Kinematics of the western Mediterranean

Dewey, John; Helman, Mark; Knott, Steven D.; Turco, Eugenio; Hutton, D.M.

doi:10.1144/gsl.sp.1989.045.01.15

Cited by 1,238 publications

(950 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…1A) is a segment of the south-migrating SFTB, the emerged portion of a larger orogenic system (the SicilianMaghrebian orogen) which developed in the central Mediterranean region as result of the Neogene-Quaternary Africa-Europe collision processes (Dewey et al, 1989;Ben-Avraham et al, 1990). The SFTB is made up of a pile of thrust sheets deriving from the late Oligocene-middle Miocene deformation of the Neotethys ocean and of the Africa continental palaeo-margin (Bianchi et al, 1987;Roure et al, 1990;Bello et al, 2000;Catalano et al, 2000a,b).…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geodetic and geological evidence of active tectonics in south-western Sicily (Italy)

Barreca

Bruno

Cocorullo

et al. 2014

Journal of Geodynamics

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a b s t r a c tIntegrated geological, geodetic and marine geophysical data provide evidence of active deformation in south-western Sicily, in an area spatially coincident with the macroseismic zone of the destructive 1968 Belice earthquake sequence. Even though the sequence represents the strongest seismic event recorded in Western Sicily in historical times, focal solutions provided by different authors are inconclusive on possible faulting mechanism, which ranges from thrusting to transpression, and the seismogenic source is still undefined. Interferometric (DInSAR) observations reveal a differential ground motion on a SW-NE alignment between Campobello di Mazara and Castelvetrano (CCA), located just west of the maximum macroseismic sector. In addition, new GPS campaign-mode data acquired across the CCA alignment documents NW-SE contractional strain accumulation. Morphostructural analysis allowed to associate the alignment detected through geodetic measurements with a topographic offset of Pleistocene marine sediments. The on-land data were complemented by new high-resolution marine geophysical surveys, which indicate recent contraction on the offshore extension of the CCA alignment. The discovery of archaeological remains displaced by a thrust fault associated with the alignment provided the first likely surface evidence of coseismic and/or aseismic deformation related to a seismogenic source in the area. Results of the integrated study supports the contention that oblique thrusting and folding in response to NW-SE oriented contraction is still active. Although we are not able to associate the CCA alignment to the 1968 seismic sequence or to the historical earthquakes that destroyed the ancient Greek city of Selinunte, located on the nearby coastline, our result must be incorporated in the seismic hazard evaluation of this densely populated area of Sicily.

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Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geodetic and geological evidence of active tectonics in south-western Sicily (Italy)

Barreca

Bruno

Cocorullo

et al. 2014

Journal of Geodynamics

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“…The formation of the Alboran Basin as part of the Gibraltar Arc started in the late Cretaceous as a consequence of crustal extension in a setting of overall convergence of the African and Eurasian plates that have had variable directions of relative motion since the late Cretaceous (e.g., Dewey et al, 1989). Seismic data show that present-day plate tectonics contribute to the actual deformation of the Alboran Basin (e.g., Fernández-Ibáñez et al, 2007 and references therein;Frizon de Lamotte et al, 2006).…”

Section: Regional Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth and demise of cold-water coral ecosystems on mud volcanoes in the West Alboran Sea: The messages from the planktonic and benthic foraminifera

et al. 2011

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The Dhaka and Maya mud volcanoes (MVs), located in the Mud Diapir Province in the Western Alboran Basin along the Moroccan Coasts, were cored during the TTR-17, Leg 1 cruise. Cores were taken on the top of the volcanoes at a water depth of 370 m on the Dhaka MV (core TTR17-MS411G) and at 410 m water depth on the Maya MV (core TTR17-MS419G), respectively. On both mud volcanoes the extruded mud breccia provides the nucleation point for the colonization and development of cold-water corals and associated ecosystems. Two phases of cold-water coral growth are observed: (1) between slightly older than 4175± 62 years BP and around 2230± 59 years BP at Dhaka, and (2) between slightly older than 15583 ± 185 years BP and around 7613 ± 38 years BP at Maya MV. On the top of the Maya MV only a small patch reef and/or isolated corals proliferated, whereas a more extended patch reef colonized the top of the Dhaka MV. At both sites the cold-water coral development was triggered by the availability of a suitable substrate for initial coral settling, provided either as a firm ground or as single clasts. Subsequently coral growth was supported by enhanced nutrient flux possibly related to upwelling and/or strong currents. During the intervals of coral growth planktonic foraminiferal assemblages were dominated by Neogloboquadrina incompta. The decline of coral ecosystems on the mud volcanoes is accompanied at surface by a shift from the N. incompta dominated assemblage to a Globorotalia inflata dominated assemblage, possibly reflecting more oligotrophic conditions. This shift is coeval to the passage from wet to arid conditions at the end of the African Humid Period at Maya MV. It is interpreted as an effect of an early human impact on a fragile environment, which was already stressed by desiccation at the time of the development of complex human society along the Mediterranean coasts, at Dhaka MV.

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“…The westernmost part of the Mediterranean is a region of a great research interest due to its complex geodynamic setting. Several models constructed from geophysical and geologic data have been proposed for the present-day geodynamic setting of the region (Argus et al, 1989;Dewey et al, 1989;DeMets et al, 1994;Calais et al, 2003). More recently, new geodetic data have been used to improve these models (McClusky et al, 2003;Nocquet and Calais, 2003;Stich et al, 2006;Fadil et al, 2006;Serpelloni et al, 2007;Fernandes et al, 2007;Tahayt et al, 2008;Perez-Peña et al, 2010;Vernant et al, 2010;Palano et al, 2011;Koulali et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crustal velocity and strain rate fields in the Balearic Islands based on continuous GPS time series from the XGAIB network (2010–2013)

Sánchez‐Alzola

Sánchez

Giménez

et al. 2014

Journal of Geodynamics

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Crustal velocity and strain rate fields in the Balearic Islands based on continuous GPS time series from the XGAIB network (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013), Journal of Geodynamics (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.jog.2014.05.005 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. AbstractIn this paper, we present a first estimation, using the GIPSY-OASIS software, of the crustal velocity and strain rate fields in the Balearic Islands (Spain), based on continuous GPS observations from the XGAIB network spanning the period 2010-2013. The XGAIB network consists of nine permanent, widely distributed stations that have operated continuously since 2010. In this paper, we describe the XGAIB network and the CGPS data processing and present our principle results in terms of the position time series and velocities of all of the sites, which were observed for more than three and a half years. In addition, strain tensors were estimated from the velocity field to obtain the first realistic crustal deformation model of the archipelago.The strains exhibit gradual variation across the Balearic Islands, from WNW-ESE extension in the southwest (Ibiza and Formentera) to NW-SE compression in the A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 2 northeast (Menorca). These results constitute an advance in our knowledge of the tectonics of the western Mediterranean region. Highlights-We model the crustal velocity and strain rate fields in the Balearic Islands.-We use continuous GPS observations from a permanent GNSS network.-The strains exhibit gradual variation from WNW-ESE in the southwest to NW-SE in the northeast.

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Kinematics of the western Mediterranean

Cited by 1,238 publications

References 34 publications

Geodetic and geological evidence of active tectonics in south-western Sicily (Italy)

Geodetic and geological evidence of active tectonics in south-western Sicily (Italy)

Growth and demise of cold-water coral ecosystems on mud volcanoes in the West Alboran Sea: The messages from the planktonic and benthic foraminifera

Crustal velocity and strain rate fields in the Balearic Islands based on continuous GPS time series from the XGAIB network (2010–2013)

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