Crustal structure variations and transcurrent faulting at the eastern and western margins of the eastern Mediterranean

Abstract Crustal structure variations within the crust of the eastern Mediterranean, as well as within the continental crust of the land areas east and west of the basin, have caused segmentation of the collision zones which extend from Sicily through the Calabrian Arc, the Hellenic Arc and the Cyprian Arc to the Taurus chain. On both-sides of the eastern Mediterranean, in southeastern Sicily and in the Levant, similar tectonic features have developed. Hinge faults exist along both continental margins due to the different modes of collision between the land areas and the adjacent oceanic areas. Landward of the margins, two large transcurrent fault systems, the Scicli Fault Zone and the Dead Sea rift, have developed due to the existence of unique crustal units within the continental crust adjacent to the margins on both sides. These units are more buoyant than the adjacent crust and resist underthrusting. The initial faulting along both transcurrent fault systems probably started at the collision zone in the north and propagated to the south where large extensional areas, the Pantelleria rift and the Red Sea, exist.

[1]  Z. Ben‐Avraham,et al.  Displaced terranes and crustal evolution of the Levant and the eastern Mediterranean , 1990 .

[2]  A. Nur,et al.  Collisional processes in the eastern Mediterranean , 1986 .

[3]  Y. Folkman,et al.  The crustal structure between the dead sea rift and the Mediterranean Sea , 1980 .

[4]  Z. Ben‐Avraham,et al.  Accretionary processes at subduction zones in the eastern mediterranean , 1985 .

[5]  I. Finetti,et al.  GEOPHYSICAL STUDY OF THE TYRRHENIAN OPENING , 1986 .

[6]  R. Kovach.  Bouguer anomaly map of the eastern Mediterranean, the Dead Sea Rift and western Jordan , 1986 .

[7]  C. Frasier,et al.  SCATTERING OF ELASTIC WAVES FROM DEPTH‐DEPENDENT INHOMOGENEITIES , 1976 .

[8]  Z. Ben‐Avraham.  Rift propagation along the southern Dead Sea rift (Gulf of Elat) , 1987 .

[9]  A. Kafka,et al.  Seismotectonics of the southern boundary of Anatolia, eastern Mediterranean region: Subduction, collision, and arc jumping , 1982 .

[10]  Z. Garfunkel.  Internal structure of the Dead Sea leaky transform (rift) in relation to plate kinematics , 1981 .

[11]  W. J. Morgan,et al.  Preferential rifting of continents: A source of displaced terranes , 1984 .

[12]  F. Ghisetti,et al.  The structural features of the Iblean Plateau and of the Mount Judica area (southeastern Sicily); a microtectonic contribution to the deformational history of the Calabrian Arc , 1980 .

[13]  A. Behle,et al.  Seismic refraction profiles between Cyprus and Israel and their interpretation , 1983 .

[14]  P. Scandone,et al.  Seismotectonics of the Calabrian arc , 1982 .

[15]  M. Grasso,et al.  Sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the eastern Hyblean Plateau (southeastern Sicily) during late Cretaceous to Quaternary time , 1982 .

[16]  R. Freund.  A Model of the Structural Development of Israel and Adjacent Areas Since Upper Cretaceous Times , 1965, Geological Magazine.

[17]  M. Pedley,et al.  The geology of the Pelagian Islands and their structural setting related to the Pantelleria rift (central Mediterranean Sea) , 1985 .

[18]  Z. Ben‐Avraham,et al.  Structural framework of the Gulf of Elat (AQABA), Northern Red Sea , 1985 .

[19]  M. Steckler,et al.  Lithospheric strength variations as a control on new plate boundaries: examples from the northern Red Sea region , 1986 .

[20]  Z. Ben‐Avraham.  The structure and tectonic setting of the levant continental margin, Eastern Mediterranean , 1978 .

[21]  Z. Ben‐Avraham,et al.  Plate convergence in the Cyprean Arc , 1988 .

[22]  J. Makris.  Crustal structure of the Aegean Sea and the Hellenides obtained from geophysical surveys , 1975 .

[23]  E. Morlotti,et al.  Marine geology of the NW Sicily offshore (Sardinia Channel) and its relationships with mainland structures , 1985 .

[24]  A. Nur,et al.  The Eastern Mediterranean and the levant: Tectonics of continental collision , 1978 .

[25]  P. Lovelock.  A review of the tectonics of the northern Middle East region , 1984, Geological Magazine.

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