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Collision tectonics of the Mediterranean region:
Causes and consequences
Article in Special Paper of the Geological Society of America · January 2006
DOI: 10.1130/2006.2409(01)

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Geological Society of America
Special Paper 409
2006

Collision tectonics of the Mediterranean region:
Causes and consequences
Yildirim Dilek*
Department of Geology, 116 Shideler Hall, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, USA
ABSTRACTThe late Mesozoic–early Tertiary evolution of the Mediterranean region was
defined by a series of collisions between Gondwana-derived continental blocks andEurasia as the intervening ocean basins closed. The late Tertiary–Quaternary evolution of the region was controlled by the generally northward motion of Afro-Arabia
and the compressional tectonics induced by the convergence between Eurasia andAfro-Arabia. Earlier collisional events caused the formation of thick orogenic crust,high-standing plateaus, and heterogeneous mantle, and resulted in slab break-offs thatwere collectively crucial for the onset of postcollisional collapse of the mountain belts,
tectonic extension, and magmatism. The diachronous collision of Adria (Apulia), as anappendage of Africa, with Europe along its irregular margins created the Alps, theApennines, and the Dinaride-Albanide-Hellenide mountain belt at different times andaffected the formation of the Carpathians in the east. The collision of the Arabianpromontory with Eurasia ca. 13 Ma facilitated the westward tectonic escape of Anatolia and caused intense deformation taken up by crustal shortening and conjugate
strike-slip fault systems in a zone of ~1000 km stretching from the Bitlis-Zagros suture zone in the south to the Greater Caucasus in the north. The Anatolia plate has
been rotating counterclockwise relative to Eurasia during its escape to the west andhence has been experiencing internal deformation through a combination of strikeslip and normal faulting, including metamorphic core complex formation. Subductionroll-back along the Hellenic trench has likely been the driving force for this southwest
motion of Anatolia and the extensional tectonics affecting the Aegean province in theupper plate throughout the late Tertiary. The widespread alkaline volcanism both in
the Aegean extensional province and in the Turkish-Iranian plateau since the late
Miocene shows chemical evidence for an enriched asthenospheric mantle melt source;
in both regions postcollisional slab break-off events have played a major role in providing this asthenospheric material and weakening the orogenic crust significantly.
Young basins (Tyrrhenian, Aegean?) are in the process of opening above strongly arcuate subduction zones in a broadly convergent system of the Mediterranean region.
The mantle response to the discrete collisional events, the geometry of colliding continental margins, and the scale of collisions strongly controlled the syn- to postcollisional
tectonics and magmatism in the Mediterranean region.
Keywords: continental collision, Mediterranean tectonics, slab break-off, lithosphericdelamination, mantle flow, escape tectonics, postcollisional magmatism*E-mail: dileky@muohio.edu.
Dilek, Y., 2006, Collision tectonics of the Mediterranean region: Causes and consequences, in Dilek, Y., and Pavlides, S., eds., Postcollisional tectonics and magmatism in the Mediterranean region and Asia: Geological Society of America Special Paper 409, p. 1–13, doi: 10.1130/2006.2409(01). For permission to copy,
contact editing@geosociety.org. ©2006 Geological Society of America. All rights reserved.

1

2

Y. Dilek

INTRODUCTION
During the late Mesozoic and the Cenozoic, the Mediterranean region experienced complex subduction events and associated collisions, resulting in mountain building and plateau
formation, magmatism, foreland and hinterland deformation,
foreland flexures and sedimentary basin evolution, escape tectonics, orogenic collapse and lithospheric-scale extension, andthe opening of small ocean basins. The nature and duration ofthese events were strongly affected by the scale of collisions,the geometry of colliding continental margins, and the mantle
dynamics and mantle response to subductions and collisions(Dewey et al., 1986; Jolivet et al., 1999; Spakman and Wortel,2004). Continental collisions, preceded by ophiolite emplacement and the terminal closure of seaways, have involved theprogressive impingement of buoyant continental blocks orplates with subduction zones and generally evolved in a diachronous fashion along the strike of the suture zones. In the
Mediterranean region, most of the continental blocks that collided with Eurasia had a Gondwana affinity, and their tectonic
history (rift, drift, collision, and orogeny) involved the evolution of Tethyan seaways and other interconnected basins between Eurasia and Gondwana and the relative motions between
these two supercontinents (Dilek and Moores, 1990; Dilek
et al., 1999a).
Studies of the seismic topography and shear wave splitting
have been most helpful in imaging the mantle structure in andacross the collision zones in the Mediterranean region. Tomographic studies have revealed the 3-D geometry of subductedslabs beneath the young collision zones and in modern convergent margins (Spakman et al., 1993; Wortel and Spakman, 2000;
Spakman and Wortel, 2004), and the shear wave splitting analyses have helped us understand the role of mantle flow and thekinematic links between plate motions and the asthenosphericflow directions (e.g., Sandvol et al., 2003). Collectively, thesesubsurface observations made significant contributions to ourreconstructions of the geodynamic evolution of the Mediterranean region and to our understanding of the crustal and mantle response to subduction and collision processes in ongoing
orogenic zones.
This article presents a brief summary of the collisional
events in the Mediterranean region in order to provide a spatial
and temporal framework of the region for the other articles
in this volume. It highlights the nature, timing, geometry,
and crustal consequences of the major collisions that affected
the geodynamic evolution of the region starting in the late
Mesozoic.
COLLISION ZONES AND SUTURESThe Alps (Fig. 1 and Table 1)
This orogenic belt in south central Europe developed during two discrete collisional events. The first was the collision of

Adria (or Apulia) with Eurasia in what is now known as the eastern Alps as the intervening small Mesozoic Meliata Ocean(Stampfli and Borel, 2004) closed during the Cretaceous (Table
1; Coward and Dietrich, 1989). This collisional event produced
northwest-directed thrust sheets of the Austro-Alpine segmentof the Alps (Fig. 2A). The second collisional event involved thecollision of Adria with Eurasia in the Tertiary as the intervening
Alpine Tethys closed, producing the west-northwest-vergent
contractional structures and a strong imbrication of the Apulian(considered an appendage of Africa) and Eurasian crust in thewestern Alps (Coward and Dietrich, 1989; Dewey et al., 1989).
This phase of the Alpine orogeny involved a significant amountof strike-slip deformation because of the counterclockwise rotation of Apulia (and Africa) with respect to Eurasia. Therefore,
the Alpine orogeny evolved diachronously from east to west
through time and involved nearly 250 km of European lithosphere in Alpine deformation.
Tomographic studies have revealed positive anomalies in
the upper 150–200 km beneath the Alps and the northern Po Plainthat are dipping to the south beneath the central Alps and to theeast-southeast below the western Alps (Spakman and Wortel,2004). These subsurface observations are consistent with thecrustal architecture of collision-induced structures at the surface and point to a south-dipping European margin below theeastern Alps (Adria plate, Fig. 2A). The postcollisional Eocene–
Oligocene magmatism (mostly granitic pluton emplacement) in
the Alps has been interpreted to have resulted from detachmentof the south-dipping Alpine Tethys lithosphere due to slab breakoff during and shortly after the collision in the western Alps
(Davies and von Blanckenburg, 1995; Schmid et al., 1996).
The Apennines (Fig. 1 and Table 1)
This northwest-trending orogenic belt in the Apulian Peninsula of Italy is the youngest mountain system (NeogeneQuaternary) in the Mediterranean region, and its geometry andcrustal architecture change significantly from north to south. It
developed as a result of the collision of the western passive margin of Adria with the Apenninic platform and Europe along awest-dipping subduction zone (Doglioni et al., 1999; Lentini etal., this volume). The deformation front associated with this collision has migrated northeastward in the northern Apennines(Fig. 2B), eastward in the central southern Apennines (Fig. 2C),
and southeastward in Calabria and Sicily (Fig. 2D), and the entire Apennines have experienced significant shortening (80–200km) and uplift (up to 2.5 km) at the rates of ~1 mm/yr, and also
considerable subsidence (up to 5 km) in the peri-Adriatic foredeeps (Cavazza et al., 2004, and references therein). At thesoutheastern end of the Apennines, the Ionian seafloor has been
subducting beneath Calabria and Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian Sea
has been developing as a Neogene backarc basin above this subduction zone (Fig. 2C and D). Thus, the Tyrrhenian Sea is anorthwest-southeast-spreading young basin evolving in a broad
continental collision zone. The Aeolian volcanoes along the

n

A

F

6

R

TELL

I

7.3

SardiniaaB

Marseille
Mar
C
Corsica
orsic

A

S
LP

Major Collision Zones

a
fric

e
For

d
lan

Rhine
Bern

C

TripoliD

Tyrrhenian
Sea

A

8.1

tic

ria

Ad
9

E

G

40

IA
id
Taur

Tel Aviv

S

IT

KB

I

Nappe transport direction(Neogene - Recent)es

IPS NAFZ

Direction of extension(Miocene - Recent)

Plate convergence(mm/yr)Normal faults

Subduction zones

Major thrustfaults

Cairo

r
EANT RIDG

SBlack SeaA

Z Ankara

R

ES

RM IstBucharest
Balkanides
D SofiaMP

ME nic
DIT
ERR
AN

40

U

30º E

AR

Bi

tlis

ag

18

Baghdad

16

A
ABI

F

TIP

-Z

GRE
CAU ATER
CAS
US
Pontideses EKP

A

40º E
0

50º E

ro

s

G

22

ALBORZ

AN

Lake
Aral

TUR

1000

AN
DI
IN EAN
OC

f

ne

ul

Zo

n

n

ia

io

rs

llis

Pe

Co

Tehran

Bakü

Km

500

60º E

Figure 1. Simplified tectonic map of the Mediterranean region showing the plate boundaries, collisional zones, and directions of extension and tectonic transport. Red lines A throughG show the approximate profile lines for the geological traverses depicted in Figure 2. MHSZ—mid-Hungarian shear zone; MP—Moesian platform; RM—Rhodope massif; IAESZ—
Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture zone; IPS—Intra-Pontide suture zone; ITS—inner Tauride suture zone; NAFZ—north Anatolian fault zone; KB—Kirsehir block; EKP—Erzurum-Karsplateau; TIP—Turkish-Iranian plateau.

I o ni

Se
a

BASIN

Maghrebides - Tell: Adria / Africa - Europe (Neogene - Quaternary)
Carpathians: Fold & thrust belt over the East European Platform(E. Cretaceous, L. Oligocene - Miocene)
Dinarides-Albanides-Hellenides: Adria - Pelagonia / Eurasia (Eocene - Quat.)
Balkanides: Fold & thrust belt between the Moesian Platform &the Rhodope - Strandja Massif (Cretaceous - Eocene)
Intra-Pontide Suture Zone: Sakarya - Western Pontides (Cretaceous - Eocene)
Sakarya - Rhodope / Strandja (Cretaceous - Eocene)Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan Suture Zone:
Sakarya - Anatolide / Tauride (Latest Cretaceous - Eocene)
Sakarya - Kirsehir Continent (Latest Cretaceous - Eocene)
Inner Tauride Suture: Anatolide / Tauride-Kirsehir Continent (Eocene)
Bitlis-Zagros Suture: Arabia - Eurasia (13 Ma - Quaternary)

SZ

PANNONIAN
ANNONIAN

ZagrebE
CARPA
T
Vienna MH
Budapest

Apennines: Adria - Apenninic platform / Europe (Neogene - Quaternary)Western Alps: Adria - Eurasia (Tertiary)

Eastern Alps: Adria - Eurasia (Cretaceous)

Betics - Rif: Africa - Iberia (L. Mesozoic - Cenozoic)A

Munich

Rome

en

20º E

ll e
He

10º N

20º N

A

S

Sea

5.6
RIF
AS
L
T
A
H

HIG

S

an
Albor

BETIC

Madrid

RE
NE
E

PY

Paris

Berlin

FAULT

10º E

Grab

Pyrenees: Iberia / Africa - Europe (Santonian - M. Miocene)

Casablanca

SevilleIBERIA

Bay ofBiscay

0º

NIA
GO

30º N

40º N

50º N

L

AN
OC
E
IC

AN
T

AT

10º W

ch

P

ea

en

A
EL
an Sea

S

E

AN
HI

nS

DEAD
SEA

pia
Cas

Adria-Eurasia

Adria–Apenninic
platform andEuropeAlcapa and Tsia–
East European
platform

Adria-Eurasia(SerboMacedonianand RhodopePelagonia blocks)
Sakarya-Rhodope,
Strandja, andPontide continental
blocksSakarya-Antolide andTauride continental
blocks (Pelagonia’s
extension to theeast)

Sakarya-Kirsehir
continental blocks
in the north andKirsehir-Anatolide
and Tauride blocks
in the south
Arabia-Eurasia(recently
assembled
Anatolia)

Western Alps

Apennines

Carpathians

DinaridesAlbanidesHellenides

Western Pontides

Central Anatolia

Eastern Anatolia

Western Anatolia

Plates or blocks
in collision
Adria-Eurasia

Orogenic belt
Eastern Alps

Middle Miocene(ca. 13 Ma)

EocenePaleocene–
Eocene

Late
Cretaceous–
EoceneEocene(ca. 55 Ma)

Early to middle
MioceneNeogene–Quaternary

Tertiary

Collision age(Ma)Cretaceous

Metamorphic core complex
exhumation (Kazdag and
Menderes) starting in the OligoMiocene; ~ north-south extension
and development of northwestsoutheast and east-west grabensystems; opening of the Aegean
Sea as a back-arc basin above
the north-dipping Hellenic
subduction zone
Nigde core complex formation
starting in the Oligo-Miocene;
exhumation of the Akdag andKirsehir metamorphic massifs;
development of the Cappadocia
volcanic province in a broad
extensional system
East-west extension and oblique-slip
faulting in the Turkish-Iranian highplateau; exhumation of the BitlisPütürge metamorphic massifs in
the collision zone

Opening of northwest-southeast(in the north) and ~ east-westoriented (in the south) transtensional basins; Rhodope
massif exhumed as a metamorphic core complex (47–35 Ma)
Western Black Sea rifting (~northsouth) as a back-arc basin
opening

Cenozoic rift system of eastern andcentral Europe (Neogene–
Pliocene); Rhone-Rhine grabensystem to the west and north
Progressive ~ east-west opening of
the Algero-Provencal (ca. 34–16
Ma) and Tyrrhenian (ca. 14 Ma–
present) back-arc basins; riftingof Corsica-Sardinia from Europe
Development of the Pannonianbasin as a result of WSW-ENE
back-arc rifting in the Miocene

Insignificant

Extensional
deformation

Eocene–Oliogocene high-K shoshonitic
volcanism around the Çankiri basin
and north of the Kirsehir massif;
calc-alkaline to alkaline magmatismin the Kirsehir massif and within the
Ulukisla-Sivas sedimentary basins(latest Cretaceous–Tertiary)Calc-alkaline to alkaline volcanism(late Miocene through PlioQuaternary), more alkaline toward
the south in time; intraplate fissure
eruption in the Arabian foreland(Pleistocene Karacadag shield
volcano)Calc-alkaline to alkaline volcanism in
the Rhodope (39–26 Ma) and
Strandja massifs and in the Thracebasin (Oligo-Miocene and younger)
Eocene and Oligo-Miocene magmatism(medium to high-K calc-alkaline);
mildly alkaline volcanism (14–12 Ma);alkaline volcanism since 12 Ma;
southern Aegean volcanism as anisland arc system above the Hellenic
subduction zone

Andesitic volcanism in the Apuseni
Mountains and the eastern
Carpathians (ca. 16 Ma–present)
and alkaline volcanism in theeastern Carpathians (Quaternary)
Low-K calc-alkaline (5–4 Ma) andshoshonitic volcanism (2.5–1.5 Ma)
in northern Greece and Macedonia

Postcollisional
magmatism
Granitic intrusions (Eocene–
Oligocene)
Granitic intrusions (Eocene–Oligocene);alkaline volcanism within theEuropean foreland (middle Eocene–
early Oligocene)
Alkaline volcanism in Sardinia,
Campania, the Aeolian Islands,
Mount Vulture (Plio-Pleistocene
and Quaternary)

Miocene (or younger) slab break-off(north-dipping Arabian and/or Bitlis-Pütürge
lithosphere); lithospheric delamination beneaththe Eastern Anatolian accretionary complex
and asthenospheric upwelling; west- andeast-directed crustal displacement along
conjugate fault systems

Eocene slab break-off (north-dipping Kirsehir andAnatolide-Tauride lithosphere slabs); sinistral
oblique faulting along the southeast marginof the Kirsehir block (syn- to postcollisional)

Possible slab detachment (north-dipping Sakarya
lithosphere); reactivation of the Intra-Pontide
suture zone along the western segment of theNorth Anatolian fault after ca. 7 Ma
Eocene slab break-off (north-dipping AnatolideTauride lithosphere); lithospheric delaminationca. 14–12 Ma and asthenospheric upwelling;
subduction roll-back of the African lithosphereat the Hellenic trench; west-southwest tectonic
escape of Anatolia along the North Anatolian
fault zone

Slab roll-back along the Hellenic trench westof the southern Balkan Peninsula; large-scale
dextral oblique faulting (Miocene–present)in the hinterland of the oblique collision zone

Slab roll-back to the east; slab detachment(WSW-dipping East European platform);
intrabasin (Pannonian) faulting as inescape tectonics

Slab detachment (northwest-dipping Adria
lithosphere) beneath the central–southern
Apennines; subduction roll-back in the
Ionian Sea

Geodynamic
processes
Tectonic escape (dextral) along the PeriAdriatic fault line
Slab break-off (south-dipping Alpine Tethys
lithosphere)

TABLE 1. MAIN COLLISION ZONES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION AND THEIR TECTONIC AND GEODYNAMIC FEATURES

Collision tectonics of the Mediterranean region
eastern edge of the Tyrrhenian Sea represent the volcanic frontof this west-northwest-dipping Ionian subduction zone (Fig. 2C;
Lentini et al., this volume). The continental collision zone in thesouthern Apennines continues into northern Africa as part of thelarger Apennine-Maghrebian orogenic belt, where postcollisional extension and magmatism have been documented to be
associated with slab break-off (Aite and Gélard, 1997; Maury etal., 2000; Coulon et al., 2002).
Seismic tomographic studies have shown that the slab architecture changes dramatically from north to south along theApennine mountain chain. A steeply west-dipping short north
Apennines slab has been imaged in the north, whereas thenegative anomalies found at depths of 200 km beneath thecentral–southern Apennines have been explained by slab detachment within the west-southwest-dipping Adria lithospherein the south (Fig. 2B and C; Spakman and Wortel, 2004). Thisslab detachment or tearing and associated asthenospheric upwelling has been responsible for recent and active volcanism insouthern Italy (e.g., Mount Vesuvius, the Flegrini Field, and theCalabrian arc).
The Carpathians (Fig. 1 and Table 1)
The northwest-trending, arcuate-shaped Carpathian orogenic belt occurs at the eastern end of the Alps and represents aneast-northeast-vergent fold and thrust system transported overthe east European platform. To the south, the Carpathians are separated by the east-west-trending Balkanides along a complex
wrench-fault system. Two major contractional deformation
episodes affected the Carpathians: the latest Early Cretaceousthrusting of the inner Carpathians (made of Hercynian basement
and Permian–Lower Cretaceous rock assemblages) and the late
Oligocene–Miocene thrusting of the Outer Carpathians (made ofLower Cretaceous to lower Miocene turbiditic rocks) toward theforeland (Royden and Horváth, 1998; Fodor et al., 1999). The
Pannonian basin west of the Carpathians has developed as a
back-arc rifting above an eastward-retreating subducting slab
along the Carpathian arc during the late early and middle
Miocene (Fig. 2E; Nemcok et al., 1998; Fodor et al., 1999). The
Carpathians and the Pannonian basin are divided into two segments along the northeast-trending mid-Hungarian shear zone
(Fig. 1). The northward impingement of the Adriatic promontory
in the latest Oligocene–early Miocene facilitated the separationof the northern and southern segments and the eastward extrusion of the northern segment along this shear zone, producing thearcuate shape of the Carpathians. The andesitic volcanism in the
Carpathians and the Apuseni Mountains started around 16 Ma
and migrated eastward in time, keeping pace with the slab rollback processes (Fig. 2E; Linzer, 1996; Seghedi et al., 2004).
The Dinarides, Albanides, and Hellenides (Fig. 1 and Table 1)
This northwest-trending orogenic belt occurs along the eastern edge of Adria (Apulia) and is connected with the southern

5

Alps in the north. It displays a bidivergent structural architecturewith east-vergent thrust fault systems in the internal zone to theeast and west-vergent thrust faults in the external zone to the west
(Fig. 2D). The east-directed thrusts are a result of ophiolite emplacement in the Latest Jurassic–Early Cretaceous, whereas thewest-directed thrust faults are associated with the collision of
Adria with Eurasia (Pelagonian platform) in the Tertiary (Dilek
et al., 2005). The collision-induced deformation has been propagating westward into the Eocene–Quaternary sedimentary rockunits in the Adriatic foredeep since the Eocene as in a thinskinned fold and thrust belt development (Fig. 2D). Global positioning system measurements in this region indicate anorth-northeasterly motion of Adria with respect to Eurasia thatis oblique to the northwest-trending collisional front (Altıner etal., this volume). This oblique convergence between Adria andEurasia along the Dinaride-Albanide-Hellenide orogenic belt
has resulted in strain partitioning in and across a broad dextral
shear zone in the Balkan Peninsula and facilitated the collapseof the orogenic belt in locally well-developed transtensionalzones (Dilek and Koçiu, 2004; Dumurdzanov et al., 2005). The
Dinaride-Albanide-Hellenide orogenic belt continues southeast
into the Antalya-Lycian zone of the Taurides in southwest
Turkey. Postcollisional magmatism is widespread in the Dinarides and the Hellenides. Low-K calc-alkaline volcanic rocks
with ages of ca. 5.0–4.0 Ma and shoshonitic volcanics (mostly
trachyte) with ages of ca. 2.5–1.5 Ma occur in the Voras Mountains in northern Greece and Macedonia (the former Yugoslavian
Republic of Macedonia) (Pe-Piper and Piper, 2002).
The Balkanides (Fig. 1)
This east-west-trending, north-vergent thrust belt separates
the Moesian platform to the north from the Rhodope massif tothe south. It is characterized by extensive Mesozoic–early Tertiary flysch deposits, intense middle Eocene contractional structures, and relatively thick continental crust (~34–38 km)(Cavazza et al., 2004). The Rhodope massif represents a metamorphic core complex consisting of pre-Alpine and Alpine
high-grade rocks intruded by Late Cretaceous to early Miocene
granitoids and covered by Late Cretaceous to Tertiary volcanicand sedimentary sequences (Marchev et al., 2004 and this volume; Bonev, this volume). The southern part of the Balkanides(Srednogorie zone) includes a Late Cretaceous magmatic beltthat extends from Romania and Bulgaria into Turkey (the Pontides) and the Lesser Caucasus and may represent a volcanic arc
developed along the southern margin of Eurasia.
The Sutures and Collision Zones of Anatolia(Fig. 1 and Table 1)
The Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean region is a collage of continental blocks separated by ophiolites
and suture zones, and these continental fragments, mostly derived from Gondwana to the south, were amalgamated throughAustro-Alpine
NappesMolasse deposits
N(Tertiary)
10

Km

Europea

30

10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80

S

20

t

per Crus

Up
Adriatic

Crust

30

ower Cru
Adriatic L
Moho

Moho

European Mantle

st

40
50

Adriatic Mantle

60

A

W

Km

n LowerMolasse(Tertiary)

10

EUC

40
50

Mesozoic
Sedimentary Cover(Adriatic)

EUC

Europea(EUC) n Upper Crust

20

60

Tauern Peri-Adriatic
Penninic
Window Fault Line
ophiolites
Oligocene
Intrusions

Mesozoic
sediments(European)

Apline back-thrust
belt front
Tuscan nappe front

Apenninic back-arc
extension of Alpine Europe

Alpine front
Corsica

Elba

M

M

Alpine orogenic
crust

Lithospheric Mantle

Apenninic
frontal thrust
belt
E

Cru

10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80

st

M

ere

sph

ic

riat

B

Ad

Asthenospheric
flow

EUROPE
Gulf of Lions
Margin

NW
0

o
Lith

Adria

Tyrrhenian Sea
Algero-Provençal
Alkaline Sardinia
Basin
Volcanism
Crust

M

SE
IonianSea

Marsili Volcanic
Arc Calabria
Basin

Vavilov
Basin
M

M

Lithospheric Mantle
Km

100
Hot

tle

man

Subductionroll-backw

200
er
Asthenosph

ic

flo

Slab
tear

300

100
200
300

C

SW
0

Tyrrhenian
Sea

Foredeep
sediments

Alpine-Tethyan and Apulian Platform
Units

Km

Adria
Plate
Oceanic crust

16

D

ian
Ion labS

Meso-Hellenic
Trough Mirdita
Mirdita ophiolite
ophiolite
Peri-Adriatic
FlyschDepression
Adria

Pelagonia

NE
0Km

Apenninic-Maghrebian
Orogenic Belt

30

Apulian Block

Figure 2. Simplified tectonic cross-sections across various segments of the broader Alpine orogenic belt. (A) Eastern Alps. The collision of Adria
with Europe produced a bidivergent crustal architecture with both NNW- and SSE-directed nappe structures that involved Tertiary molasse deposits, with deep-seated thrust faults that exhumed lower crustal rocks. The Austro-Alpine units north of the Peri-Adriatic lineament represent
the allochthonous outliers of the Adriatic upper crust tectonically resting on the underplating European crust. The Penninic ophiolites mark theremnants of the Mesozoic ocean basin (Meliata). The Oligocene granitoids between the Tauern window and the Peri-Adriatic lineament represent

PANNONIAN BASIN
ApuseniGreat
Hungarian Mtns.
Plain

Dinarides
0

WSW

Eastern
Transylvanian Carpathians East
European ENE
Basin

Platform

Crust

Km

Lithospheric Mantle

100

Lithosph.
MantleAsthenosphereE

Asthenospheric
flow

slab

deta

chm

0
Km

100

Slab roll-backentSinkingslab
Turkish-Iranian Plateau
Black
Sea

N
0

PontideBlock

EKP

BitlisPütürge BSZ
Massif

ARABIAS
0

Arabian Lithospheric Mantle

Km

Crust

Asthenosphericmelting

Km Pontide Lith. Mantle

Karacadag Vol.

100

100
Asthenosphere

Ancient
Neo-Tethyan slab

F
AEGEAN EXTENSIONAL PROVINCE

S

Mediterraean
Ridge

TrenchTethyanCrete Ophiolite

Alkaline
Volcanism
SutureHellenic
Zone
Arc Core
Complex

TethyanOphiolite

0

Moho
Lithospheric Mantle

Km

African Lithosphere

M

100

Moho

Decompressional
meltingPontideBelt N
SakaryaContinent NAF

U.CrustLower Crust

Moho
Lithospheric Mantle

Km

100

Asthenospheric flowG

0

HydrousmeltingSlabroll-back?

Detached (ghost)
Tauride slab (?)?

the postcollisional intrusions in the eastern Alps. Modified from Castellarin et al. (2006), with additional data from Coward and Dietrich (1989);
Lüschen et al. (2006); Ortner et al. (2006). (B) Northern Apennines. Following the collision of Adria with the Apenninic platform and Europe in
the late Miocene, the westward subduction of the Adriatic lithosphere and the slab roll-back (eastward) produced a broad extensional regime
in the west (Apenninic back-arc extension) affecting the Alpine orogenic crust, and also a frontal thrust belt to the east. Lithospheric-scale extension in this broad back-arc environment above the west-dipping Adria lithosphere resulted in the development of a large boudinage structurein the European (Alpine) lithosphere. Modified from Doglioni et al. (1999), with data from Spakman and Wortel (2004); Zeck (1999). (C) Western Mediterranean–Southern Apennines–Calabria. The westward subduction of the Ionian seafloor as part of Adria since ca. 23 Ma and the associated slab roll-back have induced eastward-progressing extension and lithospheric necking through time, producing a series of basins. Riftingof Sardinia from continental Europe developed the Gulf of Lion passive margin and the Algero-Provencal basin (ca. 15–10 Ma), then the Vavilov and Marsili sub-basins in the broader Tyrrhenian basin to the east (ca. 5 Ma to present). Eastward-migrating lithospheric-scale extension andnecking and asthenospheric upwelling have produced locally well-developed alkaline volcanism (e.g., Sardinia). Slab tear or detachment in the
Calabria segment of Adria, as imaged through seismic tomography (Spakman and Wortel, 2004), is probably responsible for asthenospheric upwelling and alkaline volcanism in southern Calabria and eastern Sicily (e.g., Mount Etna). Modified from Séranne (1999), with additional datafrom Spakman et al. (1993); Doglioni et al. (1999); Spakman and Wortel (2004); Lentini et al. (this volume). (D) Southern Apennines–
Albanides–Hellenides. Note the break where the Adriatic Sea is located between the western and eastern sections along this traverse. The Adria
plate and the remnant Ionian oceanic lithosphere underlie the Apenninic-Maghrebian orogenic belt. The Alpine-Tethyan and Apulian platform
units are telescoped along ENE-vergent thrust faults. The Tyrrhenian Sea opened up in the latest Miocene as a back-arc(continued )8

Y. Dileka series of collisional events starting in the Cretaceous (Şengör
and Yılmaz, 1981; Dilek and Moores, 1990; Okay et al., 1996;
Okay and Tüysüz, 1999; Ring et al., 2003; Kadioğlu et al., thisvolume).
The Intra-Pontide suture zone in northern Turkey is the result of a diachronous collision during the Cretaceous–Eocene
between the Sakarya continent (to the south) and the RhodopeStrandja continental block in the eastern Balkan Peninsula andbetween the Sakarya continent and the western Pontide belt innorthwest Turkey. These continental entities collided as the intervening Intra-Pontide Ocean was consumed at a north-dipping
subduction zone throughout the Cretaceous; this northwardsubduction resulted in the opening of the western Black Sea asa back-arc basin (Okay and Tüysüz, 1999). The Intra-Pontide
suture has been reactivated by the North Anatolian fault zone
(Fig. 1), which developed in the aftermath of the Arabian collision with Anatolia (Eurasia) around 13 Ma.
The Izmir-Ankara-Erzircan suture zone in central Anatolia
has two segments. The western segment marks the collisionzone between the Sakarya continent and the Anatolide-Tauride

platform (the tectonic equivalent of Pelagonia in the Balkan
Peninsula) that evolved along a north-dipping subduction zone
within a Tethyan seaway. The southward-emplaced Cretaceous
ophiolites and the Latest Cretaceous blueschist rocks along thissuture zone constrain the polarity and timing of this Tethyan
subduction zone (Okay et al., 1998; Sherlock et al., 1999). Following the ophiolite emplacement in the Latest Cretaceous, thecontinental collision occurred in the Paleocene–Eocene. Collision-induced southward thrust faulting was followed by the emplacement of postcollisional Eocene granitic plutons along
the suture zone (Harris et al., 1994; Okay and Tüysüz, 1999;
Altunkaynak and Dilek, this volume). The eastern segmentof the Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture marks the collision zone
between the Sakarya continent to the north and the Kirsehirand Anatolide-Tauride continental fragments to the south. The
Paleozoic–Jurassic rocks of the Sakarya continental margin,
Early Jurassic ophiolitic rocks, and Mesozoic seamount fragments are imbricated along generally south-directed thrust faults
within this segment of the suture zone, forming a 30-km-wide
belt of a colored mélange (i.e., the Ankara mélange) extending

Figure 2 continued
basin behind the Apenninic-Maghrebian mountain belt. The Aeolian volcanoes in the Tyrrhenian Sea represent the volcanic arc system in this subduction-collision zone environment. Modified from Lentini et al. (this volume). The eastern section of this traverse
across the Albanides-Hellenides in the northern Balkan Peninsula shows a bidivergent crustal architecture, with the Jurassic Tethyan ophiolites(Mirdita ophiolites in Albania and Western Hellenic ophiolites in Greece) forming the highest tectonic nappe, resting on the Cretaceous andyounger flysch deposits of the Adria affinity to the west and the Pelagonia affinity to the east. Following the emplacement of the MirditaHellenic ophiolites onto the Pelagonian ribbon continent in the Early Cretaceous, the Adria plate collided with Pelagonia-Europe obliquely starting around ca. 55 Ma. WSW-directed thrusting, developed as a result of this oblique collision, has been migrating westward into the periAdriatic depression. Modified from Dilek et al. (2005). (E) Dinarides–Pannonian basin–Carpathians. The Carpathians developed as a result of
the diachronous collision of the Alcapa and Tsia lithospheric blocks, respectively, with the southern edge of the East European platform during
the early to middle Miocene (Nemcok et al., 1998; Seghedi et al., 2004). The Pannonian basin evolved as a back-arc basin above the eastwardretreating European platform slab (Royden, 1988). Lithospheric-scale necking and boudinage development occurred synchronously with this extension and resulted in the isolation of continental fragments (e.g., the Apuseni mountains) within a broadly extensional Pannonian basin
separating the Great Hungarian Plain and the Transylvanian subbasin. Steepening and tearing of the west-dipping slab may have caused asthenospheric flow and upwelling, decompressional melting, and alkaline volcanism (with an ocean island basalt–like mantle source) in the Eastern Carpathians. Modified from Royden (1988), with additional data from Linzer (1996); Nemcok et al. (1998); Doglioni et al. (1999); Seghedi
et al. (2004). (F) Arabia-Eurasia collision zone and the Turkish-Iranian plateau. The collision of Arabia with Eurasia around 13 Ma resulted in(1) development of a thick orogenic crust via intracontinental convergence and shortening and a high plateau and (2) westward escape of a lithospheric block (the Anatolian microplate) away from the collision front. The Arabia plate and the Bitlis-Pütürge ribbon continent were probably
amalgamated earlier (ca. the Eocene) via a separate collision event within the Neo-Tethyan realm. BSZ—Bitlis suture zone; EKP—ErzurumKars plateau. A slab break-off and the subsequent removal of the lithospheric mantle (lithospheric delamination) beneath the eastern Anatolian
accretionary complex caused asthenospheric upwelling and extensive melting, leading to continental volcanism and regional uplift, which has
contributed to the high mean elevation of the Turkish-Iranian plateau. The Eastern Turkey Seismic Experiment results have shown that the crustal
thickness here is ~ 45–48 km and that the Turkish-Iranian plateau is devoid of mantle lithosphere. The collision-induced convergence has beenaccommodated by active diffuse north-south shortening and oblique-slip faults dispersing crustal blocks both to the west and the east. The late
Miocene through Plio-Quaternary volcanism appears to have become more alkaline toward the south in time. The Pleistocene Karacadag shield
volcano in the Arabian foreland represents a local fissure eruption associated with intraplate extension. Data from Pearce et al. (1990);
Keskin (2003); Sandvol et al. (2003); Şengör et al. (2003). (G) Africa-Eurasia collision zone and the Aegean extensional province. The African
lithosphere is subducting beneath Eurasia at the Hellenic trench. The Mediterranean Ridge represents a lithospheric block between the Africa andEurasian plate (Hsü, 1995). The Aegean extensional province straddles the Anatolide-Tauride and Sakarya continental blocks, which collided in
the Eocene. NAF—North Anatolian fault. South-transported Tethyan ophiolite nappes were derived from the suture zone between these two continental blocks. Postcollisional granitic intrusions (Eocone and Oligo-Miocene, shown in red) occur mainly north of the suture zone and at thesouthern edge of the Sakarya continent. Postcollisional volcanism during the Eocene–Quaternary appears to have migrated southward and to havechanged from calc-alkaline to alkaline in composition through time. Lithospheric-scale necking, reminiscent of the Europe-Apennine-Adria collision system, and associated extension are also important processes beneath the Aegean and have resulted in the exhumation of core complexes,
widespread upper crustal attenuation, and alkaline and mid-ocean ridge basalt volcanism. Slab steepening and slab roll-back appear to have been
at work resulting in subduction zone magmatism along the Hellenic arc. Data from Jolivet and Patriat (1999); Aldanmaz et al. (2000); Pe-Piperand Piper (2002); Ring and Layer (2003); Ring et al. (2003); Altunkaynak and Dilek (this volume).

Collision tectonics of the Mediterranean region
into the Lesser Caucasus in the east (Floyd, 1993; Tankut et al.,
1998; Dilek and Thy, 2006). The Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan suturezone makes a sharp loop around the Eocene-Miocene Çankiri
sedimentary basin (just east of the city of Ankara), which developed as a syn- to postcollisional foreland basin.
The inner Tauride suture in south central Anatolia marks thecollision zone between the Kirsehir continent and the AnatolideTauride platform (Dilek et al., 1999b). The Late Cretaceous
ophiolites rest tectonically on the Tauride platform along southdirected thrust faults, and there are discontinuous exposures of
blueschist rocks exposed along the northern edge of the Tauride
platform within this suture zone (Dilek and Whitney, 1997).
The collision occurred in the Eocene, following the latest Cretaceous ophiolite emplacement at a north-dipping subduction
zone, which consumed the inner Tauride ocean floor. This subduction zone was also responsible for the emplacement of thesyncollisional granitic and syenitic plutons in the western partof the Kirsehir continent in the upper plate (Kadioğlu et al., thisvolume).
The Bitlis-Zagros suture defines the collision front between
the Arabian and Eurasian plates that was initiated after theterminal closure of a Neo-Tethyan seaway, which had evolved
between the Afro-Arabia and Pelagonia-Anatolide-Tauride platforms throughout the Mesozoic. The initial collision took placearound 13 Ma, as constrained by local and regional structural,
stratigraphic, and tectonic data (Şengör and Yılmaz, 1981;
Dewey et al., 1986). Currently, Arabia is moving northwest relative to Eurasia at a rate of 20 ± 3 mm/yr to 24 ± 2 mm/yr(Reilinger et al., 1997). The Anatolia plate north of the suturezone has been displaced westward along the North and East
Anatolian fault zones in the aftermath of the Arabian collisionas part of the escape tectonics in the region (Jackson and
McKenzie, 1984; Dewey et al., 1986). In its escape to the west,
the Anatolia plate has been rotating counterclockwise relative
to Eurasia, experiencing internal deformation (Piper et al.,this volume) and overriding the eastern Mediterranean at two
intermediate-depth seismic zones (the Cyprus and Hellenic subduction zones; LePichon and Angelier, 1979; Jackson and
McKenzie, 1988; LePichon et al., 1995). Part of this counterclockwise rotation may be due to the differential motion of theAnatolia plate along the North and East Anatolian fault zones,
with the rates around 30 ± 2 mm/yr and 15 ± 3 mm/yr, respectively (LePichon et al., 1995; Reilinger et al., 1997). However,the subduction pull and roll-back processes along the Hellenic
trench are likely to be responsible for the southwest motion of
the Anatolian plate toward the tectonic free face (Reilinger et al.,1997). As the Anatolia plate moves toward the Hellenic trench
during its escape from the Arabian collision zone, it undergoes
north-south lithospheric extension at 14 ± 5 mm/yr across the
Aegean extensional province in the west (Fig. 1; Reilinger et al.,1997).
The hinterland of the Arabian collision zone is a highstanding plateau (the Turkish-Iranian plateau, Fig. 2F) with anaverage elevation of ~2 km above sea level, and is covered by

9upper Miocene–Quaternary calc-alkaline to alkaline volcanic
rocks (Yılmaz et al., 1987; Pearce et al., 1990; Yılmaz, 1990;
Keskin et al., this volume). The plateau displays structural evidence for active diffuse north-south shortening and east-west
extension and a conjugate system of strike-slip faults (Fig. 2F)
displacing crustal fragments toward Iran and the Caspian Sea(Jackson and McKenzie, 1984; Tan and Taymaz, this volume).
The results of the recent Eastern Turkey Seismic Experimentacross the east Anatolian plateau and the northernmost Arabia
plate, combined with tomographic models of regional seismic
velocity and attenuation, have shown that most of the plateau islacking mantle lithosphere and that it is supported by hot asthenospheric mantle (Fig. 2F; Sandvol et al., 2003), not by thickcrust as previously thought (Dewey et al., 1986). The absenceof lithospheric mantle is interpreted to have resulted frombreak-off of northward-subducted slab beneath the east Anatolian accretionary prism. The extensive Pliocene–Quaternary
volcanism in the region may be a consequence of melting of thelower crust above hot asthenosphere (Fig. 2F).
The collision-induced deformation farther north in the
Erzurum-Kars plateau and the Caucasus region is taken up by
both strike-slip and thrust faulting (Fig. 1). Lateral eastward
displacements of crustal material along some major strike-slip
fault systems (e.g., the Pompak-Sevan fault and the Van-Tebriz
fault zone) have resulted in east-directed shortening and in theoverriding of the continental crust of the Caucasus and northern
Iran over the oceanic-type basement of the southern CaspianSea (Jackson and McKenzie, 1984). The seismic patterns in
the Caucasus indicate mainly shortening perpendicular to thenorthwest-southeast regional strike of the fold and thrust beltin this region and show that the collision-induced strain ispartitioned across a nearly 1000-km-wide zone encompassing
eastern Anatolia, northern Iran, and the Caucasus.
The prolonged collisional history of Anatolia, extending
back to the latest Mesozoic–early Tertiary, played a significant
role in crustal evolution and mantle dynamics in the eastern
Mediterranean region during the late Tertiary (Dilek and Whitney, 2000). Specifically, the multiple episodes of continental
collisions in western and central Anatolia produced thick orogenic crust and heterogeneous mantle that affected the mode andnature of postcollisional magmatism and tectonic extension in
the region (Seyitoğlu and Scott, 1996; Yılmaz et al., 2001; Altunkaynak and Dilek, this volume). The first episode of postcollisional volcanism in western Anatolia evolved during the
Eocene and the Oligocene–Miocene and produced medium- tohigh-K calc-alkaline rocks (Genç and Yılmaz, 1997; Altunkaynak and Dilek, this volume). This volcanic phase was also accompanied by widespread granitic plutonism in the region(Bingöl et al., 1982; Harris et al., 1994; Köprübasi and Aldanmaz, 2004) and was likely caused by an influx of asthenosphericheat and melts provided by slab break-off. The progressivechange of the chemistry of volcanism from calc-alkaline tomildly alkaline to alkaline through time was accompanied bycrustal- to lithospheric-scale extension and decreasing amounts

10

Y. Dilekof subduction signature and crustal contamination. The main
source of alkaline volcanism during the last 12–10 m.y. was decompressional melting of the asthenospheric mantle beneath thestretched continental lithosphere in the Aegean extensional
province (Fig. 2G; Keller, 1983; Fytikas et al., 1984; Ercan et al.,
1985; McKenzie and Yılmaz, 1991; Seyitoğlu et al., 1997;
Savasçin and Oyman, 1998; Aldanmaz et al., 2000; Alici et al.,2002). The onset of the Aegean subduction zone at the Hellenic
trench around the middle Miocene (18–14 Ma; Meulenkamp etal., 1988) placed the entire Aegean region in a back-arc tectonic
setting (Fig. 2G; LePichon and Angelier, 1979). Slab roll-backat the Hellenic trench is interpreted to have played a major rolein the upper plate extension and exhumation of lower crustal
rocks at the surface (Fig 2G; Jolivet et al., 1994; Lister andForster, 1996; Barka and Reilinger, 1997; McClusky et al.,
2000; Ring and Layer, 2003) and in subduction zone magmatism (Pe-Piper and Piper, 1989, 2002). The Kazdag and Menderes
metamorphic core complexes in western Anatolia are the manifestations of postcollisional extensional tectonics in the eastern
Mediterranean region (Fig. 2F; Hetzel and Reischmann, 1996;
Bozkurt and Satir, 2000; Okay and Satir, 2000; Rimmelé et al.,
2003; Gessner et al., 2004; Ring and Collins, 2005).
CONCLUDING REMARKSThe collisional tectonics of the Mediterranean region ishighly complex and is mostly defined by the welding of continental fragments of all sizes and shapes into the Eurasiancontinental margin at different times during the late Mesozoic
and the Tertiary. These continental fragments were detachedfrom western Gondwana during the late Paleozoic–early Mesozoic and traveled northward (in the present coordinate system),facilitating the development of discrete ocean basins in theirwake. The geological evolution of these ocean basins was influenced by the relative motions of the bounding supercontinents(i.e., Laurasia and Gondwana) with respect to each other, as well
as by the motions of the individual blocks with respect to eachother. The Tethyan systems (Paleo- and Neo-Tethys) had a far
more complex paleogeography and geochronology than theprevious geodynamic models envisioned (e.g., a single large
Tethyan ocean versus two large Tethyan basins).
Continental collisions were preceded by ophiolite emplacement caused by impingement of trailing passive margins on the
trenches and subduction zones. The majority of the eastern
Mediterranean ophiolites were obducted onto the continental
margins during the Cretaceous. The terminal closure of thebasins and most of the continental collisions within the Tethyan
domains appear to have occurred in a short time span during theearly to middle Eocene, indicating that this was an importanttime window for tectonic clustering of continents and continental blocks in the eastern Mediterranean region.
Although the generally northward motion of Afro-Arabia
caused the collapse of the Tethyan ocean basins, leading to continental collisions, some young basins (e.g., the Tyrrhenian andBalearic) developed within this broadly compressional system
during the late Tertiary. Two factors seem to have played a major role in this development: (1) rapid roll-back of subducting
lithosphere, causing upper plate extension, basin formation, andmagmatism and (2) collisions between irregular continental
margins, where strongly arcuate subduction zones spread to fill
the gap. The young, thin, hot oceanic lithosphere in these modern basins constitutes the “provenance” of the future ophiolites
in the broader Alpine-Himalayan orogenic system.
Slab detachment, slab tearing, and slab roll-back were allimportant components of subduction tectonics that were fundamental for the swift change from overall compression to extension in the Mediterranean collision zones. Slab detachment(break-off) was generally caused by partial subduction of buoyant continental edges and their isostatic rebound, while thecolder, denser leading edge of the subducting oceanic lithosphere broke off and sank into the lower mantle. Slab tearing
may have occurred along the intersection of strongly arcuate
subduction zones (i.e., the Cyprean and Hellenic arcs), which
may have had different convergence rates and/or different convergence directions. Both slab detachment and slab tearing were
fundamental processes for facilitating slab roll-back, and collectively all three processes played a major role in asthenospheric upwelling and decompressional melting, which havebeen crucial for the generation of postcollisional alkaline magmas in the region. Slab roll-back has caused crustal collapse andhence extension in the upper plate, and both extension and magmatism appear to have migrated with the retreating trenches.
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