Aegean tectonics: Strain localisation, slab tearing and trench retreat

Laurent Jolivet; Claudio Faccenna; Benjamin Huet; Loic Labrousse; Laetitia Le Pourhiet; Olivier Lacombe; Emmanuel Lecomte; Evgenii Burov; Yoann Denèle; Jean-Pierre Brun,; Frédéric Gueydan; Mélody Philippon; Anne Paul; Gwenaëlle Salaün; Hayrullah Karabulut; Claudia Piromallo; Patrick Monié; Aral I. Okay; Roland Oberhänsli; Amaury Pourteau; Romain Augier; Leslie Gadenne; Olivier Driussi

doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2012.06.011

Aegean tectonics: Strain localisation, slab tearing and trench retreat

Laurent Jolivet ¹ Claudio Faccenna ² Benjamin Huet ³ Loic Labrousse ⁴ Laetitia Le Pourhiet ⁴ Olivier Lacombe ⁴ Emmanuel Lecomte ⁴ Evgenii Burov ⁴ Yoann Denèle ⁵ Jean-Pierre Brun, ⁶ Frédéric Gueydan ⁷ Mélody Philippon ⁶ Anne Paul ⁴ Gwenaëlle Salaün ⁴ Hayrullah Karabulut ⁸ Claudia Piromallo ⁹ Patrick Monié ⁷ Aral I. Okay ¹⁰ Roland Oberhänsli ¹¹ Amaury Pourteau ¹¹ Romain Augier ¹ Leslie Gadenne ¹ Olivier Driussi ¹

1 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327

2 Università degli Studi Roma Tre

3 Department for Geodynamics and Sedimentology

4 iSTeP - Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris

5 GET - Géosciences Environnement Toulouse

6 Systèmes Tectoniques

GR - Géosciences Rennes

7 Géosciences Montpellier

8 Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute

9 INGV - Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Sezione di Roma

10 Avrasya Yerbilimleri Enstitüsü, Istanbul Teknik Universitesi

11 Institut für Erd‐ und Umweltwissenschaften

Abstract : We review the geodynamic evolution of the Aegea-Anatolia region and discuss strain localisation there over geological times. From Late Eocene to Present, crustal deformation in the Aegean backarc has localised progressively during slab retreat. Extension started with the formation of the Rhodope Metamorphic Core Complex (Eocene) and migrated to the Cyclades and the northern Menderes massif (Oligocene and Miocene), accommodated by crustal-scale detachments and a first series of core complexes (MCCs). Extension then localised in Western Turkey, the Corinth Rift and the external Hellenic arc after Messinian times, while the North Anatolian Fault penetrated the Aegean Sea. Through time the direction and style of extension have not changed significantly except in terms of localisation. The contributions of progressive slab retreat and tearing, basal drag, extrusion tectonics and tectonic inheritance are discussed and we favour a model (1) where slab retreat is the main driving engine, (2) successive slab tearing episodes are the main causes of this stepwise strain localisation and (3) the inherited heterogeneity of the crust is a major factor for localising detachments. The continental crust has an inherited strong heterogeneity and crustal-scale contacts such as major thrust planes act as weak zones or as zones of contrast of resistance and viscosity that can localise later deformation. The dynamics of slabs at depth and the asthenospheric flow due to slab retreat also have influence strain localisation in the upper plate. Successive slab ruptures from the Middle Miocene to the Late Miocene have isolated a narrow stripe of lithosphere, still attached to the African lithosphere below Crete. The formation of the North Anatolian Fault is partly a consequence of this evolution. The extrusion of Anatolia and the Aegean extension are partly driven from below (asthenospheric flow) and from above (extrusion of a lid of rigid crust).

Keywords : backarc extension slab retreat asthenospheric flow strain localisation Aegean Sea metamorphic core complex

Document type :

Journal articles

Domain :

Sciences of the Universe [physics] / Earth Sciences / Tectonics

Environmental Sciences / Global Changes

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Submitted on : Friday, August 24, 2012 - 8:20:29 AM
Last modification on : Friday, January 10, 2020 - 9:09:56 PM
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