ISSN:
1420-9136
Keywords:
Lithosphere
;
Mediterranean
;
Rayleigh waves
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract The lithosphere beneath the central-eastern Mediterranean area has been investigated by the inversion of the regional dispersion relations derived from analysis of surface waves. It is possible to distinguish several types of crust with average S-wave velocities in the range 3.0–3.8 km/sec, and thicknesses varying from a minimum of about 30 km, which corresponds to the Apennines, Crete and Otranto Channel regions, to a maximum of about 51 km beneath the Ionian Sea, which can be considered as a submerged continent. Associated with these crustal features, large lateral variations have been detected in the lithosphere thickness, which varies from a minimum of about 30 km corresponding to the Tyrrhenian Sea and south of Crete to a maximum of about 130 km corresponding to south-eastern Alps and north-central Greece, while the sub-Moho S-wave velocity varies in the range 4.2–4.8 km/sec. The constraint furnished by our results to the geological-tectonic setting of the investigated area, characterized by the continent continent collision between Africa and Europe, is pointed out.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00877044
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