GNGTS 2023 - Atti del 41° Convegno Nazionale

Session 1.1 GNGTS 2023 Fig.1: Tectonic map of the study area. The Eastern Mediterranean Basin was formed during the rifting of the Neotethys Ocean in the Permo-Triassic, which led to the break-up of Gondwana into several continental fragments. The rifting phase lasted until the Middle Jurassic and led to the separation of the Eratosthenes Continental Block from the Afro-Arabian plate (Gardosh et al., 2010). The Eratosthenes Block is an important barrier separating the Herodotus Basin, which lies on the oceanic crust, from the Levant Basin, which lies on the thinned continental crust (Granot, 2016). The post-rifting phase led to the development of a passive margin characterised by alternation between carbonate platforms and basins within these platforms. During the Cretaceous, a regional phase of compression set in, causing a reconfiguration of the rifted blocks. The Afro-Arabian plate collided with the Eurasian plate and formed a suprasubducting ophiolite complex that was obducted later and led to the closure of the southern Neotethys. This phase of compression continued until at least the Eocene, forming the Syrian Arc when continental collision began on the Arabian margin (Brew et al., 2001). In the middle Miocene, the Red Sea began to open, leading to the formation of the Dead Sea Transform Fault (Hempton, 1987). The Dead Sea Fault zone is a sinistral transform fault separating the African and Arabian plates. Active subduction in the eastern Mediterranean and the development of the transform fault in the eastern onshore region resulted in a 90° counterclockwise rotation of the Troodos Complex and surrounding areas north of the Levant Basin (Morris et al., 2006).