly normal faulting with a significant right lateral strike slip component or predominantly strike slip motion the neotectonism of amorgos island based on new field observations aerial photograph analysis and fault mechanisms is consistent with the dip slip interpretation the neotectonic master fault of amorgos and the 1956 seismic faulting appear to belong to the same tectonic phase ne sw strike and a southeasterly dip however the significant right lateral strike slip component supports the idea that the amorgos region deviates from the simple description for pure extension in back arc conditions

the strain rate field in the eastern mediterranean region estimated by repeated gps measurements we use the combined gps velocity field of the eastern mediterranean for the period 1988 to 1996 to determine crustal deformation strain rates in a region comprising the hellenic arc the aegean sea and western anatolia we interpret the velocity field and determine the strain rate tensor by the spatial derivatives of the collocated motion vectors the region following the line marmara sea north aegean trough northern central greece and the central ionian islands is associated with strong right lateral shear motion with maximum shear strain rates of 180 nano strain a 180 10 9 a in the central aegean sea n s oriented extensional processes prevail reaching 100 nano strain a the southern aegean is characterized by relatively small strain rates maximum extensional components of the strain rate tensor reaching 150 nano strain a in a n s direction are found in central greece the hellenic arc is associated with moderate arc parallel extension and strong compression perpendicular to it projections of the strain rates parallel to the major fault zones reveal that the northern aegean is governed by the westward continuation of the north anatolian fault zone which is associated with strong dextral shearing maximum 220 nano strain a accompanied by numerous large earthquakes in this century

geodetic strain of greece in the interval 1892 1992 a first order triangulation of greece was carried out in the 1890s reoccupation using global positioning system receivers of 46 of the 93 original markers yielded estimates of the deformation of the region over the intervening interval broad regions have similar geodetic strain over the 100 year time span strain north of the gulf of korinthos is predominantly north south extension though with a significant east west component the central peloponnisos is relatively stable whereas the gulfs of the southern peloponnisos are all characterized by uniaxial east west extension the seismic expression of strain for the entire region calculated from the seismic moment tensors of earthquakes of m s 5 8 during the past 100 years accounts for only 20 50 of the geodetically determined strain at a scale of 50 100 km the fraction of the strain that is expressed seismically varies much more than this range in particular whereas seismic strain in the eastern gulf of korinthos over the past 100 years is commensurate with the geodetic strain there is rapid extension across the western gulf of korinthos 0 3 strain yr 1 with negligible seismic strain for the 100 year period prior to 1992 the egion earthquake of june 1995 in the western gulf of korinthos released only a small proportion 20 of the elastic strain that had accumulated in that region the observed distribution of displacements can be explained by the relative rotation of two plates with a broad accommodation zone between them but it is equally consistent with the deformation that would be expected of a sheet of fluid moving toward a low pressure boundary at the hellenic trench a simple calculation implies that if the region does behave as a fluid then its effective viscosity is 10 22 10 23 pa s such viscosities are consistent with the deformation of a lithosphere obeying a rheological law similar to that obtained for olivine in the laboratory

cutting of the european continental lithosphere plasticity theory applied to the present alpine collision presently active european alpine collision has a history of more than 100 myr convergence we investigate the collisional contact problem of an apparently rigid african promontory currently the italy adria block iab steadily penetrating at 1 cm yr over at least the past 45 myr into the deformable european plate we assume that neither continental subduction nor delamination occurs presently in the 300 km wide contact zone enabling use of the indenter indentee approach a key parameter is the aspect ratio h a defined by the width of the deformable foreland over the width of the indenter itself this parameter controls the activation of two fundamentally different modes of deformation 1 classical indentation mode for h a 4 4 described by previous authors and having effect only in a portion of the deformable plate in the vicinity of the indenter and 2 cutting mode for h a 4 4 giving plane strain longitudinal splitting of the entire deformable plate and plastic separation of the two halves we use a matrix operator method to solve for slip lines in the mixed boundary value problem obliquity velocity friction stress of the european alpine case implications are as follows 1 plane stress vertical lithospheric thickening is the first indentation mode of continental collision and 2 for the present ratio of h a 3 deformation is in the cutting mode and slow plane strain intraplate extension rifting is predicted this mode explains the intraplate stress field obtained from borehole and earthquake data considering that the paleoindenter probably has been larger than the iab it is inferred that h a has been below 4 4 since at least the end of the eocene and that consequently the intraplate graben system lower rhine rhine bresse limagne is due to the cutting of the european plate by alpine collision

metamorphic core complexes of cordilleran type in the cyclades aegean sea greece the islands of ios and naxos in the cycladic archipelago greece contain elongate domes over which a pervasive north to north northeast stretching lineation is warped these islands may be metamorphic core complexes of cordilleran type involving middle crustal rocks drawn upward and outward from underneath the sedimentary basins now 100 km to the south from ca 25 ma onward during uplift the crystalline rocks now exposed on the islands were deformed noncoaxially in the deeper levels of a major shallow dipping ductile shear zone this shear zone may have connected with low angle normal faults in its upper levels because it is probable that its later history involved the metamorphic complexes being dragged out from under a stretching and fracturing upper plate composed mainly of unmetamorphosed sedimentary and ophiolite suite rocks this model can be extended to explain the exhumation of the high pressure low temperature metamorphic rocks on crete which with the cyclades forms a distended paired metamorphic belt separated by an active sedimentary basin