Paleomagnetic evidence for Neogene rotational deformations in the Aegean domain

Abstract

New paleomagnetic data are reported from the islands of Skyros and Lesbos in Central Aegea and the Izmir‐Foça region in Western Anatolia. Together with previous results obtained in Northwestern Greece and with results from Northern Aegea reported by others authors, these data suggest that the Lower Miocene arc was almost rectilinear, trending E‐W and that the curvature was acquired by opposed rotational deformations at each termination. Moreover, the observed inclinations, which are shallower than those expected on the basis of a geocentered dipole field, suggest a large northward drift since Middle Miocene.

Effects of a temperature‐dependent rheology on large‐scale continental extension

“…No significant rotation has occurred on Crete and Rhodes since the upper Miocene (Valente et al, 1982;Laj et al, 1982), in the Volos region in Greece since the middle Pliocene, or in Thrace since the lower Oligocene (Kissel et al, 1986a). Preliminary work on Miocene rocks in the Izmir area of western Turkey suggests 29 ° of counterclockwise rotation (Kissel et al, 1986b). The calculated results agree with the paleomagnetic data: rotations are clockwise in the west, decrease to zero in the center of the extending region, and are counterclockwise in the east.…”

“…In the Epirus-Akarnania region of northwestern Greece, rotations of Eocene and Oligocene rocks range from 35-50 °, clockwise (Homer and Freeman, 1983;Kissel et al, 1985). Clockwise rotations tend to be smaller eastwards: about 25° on the Chalkidiki peninsula (Kondopoulou and Westphal, 1986), 26° on Skyros, 48° on Evia (Kissel et al, 1986a), and 6° on Lesbos (Kissel et al, 1986b). No significant rotation has occurred on Crete and Rhodes since the upper Miocene (Valente et al, 1982;Laj et al, 1982), in the Volos region in Greece since the middle Pliocene, or in Thrace since the lower Oligocene (Kissel et al, 1986a).…”

Rotation history of Chios Island, Greece since the Middle Miocene

“…Whereas the majority of Neogene sedimentary basins in western Turkey seem not to display vertical axis rotations (van Hinsbergen et al, 2010a), the coastal volcanic regions of Dikili, Yuntdag and Foca as well as the Karaburun peninsula of western Turkey show a chaotic pattern of palaeomagnetic directions (Kondopoulou and Lauer, 1984;Kissel et al, 1986aKissel et al, ,b, 1989Sen and Valet, 1986;Kissel and Laj, 1988;Orbay et al, 2000;van Hinsbergen et al, 2010a) (Fig. 1).…”

Tectonic evolution of fault‐bounded continental blocks: Comparison of paleomagnetic and GPS data in the Corinth and Megara basins (Greece)

“…The discrepancy between the generally N‐S slip vectors on the normal faults and the overall NE‐SW motion across central Greece suggests that those faults rotate clockwise as they move [e.g., McKenzie and Jackson , 1983, 1986; Jackson , 1994]. Paleomagnetic data generally confirm such consistent clockwise rotations, even if various interpretations have been proposed about their timing and rotation rate [ Laj et al , 1982; Kissel et al , 1985, 1986a, 1986b; Morris , 1995; Morris and Anderson , 1996; Avigad et al , 1998; Duermeijer et al , 1999, 2000]. …”