Mechanism and timing of tectonic inversion in Cyrenaica (Libya): Integration in the geodynamics of the East Mediterranean

Arsenikos, S.; Lamotte, Dominique Frizon de; Chamot‐Rooke, Nicolas; Mohn, Geoffroy; Bonneau, Marie-Claude; Blanpied, Christian

doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2013.09.025

Cited by 27 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…1E) in the Atlas Mountains, Cyrenaica, Syrian Arch, and all the way to the Zagros (Arsenikos et al 2013;Frizon de Lamotte et al 2011) and north of the young west Mediterranean subduction zone in the Iberian Range and the Pyrenees (Vergés et al 2002). This new compressional period preceded the Oligocene uplift of large parts of Africa (Burke et al 2003;Burke and Gunnell 2008) amounting to 200-300 m in North Africa, coeval with the early formation of the North African volcanic province (Liégeois et al 2005;Wilson 1993;Wilson and Guiraud 1992).…”

Section: Tectonic History Of Africa and The Neo-tethys Oceanmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The age of this initiation is best constrained by the ages of metamorphic soles that all cluster around 100-95 Ma. Compression then progressively propagates over a large part of Africa with basement undulations and compressional reactivation of the previously formed rifts at about 85 Ma, i.e., the so-called Santonian event (Benkhelil et al 1988;Benkhelil 1989;Genik 1993;Bosworth et al 1999;Guiraud et al 2005;Bevan and Moustafa 2012;Arsenikos et al 2013) (Fig. 1D).…”

Section: Tectonic History Of Africa and The Neo-tethys Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An additional observation may explain why the Late Cretaceous inversion is not obvious in the Sirt Basin. The main depot-centres of the Sirt Basin strike northwest-southeast, almost perpendicular to the compressional fold axes in the nearby Cyrenaica (Arsenikos et al 2013). The development of these basins in the Jurassic and Cretaceous was highly influenced by the pre-existing faults and basins with that same strike (Wennekers et al 1996).…”

Section: Tectonic History Of Africa and The Neo-tethys Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Eocene compression has more limited effects compared to the Late Cretaceous one, and these are mostly restricted to the western end of the convergence system with, however, the reactivation of earlier extensional structures in the east (Arsenikos et al 2013). Nevertheless, the effects of compression are felt over a large domain from the Atlas Mountains to the Pyrenees (Frizon de Lamotte et al 2000;Vergés et al 2002;Mouthereau et al 2014).…”

Section: Fig 3 Tectonic and Volcanic Features Of Africa And The Medmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neo-Tethys geodynamics and mantle convection: from extension to compression in Africa and a conceptual model for obduction

et al. 2016

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Since the Mesozoic, Africa has been under extension with shorter periods of compression associated with obduction of ophiolites on its northern margin. Less frequent than “normal” subduction, obduction is a first order process that remains enigmatic. The closure of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, by the Upper Cretaceous, is characterized by a major obduction event, from the Mediterranean region to the Himalayas, best represented around the Arabian Plate, from Cyprus to Oman. These ophiolites were all emplaced in a short time window in the Late Cretaceous, from ∼100 to 75 Ma, on the northern margin of Africa, in a context of compression over large parts of Africa and Europe, across the convergence zone. The scale of this process requires an explanation at the scale of several thousands of kilometres along strike, thus probably involving a large part of the convecting mantle. We suggest that alternating extension and compression in Africa could be explained by switching convection regimes. The extensional situation would correspond to steady-state whole-mantle convection, Africa being carried northward by a large-scale conveyor belt, while compression and obduction would occur when the African slab penetrates the upper–lower mantle transition zone and the African plate accelerates due to increasing plume activity, until full penetration of the Tethys slab in the lower mantle across the 660 km transition zone during a 25 Myr long period. The long-term geological archives on which such scenarios are founded can provide independent time constraints for testing numerical models of mantle convection and slab–plume interactions.

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Section: Tectonic History Of Africa and The Neo-tethys Oceanmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Tectonic History Of Africa and The Neo-tethys Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tectonic History Of Africa and The Neo-tethys Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fig 3 Tectonic and Volcanic Features Of Africa And The Medmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neo-Tethys geodynamics and mantle convection: from extension to compression in Africa and a conceptual model for obduction

et al. 2016

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“…Simplified structural map of the eastern Mediterranean Basins. AEFA: Alfeo‐Etna Fault system; Ce: Cephalonia Fault; CyR: Cyrenaica Ridge; DaB: Darnah Basin; Era: Eratosthenes; IFS: Ionian Fault System; JAA: Jabal Al Akhdar; Jef: Jeffara Basin; Le: Lebanon; MaB: Marmarica Basin; Pa: Palmyra through (after Arsenikos et al, ; Bosworth et al, ; Chamot‐Rooke, Rangin, et al, ; Frizon de Lamotte et al, ; Gallais et al, ; Polonia et al, , , ; Robertson, ; Tassy et al, , and own observations). Bathymetry from Becker et al ().…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geology of the Ionian Basin and Margins: A Key to the East Mediterranean Geodynamics

et al. 2019

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We revisit the nature, structure, and evolution of the Ionian Basin and its surrounding passive margins (Apulia, Eastern Sicily/Malta, and Cyrenaica margins). Relying on geological observations (wells, dredges, and dives) and seismic calibrations from the surrounding platforms and escarpments, we present age correlations for the deepest sedimentary sequences of the Ionian Basin. Two‐ship deep refraction seismic data combined with reprocessed reflection seismic data enable us to identify, characterize, and map these thick sedimentary sequences and to present a consistent seismic stratigraphy across the basin. At a larger scale, we present new geological transects illustrating the tectonostratigraphic relationships between the Ionian Basin and its surrounding rifted margins. On this basis, we suggest that a Late Triassic‐Early Jurassic rifting preceded the late Early Jurassic to Middle Jurassic formation of the Ionian Basin. The combination of geophysical and geological arguments suggests that the entire deep basin is floored with oceanic crust of normal thickness, but with high seismic velocity in the upper part. Upscaling our results in the framework of the eastern Mediterranean, we propose that the Ionian Basin represents the remnant of a short‐lived oceanic basin resulting from the interaction between two propagating oceans: the Central Atlantic and the Neo‐Tethys.

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Neogene to recent contraction and basin inversion along the Nubia-Iberia boundary in SW Iberia

et al. 2017

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The SW of Iberia is currently undergoing compression related to the convergence between Nubia and Iberia. Multiple compressive structures, and their related seismic activity, have been documented along the diffuse Nubia‐Iberia plate boundary, including the Gorringe bank west of the Gulf of Cadiz, and the Betic‐Rif orogen to the east. Despite seismic activity indicating a dominant compressive stress along the Algarve margin in the Gulf of Cadiz, the structures at the origin of this seismicity remain elusive. This paper documents the contractional structures that provide linkage across the Gulf of Cadiz and play a major role in defining the present‐day seismicity and bathymetry of this area. The structures described in this paper caused the Neogene inversion of the Jurassic oblique passive margin that formed between the central Atlantic and the Ligurian Tethys. This example of a partially inverted margin provides insights into the factors that condition the inversion of passive margins.

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Mechanism and timing of tectonic inversion in Cyrenaica (Libya): Integration in the geodynamics of the East Mediterranean

Cited by 27 publications

References 44 publications

Neo-Tethys geodynamics and mantle convection: from extension to compression in Africa and a conceptual model for obduction

Neo-Tethys geodynamics and mantle convection: from extension to compression in Africa and a conceptual model for obduction

Geology of the Ionian Basin and Margins: A Key to the East Mediterranean Geodynamics

Neogene to recent contraction and basin inversion along the Nubia-Iberia boundary in SW Iberia

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