structural evolution of the latakia ridge and cyprus basin at the front of the cyprus arc eastern mediterranean sea abstract the active deformation front between the african and anatolian plates in the eastern mediterranean is delineated by the cyprus arc present plate kinematic vectors and earthquake data suggest that the movement along the eastern extent of the cyprus arc is largely sinistral strike slip it is however widely accepted that subduction took place beneath cyprus until the early miocene subduction has since thought to have become impeded by the collision of the eratosthenes seamount with the island of cyprus the deformation front of the cyprus arc is dominated by the latakia ridge a steep narrow high which merges gradually with the lower slope of the broad hecataeus rise in the west and extends to the northern levantine coast in the east where the expression of the ridge changes to a number of narrow northeast trending ridges and basins the latakia ridge has previously been interpreted as either a thrust culmination or a positive flower structure this study uses high resolution marine seismic reflection profiles to delineate the stratigraphic and structural architecture of the deformation front from seismic profiles four stratigraphic units bounded by major basin wide unconformities can be identified these units are eocene lower miocene miocene uppermost miocene messinian and pliocene quaternary the timing of deformation determined from growth stratal architectures on the flanks of the major structures show that two main phases of deformation characterize the structural history of the deformation front each of these phases represents a different kinematic regime a compressional regime dominated during the miocene whereas a strike slip regime dominated in the pliocene quaternary

the miocene pakhna formation southern cyprus and its relationship to the neogene tectonic evolution of the eastern mediterranean abstract the miocene pakhna formation is interpreted as relating to onset of the present northward subduction of the african plate beneath cyprus and is thus critical to understanding of the neogene evolution of the eastern mediterranean basin following a perios of deep water pelagic chalk deposition in the late eocene and oligocene upper lefkara fm the pakhna formation records heterogeneous mainly carbonate sedimentation the pakhna formation is bounded by the limassol forest block an uplifted ophiolitic terrain to the north and by the akrotiri high a ridge of exotic mesozoic lithologies to the south two sub basins maroni in the e and khalassa in the w within the pakhna formation were separated by the wnw ese trending yerasa lineament located near the s margin of the ophiolite in most areas the pakhna formation overlies the lefkara formation disconformably the succession begins with deep water pelagic carbonates and shows increased input of shallow water bioclastic and terrigenous sediment upward during the early to mid miocene the ophiolitic terrain to the n was uplifted deformed and eroded followed by marine transgression and patch reef development in the tortonian late miocene ophiolite derived clastics were mixed with shallow water bioclastic sediment reworked in a high energy coastal setting and transported downslope within channels into the basin accumulating as massive sands debris flows and calciturbidites in the maroni sub basin localised debris aprons prograded into a pelagic carbonate environment to the se further west in the khalassa sub basin little uplift occurred along the basin margins and redeposited sediment was mainly bioclastic contrasting sediment including chert was derived from the allochthonous mamonia complex exposed on the akrotiri high to the s and its possible offshore extension bioclastic sediment including reef talus was also derived from an intrabasinal high in the khalassa sub basin eventually normal marine deposition was ended by the messinian salinity crisis

comparative studies of organic matter petrography of the late palaeozoic black shales from southwestern poland abstract there are at least two sapropelic units associated with late palaeozoic black shales in central europe the older unit of late carboniferous age is the lower part of the anthracosia shales in the intrasudetic basin and the younger one is the well known zechstein kupferschiefer in both the foresudetic monocline and the northsudetic basin the first unit is of lacustrine origin while the second one represents deposition in a shallow marine depositional environment both units contain high amounts of organic matter thus being typical black shales the organic matter dispersed in these shales was studied petrographically in general the vitrinite reflectance of the shales studied indicates variable but moderate organic matter maturity 0 68 1 25 equivalent to the oil window detailed microscopic studies of the organic material dispersed in the lower unit of the anthracosia shales showed that liptinite especially alginite is the most abundant component secondary altered organic matter i e solid hydrocarbons rarely occurs organic components together with mineral matter constitute a lacustrine sapropelic association a humic terrestrial association and an intermediary association the character and predominance of alginite and lacustrine sapropelic association are indicative of an open lacustrine depositional environment in general this organic composition is typical of type i kerogen microscopic analysis of the kupferschiefer revealed a mixture of liptinite vitrinite and inertinite macerals and other organic components such as amorphous sapropelic mass asm and solid bitumens the most common organic components are liptinite macerals bituminite and alginite predominate and are diagnostic macerals of this unit the amount of bituminite locally exceeds 85 vol other liptinite macerals such as sporinite and liptodetrinite are present in significantly lower amounts one exception being asm which may be present in higher amounts humic constituents vitrinite and inertinite are rare present in small amounts in the kupferschiefer beds the organic matter composition points to type ii kerogen for this unit

geometric analysis of fold development in overthrust terranes abstract fault bend folding fault propagation folding and detachment or decollement folding are three distinct scenarios for fold thrust interaction in overthrust terranes simple kink hinge models are used to determine the geometric associations implicit in each scenario bedding maintains constant thickness in the models except in the forelimb of the fold the forelimb is allowed to thicken or thin without limit the models address individual folds and the calculated fold geometries are balanced structures each mode of fold thrust interaction has a distinct set of geometric relationships final fold geometry is adequate in itself to discern many fault bend folds this is not the case for fault propagation and detachment folds these two fold forms have very similar geometric relationships some knowledge of the nature of the underlying thrust or decollement zone is usually needed to distinguish between them the geometry of a fold is altered in a predictable fashion by transport through an upper ramp hinge and by fault parallel shearing of the structure the shearing results in a tighter fold whereas transport through the ramp hinge produces a broader fold the viability of the geometric analysis technique is demonstrated through its application to a pair of detachment folds from the canadian cordillera the geometric analysis is also used to evaluate cross sections through subsurface structures in an example from the turner valley oil field the analysis indicates how the interpretation should be altered so as to balance the cross section the analysis reveals hidden assumptions and specific inconsistencies in structural interpretations

architecture of late orogenic quaternary basins in northeastern mediterranean sea abstract in the northeastern mediterranean sea pliocene to quaternary depocentres have formed in extensional basins bounded by splays of the east anatolian transform fault this tectonic regime is superimposed on a miocene and older back arc environment that experienced late miocene compression along the misis kyrenia thrust which now lies in the middle of the extensional zone the thrust zone is now represented by a narrow horst that appears to be bounded by strike slip faults pliocene quaternary extension took place on listric fault fans that are orthogonal to the bounding transform splays and sole at a messinian evaporite horizon and on some deeper soling listric faults parallel to and near the bounding faults the rapid extension has resulted in progressive landward migration of paleoshorelines and low depositional gradients glacio eustatic fluctuations in shoreline positions strongly influenced sediment distribution most sediment dispersion was from deltaic plumes with turbidites of minor significance depocentres landward of the maximum seaward extent of paleoshorelines were formed almost entirely by tectonic subsidence minor deep water depocentres controlled by halokinesis accumulated mud turbidites during extreme low stands of sea level

the cilicia adana basin complex eastern mediterranean neogene evolution of an active fore arc basin in an obliquely convergent margin abstract detailed interpretation of multi channel seismic reflection profiles showed that the deposition of the miocene successions in the cilicia adana basin complex occurred within a foredeep south of the arcuate tauride fold thrust belt the misis kyrenia fault zone defined the northernmost of a number of smaller thrust culminations developed within this foredeep fluvio deltaic successions suggest that the adana and inner cilicia basins became emergent during the tortonian when the western portion of the piggy back basin retained a marine connection the entire region became emergent during the messinian salinity crisis and up to 1000 m of evaporites were deposited in the cilicia and southern adana basins stratigraphic and structural relationships demonstrated that the late plio quaternary cilicia adana basin complex evolved as an asymmetric piggy back basin on the hanging wall of the large south verging misis kyrenia thrust culmination on the misis kyrenia segment of the culmination thrust activity ceased in early messinian whereas on the kyrenia segment it continued to the present the shift in the kinematics is expressed by the development of the ne sw trending steep faults with extensional separations bounding the plio quaternary depocentre in the adana and inner cilicia basins these basement rooted faults are incompatible with the contractional regime that existed in this part of the basin complex during the miocene in the outer cilicia basin the incompatibility between a domain of continued south directed fold thrust activity and uplift on the kyrenia range and a domain of extension associated with the development of plio quaternary depocentre indicates that strain is strongly partitioned across the e w trending southern basin bounding fault system along the southern margin of the outer cilicia basin progressive westward displacement of the tauride block within the aegean anatolian microplate created a localised transtensional regime within the inner cilicia and adana basins suggesting the presence of hard intra plate fault boundaries centred along the misis kyrenia horst block and the southern basin bounding fault system the northern basin bounding fault system including the kozan fault in the cilicia basin is a set of large antithetic structures linked to the master faults the westward pull out of the tauride block is related to the overall westward escape of the aegean anatolian microplate during the latest miocene to early pliocene whereas the continued contraction south of the basin complex across cyprus is related to the evolving collision and under plating of the continental micro fragment the eratosthenes we propose that the southern master fault of the outer cilicia basin primarily functions as a boundary separating a contractional microplate domain to the south from a transtensional microplate domain to the north

salt tectonics in two convergent margin basins of the cyprus arc northeastern mediterranean abstract seismic reflection profiles from the adana cilicia and iskenderun latakia basin complexes in the ne mediterranean sea show the presence of linked extensional contractional fault systems detached at the base of the messinian evaporites the extensional domain is developed within the thick proximal part of the plio quaternary delta succession in the inner part of each basin it is characterized by imbricate fans of listric normal faults which delineate turtle anticlines and their intervening syncline the faults sole into the gently southwest dipping detachment surface in the inner basins salt is largely evacuated toward the outer basins but remnants occur as rollers in the footwalls of the listric extensional faults and small subdued pillows beneath turtle anticlines the narrow synclines between the two turtle back growth anticlines record a more complicated history of rise and fall of the salt related to switch in vergence of the extensional fault fan a large salt wall is developed at the toe of the delta complex in both basins two wide peripheral sinks are present within the plio quaternary units on both flanks of the salt wall locally small segments of salt welds are present near the base of the salt wall the contractional domain is characterized by a relatively thin plio quaternary cover overlying a relatively uniform 500 800 ms thick salt substrate a series of salt cored growth folds are commonly associated with thrusts of variable vergence the halokinetic structures in the cilicia and latakia basins display a remarkable resemblance to detached and linked systems of extensional and contractional fault fans documented in classical salt provinces on passive margins the study area also resembles scaled experiments which document synchronous development of extensional and contractional fault systems detached in a ductile substrate however a number of differences also exist which may arise from several factors including the nature of ductility contrast between the ductile portion of the evaporite layer and the supra salt succession the thickness ratio of overburden to evaporite unit and the rate of progradation and the nature of sediment distribution during the evolution of the delta complex the special aspect of these associations of linked gravity driven extensional and contractional salt structures is that they are developed as a self contained system wholly situated within a plio quaternary transtensional basin

the east anatolian fault an oblique collisional belt abstract the tectonic setting for the area around the arabia africa anatolia triple junction is described from combined landsat spot satellite image analysis and field observations since the late miocene the motion along the east anatolian fault generated major structures corresponding to shortening with a sinistral slip component the 150 km wide area of the triple junction is highly deformed by folding and thrusting distributed mainly on the border of the anatolian block in addition kinematic reconstructions confirm that the arabia anatolia relative motion is both sinistral and convergent the sinistral strike slip faults of the east anatolian fault zone are of second order and local consequences of the n s arabia anatolia collision

the hilt bed an upper cretaceous compound basin plain seismoturbidite in the hornbrook forearc basin of southern oregon and northern california usa abstract the hilt bed is a thick laterally continuous marker bed of fine to medium grained sandstone that crops out for a nw se along strike distance of about 50 km on the southwestern flank of the cretaceous hornbrook forearc basin of northern california and southern oregon the hilt bed forms part of the blue gulch mudstone member of the hornbrook formation and is everywhere underlain and overlain by basin plain mudstone that contains thin interbeds of turbidite sandstone and siltstone the bed is as thick as 4 71 m in the central part of the outcrop belt and thins progressively to the nw and se it was derived from erosion of igneous and metamorphic basement rocks of the klamath mountains which flank the basin to the sw paleocurrents measured from flute casts at the base of the bed indicate sediment transport to the ne the hilt bed can be divided into a compound succession of nine bouma divisions all of which are generally present in outcrop the succession consists in ascending stratigraphic order of bouma abababcde divisions the basal a division is typically the thickest and coarsest layer with overlying divisions generally thinner and more variable in thickness the bed appears to have been deposited as a compound turbidite by at least three separate turbidity currents that appear to have been generated either by the same triggering event or by a rapid succession of related events only the uppermost part of the bed thus contains a complete bouma sequence the unidirectional paleocurrent indicators lateral continuity and extent of the three flows that make up the bed incompleteness of the two lower bouma sequences and absence of interbedded shale or bioturbated levels suggest that the three turbidity currents reached the basin floor at almost the same time to yield the bed the compound nature of the hilt bed suggests that a major seismic event triggered the three large flows which probably originated in either a single submarine canyon or three adjacent canyons

the structural relationship between the east anatolian and dead sea fault zones in southeastern turkey abstract the complex structural relationship between the east anatolian and dead sea fault zones is examined mostly based on field observations in southeastern turkey where the two fault zones are close together several faults previously poorly documented can be traced to connect either to the east anatolian fault zone or to the dead sea fault zone one of these faults connects the dead sea fault zone to the east to the amanos fault to the west the amanos fault a n trending normal fault is a part of the east anatolian fault zone since it is apparently a left step fault between the main and southern strands of the east anatolian fault zone the dead sea fault zone also is connected to the east anatolian fault zone northeast of the town of narli and or northeast of the hazar lake therefore we suggest that the two fault zones can be considered as one broad fault system in southeastern turkey although they are well recognized as two different fault zones this fault system is responsible for several complex neogene structural features of the western part of the southeastern turkey one of these is the hatay graben which can be divided into southern central and northern parts the graben contains down to the west normal faults in its southern part the central part of the graben is a divergent strike slip basin and the northern part is a half graben

varying tectonic control on basin development at an active microplate margin latakia basin eastern mediterranean abstract detailed interpretation of multichannel seismic reflection profiles show that the latakia basin evolved in two distinct tectonic stages southeast directed contraction that culminated in the latest miocene followed in the early middle pliocene by progressive transition to partitioned contraction and extension related to the initiation of strike slip along the eastern anatolian transform fault and its marine extensions the miocene fold thrust belt comprises two arcuate culminations enclosing a miocene piggy back depocentre situated on the backlimb of the amanos larnaka ramp anticline in the early middle miocene this piggy back basin was part of a much wider foredeep that also encompassed the miocene successions of the cilicia adana basin complex to the north the misis kyrenia fold thrust belt evolved in the tortonian effectively dividing the foredeep into two large piggy back basins our data demonstrate that a fundamental change in kinematic regime occurred during the messinian to early pliocene involving the onset of strike slip movements resulting in transtension along the northeast trending portion of the main lineaments bounding the latakia basin and continued contraction across the east trending portion of the lineaments in the northeastern portion of the latakia basin southeast directed thrusting ceased in the early messinian and was followed in the lower pliocene by the development of horst and grabzen structures bounded by faults linking onland with the strands of the east anatolian transform fault

tectonic connection of the hellenic and cyprus arcs and related geotectonic elements abstract the cyprus arc system forms part of a well defined presently active plate boundary and is a critical area for understanding the evolution of the eastern mediterranean sea the available seismic reflection profiles are utilised in order to establish the nature and origin of the main tectonic features of the arc which include 1 a the cyprus trench displaying evidence of underthrusting and morphostructural features typical of subduction zones 2 b the pytheus trench associated with right lateral strike slip movement and connecting the western end of the cyprus trench to the strabo trench sector of the hellenic trench system 3 c a predominantly transtensional fault zone connecting the easternmost part of the cyprus trench via the baer bassit overthrust zone in syria to the dead sea transform fault system 4 d a zone of complex deformation involving thrust and transform elements running from the misis mountains of southeast turkey through the kyrenia range in cyprus to the gulf of antalya and transected by roughly n s major shears notably the cape gelidonya anaximander mountains strike slip zone which appears to form the western boundary of the present active system of the cyprus arc the nature of the shallow structures associated with the cyprus arc is consistent with a geotectonic model involving some post miocene rotation of the south anatolian cyprus block probably induced by escape dynamics resulting from continent continent collision in eastern turkey and the development of the maras triple junction in southeastern turkey the alternation of plate boundary sectors respectively characterised by thrusting and strike slip displacement suggests that the shallow crust in this part of the eastern mediterranean is in a compartmented and relatively brittle state allowing accumulated boundary stresses to be accommodated largely by displacements and deformation along secondary features

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

structures and kinematics in the northeastern mediterranean a study of an irregular plate boundary abstract extensional structures are prominent in the northeastern mediterranean a unique sector of the africa eurasia plate convergence zone to explain this paradoxical situation we analyse here the young tectonics of this region by examining its structural elements and plate kinematics offshore multichannel seismic reflection profiles and onland geology show that the stuctural settings are different on the two sides of the northeastern mediterranean triple junction afr arb ana on the east stuctures controlled by strike slip and by compression coexist whereas on the west compression is not very conspicuous here deep basins separated by a partly submerged ridge are prominent we interpret the ridge which comprises the kyrenia misis andirin unit at its core as a large flower structure which extends from southeastern turkey to cyprus the adana cilicia and the iskenderun latakia mesaoria basins on its flanks are interpreted as due to extension this interpretation agrees with the relative motions between the africa arabia eurasia and anatolia plates in this region analysis of the local plate kinematics reveals that strike slip predominates along the southern boundary of the anatolia plate in this region as a result of anatolia s westward escape east of the triple junction this motion is associated with comparable shortening transverse to the plate boundary whereas west of the triple junction the motion transverse to the plate boundary varies between slight compression to extension depending mainly on the local strike of the plate boundaries these variations calculated from regional data correlate well with the observed structural changes along the northeastern mediterranean sector of the plate convergence zone the structural kinematic analysis explains both the lateral changes in the deformation style and the existence of local extension in the northeastern mediterranean

stratigraphy of the kazusa group boso peninsula an expanded and highly resolved marine sedimentary record from the lower and middle pleistocene of central japan major climatic reorganizations including changes in the nature of glacial interglacial cycles through the pleistocene are a key issue for improving the understanding of earth s climate system highly resolved marine sedimentary records are essential to reconstruct the details of these past climatic changes and investigate the mechanisms responsible for them the kazusa group located in the central part of the japanese island chain is well exposed and contains a remarkably continuous and thick deep and shallow water marine sedimentary succession this group also contains well preserved marine microfossils pollen paleomagnetic reversal events geochemical signatures and a large number of tephra beds these features allow us to establish a robust chronological and stratigraphic framework for the kazusa group and provide a rare opportunity to study oceanic and terrestrial climatic and environmental changes at high resolution especially through the lower and lower middle pleistocene in the boso peninsula chiba prefecture the kazusa group is deeply incised yielding spectacular river cut exposures the matuyama brunhes paleomagnetic reversal is observed immediately above the widespread byakubi e byk e tephra in the chiba composite section within the kokumoto formation kazusa group because the matuyama brunhes boundary customarily serves as the primary guide for the lower middle pleistocene subseries boundary the chiba composite section is considered an excellent candidate for its global boundary stratotype section and point gssp this study reviews the published data for the kazusa group hitherto almost exclusively in japanese in order to place the chiba composite section within its broader depositional and chronostratigraphic context

a facies model for a submarine volcaniclastic apron the miocene manukau subgroup new zealand submarine volcaniclastic aprons of emergent volcanoes provide a long term record of their history and are preserved long after the source has been eroded following the cessation of volcanism a facies model for submarine volcaniclastic aprons is necessary to guide interpretation of ancient uplifted successions and to understand the sedimentary and volcanic processes associated with apron formation the manukau subgroup new zealand includes a well exposed miocene submarine apron consisting of the products eroded and erupted from a basaltic andesite volcanic island complex the depositional environment setting and stratigraphy of the volcaniclastic apron are well constrained allowing us to conduct a detailed facies analysis and to assess the apron architecture lateral downslope and vertical progradational sequences reflect erosion of the subaerial edifice and the direct and subsequent products of contemporaneous volcanism the volcaniclastic facies vary largely as a function of proximity to source and the types of rock resedimented the dominant transport method was high density turbidity currents with lesser contributions from debris avalanches debris flows and dilute turbidity currents in addition eruptions from volcanic vents located within the apron are recorded as interbedded water settled and resedimented pumice and scoria deposits explosive eruptions lavas hyaloclastite and crosscutting dikes effusive eruptions the proximal apron is largely composed of coarse breccia conglomerate that is locally chaotically disrupted due to the instability promoted by steep depositional slopes and rapid sedimentation rates the subangular cobbles and boulders originated from nearby probably coastal variably vesicular and variably oxidized lavas and were deposited as lithic lags in this highly energetic environment very little sandstone was deposited or preserved and freshly erupted pumice deposits were quickly resedimented in the medial apron poorly sorted conglomerate and thickly bedded sandstone which includes pumice lapilli built up over the distal apron sequence of thinly bedded fine grained volcaniclastic mudstone sandstone the presence of pumice lapilli suggests that progradation was a response to voluminous explosive eruptions due to their low densities and easy entrainment pumice lapilli largely bypassed deposition on the steep proximal apron and were sedimented onto the more gently sloping medial apron hence coarse pumice clasts were transported much farther from their source than their dense lithic counterparts the apron records a shallowing upward sequence and the final submarine volcaniclastic facies was deposited within channels that incised the medial and distal apron the channels record an initial eruption hiatus and erosion of the edifice well rounded clasts recycled from the uplifted breccia conglomerate were initially deposited followed by pumiceous and scoriaceous pebbly sandstone from renewed explosive eruptions submarine volcaniclastic aprons involve rapid and prolific sedimentation from multiple source locations clasts of different densities and origins and can include the direct products of contemporaneous volcanism the facies architecture however can be clearly divided into proximal medial and distal volcaniclastic apron environments the proximal apron is dominated by the coarsest clasts steep slopes rapid sedimentation rates and seismic activity in the steep proximal apron promote slumping the medial and distal aprons are more likely to record explosive activity debrisflow events and eruption hiatuses due to the gentler slopes and depositional rather than erosional setting

the oligocene recent evolution of the mesaoria basin cyprus and its western marine extension eastern mediterranean abstract the neogene stratigraphic and structural evolution of the mesaoria basin and kyrenia range is studied using multi channel seismic reflection profiles from their western marine extension the region north of the front of the troodos larnaka culmination constitutes a crustal scale s verging thick skinned linked imbricate thrust system comprising most of the forearc region north of the present day cyprus arc in the eocene thrust activity gave rise to the prominent growth of the troodos larnaka culmination and concurrent imbrication further north in the forearc region creating the root of the kyrenia fold thrust belt northward retreat of the active thrust front in the oligocene miocene led to the development of a foredeep across the root of the kyrenia fold thrust belt with a prominent depositional foredeep ramp situated at the current front of this belt crustal contraction continued in the miocene along the front of the troodos larnaka culmination leading to the progressive shoaling of the basin carried on the backlimb of this culmination in the late miocene thrust activity became widespread in the forearc region with structural contraction being focussed on the kyrenia fold thrust belt pliocene thrust activity in the forearc region is primarily focussed on the kyrenia fold thrust belt with much uplift occurring in the mid late pliocene but continuing to the present the mesaoria basin evolved in the miocene to pliocene as a piggy back basin our data negate earlier models that postulate a phase of crustal extension in the forearc region during the oligocene to mid late pliocene

the structure of the africa anatolia plate boundary in the eastern mediterranean new marine deep seismic reflection data from south of cyprus to the syrian coast provide images of the upper crustal structure of the cyprean arc indicating that the deformation is partitioned along strike slip fault systems distributed over a wide zone rather than forming a sharp plate boundary between african and anatolian plates three major submarine strike slip fault systems tens of kilometers in length are mapped which follow bathymetric features and merge together toward the east these structures exhibit the three dimensional characteristics typical of strike slip deformation zones throughout the seven pre stack depth migrated sections including several sets of positive flower structures forming bathymetric ridges and the intervening contemporaneous subbasins beneath the plio quaternary sediments 500 m thick that are blanketing the whole area and that reflect only the main surface traces of the fault systems the subbasins are of varied dimensions and have rapid lateral changes in the thickness of the sedimentary fill they include two major unconformities that have been correlated throughout the data marked by the m and k reflections the m reflection is well imaged above varied thickness of messinian evaporites and the k reflection commonly appears at the base of syntectonic tertiary age sediments within the eastern cyprean arc the k reflection corresponds to the basement cover contact indicating that the strike slip tectonic scenario may have been active since the uppermost cretaceous or lowermost paleogene times to present the active deformation front of the alpine belt in the eastern mediterranean corresponds to a strike slip fault system that forms a 110 arc and coincides at the southern slope of the hecateaus rise continuing along the latakia ridge to the syrian coast the mapped structures fit within a general kinematic framework of left lateral transcurrent deformation that transfers slip from the subduction zone southwest of cyprus into the dead sea transform system in the east this change in the mode of deformation at the africa anatolia plate boundary occurs toward the junction between african anatolian and arabian plates

a mediterranean perspective on 10be sedimentation and climate around the matuyama brunhes boundary les liaisons dangereuses abstract the 10be 9be ratio is commonly employed as a tool for establishing the stratigraphic position of paleomagnetic excursions and reversals whenever the traditional paleomagnetic approach fails to provide conclusive results in particular it is held that 10be production rates in the atmosphere depend on the strength of the earth s magnetic field and the fallout and deposition of cosmogenic beryllium at the surface happen on a very short time scale however investigations performed on terrestrial and marine successions demonstrate that the 10be record and the paleomagnetic signal are often asynchronous mechanisms that control the conveyance and deposition of cosmogenic 10be to the seafloor are still ambiguous and poorly documented here we discuss the dynamics of 10be in a central mediterranean marginal marine depositional scenario characterized by a pervasive terrigenous influx our data show that a very close correlation exists between 10be concentrations and the local proxy of rainfall rates and regimes pollen indicating that a considerable 10be transport from the mainland may occur in response to the remobilization of terrestrial reservoirs during periods of increased runoff superimposed is a dynamic oceanographic setting that further controls the preservation potential of 10be at the bottom in terms of changing water chemistry and or composition of the sedimentary flux to the seafloor results of our investigation suggest that in particular environmental and depositional settings the interplay between climate terrigenous yield and oceanography may jeopardize the sedimentary depiction of the meteoric 10be contribution thus challenging the use of 10be for tracking the stratigraphic position of geomagnetic reversals

spatial variation in turbidite to contourite continuums of the kiwada and otadai formations in the boso peninsula japan an unstable bottom current system in a plio pleistocene forearc basin abstract spatial variations in winnowing erosion and redistribution of turbidites by deep sea bottom currents have been recognized in basin plain submarine fan and slope deposits of the kiwada and otadai formations of the lower kazusa group this group represents the infill of the plio pleistocene kazusa forearc basin now exposed on the boso peninsula japan in general bottom current influenced sandy deposits sandy contourites are better sorted than associated turbidites and have sharp or gradational basal contacts with underlying turbidites or hemipelagites and sharp upper contacts with overlying hemipelagites ripple cross lamination is the most common sedimentary structure in sandy contourites these contourites are commonly associated with internal mud drapes which indicate osci lating traction and suspension deposition from deep sea bottom currents by mapping of some sandstone beds and volcanic ash layers from the proximal to the northeastern downslope areas spatial variations in the lithofacies characteristics of turbidite to contourite continuums and in paleocurrents of sandy contourites have been recognized these variations indicate spatially varying intensity and directions of deep sea bottom currents in the kazusa forearc basin analogous flow conditions have been documented in the modern deep water mass of the kuroshio current off the japanese islands thus the observed spatial variations in lithofacies and paleocurrents can best be explained in terms of fluctuating strength of the deep water part of the paleo kuroshio current during the pliocene through pleistocene

the neogene evolution of the outer latakia basin and its extension into the eastern mesaoria basin cyprus eastern mediterranean the neogene stratigraphic and structural evolution of the eastern mesaoria basin is studied using multi channel seismic reflection profiles from the eastern marine extension of the basin into the outer latakia basin the region includes three major tectonic elements troodos larnaka culmination kyrenia fold thrust belt and the intervening mesaoria and outer latakia basins the troodos larnaka culmination is a large ophiolite cored ramp anticline developed above a deep seated s verging thrust complemented by a footwall imbricate thrust fan system extending into the cyprus basin the outer latakia basin is a large piggy back basin carried on the northern flank of the troodos larnaka culmination the kyrenia fold thrust belt is developed as a s verging trailing imbricate fan system these three tectonic elements form part of a crustal scale s directed linked thrust system which has a protracted tectonic history with major pulses of contraction in the eo oligocene the late miocene and the middle plio quaternary this system extends southward well into the cyprus basin and probably links with the subduction zone between the african plate and the anatolian microplate patterns of thrust activity in this linked thrust system exclude models of s migration of the plate boundary from mid tertiary to recent instead the upper plate is viewed as a broad zone of diffuse convergence distributed across a number of active fold thrust zones