page_title: Gulf of Corinth basin
section_title: Stratigraphy/sedimentation
hierarchical_section_title: Gulf of Corinth basin / Stratigraphy/sedimentation
caption_attribution_description: This is a profile view of the stratigraphy located in the basin. This is an edit of my previous work.
context_page_description: The Gulf of Corinth basin, or Corinth rift, is an active extensional marine sedimentary basin thought to have started deforming during the late Miocene – Pleistocene epoch. The dimensions of the Gulf of Corinth are approximately 105 km long and 30 km wide with a basement depth of 3 km at its center. This half-graben basin is formed by a N100°E-oriented rift which separates the Peloponnese peninsula from the continental mainland of Greece. Currently the Corinth rift is opening at rate of 10–15 mm/yr, with respect to the Eurasia Plate. The basin is bounded by the Peloponnese highlands to the south and the westward-moving Anatolian Fault to the north. Major and minor fault planes make up the north and south margins, and its north-south extension is due to activity along an E-W to NW-SE oriented coastal southern margin. The basin's active and inactive faults create associated syn-rift sediment fill. These aspects provide a unique opportunity for scientists to study the tectonic and stratigraphic development of a rift, while further understanding how a basin is actually made.
context_section_description: Deposition in the Gulf of Corinth occurred in at least two phases, separated by a widespread unconformity. Deposition before 400 ka marks the first phase, likely open to the east, was filled with continental and shallow-water deposits with subsidence rates slightly exceeding sedimentation rates. Average uplift rates during the late Quaternary are estimated between 1–1.5 mm/yr on the southern margin increasing during the Holocene at 1.3–2.2 mm/yr. The high uplift rates expose many marine terraces and other continental to marine deposits. Infilling of the basin began in the Pliocene, depositing continental and shallow-water lacustrine facies followed by marine sediments in the middle Pliocene. This phase can be called proto-Gulf of Corinth as it was a different size and fill than the present day basin and had two different 20–50 km wide depocenters. These depocenters, controlled by north and south dipping faults, crop out near the south margin on the Peloponnese inland. Subsidence is linked to the fault systems bordering the depocenters, which have quickly developed in the basins relatively short 1–2 Ma existence.
  Sedimentation can be subdivided into transgressive and regressive trends. The lower transgressive sediments are based with alluvial fanglomerates followed by alluvial plain conglomerate rocks. On top of this is seasonally flooded forest deposits indicated by organic rich mudstones containing leaves of Acer cf. viminalis and Platanus s. Tabular bodied transgressive beach deposits are interbedded with fine-grained sediments and lignite, alluding to fresh-water lacustrine like environment. Animal life fossilized in lacustrine marls consist of few Oligocene ostracods and mollusks – indicative of fresh or shallow brackish water – suggesting the basin had very shallow waters even in its most open condition. Overlying these are regressive beach type deposits, displaying large-scale foresets and a coarsening upward sequence. Passing from open-water the facies change to nearshore and alluvial deposits. A 1000 m basinwide fanglomeratic unit overlies these deposits.
  The second sedimentary phase is marked by a dramatic increase in subsisdence, unmatched by sedimentation. This phase has a complex history and is composed of deep sea deposits and Gilbert-type deltas sitting unconformably on the fanglomeratic unit. A fault group with a displacement of ~ 600 m created the basis for the deepwater Gilbert-type deposits. These older Evrostini Gilbert-type delta deposits were then uplifted to 800–600 m above sea level, and the younger Ilias Gilbert-type delta formed. This fan delta is approximately 400–300 m above sea level, putting the Evrostini deposits 1200–600 m above sea level. Present day Gilbert-type deltas form on the basin margin as the result of transfer faults perpendicular to the main extension. The present Gulf of Corinth delta deposits crop out along the rim supplying turbidite deposits which are the basins current main fill.
caption: This is a profile view of the evolution of the Gulf of Corinth's basin. The colored letters correspond to the cross section lines drawn on the image above. Adapted from Bell, 2008
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