www.elsevier.com/locate/margeo

Marine Geology 221

Editorial

Miocene to Recent tectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean:

New pieces of the old Mediterranean puzzle

Ali E. Aksu a,T, Jeremy Hall a, Cenk YaltVrak b

aDepartment of Earth Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada A1B 3X5bIstanbul Technical University, Faculty of Mines, Department of Geological Engineering, Ayazaga, Istanbul 80626, Turkey

Received 5 October 2004; received in revised form 17 March 2005; accepted 17 March 2005

1. Introduction

The Mediterranean Sea and its surrounding land

mass (Fig. 1) have long been recognized as an

excellent bnatural laboratoryQ for the study of funda-

mental plate tectonic processes, including rifting,

passive margin development, contraction and associ-

ated subduction, ophiolite emplacement and orogene-

sis, and as such it is one of the most extensively studied

regions of the World (e.g., Hsu et al., 1975; Dixon and

Robertson, 1984; Kastens et al., 1990; Emeis et al.,

1996; Comas et al., 1996; Robertson, 1998; McClusky

et al., 2000). The Late Cretaceous to Holocene tectonic

evolution of the eastern Mediterranean region is

extremely complex and controversial, and several

commonly conflicting hypotheses have been pro-

posed. The scope of this special issue does not permit

a full discussion of these hypotheses: we refer the

reader to Robertson (1998) for a review. However,

there is general agreement that the eastern Mediterra-

nean evolved as a small ocean basin during the Late

Triassic (Robertson and Dixon, 1984; Robertson et al.,

1991). This embryonic ocean achieved its maximum

0025-3227/$ - see front matter D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2005.03.014

T Corresponding author.

E-mail address: aaksu@sparky2.esd.mun.ca (A.E. Aksu).

width during the mid-Cretaceous. At this time, several

separate Neotethyan strands were active, creating east–

west trending basins and their intervening continental

fragments (i.e., Sakarya, Pelagonian, KVrYehir, east

Tauride and Menderes–Tauride, Puturge and Bitlis

blocks). A major change in the relative motion of

Eurasian and African Plates occurred in the Late

Cretaceous from slow sinistral shear and separation

(rifting) to rapid north–south convergence, which

caused the active spreading ridges to collapse (Rob-

ertson and Dixon, 1984). During the Late Cretaceous

to Early Tertiary, several internally parallel subduction

zones developed, which led to the development of

intra-oceanic arcs and their subsequent emplacement

as ophiolites as convergence ensued. Progressive

convergence of African and Eurasian Plates in the

Tertiary resulted in a protracted and complex terrain

accretion, closing the northern strands of the Neo-

tethyan Ocean, leaving only the southernmost strand.

Thus, the present-day eastern Mediterranean Sea is

the last remnants of the Neotethys Ocean, which

evolved through a complex rifting that took place in

the Cretaceous (Moores et al., 1984; Robertson, 1998).

There is general agreement that the eastern Mediterra-

nean has been in a state of diachronous collision since

the Late Cretaceous. Although a number of divergent

(2005) 1–13

Fig. 1. Simplified tectonic map of the eastern Mediterranean Sea and surrounding regions, compiled from Xengfr and YVlmaz (1981), Hancock

and Barka (1981), Jongsma et al. (1985, 1987), Dewey et al. (1986), Mascle et al. (2000), Zitter et al. (2003) and Salamon et al. (2003). Note

that the position of several plate boundaries and the origin of particular structures are still controversial.

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–132

hypotheses exists in the details of this protracted

history of contraction, there is also agreement that the

contraction is associated with the consumption of the

Neotethyan oceanic crust in a series of north- and

south-directed subduction zones throughout the Cen-

ozoic, leading to the development of the Alpine

Mountains across southeastern Europe, and the evo-

lution of the small, elongated land-locked basin, the

eastern Mediterranean Sea. The present-day tectonic

framework of the eastern Mediterranean is controlled

by the latest phase of this protracted diachronous

collision between the African and Eurasian plates, and

the displacements of the smaller Arabian and Aegean–

Anatolian Microplates (Fig. 1). The final collision of

the Arabian Microplate with the Eurasian Plate in the

Late Miocene along the Bitlis–Zagros fold–thrust belt

initiated the west-directed tectonic escape of the

Aegean–Anatolian Microplate along two intra-conti-

nental transform faults: the North Anatolian and East

Anatolian Transform Faults (Xengfr et al., 1985;

Dewey et al., 1986). The North Anatolian Transform

Fault moves dextrally, while the East Anatolian

Transform Fault shows a complementary sinistral

motion (Fig. 1). To the west, the Aegean–Anatolian

Microplate is colliding with the Apulia–Adriatic plat-

form (Underhill, 1989), which forced the microplate to

progressively rotate toward the free face along the

Hellenic Arc (Taymaz et al., 1991; Mann, 1997). Thus

the westward displacement of the Aegean–Anatolian

Microplate and its counterclockwise rotation is driven

by both the north–northwest pushing of the Arabian

Microplate as well as the pulling of the subducting

African Plate beneath the Hellenic Arc (Reilinger et

al., 1997; McClusky et al., 2000). Plate tectonic studies

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–13 3

based on global seafloor spreading and earthquake slip

vectors show that the African Plate is presently moving

in a north–northeast direction relative to the Eurasian

Plate at a rate of 10 mm/yr, whereas the Arabian

Microplate is moving in a north–northwest direction at

a rate of ~18–25 mm/yr (Jestin et al., 1994; McClusky

et al., 2000, 2003). The differential motion between the

African Plate and the Arabian Microplate is accom-

modated by the sinistral, transpressional Dead Sea

Transform Fault. The boundary between the African

Plate and the Aegean–Anatolian Microplate (as

defined by the edge of the overriding plate) is

delineated by the Hellenic Arc and the Pliny–Strabo

Trenches in the west and the Florence Rise, Cyprus

Arc and the Tartus Ridge in the east (Fig. 1). The

western and central segments of the two arcs are nearly

perpendicular to the relative motion of the African and

Anatolian Plate, forming the subduction sutures,

whereas the Pliny and Strabo Trenches and Tartus

Ridge are sub-parallel to the slip vector, with a

predominantly sinistral transform motion.

The eastern Mediterranean region is a one of the

greatest geological jig-saw puzzles. Despite extensive

local and regional studies, significant controversies

still exist about the Late Miocene–Recent kinematic

Fig. 2. Simplified bathymetry of the eastern Mediterranean Sea from the

showing locations indicated in text. MKFZ=Misis–Kyrenia Fault Zone, A

evolution of the region, particularly the timing and

style of deformation, and the temporal and spatial

distribution of strain, as well as the nature and

thickness of the crust across the floor of the eastern

Mediterranean Sea. Lack of space precludes a full-

scale discussion of these controversies, and only a few

examples will be given. The exact position of the

boundary between the African Plate and the Aegean–

Anatolian Microplate remains controversial. Vidal et

al. (2000) suggested that the eastern segment of the

Anatolian–African plate boundary is situated between

Cyprus and Eratosthenes Seamounts, running along

the junction of the Hecateus Ridge and the Levantine

Basin. Vidal et al. (2000) suggested that further to the

east the plate boundary is not a sharp discontinuity,

but it is delineated by two northeast-trending linea-

ments: the Latakia and Larnaka Ridges in the south

and north, respectively (Figs. 1 and 2). Others have

suggested that the eastern portion of the Anatolian–

African plate boundary is delineated by a single zone,

represented by the east–west trending bathymetric

escarpment east of the Hecateus Ridge which links the

arcuate Latakia Ridge its northeast trending continu-

ation, the Tartus Ridge (Fig. 2; Kempler and

Garfunkel, 1994; Ben-Avraham et al., 1995; Robert-

International Bathymetric Chart of the Mediterranean (IOC, 1981),

LR=Amanos–Larnaka Ridge, HR=Hecataeus Ridge.

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–134

son, 1998). In a recent study, Mascle et al. (2000)

showed the presence of a belt of N1458E trending,

crustal-scale right-lateral transtensional faults offshore

Egypt that bound thick-sediment-filled graben, and

extend southward to obliquely transect the eastern Nile

deep-sea fan. They speculated the presence of north-

trending relays that connect this fault system with the

Gulf of Suez rift zone. Mascle et al. (2000) suggested

that this fault zone probably defines the western

boundary of a newly delineated Sinai–Levantine

Microplate which represents the northeastern segment

of the African craton disconnected from the African

plate as a consequence of the collision between the

Eratosthenes Seamount and the Island of Cyprus. They

showed that this microplate moves independently from

the surrounding African Plate, and the Arabian and

Anatolian–Aegean Microplates, along the Dead Sea

Transform Fault to the east, the Cyprus Arc to the north

and the Suez Rift System in the west–southwest. The

position of the plate boundary along the western

segment of the Cyprus Arc (i.e., Florence Rise) is also

controversial. Robertson (1998) placed this boundary

along the Florence Rise and linked it with the Cyprus

Arc. However, Papazachos and Papaioannou (1999)

documented the presence of a major north–northeast

striking right-lateral transform fault with a thrust

component offshore western Cyprus, and suggested

that this fault defines a relay between the Florence Rise

and the Cyprus Arc.

Similarly, the nature and thickness of the crust

beneath the eastern Mediterranean Sea remains con-

troversial. For example, Makris et al. (1983) showed

that the continental crust is N25 km-thick, with P-

wave velocities of 6.0F0.2 km s�1 beneath the Island

of Cyprus and the Eratosthenes Seamount. They

showed that the Levantine Basin contains ~12 km

of sedimentary fill, overlying a ~12 km of crustal

material with velocities of 6.7 km s�1, and suggested

that the crust here is either oceanic or attenuated

continental in character. Similarly, de Voogd et al.

(1992) used refraction data to show that the crust in

the Herodotus Basin is ~10 km-thick, which is

overlain by an approximately 10 km-thick sedimen-

tary succession. They interpreted the crust as oceanic

or thinned continental in character. However, Hirsch

et al. (1995) suggested that the crust in the eastern

Mediterranean Sea south of the Eratosthenes Sea-

mounts is continental in character.

Large convergent margins, such as the eastern

Mediterranean region consist of chains of arcs (e.g.

Hellenic and Cyprus Arcs and Florence Rise; Fig. 1).

Many studies have concentrated on the development

of the arcs themselves rather than on the links between

them (e.g., Kenyon et al., 1982; Ben-Avraham et al.,

1995; Bohnhoff et al., 2001; Laigle et al., 2002;

Papazachos et al., 2002; Ten Veen and Kleinspehn,

2003). However, the links or corners between the arcs

are of fundamental importance to the evolution of

these systems because they are the focus of changes in

plate kinematics and stress field, thus providing likely

sites for the development of triple junctions, changes

in polarity of subduction and possibly ophiolite

obductions. Excessive strain at these locations may

result in extreme topographic features some of which

may be complementary, such as deep depressions (e.g.

Rhodes and Finike Basins), tilted blocks and struc-

tural highs (e.g. Anaximander Mountains). At the

final stages of ocean closure, the corners become

embayments preserved in outline during continental

collision. Our understanding of ancient orogens such

as the Appalachians (Williams, 1979), in which the

embayments are preserved as reentrants, thus depends

on a knowledge of how such reentrants evolve in

currently active systems. Recent studies on the

Anaximander Mountains and the Rhodes Basin

situated around the junction between the Hellenic

Arc and the Florence Rise reveal a complicated

structural framework (Woodside et al., 2002; Zitter

et al., 2003). For example, Woodside et al. (2002)

suggested that the Anatolian and African Plates along

the Florence Rise are more or less sutured, and that a

~15 km-wide arc-parallel dextral wrench zone and its

associated positive flower structures are the predom-

inant structural elements of the central and western

Florence Rise. They further noted that there is no

evidence for any typical subduction along the arcuate

trend of the Florence Rise. However, the well defined

Benioff zone delineated across the Florence Rise by

Papazachos and Papaioannou (1999) suggests that the

subduction of the African Plate beneath the Aegean–

Anatolian Microplate must have slowed-down or

stopped only recently. Zitter et al. (2003) showed that

the eastern Anaximander Mountains have affinity

with the Florence Rise, where the tectonic framework

is characterized by an anastomosing network of faults,

pop-ups, and positive flower structures. They pointed

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–13 5

out that the western Anaximander Mountains are

related to the opening of the Rhodes and Finike

Basins, associated with the transtensional regime (i.e.,

Pliny–Strabo Trenches, and their onland extension the

Fethiye–Burdur Fault Zone) that dominated the region

since the Pliocene. Zitter et al. (2003) pointed out

similarities between the Hellenic Arc and the Cyprus

Arc, and proposed that dextral wrench faults occupy

the western margins of these arcs, whereas sinistral

strike-slip faults occupy their eastern limbs. Finally, in

a recent study Poisson et al. (2003) showed that the

Aksu Thrust along the eastern margin of the Isparta

Angle is a prominent Late Miocene–Mid-Pliocene

fault system with a notable dextral strike-slip compo-

nent. They indicated that the Aksu Thrust is a

complex imbricate fan consisting of several large

thrust sheets and pointed out the occurrence of

ophiolitic slivers within at least one thrust panel to

suggest that the system is deep rooted.

2. Special issue

2.1. Marine studies

This special issue is dedicated to the Miocene to

Recent tectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterra-

nean Sea and its surrounding landmasses. It aims to

provide new pieces to the continuously evolving old

geological puzzle of the Mediterranean, through

interpretation of new data from regions that were

least studied in previous years. The issue consists of

two parts: Part 1 includes 13 papers which describe

the morphological, tectonic and sedimentary architec-

ture of various specific regions using marine geo-

physical and geological data, whereas Part 2 includes

2 papers which describe the geology of the Isparta

Angle (Fig. 2).

Hall et al. (a) use high-resolution multi-channel

seismic reflection profiles to show that the Latakia

Basin evolved in two distinct tectonic stages: a

Miocene phase of southeast-directed contraction

culminated in the latest Miocene, and a progressive

transition to a phase of partitioned contraction and

extension related to the initiation of strike slip along

marine extensions of the eastern Anatolian Transform

Fault in the early-middle Pliocene (Fig. 2). They

further document that the Miocene fold–thrust belt

comprises two arcuate culminations enclosing a

Miocene piggy back depocentre situated on the

backlimb of the Amanos–Larnaka ramp anticline. In

the early-middle Miocene, this piggy-back basin was

part of a much wider foredeep that also encompassed

the Miocene successions of the Cilicia–Adana Basin

complex to the north (Fig. 3). The Misis–Kyrenia

fold–thrust belt evolved in the Tortonian, effectively

dividing the foredeep into two large piggy-back

basins. Their data demonstrate that a fundamental

change in kinematic regime occurred during the

Messinian to early Pliocene involving the onset of

strike-slip movements resulting in transtension along

the northeast-trending portion of the main lineaments

bounding the Latakia Basin and continued contraction

across the east-trending portion of the lineaments. In

the northeastern portion of the Latakia Basin south-

east-directed thrusting ceased in the early Messinian

and was followed in the early Pliocene by the

development of horst and graben structures, bounded

by faults linking onland with the strands of the East

Anatolian Transform Fault.

Calon et al. (a) examine the Neogene stratigraphic

and structural evolution of the eastern Mesaoria Basin

using multi-channel seismic reflection profiles from

the eastern marine extension of the basin into the

Outer Latakia Basin (Figs. 2 and 3). They show that

the region includes three major tectonic elements: (1)

the Troodos–Larnaka culmination is a large ophiolite-

cored ramp anticline developed above a deep-seated

S-verging thrust, complemented by a footwall imbri-

cate fan system extending into the Cyprus Basin; (2)

the Outer Latakia Basin is a large piggy-back basin,

carried on the northern flank of the Troodos–Larnaka

culmination and (3) the Kyrenia fold–thrust belt is

developed as a S-verging trailing imbricate fan

system. They further show that these three tectonic

elements form part of a crustal-scale, south-directed,

linked thrust system, which has a protracted tectonic

history with major pulses of contraction in the Eo-

Oligocene, the late Miocene and the middle Plio-

Quaternary, and that this system extends southward

well into the Cyprus Basin and probably links with the

subduction zone between the African plate and the

Anatolian microplate. Patterns of thrust activity in this

linked thrust system exclude models of southward-

migration of the plate boundary from mid-Tertiary to

Recent. Instead, the upper plate is viewed as a broad

Fig. 3. Map of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and environs showing the areas discussed by different authors in this volume. 1—Hall et al., a;

2—Calon et al., a; 3—Calon et al., b; 4—Aksu et al., a; 5—Aksu et al., b; 6—Burton-Ferguson et al.; 7—Bridge et al.; 8—Hall et al., b; 9—IYler

et al.; 10—Tibor and Ben-Avraham; 11—Ergun et al.; 12—Ben-Gai et al.; 13—Ulug et al.; 14—Innocenti et al; and 15—SakVnc and YaltVrak

(includes the Aegean and Marmara Seas).

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–136

zone of diffuse convergence, distributed across a

number of active fold–thrust zones.

Calon et al. (b) study the Neogene stratigraphic and

structural evolution of the Mesaoria Basin and

Kyrenia Range using multi-channel seismic reflection

profiles from their western and eastern marine

extensions (Figs. 2 and 3). They show that the region

north of the front of the Troodos–Larnaka culmination

constitutes a crustal-scale S-verging, thick-skinned

linked imbricate thrust system comprising most of the

forearc region north of the present-day Cyprus Arc. In

the Eocene, thrust activity gave rise to the prominent

growth of the Troodos–Larnaka culmination and

concurrent imbrication further north in the forearc

region, creating the root of the Kyrenia fold–thrust

belt. Northward retreat of the active thrust front in the

Oligocene–Miocene led to the development of a

foredeep across the root of the Kyrenia fold–thrust

belt with a prominent depositional foredeep ramp

situated at the current front of this belt. They further

note that crustal contraction continued in the Miocene

along the front of the Troodos–Larnaka culmination

leading to the progressive shoaling of the basin,

carried on the backlimb of this culmination, and that

in the late Miocene, thrust activity became widespread

in the forearc region with structural contraction being

focussed on the Kyrenia fold–thrust belt. Pliocene

thrust activity in the forearc region is primarily

focussed on the Kyrenia fold–thrust belt with much

uplift occurring in the mid-late Pliocene, but continu-

ing to the present. The Mesaoria Basin evolved in the

Miocene to Pliocene as a piggy-back basin. Their data

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–13 7

negate earlier models that postulate a phase of crustal

extension in the forearc region during the Oligocene

to mid-late Pliocene.

Aksu et al. (a) use high-resolution multi-channel

seismic reflection profiles to show that the deposition

of the Miocene successions in the Cilicia–Adana basin

complex occurred within a foredeep, south of the

arcuate Tauride fold–thrust belt, which delineated a

broad syntaxis, and that the Misis–Kyrenia fault zone

defined the northernmost of a number of smaller

thrust culminations developed within this foredeep

(Figs. 2 and 3). They suggest that the Adana and Inner

Cilicia Basins became emergent during the Tortonian,

when the western portion of the piggy-back basin

retained a marine connection. The entire region

became emergent during the Messinian salinity crisis,

when a thick succession of evaporites were deposited

in Cilicia and southern Adana Basins. They indicate

that the late Plio-Quaternary Cilicia–Adana Basin

complex evolved as an asymmetric piggyback basin

on the hanging-wall of the large south-verging Misis–

Kyrenia thrust culmination. They document that on

the Misis–Kyrenia segment of the culmination thrust

activity ceased in early Messinian, whereas on the

Kyrenia segment it continued to the present, and that

this shift in kinematics is expressed by the develop-

ment of the NE–SW trending steep faults with

extensional separations bounding the Plio-Quaternary

depocentre in Adana and Inner Cilicia Basins. They

show that these basement-rooted faults are incompat-

ible with the contractional regime that existed in this

part of the basin complex during the Miocene, and

that in the Outer Cilicia Basin the incompatibility

between a domain of continued south-directed fold–

thrust activity and uplift on the Kyrenia Range and a

domain of extension associated with the development

of Plio-Quaternary depocentre indicates that plate

strains are strongly partitioned across the E–W

trending southern basin-bounding fault system along

the southern margin of the Outer Cilicia Basin. They

suggest that the progressive westward displacement of

the Tauride block within the Anatolian microplate

created a localised transtensional regime within the

Inner Cilicia and Adana Basins, suggesting the

presence of hard intra-plate fault boundaries centred

along the Misis–Kyrenia horst block and the southern

basin-bounding fault system. The northern basin-

bounding fault systems, including the Kozan fault in

Cilicia Basin are large antithetic structures linked to

the master faults. The westward pull-out of the

Tauride block is related to the overall westward

escape of the Anatolian microplate during the latest

Miocene to early Pliocene, whereas the continued

contraction south of the basin complex across Cyprus

is related to the evolving collision and under-plating

of the continental micro-fragment, the Eratosthenes

Seamount. They propose that the southern master

fault of the Outer Cilicia Basin primarily functions

now as a strike-slip boundary, separating a contrac-

tional microplate domain to the south from a trans-

tensional microplate domain to the north.

Aksu et al. (b) use multi-channel seismic reflec-

tion profiles and biostratigraphic data from explora-

tion wells to show that the Iskenderun Basin evolved

as a broad depocentre during the early Miocene

between the tectonically active front of the Taurides

in the west and northwest and the uplifted Kzldag–

Hatay ophiolite complex in the south and southeast

(Figs. 2 and 3). The eastern portion of this large

Miocene basin is represented by a seismic strati-

graphic unit characterized by two westerly dipping

tilted wedges which display progressive onlap to the

east over the ophiolitic basement. This suggests that

the unit developed as a growth-stratal wedge in a

piggy-back basin on the trailing limb of a large

easterly transported ophiolite thrust sheet. The well

data show that the emplacement of this thrust sheet

occurred progressively from the Serravallian to the

late Messinian. In the eastern portion of the

Iskenderun Basin, the presence of the lower subunit

in the footwall of the ophiolite-cored thrust culmi-

nation and the presence of a growth strata wedge of

the upper subunit onlaping the forelimb of the thrust

culmination, show that the main phase of thrust

activity initiated later in the Serravallian with uplift

continuing to the Tortonian. The absence of Messi-

nian evaporites over the crest of the culmination

demonstrates that the structure was an erosive

paleohigh in the Messinian. The absence of lower-

most Pliocene strata in eastern Iskenderun Basin

suggests that this region remained emergent at that

time, whereas deposition occurred without significant

interruption in the west over the backlimb portion of

the culmination. They show that contractional

deformation in the Iskenderun Basin had ceased

prior to the development of the M-reflector (inferred

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–138

as Messinian in age) as an erosional unconformity,

and that the transition between the late Miocene

fold–thrust structures and the thick Plio-Quaternary

succession along the northwestern margin of the

Iskenderun Basin is defined by a fundamental

angular unconformity, developed by deep erosion

of the leading edge of the fold–thrust belt, repre-

sented by the M-reflector. They show that the Plio-

Quaternary forms a thick, relatively undisturbed

wedge which shows east- and south-directed onlap

over the northwestern flank of the KVzVldag–Hatay

ophiolitic basement high and the southeastern flank

of the Misis fold–thrust belt. They infer that the

Iskenderun Basin was primarily a Miocene intra-

montane depression that was passively filled during

the Plio-Quaternary by predominantly deltaic sed-

imentation, with extensional faults providing minor

accommodation space.

Burton-Ferguson et al. use multichannel seismic

reflection profiles from the Adana Basin to show that

a south-verging linked imbricate thrust stack existed

across the northern portion of the Adana Basin prior

to the deposition of lower Miocene sedimentary

successions (Figs. 2 and 3). Following the develop-

ment of the basement-cored fold–thrust belt the

region was irregularly denuded (B2 unconformity)

with paleohighs and lows at least in part delineating

the axis of hanging wall culminations and intervening

structural depressions between forelimbs and back-

limbs of the stacked sheets, with residual topographic

relief locally reaching 1500 m. The stratigraphic and

structural architecture of the lower to middle Mio-

cene successions in the Adana Basin, records a

significant phase of tectonic subsidence that initiated

in the early Miocene, followed by deposition of a

thick deepwater succession in an under-filled basin

and then by relatively rapid uplift giving rise to basin

inversion and erosion prior to or during the early

Tortonian. The late Miocene is a period of global

eustatic sea-level fall, initiating in the Tortonian. The

well-documented rapid transition from middle Mio-

cene deep water deposits to Tortonian fluvio-deltaic

and terrestrial deposits in the Adana Basin can in part

be accounted for by global sea-level fall. They show

that the transition from deep water to fluvio-deltaic

sedimentation in the early Tortonian recorded the

combined effects of a global eustatic sea-level fall

and regional tectonic uplift, presumably related to

renewed activity in the Tauride orogen to the north. It

led to widespread erosion giving rise to a smooth

unconformity surface in most of the Adana Basin.

The stratigraphic and structural relationships suggest

that the onset of the east-directed thrusting in the

trailing portion of the Misis fold–thrust belt occurred

sometime during the lower Tortonian, coinciding

with the switch from marine to terrestrial sedimenta-

tion. Truncation of the folded–thrusted successions of

two seismic stratigraphic units across the trailing

thrust sheets marks the effect of progressive erosion

as the thrust sheets were uplifted above base level.

This portion of the unconformity is thus the

structurally higher portion of a syntectonic uncon-

formity that falls from the region of main thrust

culminations westward into the depocentre sited on

the main backlimb of the Misis fold–thrust belt.

Much of the Tortonian deposition took place within

this trailing piggy-back basin and the easterly onlap

and the westerly tilt of this succession mark the

progressive uplift of the fold–thrust belt during the

remainder of the Tortonian. Terrestrial and fluvio-

deltaic deposition in the Tortonian evolved in the

Messinian with the deposition of mixed evaporite–

carbonate–clastics succession in the Adana Basin. A

local unconformity across the Tortonian succession

marks the cessation of the fold–thrust activity in the

east and ensuing erosion across the fill of the

Tortonian piggy-back basin. A subcrop marks the

edge of deposition of the Messinian succession in a

paleotopographic depression situated between the

Tortonian Misis fold–thrust belt in the east and the

paleoslope over the front of the reactivated Tauride

fold–thrust belt in the north. Structural and strati-

graphic relationships along the western margin of

Adana Basin suggest that the edge of deposition of

the evaporite succession was probably controlled by

the development of the Kozan Fault zone. Plio-

Quaternary subsidence created the accommodation

space that allowed rapid delta progradation.

Bridge et al. use high-resolution seismic reflection

profiles from the Adana–Cilicia and Iskenderun–

Latakia Basins to show the presence of a salt-involved

linked extensional–contractional fault system,

detached at the base of the evaporite unit (Figs. 2

and 3). The extensional domain is developed within

the thick proximal part of the Plio-Quaternary delta

succession in each basin. It is characterized by an

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–13 9

imbricate fan of listric normal faults which cut the

entire delta succession, and delineate two turtle-back

growth anticlines and their intervening syncline. The

faults sole into a gently southwesterly dipping detach-

ment surface, which lie within the Messinian evapor-

ite succession. In the inner basins, salt is largely

evacuated toward the outer basins, but occurs as

rollers in the lower part of the footwalls of listric

extensional faults, and as small subdued pillows

beneath turtle-back growth anticlines. A large salt

wall is developed at the toe of the delta complex in

both basins. The narrow synclines between the two

turtle back growth anticlines record a more compli-

cated history of rise and fall of the salt related to the

switch in vergence of the extensional fault fan. Two

wide marginal synclines are present within the

Pliocene and Quaternary units on both flanks of the

salt wall, and represent peripheral sinks with complex

growth histories associated with a complicated history

of rise and fall of the salt. Locally, small segments of

salt welds are present near the base of the salt wall.

The contractional domain is characterized by a

relatively thin Plio-Quaternary cover overlying a

relatively uniform, 500–800 m-thick salt substrate,

with a series of salt-cored folds which are commonly

associated with thrusts. The salt-related growth anti-

clines include symmetrical folds as well as highly

asymmetrical thrust-related folds with vergence to

either north or south. In other examples, symmetrical

anticlines are clearly broken by two oppositely

verging thrusts which climb up-section from the salt

crest. They further show that the halokinetic structures

in the Cilicia and Latakia Basins not only display a

remarkable resemblance to detached and linked

systems of extensional and contractional fault fans

as documented in classical salt provinces, but also

display significant similarities to scaled experiments

with analogue materials simulating the flow of a

brittle overburden on top of a ductile substrate with

synchronous development of extensional and contrac-

tional fault systems detached in the ductile substrate.

However, a number of differences also exist, which

may arise from several factors, including the nature of

ductility contrast between the ductile portion of the

evaporite layer and the supra-salt succession, the

thickness ratio of overburden to evaporite unit and the

rate of progradation and the nature of sediment

distribution during the evolution of the delta complex.

Hall et al. (b) use high-resolution seismic reflection

profiles from the Cyprus Basin and Tartus Ridge to

show that the active deformation front between the

African and Anatolian Plates is delineated by the

northeast–southwest trending Cyprus Arc (Figs. 2 and

3). They show that the Cyprus Arc is characterized by

three morphologically different structures. The defor-

mation front is dominated by the Latakia Ridge, a

steep narrow high, which merges gradually with the

lower slope of the broad Hecataeus Rise in the west

and extends to the northern Levantine coast in the east

where the expression of the ridge changes to a number

of narrow, northeast-trending ridges and basins. They

document the timing of deformation using growth

stratal architectures on the flanks of the major

structures and delineated two main phases of defor-

mation: a compressional regime dominated from

Eocene to latest Miocene, whereas a strike-slip regime

dominated in the Pliocene–Quaternary.

IYler et al. use high-resolution seismic reflection

profiles from the Antalya Basin to document a two

phase kinematic history in the region (Figs. 2 and 3).

The first phase of deformation occurred in the

Miocene, and is characterized by five northwest-

trending, southwest-directed fold–thrust structures.

They show that a fundamental change in the kine-

matic regime occurred during the transition from the

late Miocene to Pliocene, when the strain was strongly

partitioned geographically. They document that the

second phase of deformation occurred in the middle-

late Pliocene to Recent and it was restricted to two

distinct domains. A northwest-trending extensional–

transtensional fault fan involving the Plio-Quaternary

succession occupies the northern portion of the

Antalya Basin, and a northwest-trending transpres-

sional domain, involving the middle-upper Plio-

Quaternary succession, occupies the southwestern

portion of the deep Antalya Basin. They argue that

the extensional domain developed in response to the

westward displacement of the Tauride block associ-

ated with the westward escape of the eastern segment

of the Aegean–Anatolian Microplate in the latest

Miocene to early Pliocene, whereas the transpres-

sional domain developed in response to the collision

of the Eratosthenes Seamount with Cyprus.

Tibor and Ben-Avraham use paleodepth recon-

structions of the late Tertiary Levantine continental

margin off Israel through one- and two-dimensional

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–1310

quantitative basin analysis, to indicate tilting of the

deep basin in north–south and east–west directions, as

well as westward progradation of the continental shelf

in the southern Levantine margin (Figs. 2 and 3).

They note that the variation in style of deposition

along the Levantine margin may be the result of the

decreasing influence of the Nile to the north and the

increasing influence of the nearby plate boundaries.

They show that, in general, the bathymetry of the

Levantine margin from the deep basin to the base of

slope has become shallower since early Neogene.

They ascribe this general filling of the Eastern

Mediterranean to a time when the sediment supply

from the continental margin exceeds subsidence. They

show that a deep basin existed in pre-Messinian time,

implying that the deposition of the evaporites during

the Messinian desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea

occurred in a deep basinal setting.

Ergun et al. used existing gravity data to show that

the Bouguer gravity anomaly reaches its maximum

values over the Island of Cyprus, which probably

reflects the high-density rocks of the Troodos Com-

plex (Figs. 2 and 3). High Bouguer anomalies across

the Eratosthenes Seamount are ascribed to the uplift of

the oceanic crust in this region. Interpretation of the

gravity data suggested that the crust beneath the

Herodotus and Rhodes Basins is probably oceanic in

character, and that the Anaximander Mountains and

Eratosthenes Seamount represent continental frag-

ments, similar to the Island of Cyprus. There are no

linear magnetic anomalies in the Mediterranean, but

those over the Eratosthenes Seamount, across the zone

extending from the Island of Cyprus to the Antalya

Basin probably indicate the presence of ophiolitic

bodies.

Ben-Gai et al. use seismic reflection profiles, well

data and two-dimensional forward stratigraphic

simulation to determine the evolution of the south-

eastern Levantine Basin since the Messinian salinity

crisis (Figs. 2 and 3). They assume that the thick

Messinian evaporite sequence was deposited in a

shallow-water environment, albeit a topographically

deep basin. They show that sea-level dropped at least

800 m below its present level and may have been as

low as �1300 m, the latter value representing the

reconstructed depth of the top Messinian in the deep

part of the basin. They show that the top of the

evaporite sequence in that part of the basin was

virtually horizontal at the end of the Messinian and

thus, may be used as a regional datum. Subsidence

rates measured for the shelf and coastal plain of

Israel indicate a reduction of these rates for the

Pleistocene when compared to the Pliocene. During

the Pleistocene subsidence rates for the base slope

increased and dictated the modem physiography of

the margin. They show that in the Middle to Late

Pliocene, small scale salt movements occurred in the

deep basin, producing the fragmented and irregular

shape of the "M" horizon, which marks the top of

the evaporite sequence. The simulated rate of sedi-

ment supply indicates a constant increase over time

for the Pliocene and the Pleistocene, probably in

response to an increased influx of Nile-derived

sediments.

Ulug et al use 3.5 kHz and single channel airgun

profiles from the southeastern Aegean Sea off Turkey

to show that the continental shelf of the northeastern

Gulf of Gfkova is formed by numerous superimposed

deltaic successions (depositional sequences), separa-

ted by major erosional unconformities (Figs. 2 and 3).

During times of lowered sea-level associated with late

Quaternary glaciations, deltas prograded more than 40

km seaward from their present positions. Foreset

progradation terminated with the rise of sea level in

interglacial and post-glacial times and deltas were

relocated far inland. These major transgressions

resulted in unconformities that are correlated with

the beginning of oxygen isotope stages 9, 7, 5 and l,

and provide chronostratigraphic markers for a detailed

analysis of sedimentation patterns in the late Quater-

nary. All seismic lines show that the topset to foreset

transition of the youngest Pleistocene delta system

developed around 130–150 m below present sea-level.

Thus, the maximum Pleistocene sea-level lowering

(18 000 yr BP) was about �95 to �100 m. The

lowstand of sea-levels for isotopic stages 6, 8 and 10

was determined as 145, 190 and 235 m below present

sea-level, respectively. Paleo-shoreline positions dur-

ing isotopic stages 2, 6 and 8 suggest an overall

gradual longer-term rise of sea level, during the last

0.5 Ma in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Chronology

suggests that the Gfkova Basin is subsiding at less

than 0.2 m/1000 yr and the absolute level of the 18 ka

low-stand deposits at 105 m provides no evidence for

significant subsidence in the northeastern shelf of the

Gulf of Gfkova. Seismic reflection profiling shows

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–13 11

that three main directions of faults bound the Gulf of

Gfkova Basin. Subsidence rates are greatest in the

southern center of the basin and decrease northward,

so that the northern area is being tilted southward.

2.2. Related studies from onland Turkey

Innocenti et al. use geochemical data on volcanic

successions to show that in western Anatolia the

Miocene-to-present day magmatism evolved from

calc-alkaline and shoshonitic rocks (21–16 Ma) to

lamproites (16–14 Ma), and eventually into OIB-type

magmas (2–0 Ma) represented by the Kula volcanics

(Figs. 2 and 3). In the calc-alkaline and shoshonitic

association, Sr and Nd isotopic ratios and trace-

element variations suggest that the interaction with the

crust was moderate, so that the geochemistry of these

rocks is considered to reflect the heterogeneous

chemical nature of their mantle source. The ultra-

potassic and lamproitic rocks are characterized by a

high Sr and low Nd isotopic composition and are

strongly enriched in K and Rb with respect to Ba,

indicating a phlogopite-bearing lithospheric source.

The low Sr and high Nd isotopic compositions,

together with low LILE/HFSE ratios, reveal the

OIB-type nature of the Kula volcanics. The switch

from supra-subduction orogenic suites to volcanics

comes from sub-slab asthenospheric mantle. The

evolution is interpreted as being due to a dhorizontalTstretching of the slab (no slab pull break-off)

generated by different velocities in the subduction

hanging wall lithosphere. They suggested that this

triggered the extensional movement between Greece

and Turkey and the stretching into two slabs of the

NE-directed African subduction, due to the faster

southwestward slab rollback of Africa underneath

Greece relative to the slab segment below Cyprus and

Anatolia.

SakVnc and YaltVrak show that the effects of the

severing of the Atlantic–Mediterranean connection

during the ~400,000 yr Messinian event were also

observed around the northern Aegean. The suggested

that during this time, a brackish-water sea (Egemar)

developed between Paratethys in the north and the

Mediterranean in the south, which was mainly fed by

the surrounding rivers and the Paratethyan waters

that entered the sea via a connection through the Sea

of Marmara, then a bay of the Paratethys. They

showed that the sedimentary sequence deposited in

Egemar is principally formed of limestones contain-

ing brackish-water fauna (Paratethyan). They further

pointed out that there are five intercalations of

Mediterranean character within the sedimentary

sequence of the Egemar, indicating the re-establish-

ment of an Atlantic–Mediterranean connection from

time to time and, thus, replenishment of marine

waters. The Turolian is represented by continental

clastics which interdigitate with the brackish-water

cycles, implying a number of regressions. They

suggested that the Egemar became part of the eastern

Mediterranean during the transgression in early

Pliocene.

3. Concluding remarks

Where are we in our quest of better understanding

of the Mediterranean jigsaw puzzle? A review of the

published studies dealing with the Neogene and

Quaternary tectonic and kinematic evolution of the

eastern Mediterranean, including the papers in this

special issue, reveal the following salient points:

- We have a reasonably good understanding of the

styles of deformation affecting the uppermost

portion of the sedimentary pile in the eastern

Mediterranean,

- We have mapped showing the structural trends and

associations and have documented that strain is

partitioned both temporally and spatially across the

Miocene to Recent successions in the eastern

Mediterranean,

- We have successfully correlated many of the large

structures mapped in the marine areas to their

counterparts on land,

- We have used the recent advances in the global

positioning systems to determine the current motion

of the plates, microplates and crustal fragments.

What is the most important scientific problem for

the next decade dealing with the Neogene and

Quaternary tectonic and kinematic evolution of the

eastern Mediterranean? Despite a very large shallow-

penetrating (1–4 s) seismic reflection data set, it is

striking that we know very little about the nature and

thickness of the crust and the total thickness of the

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–1312

sedimentary successions above the crystalline base-

ment across the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea. We

believe that the next phase of scientific efforts in the

eastern Mediterranean must include (a) deep-penetra-

ting (i.e. 9–12 s) multi-channel seismic reflection

profiling along several transects extending from the

north African margin across the Hellenic and Cyprus

Arcs into the Aegean Sea in the west and the Rhodes,

Antalya, Cyrus and Latakia Basins in the east, and (b)

wide-angle seismic experiments using ocean-bottom

seismographs across the same transects to determine

the depth of Moho and the nature of the crustal

basement and uppermost mantle.

Acknowledgments

Critical evaluation of the scientific papers published

in this special volume was no small task. We are much

indebted to the following reviewers for their construc-

tive criticisms, and many suggestions which undoubt-

edly improved the manuscripts in this volume: Ali E.

Aksu (Memorial University of Newfoundland); Bedri

Alpar (Istanbul University); Joaquina Alvarez-Marron

(Institut de Ciencies de la Terra dJaume AlmeraT,Spain); Daniele Babbucci (Universita di Siena, Italy);

Zvi Ben Avraham (Tel Aviv University); Erdin Bozkurt

(Middle East Technical University); Judith Bunbury

(DurhamUniversity); Ibrahim Cemen (Oklahoma State

University); Cierd Cloetingh (Free University);

Michael Enachescu (Husky Resources); Zvi Garfunkel

(The Hebrew University of Jerusalem); Cem Gazioglu

(Istanbul University); Mario Grasso (University of

Catania); Jeremy Hall (Memorial University of New-

foundland); Richard N. Hiscott (Memorial University

of Newfoundland); M.P.A. Jackson (University of

Texas at Austin); George Jenner (Memorial University

of Newfoundland); E. John W. Jones (University

College London); Phil Kearey (University of Bristol);

Gilbert Kelling (Keele University); Jean Letouzey

(Institut Francais du Petrol); John G. Malpas (Hong

Kong University); Jean Mascle (Observatoire Ocean-

ologique de Villefranche sur mer, France); Rudi Meyer

(Memorial University of Newfoundland); Boris Nata-

lin (Istanbul Technical University); Roland Oberh7nsli(Universit7t Potsdam); David J.W. Piper (Geological

Survey of Canada-Atlantic); Andrew Pulham (Nautilus

World, Houston, USA); Muharrem Satr (Eberhard

Karls Universit7t Tubingen); Tuncay Taymaz (Istanbul

Technical University); Uri ten Brink (Woods Hole

Oceanographic Institution); Brian Whiting (Central

Washington University, USA); John Woodside (Free

University, The Netherlands); Oz YVlmaz (Anatolian

Geophysical).

References

Ben-Avraham, Z., Tibor, G., Limonov, A.F., Leybov, M.B.,

Ivanov, M.K., Torkarev, M.Y., Woodside, J.M., 1995. Structure

and tectonics of the eastern Cyprean Arc. Mar. Pet. Geol. 12,

236–271.

Bohnhoff, M., Makris, J., Papanikolaou, D., Stavrakakis, G., 2001.

Crustal investigation of the Hellenic subduction zone using wide

aperture seismic data. Tectonophysics 343, 239–262.

Comas, M.C., Zahn, R., Claus, A., et al., 1996. Proceedings of the

Ocean Drilling Program, Results, vol. 161. College Station, TX,

1023 pp.

de Voogd, B., Truffert, C., Chamot-Rooke, N., Huchon, P.,

Lallemant, S., Le Pichon, X., 1992. Two-ship deep seismic

soundings in the basins of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

(Pasiphae cruise). Geophys. J. Int. 109, 536–552.

Dewey, J.F., Hempton, M.R., Kidd, W.S.F., Xaroglu, F., Xengfr,A.M.C., 1986. Shortening of continental lithosphere: the neo-

tectonics of eastern Anatolia—a young collision zone. In:

Coward, M.P., Ries, A.C. (Eds.), Collision Tectonics, Geo-

logical Society Special Publication, vol. 19, pp. 3–36.

Dixon, J.E., Robertson, A.H.F., 1984. The geological evolu-

tion of the Eastern Mediterranean. Spec. Publ.-Geol. Soc. 17

(824 pp.).

Emeis, K.-C., Robertson, A.H.F., Richter, C., et al., 1996.

Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Results, vol. 160.

College Station, TX, 972 pp.

Hancock, P.L., Barka, A.A., 1981. Opposed shear senses inferred

from neotectonic mesofractures systems in the North Anatolian

fault zone. J. Struct. Geol. 3, 383–392.

Hirsch, F., Flexer, A., Rosenfeld, A., Yellin-Dror, A., 1995.

Palinspastic and crustal studies of the Eastern Mediterranean.

J. Pet. Geol. 18, 149–170.

Hsu, K.J., Montadert, L., et al., 1975. Initial Reports of the Deep

Sea Drilling Project, Volume 42, Part I. U.S. Government

Printing Office, Washington. 1249 pp.

IOC International Oceanographic Commission, 1981. International

Bathymetric Chart of the Mediterranean (1:1000000 scale).

Head Department of Navigation and Oceanography, Leningrad,

USSR, 10 sheets.

Jestin, F., Huchon, P., Gaulier, J.M., 1994. The Somalia plate and

the East African rift system: present-day kinematics. Geophys. J.

Int. 116, 637–654.

Jongsma, D., van Hinte, J.E., Woodside, J.M., 1985. Geological

structure and neotectonics of the north African continental

margin south of Sicily. Mar. Pet. Geol. 2, 156–179.

Jongsma, D., Woodside, J.M., King, G.C.P., van Hinte, J.E., 1987.

The Medina Wrench: a key to the kinematics of the central and

A.E. Aksu et al. / Marine Geology 221 (2005) 1–13 13

eastern Mediterranean over the past 5 Ma. Earth Planet. Sci.

Lett. 82, 87–106.

Kastens, K.A., Mascle, J., et al., 1990. Proceedings of the Ocean

Drilling Program, Results, vol. 107. College Station, TX, 772 pp.

Kempler, D., Garfunkel, Z., 1994. Structures and kinematics in the

northeastern Mediterranean: a study of an irregular plate

boundary. Tectonophysics 234, 19–32.

Kenyon, N.H., Belderson, R.H., Stride, A.H., 1982. Detailed

tectonic trends on the central part of the Hellenic Outer Ridge

and in the Hellenic Trench System. In: Leggett, J.K. (Ed.),

Trench-Forearc Geology: Sedimentation and Tectonics on the

Modern and Ancient Active Plate Margins, Geological Society

Special Publication, vol. 10, pp. 334–343. 582 pp.

Laigle, M., Hirn, A., Sachpazi, M., Clement, C., 2002. Seismic

coupling and structure of the Hellenic subduction zone in

the Ionian Islands region. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 200 (3–4),

243–253 (30 Jun).

Makris, J., Ben-Abraham, Z., Behle, A., Ginzburg, A., Giesse, P.,

Steinmetz, L., Whitmarsh, R.B., Eleftheriou, S., 1983. Seismic

refraction profiles between Cyprus and Israel and their

interpretation. Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc. 75, 575–591.

Mann, P., 1997. Model for the formation of large, transtensional

basins in zones of tectonic escape. Geology 25, 211–214.

Mascle, J., Benkhelil, J., Bellaiche, G., Zitter, T., Loncke, Prismed II

Scientific Party, 2000. Marine geologic evidence for a Levan-

tine–Sinai plate, a new piece of the Mediterranean puzzle.

Geology 28, 779–782.

McClusky, S.C., Balassanian, S., Barka, A., Demir, C., Ergintav, S.,

Georgiev, I., Gurkan, O., Hamburger, M., Hurst, K., Kahle, H.,

Kastens, K., Kekelidze, G., King, R., Kotzev, V., Lenk, O.,

Mahmoud, S., Mishin, A., Nadariya, M., Ouzounis, A.,

Paradissis, D., Peter, Y., Prilepin, M., Reilinger, R., Sanli, I.,

Seeger, H., Tealeb, A., Toksfz, M.N., Veis, G., 2000. Global

positioning system constraints on plate kinematics and dynam-

ics in the eastern Mediterranean and Caucasus. J. Geophys. Res.

105 (B3), 5695–5719.

McClusky, S., Reilinger, R., Mahmoud, S., Ben Sari, D., Taeleb, A.,

2003. GPS constraints on Africa (Nubia) and Arabia plate

motions. Geophys. J. Int. 155, 126–138.

Moores, E.M., Robinson, P.T., Malpas, J., Xenophontos, C., 1984.

Model for the origin of the Troodos massif, Cyprus and other

Mideast ophiolites. Geology 12, 223–226.

Papazachos, B.C., Papaioannou, Ch.A., 1999. Lithospheric boun-

daries and plate motions in the Cyprus area. Tectonophysics

308, 193–204.

Papazachos, C.B., Karakaisis, G.F., Savvaidis, A.S., Papaza-

chos, B.C., 2002. Accelerating seismic crustal deformation

in the southern Aegean area. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 92,

570–580.

Poisson, A., Wernli, R., Sagular, E.K., Temiz, H., 2003. New data

concerning the age of the Aksu Thrust in the south of the Aksu

valley, Isparta Angle (SW Turkey): consequences for the

Antalya Basin and the Eastern Mediterranean. Geol. J. 38,

311–327.

Reilinger, R.E., McClusky, S.C., Oral, M.B., King, R.W., Toksfz,M.N., 1997. Global positioning system measurements in the

Arabia–Africa–Eurasia plate collision zone. J. Geophys. Res.

102 (B5), 9983–9999.

Robertson, A.H.F., 1998. Mesozoic–Tertiary tectonic evolution of

the easternmost Mediterranean area: integration of marine and

land evidence. In: Robertson, A.H.F., Emeis, K.C., Richter, C.,

Camerlenghi, A. (Eds.), Proceeding of the Ocean Drilling

Program, Scientific Results, vol. 160, pp. 723–782.

Robertson, A.H.F., Dixon, J.E., 1984. Introduction: aspects of the

geological evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean. In: Dixon,

J.E., Robertson, A.H.F. (Eds.), The Geological Evolution of the

Eastern Mediterranean, Geological Society Special Publication,

vol. 17, pp. 1–74.

Robertson, A.H.F., Clift, P.D., Degnan, P., Jones, G., 1991.

Paleogeographic and paleotectonic evolution of the Eastern

Mediterranean Neotethys. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palae-

oecol. 87, 289–344.

Salamon, A., Hofstetter, A., Garfunkel, Z., Hagai, R., 2003.

Seismotectonics of the Sinai subplate–eastern Mediterranean

region. Geophys. J. Int. 155, 149–173.

Xengfr, A.M.C., YVlmaz, Y., 1981. Tethyan evolution of Turkey: a

plate tectonic approach. Tectonophysics 75, 181–241.

Xengfr, A.M.C., Gfrur, N., Xaroglu, F., 1985. Strike-slip faulting

and related basin formation in zones of tectonic escape: Turkey

as a case study. Society of Economic Paleontologists and

Mineralogists, Special Publication, vol. 37, pp. 227–264.

Taymaz, T., Jackson, J., McKenzie, D., 1991. Active tectonics of the

north and central Aegean Sea. Geophys. J. Int. 106, 433–490.

Ten Veen, J.H., Kleinspehn, K.L., 2003. Incipient continental

collision and plate-boundary curvature; late Pliocene–Holocene

transtensional Hellenic forearc, Crete, Greece. J. Geol. Soc.

(Lond.) 160, 161–181.

Underhill, J.R., 1989. Late Cenozoic deformation of the Helle-

nide foreland, western Greece. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 101,

613–634.

Vidal, N., Klaeschen, D., Kopf, A., Docherty, C., Von Huene, R.,

Krasheninnikov, V.A., 2000. Seismic images at the convergence

zone from south of Cyprus to the Syrian coast, eastern

Mediterranean. Tectonophysics 329, 157–170.

Williams, H., 1979. Appalachian orogen in Canada. Can. J. Earth

Sci. 16, 792–807.

Woodside, J.M., Mascle, J., Zitter, T.A.C., Limonov, A.F., Ergun,

M., Volkonskaia, A., 2002. The Florence Rise, the western bend

of the Cyprus Arc. Mar. Geol. 185, 177–194.

Zitter, T.A.C., Woodside, J.M., Mascle, J., 2003. The Anaximander

Mountains: a clue to the tectonics of southwest Anatolia. Geol.

J. 38, 375–394.