We analyzed thermal data from deep oil exploration and geothermal boreholes in the 1000-7000 m depth range to unravel thermal regime beneath the central-northern Apennines chain and the surrounding sedimentary basins. We particularly selected deepest bottom hole temperatures, all recorded within the permeable carbonate Paleogene-Mesozoic formations, which represent the most widespread tectono-stratigraphic unit of the study area. The available temperatures were corrected for the drilling disturbanceand the thermal conductivity was estimated from detailed litho-stratigraphic information and by taking into account the pressure and temperature effect. The thermal resistance approach, including also the radiogenic heat production, was used to infer the terrestrial heat flow and to highlight possible advective perturbation due to groundwater circulation. Only two boreholes close to recharge areas argue for deep groundwater flow in the permeable carbonate unit, whereas most of the obtained heat-flow data may reflect the deep, undisturbed, conductive thermal regime.
We used bathymetry, sediment thickness and terrestrial heat-flow data to investigate the nature of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea lithosphere. We processed bathymetric data by removing the subsidence caused by sediment deposition to obtain the water-loaded seafloor depth. Terrestrial heat flow measurements were corrected for sedimentation and climatic changes to infer the purely conductive steady-state geothermal flow. Water-load seafloor depths and thermal data were then compared to reference models of continental lithosphere stretching and ocean plate cooling. The results argue that the Levantine Basin is floored by a continental stretched crust that thinned by a factor of 1.6-2.7, whereas the Herodotus Basin crust is of oceanic type. The water-loaded seafloor depths in all the Eastern Mediterranean are consistent with geological ages of > 250 Ma. The mantle heat flow in the Herodotus Basin (33 mW m-2) is consistent with that of the oceanic Ionian lithosphere, whereas in the Levantine Basin (26 mW m-2) is comparable to that of the Sinai continental microplate.
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