Publication Date:
2017-04-04
Description:
We tie together geological data, paleotectonic reconstruction, plate motion, and
tomographic analysis to unravel the history of subduction and back arc extension of the
eastern and central Mediterranean. In these two regions, extensional processes started
contemporaneously, around 30 Myr ago, but with marked differences. In the eastern region,
the Aegean basin opened slowly ( 1 cm/yr) behind a shallow dipping slab (40–45 ). The
corresponding high-velocity anomaly extends inside the upper mantle and can be also
followed in the midmantle down to a depth of at least 1500 km. Its descent into the
midmantle initiated most probably during the Late Cretaceous, and the trench moved
northeastward, following the path of the Eurasian plate and under the persistent push of the
African plate. Conversely, in the central Mediterranean region, subduction initiated later,
and the motion of the subducting slab is confined to the upper mantle, causing punctuated
and rapid episodes of back arc extension (Provenc¸al and Tyrrhenian basins) behind a slab
that dips steeply (75 ). We explore the causes that control how the slab subducted and
interacted with the lower, more viscous part of the mantle.
Description:
Published
Description:
3.3. Geodinamica e struttura dell'interno della Terra
Description:
JCR Journal
Description:
reserved
Keywords:
subduction
;
Mediterranean
;
mantle convection
;
back-arc extension
;
plate motion
;
seismic tomography
;
04. Solid Earth::04.07. Tectonophysics::04.07.02. Geodynamics
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
article
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