Global Positioning System constraints on plate kinematics and dynamics in the eastern Mediterranean and Caucasus

We present and interpret Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of crustal motions for the period 1988–1997 at 189 sites extending east-west from the Caucasus mountains to the Adriatic Sea and north-south from the southern edge of the Eurasian plate to the northern edge of the African plate. Sites on the northern Arabian platform move 18±2 mm/yr at N25°±5°W relative to Eurasia, less than the NUVEL-1A circuit closure rate (25±1 mm/yr at N21°±7°W). Preliminary motion estimates (1994–1997) for stations located in Egypt on the northeastern part of Africa show northward motion at 5–6±2 mm/yr, also slower than NUVEL-IA estimates (10±1 mm/yr at N2°±4°E). Eastern Turkey is characterized by distributed deformation, while central Turkey is characterized by coherent plate motion (internal deformation of <2 mm/yr) involving westward displacement and counterclockwise rotation of the Anatolian plate. The Anatolian plate is de-coupled from Eurasia along the right-lateral, strike-slip North Anatolian fault (NAF). We derive a best fitting Euler vector for Anatolia-Eurasia motion of 30.7°± 0.8°N, 32.6°± 0.4°E, 1.2°±0.1°/Myr. The Euler vector gives an upper bound for NAF slip rate of 24±1 mm/yr. We determine a preliminary GPS Arabia-Anatolia Euler vector of 32.9°±1.2°N, 40.3°±1.1°E, 0.8°±0.2°/Myr and an upper bound on left-lateral slip on the East Anatolian fault (EAF) of 9±1 mm/yr. The central and southern Aegean is characterized by coherent motion (internal deformation of <2 mm/yr) toward the SW at 30±1 mm/yr relative to Eurasia. Stations in the SE Aegean deviate significantly from the overall motion of the southern Aegean, showing increasing velocities toward the trench and reaching 10±1 mm/yr relative to the southern Aegean as a whole.

[1]  M. Barazangi,et al.  Crustal shortening in the Palmyride Fold Belt, Syria, and implications for movement along the Dead Sea Fault System , 1990 .

[2]  R. Butler,et al.  Transcurrent fault activity on the Dead Sea Transform in Lebanon and its implications for plate tectonics and seismic hazard , 1997, Journal of the Geological Society.

[3]  James Jackson,et al.  The relationship between plate motions and seismic moment tensors, and the rates of active deformation in the Mediterranean and Middle East , 1988 .

[4]  A. Barka,et al.  Strike‐slip fault geometry in Turkey and its influence on earthquake activity , 1988 .

[5]  R. Armijo,et al.  Quaternary evolution of the Corinth Rift and its implications for the Late Cenozoic evolution of the Aegean , 1996 .

[6]  X. Le Pichon,et al.  Geodetic determination of the kinematics of central Greece with respect to Europe: Implications for eastern Mediterranean tectonics , 1995 .

[7]  P. Wilson.  Kinematics of the Eastern Mediterranean region and the WEGENER-MEDLAS project , 1987 .

[8]  Richard G. Gordon,et al.  Current plate motions , 1990 .

[9]  Robert W. King,et al.  Measurement of Crustal Deformation Using the Global Positioning System , 1991 .

[10]  Z. Garfunkel,et al.  Plate kinematics of the circum Red Sea—a re-evaluation , 1987 .

[11]  S. McClusky,et al.  Preliminary estimates of plate convergence in the Caucasus Collision Zone from global positioning system measurements , 1997 .

[12]  P. Huchon,et al.  The tectonic development of the hellenic arc and the sea of crete: A synthesis , 1982 .

[13]  C. Boucher,et al.  The ITRF96 realization and its associated velocity field , 1998 .

[14]  P. England,et al.  Effects of a temperature‐dependent rheology on large‐scale continental extension , 1989 .

[15]  Arthur L. Lerner-Lam,et al.  Active thrust front of the Greater Caucasus: The April 29, 1991, Racha earthquake sequence and its tectonic implications , 1995 .

[16]  S. Stiros.  Heat Flow and Thermal Structure of the Aegean Sea and the Southern Balkans , 1991 .

[17]  J. Dewey,et al.  Shortening of continental lithosphere: the neotectonics of Eastern Anatolia — a young collision zone , 1986, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[18]  Walter H. F. Smith,et al.  New version of the generic mapping tools , 1995 .

[19]  R. Armijo,et al.  The Sinai triple junction revisited , 1987 .

[20]  H. Philip,et al.  Active tectonics in the Lesser Caucasus: Coexistence of compressive and extensional structures , 1993 .

[21]  L. Royden.  The tectonic expression slab pull at continental convergent boundaries , 1993 .

[22]  Wayne Thatcher,et al.  Microplate versus continuum descriptions of active tectonic deformation , 1995 .

[23]  John H. Woodhouse,et al.  Determination of earthquake source parameters from waveform data for studies of global and regional seismicity , 1981 .

[24]  Yehuda Bock,et al.  Southern California permanent GPS geodetic array: Error analysis of daily position estimates and site velocities , 1997 .

[25]  L. Zonenshain,et al.  Geology of the USSR : a plate-tectonic synthesis , 1990 .

[26]  R. Westaway.  Seismicity and tectonic deformation rate in Soviet Armenia: Implications for local earthquake hazard and evolution of adjacent regions , 1990 .

[27]  Rob Westaway,et al.  Present‐day kinematics of the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean , 1994 .

[28]  W. Spakman,et al.  Structure and dynamics of subducted lithosphere in the Mediterranean region , 1992 .

[29]  H. Kahle,et al.  GPS and geologic estimates of the tectonic activity in the Marmara Sea region, NW Anatolia , 1997 .

[30]  G. Beutler,et al.  Geodynamics - Tracking satellites to monitor global change , 1993 .

[31]  P. Molnar,et al.  Cenozoic Tectonics of Asia: Effects of a Continental Collision: Features of recent continental tectonics in Asia can be interpreted as results of the India-Eurasia collision. , 1975, Science.

[32]  H. Kahle,et al.  Active crustal deformation in the Marmara Sea Region, NW Anatolia, Inferred from GPS measurements , 1995 .

[33]  D. McKenzie.  Active Tectonics of the Mediterranean Region , 1972 .

[34]  M. Toksöz,et al.  Source mechanism of the Bartin earthquake of September 3, 1968 in northwestern Turkey: Evidence for active thrust faulting at the southern Black Sea margin , 1986 .

[35]  J. Makris.  The crust and upper mantle of the Aegean region from deep seismic soundings , 1978 .

[36]  N. Ambraseys,et al.  Convergence between Eurasia and Arabia in Eastern Turkey and the Caucasus , 1997 .

[37]  Timothy H. Dixon,et al.  An introduction to the global positioning system and some geological applications , 1991 .

[38]  H. Philip,et al.  Seismotectonics of the Mediterranean Region and the Caucasus , 1997 .

[39]  H. Philip,et al.  The Caucasus: An actual example of the initial stages of continental collision: Tectonophysics , 1989 .

[40]  J. Jackson.  Partitioning of strike‐slip and convergent motion between Eurasia and Arabia in eastern Turkey and the Caucasus , 1992 .

[41]  G. Veis,et al.  Trajectories of crustal deformation of western Greece from GPS observations 1989–1994 , 1996 .

[42]  N. Ambraseys.  Engineering seismology: Part II , 1988 .

[43]  G. Veis,et al.  Geodetic strain of Greece in the interval 1892–1992 , 1997 .

[44]  Robert W. King,et al.  Global Positioning System measurements of present‐day crustal movements in the Arabia‐Africa‐Eurasia plate collision zone , 1997 .

[45]  H. Kahle,et al.  Global Positioning System (GPS) estimates of crustal deformation in the Marmara Sea region, Northwestern Anatolia , 1994 .

[46]  Bertrand Meyer,et al.  Westward propagation of the North Anatolian fault into the northern Aegean: Timing and kinematics , 1999 .

[47]  Philip England,et al.  Crustal thickening versus lateral expulsion in the Indian‐Asian continental collision , 1993 .

[48]  A. Şengör,et al.  Strike-Slip Faulting and Related Basin Formation in Zones of Tectonic Escape: Turkey as a Case Study , 1985 .

[49]  M. J. R. Wortel,et al.  Regional scale tectonic evolution and the seismic velocity structure of the lithosphere and upper mantle: The Mediterranean region , 1994 .

[50]  M. Oral.  Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements in Turkey (1988-1992) : kinematics of the African-Arabia-Eurasia plate collision zone , 1994 .

[51]  Robert W. King,et al.  Estimating regional deformation from a combination of space and terrestrial geodetic data , 1998 .

[52]  G. Papadopoulos,et al.  Active deformation and seismic potential in the serbomacedonian zone, northern Greece , 1990 .

[53]  J. Platt,et al.  Why are there no clockwise rotations along the North Anatolian Fault Zone , 1994 .

[54]  J. Chorowicz,et al.  The East Anatolian Fault: an oblique collisional belt , 1992 .

[55]  Peter J. Clarke,et al.  Crustal strain in central Greece from repeated GPS measurements in the interval 1989–1997 , 1998 .

[56]  M. Briscoe,et al.  Global Ocean Observing System gains momentum , 1994 .

[57]  Kurt L. Feigl,et al.  Space geodetic measurement of crustal deformation in central and southern California , 1993 .

[58]  G. J. Mets,et al.  Crustal deformations in the Mediterranean Area computed from SLR and GPS observations , 1996 .

[59]  John Langbein,et al.  Correlated errors in geodetic time series: Implications for time‐dependent deformation , 1997 .

[60]  G. Veis,et al.  ESTABLISHMENT OF A CONTINUOUS GPS NETWORK ACROSS THE KEPHALONIA FAULT ZONE, IONIAN ISLANDS, GREECE , 1998 .

[61]  A. Şengör,et al.  The North Anatolian transform fault: its age, offset and tectonic significance , 1979, Journal of the Geological Society.

[62]  P. Huchon,et al.  The Somalia plate and the East African Rift System: present-day kinematics , 1994 .

[63]  James Jackson,et al.  Faulting associated with historical and recent earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean region , 1998 .

[64]  David E. Smith,et al.  Horizontal crustal motion in the central and eastern Mediterranean inferred from satellite laser ranging measurements , 1994 .

[65]  Boudewijn Ambrosius,et al.  Scientific objectives of current and future WEGENER activities , 1998 .

[66]  T. Dixon,et al.  Noise in GPS coordinate time series , 1999 .

[67]  Paul Tapponnier,et al.  Kinematic model of active deformation in central Asia , 1993 .

[68]  G. Danuser,et al.  The strain field in northwestern Greece and the Ionian Islands: results inferred from GPS measurements , 1995 .

[69]  R. Reilinger,et al.  Active tectonics of the Eastern Mediterranean region: deduced from GPS, neotectonic and seismicity data , 1997 .

[70]  Richard G. Gordon,et al.  Effect of recent revisions to the geomagnetic reversal time scale on estimates of current plate motions , 1994 .

[71]  R. King,et al.  The strain rate field in the eastern Mediterranean region, estimated by repeated GPS measurements , 1998 .

[72]  D. McKenzie,et al.  Plate Tectonics of the Mediterranean Region , 1970, Nature.

[73]  James Jackson,et al.  Active tectonics of the Alpine—Himalayan Belt between western Turkey and Pakistan , 1984 .

[74]  J. Jackson,et al.  Source parameters of large earthquakes in the East Anatolian Fault Zone (Turkey) , 1991 .

[75]  Jack Oliver,et al.  Seismology and the new global tectonics , 1968 .

[76]  R. Westaway.  Evidence for dynamic coupling of surface processes with isostatic compensation in the lower crust during active extension of western Turkey , 1994 .

[77]  P. Hancock,et al.  Neotectonic deformation patterns in the convex-northwards arc of the North Anatolian fault zone , 1984, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.