The North Cycladic Detachment System

Abstract

International audienceLow-angle normal faults accommodate a large part of continental post-orogenic extension. Besides the intrinsic rheological characteristics of the continental crust that may lead to the formation of shallow-dipping shear zones at the brittle–ductile transition, the role of pre-existing low-angle structures such as large thrusts has been proposed by several authors. We explore this question with the example of the North Cycladic Detachment System (NCDS) that is composed of a series of distinct detachments cropping out on the islands of Andros, Tinos and Mykonos, separating the Cycladic Blueschists in the footwall from the Upper Cycladic Nappe in the hanging wall. We show that these extensional structures are part of a single large-scale structure (more than 200 km along strike) that reactivates the Vardar suture zone. It extends eastward on Ikaria and westward offshore Evia and Thessalia where it probably connects to recent shallow-dipping normal faults evidenced on published seismic reflection profiles. The NCDS started its activity in the Oligocene concommitantly with the Aegean extension, and was still active in the Late Miocene. It has exhumed a series of metamorphic domes from southern Evia to Mykonos below low-angle detachment systems, made of low-angle normal faults and low-angle ductile shear zones. The ductile shear zones and the faults were created with a low dip and they kept the same attitude throughout their exhumation. We identify three main detachments that are part of a continuum of extension on the NCDS : Tinos detachment, Livada detachment and Mykonos detachment. A fourth detachment (Vari detachment) is the reactivation of an Eocene exhumation-related structure. Deformation in the footwall is characterized by intense stretching and flattening. Using the spatial evolution observed along strike from Andros to Mykonos we construct a history of formation of the NCDS starting with the reactivation of former thrusts leading to the exhumation of high-temperature metamorphic domes. The Aegean example shows that reactivation of earlier shallow-dipping discontinuities can play a fundamental role in continental post-orogenic extension

Kinematic reconstructions and magmatic evolution illuminating crustal and mantle dynamics of the eastern Mediterranean region since the late Cretaceous

“…In the Cyclades, the NCDS accommodated this exhumation since the Oligocene (figures 9 and 11) [Faure et al, 1991;Lee and Lister, 1992;Brichau et al, 2007Brichau et al, , 2008Jolivet et al, 2010a] while the NPEFS and the WCDS became active in the early Miocene [Urai et al, 1990;Gautier et al, 1993;Vanderhaeghe, 2004;Brichau et al, 2006;Seward et al, 2009;Iglseder et al, 2011;Grasemann et al, 2012]. Syntectonic sediments started to be deposited in the hanging wall of these extensional structures [Photiades, 2002;Sánchez-Gómez et al, 2002;Kuhlemann et al, 2004;Lecomte et al, 2010;Laurent et al, 2015].…”

“…5-8.5 kbar, 500-700°C) and associated migmatites also developed in the central Cyclades, such as in the Naxos, Paros, Mykonos and Ikaria islands [Jansen and Schuiling, 1976;Lister et al, 1984;Urai et al, 1990;Keay et al, 2001;Vanderhaeghe, 2004;Duchêne et al, 2006;Kruckenberg et al, 2011;Beaudoin et al, 2015;Laurent et al, 2015]. Exhumation of these rocks as MCCs was accommodated during the Oligocene-Miocene by several ductile-brittle detachment systems (figures 4 and 6) comprising the top-to-the NE North Cycladic Detachment System (NCDS) [Faure et al, 1991;Lee and Lister, 1992;Gautier and Brun, 1994;Mehl et al, 2005Mehl et al, , 2007Brichau et al, 2007Brichau et al, , 2008Jolivet et al, 2010a], the top-to-the N Naxos/Paros Extensional Fault System (NPEFS) [Urai et al, 1990;Gautier et al, 1993;Brichau et al, 2006;Seward et al, 2009;Bargnesi et al, 2013] and the top-to-the SW West Cycladic Detachment System (WCDS) [Grasemann and Petrakakis, 2007;Brichau et al, 2010;Iglseder et al, 2011;Grasemann et al, 2012]. The minimum offset of these extensional structures is estimated at 60-100 km for the NCDS [Jolivet et al, 2004a;Brichau et al, 2008] and ~50 km for the NPEFS (figure 3) [Brichau et al, 2006].…”

“…In the Cyclades, for example, three large-scale structures with wellconstrained kinematics and timing have been considered: the NCDS cropping out in the Tinos, Mykonos and Ikaria islands [Lee and Lister, 1992;Gautier and Brun, 1994;Mehl et al, 2005;Brichau et al, 2007;Jolivet et al, 2010a;Lecomte et al, 2010], the NPEFS cropping out in the Naxos and Paros islands [Lister et al, 1984;Urai et al, 1990;Gautier et al, 1993;Seward et al, 2009;Bargnesi et al, 2013] and the WCDS cropping out in the Serifos island (figures 3 and 6) [Grasemann and Petrakakis, 2007;Brichau et al, 2010;Iglseder et al, 2011; A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T…”

“…Ma ago below the WCDS (figures 9 and 11) [Brichau et al, 2006[Brichau et al, , 2008[Brichau et al, , 2010Jolivet et al, 2010a]. Surface exposure of the metamorphic rocks then occurred in the late Miocene (figure 11) [Sánchez-Gómez et al, 2002].…”

Strain localisation in mechanically layered rocks beneath detachment zones: insights from numerical modelling

“…Alps ( Handy et al, 2005), extension: e.g. Betics (Platt and Vissers, 1980) and Aegean (Jolivet et al, 2010), strike-slip: e.g. Red River Fault (Leloup et al, 1995) and Cap de Creus (Fusseis et al, 2006)) and are known to exist at larger scale from seismic reflection data (Torvela et al, 2013).…”