Timing, slip rate, displacement and cooling history of the Mykonos detachment footwall, Cyclades, Greece, and implications for the opening of the Aegean Sea basin

Abstract

International audienceWe constrain the slip and cooling history of the Mykonos detachment footwall using thermochronometry. A U-Pb zircon age of 13.5 +/- 0.3 Ma dates intrusion of the Mykonos monzogranite. Ar-40/ Ar-39 homblende and biotite ages from the monzogranite are 12.7 +/- 0.6 Ma and 10.9 +/- 0.6 Ma, whereas zircon and apatite fission-track ages range from 13 +/- 0.8 Ma to 10.7 +/- 0.8 Ma and 12.5 +/- 2.2 Ma to 10.5 +/- 1.8 Ma. (U-Th)/He ages range from 13.6 +/- 0.6 Ma to 9.0 +/- 0.7 Ma for zircon and 11. +/- 10.5 Ma to 8.9 +/- 0.4 Ma for apatite. The ages in part overlap within 2 sigma errors and together with the long apatite fission-track lengths (>14 mu m) support rapid cooling at rates > 100 degrees C Ma(-1). The low-temperature thermochronometric ages decrease east-northeastwards in the direction of hanging-wall transport on the Mykonos detachment. Age-distance relationships show that the Mykonos detachment slipped at an average rate of 6.0 + 9.2/-2.4 km Ma(-1) c. 30 km of offset and c. 12 km of exhumation. This result indicates that Miocene low-angle normal faulting was not important for the exhumation of the Cycladic blueschist unit. The opening of the Aegean Sea basin in the Miocene was controlled by a few large-magnitude low-angle normal faults

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

“…In our reconstructions, the relative southward motion of the Tinos island in the footwall of the NCDS, with respect to the Pelagonian nappe in the Hellenides considered as the hanging wall of the NCDS, is estimated at ~70 km during the activity of this structure, fitting its estimated offset (i.e. ~60-100 km, figure 13b) [Jolivet et al, 2004a;Brichau et al, 2008].…”

“…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].…”

“…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]. The low-grade Upper Cycladic unit composing the hanging wall of these detachment systems is the equivalent of the Pelagonian nappe, essentially consisting of ophiolitic material related to the Jurassic Vardar ophiolites (e.g.…”

“…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].…”

“…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].…”