In the Ionian Sea (central Mediterranean) the slow convergence between Africa and Eurasia results in the formation of a narrow subduction zone. The nature of the crust of the subducting plate remains debated and could represent the last remnants of the Neo‐Tethys ocean. The origin of the Ionian basin is also under discussion, especially concerning the rifting mechanisms as the Malta Escarpment could represent a remnant of this opening. This subduction retreats toward the south‐east (motion occurring since the last 35 Ma) but is confined to the narrow Ionian basin. A major lateral slab tear fault is required to accommodate the slab roll‐back. This fault is thought to propagate along the eastern Sicily margin but its precise location remains controversial. This study focuses on the deep crustal structure of the eastern Sicily margin and the Malta Escarpment. We present two two‐dimensional P wave velocity models obtained from forward modeling of wide‐angle seismic data acquired onboard the R/V Meteor during the DIONYSUS cruise in 2014. The results image an oceanic crust within the Ionian basin as well as the deep structure of the Malta Escarpment, which presents characteristics of a transform margin. A deep and asymmetrical sedimentary basin is imaged south of the Messina strait and seems to have opened between the Calabrian and Peloritan continental terranes. The interpretation of the velocity models suggests that the tear fault is located east of the Malta Escarpment, along the Alfeo fault system.

Abstract. The nature of the Ionian Sea crust has been the subject of scientific debate for more than 30 years, mainly because seismic imaging of the deep crust and upper mantle of the Ionian Abyssal Plain (IAP) has not been conclusive to date. The IAP is sandwiched between the Calabrian and Hellenic subduction zones in the central Mediterranean. A NNE–SSW-oriented 131 km long seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection profile, consisting of eight ocean bottom seismometers and hydrophones, was acquired in 2014. The profile was designed to univocally confirm the proposed oceanic nature of the IAP crust as a remnant of the Tethys and to confute its interpretation as a strongly thinned part of the African continental crust. A P-wave velocity model developed from travel-time forward modelling is refined by gravimetric data and synthetic modelling of the seismic data. A roughly 6–7 km thick crust with velocities ranging from 5.1 to 7.2 km s−1, top to bottom, can be traced throughout the IAP. In the vicinity of the Medina seamounts at the southern IAP boundary, the crust thickens to about 9 km and seismic velocities decrease to 6.8 km s−1 at the crust–mantle boundary. The seismic velocity distribution and depth of the crust–mantle boundary in the IAP document its oceanic nature and support the interpretation of the IAP as a remnant of the Tethys lithosphere with the Malta Escarpment as a transform margin and a Tethys opening in the NNW–SSE direction.