Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We present evidence that GPS velocity estimates of plate motions and fault slip rates agree to within uncertainties with geologic estimates during the most recent phase of the geologic evolution of the E Mediterranean region (post-Late Miocene). On this basis, we use the GPS differential velocities to estimate the timing of initiation of the principal structures in NW Turkey, the N Aegean Sea, and central Greece, including, the Marmara Sea, the Gulfs of Evia (GoE) and Corinth (GoC). and the Kephalonia Transform fault (KTF). We interpret these ages to indicate that the North Anatolian fault propagated across the N Aegean, opening the GoE and GoC and initiating the KTF, during the past 1-4 Ma. We further suggest that Aegean extension that was earlier more distributed across the Aegean Basin became focused on this new fault system allowing the southern Aegean and Peloponnisos to translate SW with little internal deformation, as observed today with GPS. This change in tectonic configuration may account for the clear geologic evidence for crustal thinning throughout the S Aegean in apparent contradiction with low present-day strain rates. We further show that the low present-day strain rate along the southern edge of the Aegean micro-plate requires substantial aseismic slip along the plate interface below Crete, consistent with the low level of historic, subduction-type earthquakes along this segment of the subduction zone.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00512634
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00512634
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2009.05.027

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Chalkidiki block is a major domain in the North Aegean that, contrary to other domains in the region, largely escaped thermal perturbations during Tertiary extension. As a result, the Chalkidiki block is an ideal candidate to glean information related to the timing of Mesozoic thermal events using appropriate geochronological techniques. We have undertaken a laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) study (U-Th-Pb on monazites and U-Pb on zircons) coupled with 40Ar/39Ar dating on nine samples from various structural levels within the thrust system of the Chalkidiki block. The eastern, and structurally lower part of the system revealed a complete isotopic reset of Carboniferous – Early Triassic monazites coeval with partial monazite destruction, REE-mobilisation and formation of apatite-allanite-epidote coronas at ~ 132 Ma, a reaction that is commonly observed in amphibolite-facies rocks. These coronas formed after crystallisation of garnet (i.e., at T > 580 °C) and, in all probability, either close to the peak-temperature conditions (~ 620 °C) on a prograde path or during retrogression between the peak-temperature and the low-temperature boundary of the amphibolite facies. Cooling of these rocks and arrival at mid-crustal levels occurred at 95–100 Ma. By contrast, the western, and structurally uppermost part of the system went through the same event by 120–125 Ma. Further structural considerations with respect to medium-temperature geochronology data imply that syn-metamorphic thrusting must have ceased by early Late Cretaceous. We emphasize that, with the sole exception of the Chalkidiki block, no pre-45 Ma medium-temperature geochronology data are preserved in other North Aegean domains, a feature that is clearly related to the extension-induced thermal perturbation of the region during the Tertiary.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-01329472
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01329472
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01329472/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01329472/file/kydonakis-tectono-2016.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2016.06.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Pollen records, marine faunal associations and stable isotope compositions of sediments from Rhodes, Greece, have been determined to track environmental changes in the eastern Mediterranean during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. A detailed chronostratigraphic curve, based on magnetostratigraphic data, was obtained by correlating pollen spectra with the Mediterranean oxygen isotopic curve of Ocean Drilling Program Site 975. Five sedimentary sequences that correspond to marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 31–27 and to MIS 20–17 have been investigated in the confined Tsampika microbasin. High-amplitude Pinus variations confirm glacio-eustatic changes deduced from changes in marine faunal associations and sedimentary depositional environments. Reflecting climatic cycles identified in the marine carbonate oxygen isotope record, eight vegetation successions (characterized by the dominance first of mesothermic elements, then of mid- and high-altitude elements with Pinus, and ending with maxima in herb and steppe elements) have been documented. Most of them were probably driven by changes in insolation occurring in high northern latitudes (obliquity impact) during the late Early Pleistocene and early Middle Pleistocene.
Journal of the Geological Society, London

hal-00470360
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00470360

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD National Research Council Canada
Résumé : International audience
Back-arc extension in the Aegean, which was driven by slab rollback since 45 Ma, is described here for the first time in two stages. From Middle Eocene to Middle Miocene, deformation was localized leading to i) the exhumation of high-pressure metamorphic rocks to crustal depths, ii) the exhumation of high-temperature metamorphic rocks in core complexes and iii) the deposition of sedimentary basins. Since Middle Miocene, extension distributed over the whole Aegean domain controlled the deposition of onshore and offshore Neogene sedimentary basins. We reconstructed this two-stage evolution in 3D and four steps at Aegean scale by using available ages of metamorphic and sedimentary processes, geometry and kinematics of ductile deformation, paleomagnetic data and available tomographic models. The restoration model shows that the rate of trench retreat was around 0.6 cm/y during the first 30 My and then accelerated up to 3.2 cm/y during the last 15 My. The sharp transition observed in the mode of extension, localized versus distributed, in Middle Miocene correlates with the acceleration of trench retreat and is likely a consequence of the Hellenic slab tearing documented by mantle tomography. The development of large dextral NE-SW strike-slip faults, since Middle Miocene, is illustrated by the 450 Km-long fault zone, offshore from Myrthes to Ikaria and onshore from Izmir to Balikeshir, in western Anatolia. Therefore, the interaction between the Hellenic trench retreat and the westward displacement of Anatolia started in Middle Miocene, almost 10 Ma before the propagation of the North Anatolian Fault in the North Aegean.
ISSN: 0008-4077

insu-01271296
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01271296
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01271296/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01271296/file/Brun%20etal%20CJES%202016.pdf
DOI : 10.1139/cjes-2015-0203