Marine geologic evidence for a Levantine-Sinai plate, a new piece of the Mediterranean puzzle

Mascle, J.; Benkhelil, J.; Bellaiche, G.; Zitter, T.A.C.; Woodside, John; Loncke, Lies; Party, Nn Prismed Ii Scientific

doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2000)028<0779:mgefal>2.3.co;2

Cited by 85 publications

(56 citation statements)

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“…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 Xengfr and YVlmaz (1981), Hancock and Barka (1981), Jongsma et al (1985Jongsma et al ( , 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.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Miocene to Recent tectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean: New pieces of the old Mediterranean puzzle

2005

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Miocene to Recent tectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean: New pieces of the old Mediterranean puzzle

2005

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“…Stampfli and Borel (2002) show an elaborate globalscale plate reconstruction focussing on the Tethys area, giving a general idea on the Paleozoic and Mesozoic plate movements, but the Levantine Basin in particular is not resolved. Mascle et al (2000) found evidence for a Levantine-Sinai continental microplate extending from the Red Sea to roughly 35°N including the Eratosthenes Seamount and bounded to the east by the Dead Sea Transform Fault and identified this microplate as a fragment of the African craton.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Levantine Basin—crustal structure and origin

et al. 2006

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The origin of the Levantine Basin in the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea is related to the opening of the Neo-Tethys. The nature of its crust has been debated for decades. Therefore, we conducted a geophysical experiment in the Levantine Basin. We recorded two refraction seismic lines with 19 and 20 ocean bottom hydrophones, respectively, and developed velocity models. Additional seismic reflection data yield structural information about the upper layers in the first few kilometers. The crystalline basement in the Levantine Basin consists of two layers with a P-wave velocity of 6.0-6.4km/s in the upper and 6.5-6.9 km/s in the lower crust. Towards the center of the basin, the Moho depth decreases from 27 to 22km. Local variations of the velocity gradient can be attributed to previously postulated shear zones like the Pelusium Line, the Damietta-Latakia Line and the Baltim-Hecateus Line. Both layers of the crystalline crust are continuous and no indication for a transition from continental to oceanic crust is observed. These results are confirmed by gravity data. Comparison with other seismic refraction studies in prolongation of our profiles under Israel and Jordan and in the Mediterranean Sea near Greece and Sardinia reveal similarities between the crust in the Levantine Basin and thinned continental crust, which is found in that region. The presence of thinned continental crust under the Levantine Basin is therefore suggested. A β-factor of 2.3-3 is estimated. Based on these findings, we conclude that sea-floor spreading in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea only occurred north of the Eratosthenes Seamount, and the oceanic crust was later subducted at the Cyprus Arc.

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“…Recent evidence from shallow seismic activities [16,29] and marine geophysical data [15] confirm the northward offshore extension of the Gulf of Suez as a boundary of the microplate. Plate motion along this boundary is still amatter of debate [16].…”

Section: Tectonic and Geological Settingsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…[11], however, partly continue the SR northward, via a regional left-stepping relay beneath the Nile Delta. Recently, [15] identified an active fault belt that might correspond to an offshore extension of the SR, and suggested that this belt represents the western border of the Sinai subplate. However, its right lateral sense of motion is still a matter of debate.…”

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confidence: 99%

Stress analysis and tectonic trends of southern Sinai Peninsula, using potential field data analysis and anisotropy technique

Saleh

2012

Open Geosciences

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Abstract:The aim of the present work is to evaluate the stress direction and the tectonic trends of the study area using magnetic anisotropy and potential field data interpretations (Bouguer and aeromagnetic). The specific objective of the gravity and aeromagnetic interpretation is to establish the trend and depth of the structural configuration of the basement rocks. Horizontal gradient techniques could to delineate directions of deep sources and enabled tracing several faults, lineaments and tectonic boundaries of basement rocks. The trend analysis shows N40°-50°W, N10°-20°W and N10°-20°E which may be related to the Gulf of Suez, Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba stresses. However, Euler Deconvolution technique was applied using the aeromagnetic data to provide reliable information about penetrated source depth (100 m and ∼10.0 km) and trends of the subsurface sources (principally in NW and NE directions). Moreover, representative 72 oriented rock samples have been collected from seven sites in the study area. The rock magnetic properties and magnetic anisotropy analysis have been determined for all the studied samples. The interpretation clearly defined magnetic lineation at all sites and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) parameters. The stress direction of the studied area has been evaluated using magnetic anisotropy and geophysical analysis. Generally the estimated geophysical data analysis (Bouguer and aeromagnetic) are well consistent with the AMS interpretations of this study. The results indicated that the directions of predominant faults and foliations are NW-SE (related to the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea rifting) which indicate that the main stress and tectonic trend is NE-SW, which is more predominant in southern Sinai region. Moreover, it is clear that, the studied area was affected also by less predominant sources trended in NE-SW direction, which related to the tectonic activity of Gulf of Aqaba. The least predominant is north 40°-50°east that is probably due to the Syrian Arc system. Finally, our results are extremely coincided with the previous stress directions derived from geological, seismological and tectonic analysis in northern Red Sea rift, Gulf of Suez and Sinai regions.

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Marine geologic evidence for a Levantine-Sinai plate, a new piece of the Mediterranean puzzle

Cited by 85 publications

References 0 publications

Miocene to Recent tectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean: New pieces of the old Mediterranean puzzle

Miocene to Recent tectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean: New pieces of the old Mediterranean puzzle

The Levantine Basin—crustal structure and origin

Stress analysis and tectonic trends of southern Sinai Peninsula, using potential field data analysis and anisotropy technique

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