The geological evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean / Геологическая эволюция Восточного Средиземноморья

In the years since the 1977 Aegean conferences in Athens and Izmir there has been an explosion of new information on the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly on the Turkish area. Some three years ago we sensed that the time might be ripe for a meeting to consider all aspects of geology relevant to the tectonic evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean. We sounded out opinion in most of the European laboratories involved and received enthusiastic support for the idea. The boundaries of the area to be discussed were fixed early on: the Apennines to the west, the Carpathians and Caucasus to the north, the Zagros to the east and North Africa to the south. The meeting concentrated on the Late Palaeozoic to Recent evolution, as few coherent tracts of older rocks exist in the area. 
The conference was held in Edinburgh from the 28 to 30 September 1982 and was attended by 220 scientists from 13 countries, 88 papers were read and 22 given in poster form. Sixty one contributions are published in this volume. One of the key starting points of Eastern Mediterranean geology is deceptively easy to state. Several global reconstructions of the continents for Permian time indicate that a substantial tract of ocean, the 'Tethys', existed between Africa, and a Eurasian landmass to the north. Since little or none of this oceanic crust remains, the history of the Tethys from the Late Palaeozoic onwards must involve destruction of this ocean area. Perhaps surprisingly, however, the geology of the Eastern Mediterranean land areas is not dominated by this process but by the products of Mesozoic rifting and the formation and destruction of new oceanic basins. From this it is evident that closure of the Palaeozoic Tethyan ocean can not simply have involved continuing subduction culminating in continental collision in the Neogene. Tectonic events must have involved comprehensive re-organizations of plate boundaries so that the distribution of continent and ocean is almost bound to have been complicated and frequently changing. The book is organized by age of events discussed and by area within this framework, and it is in five sections. Following the editors' introductory chapter the first is concerned with early Mesozoic events linked to ocean closure and so by implication deals with the fate of the Palaeozoic Tethys or Palaeotethys. Later sections deal with events following the birth and growth of wholly Mesozoic ocean basins of the Neotethys. This division follows the interpretation of the contributors and is not inherently clear-cut. We use the term Palaeotethys to imply an ocean basin already in existence at the end of the Palaeozoic, but one that may have continued in existence in the Mesozoic and Tertiary. We argue, for example, in our own introductory chapter that the destruction of Palaeotethys in this sense was a long-drawn-out process lasting until Tertiary times, and even that early Mesozoic compressional events in the area, though related to Palaeotethyan subduction, could also have involved the formation of short-lived Neotethyan ocean basins. While questions of this kind dominate the book as a whole, much of the research documented here is also concerned with fundamental questions of continent-ocean dynamics. How do continental margins evolve from the early rift stage? Where are ophiolites formed and how are they emplaced? How do blueschist belts come to be created and exhumed? What is the relationship between consumption of oceanic crust and the construction of volcanic arcs? With its great geological diversity and relative accessibility the Eastern Mediterranean is an exceptionally valuable field laboratory, producing results complementary, for example, to those of the Deep Sea Drilling Project or marine geophysical exploration.  <...>

Preface
Introduction to the reprint Recent research developments
Robertson, A. H. F. & Dixon, J. E. Introduction: aspects of the geological evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean
1.Palaeotethys
Editor’s introduction
Gengor, A. M. C, Yilmaz, Y. & Sungurlu, O. Tectonics of the Mediterranean Cimmerides: nature and evolution of the western termination of Palaeo-Tethys
Monod, O. & Akay, E. Evidence for a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic orogenic event in the Taurides
Kerey, I. E. Facies and tectonic setting of the Upper Carboniferous rocks of northwestern Turkey
Demirtasli, E. Stratigraphic evidence of Variscan and early Alpine tectonics in southern Turkey
2.    Neotethys: Levant and North African offshore
Editor’s introduction
Delaune-Mayere, M. Evolution of a Mesozoic passive continental margin: Baer-Bassit (NW Syria)
Sestini, G. Tectonic and sedimentary history of the NE African margin (Egypt-Libya)
Gvirtzman, G. & Welssbrod, T. The Hercynian geanticline of Helez and the Late Palaeozoic history of the Levant
Garfunkel, Z. & Derin, B. Permian-early Mesozoic tectonism and continental margin formation in Israel and its implications for the history of the Eastern Mediterranean
Druckman, Y. Evidence for Early-Middle Triassic faulting and possible rifting from the Helez Deep Borehole in the coastal plain of Israel
Abed, A. M. Emergence of Wadi Mujib (Central Jordan) during Lower Cenomanian time and its regional tectonic implications
Hirsch, F. The Arabian sub-plate during the Mesozoic
Delaloye, M. & Wagner, J.-J. Ophiolites and volcanic activity near the western edge of the Arabian plate
3.    Neotethys: Turkey
Editor’s introduction
Poisson, A. The extension of the Ionian trough into southwestern Turkey
Robertson, A. H. F. & Woodcock, N. H. The SW segment of the Antalya complex, Turkey as a Mesozoic-Tertiary Tethyan continental margin
Waldron, J. W. F. Structural history of the Antalya Complex in the ‘Isparta angle’, Southwest Turkey
Hayward. A. B. Miocene clastic sedimentation related to the emplacement of the Lycian Nappes and the Antalya Complex, SW Turkey
Whitechurch, H., Juteau, T. & Montigny, R. Role of the Eastern Mediterranean ophiolites (Turkey, Syria, Cyprus) in the history of the Neo-Tethys
Reuber, I. Mylonitic ductile shear zones within tectonites and cumulates as evidence for an oceanic transform fault in the Antalya ophiolite, SW Turkey
Yilmaz, P. O. Fossil and K-Ar data for the age of the Antalya Complex, SW Turkey
Ricou, L. E., Marcoux, J. & Whitechurch, H. The Mesozoic organization of the Taurides: one or several ocean basins?
Michard, A., Whitechurch, H., Ricou, L. E., Montigny, R. & Yazgan, E. Tauric subduction (Malatya-Elazig provinces) and its bearing on tectonics of the Tethyan realm in Turkey
Aktas, G. & Robertson, A. H. F. The Maden Complex, SE Turkey: evolution of a Neotethyan active margin
Helvaci, C. & Griffin, W. L. Rb-Sr geochronology of the Bitlis Massif, Avnik (Bingol) area, SE Turkey
Akinci, 6. T. The Eastern Pontide volcano-sedimentary belt and associated massive sulphide deposits
Okay, A.I. & Ozgul, N. HP/LT metamorphism and the structure of the Alanya Massif, Southern Turkey: an allochthonous composite tectonic sheet
Norman, T. N. The role of the Ankara Melange in the development of Anatolia (Turkey)
Tankut, A. Basic and ultrabasic rocks from the Ankara Melange, Turkey
Okay, A. I. Distribution and characteristics of the north-west Turkish blueschists
GoRtJR, N., Oktay, F. Y., Seymen, I. & Sengor, A. M. C. Palaeo-tectonic evoultion of the Tuzgolii basin complex, Central Turkey: sedimentary record of a Neo-Tethyan closure
Lauer, J. P. Geodynamic evolution of Turkey and Cyprus based on palaeomagnetic data
4. Neotethys: Greece and the Balkans
Editor’s introduction
Hall, R., Audley-Charles, M. G. & Carter, D. J. The significance of Crete for the evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean
Bonneau, M. Correlation of the Hellenides nappes in the south-east Aegean and their tectonic reconstruction
Okrusch, M., Richter, P. & Katsikatsos, G. High-pressure rocks of Samos, Greece
Katagas, C. G. High pressure metamorphism in Ghiaros Island, Cyclades, Greece
Ridley, J. The significance of deformation associated with blueschist facies metamorphism on the Aegean island of Syros
Papanikolaou, D. J. The three metamorphic belts of the Hellenides: a review and a kinematic interpretation
Pe-Piper, G. & Piper, D. J. W. Tectonic setting of the Mesozoic Pindos Basin of the Peloponnese, Greece
Kemp, A. E. S. & McCaig, A. M. Origins and significance of rocks in an imbricate thrust zone beneath the Pindos ophiolite, northwestern Greece
Mountrakis, D. Structural evolution of the Pelagonian zone in northwestern Macedonia, Greece
Jocobshagen, V. & Wallbrecher, E. Pre-Neogene nappe structure and metamorphism of the North Sporades and the southern Pelion peninsula
Dixon, J. E. & Dimitriadis, S. Metamorphosed ophiolitic rocks from the Serbo-Macedonian Massif, near Lake Volvi, north-east Greece
Spray, J. G., Bebien, J., Rex, D. C. & Roddick, J. C. Age constraints on the igneous and metamorphic evolution of the Hellenic-Dinaric ophiolites
Smith, A. G. & Spray, J. G. A half-ridge transform model for the Hellenic-Dinaric ophiolites
Marton, E. Tectonic implications of palaeomagnetic results for the Carpatho-Balkan and adjacent areas
5. Neogene
Editor’s introduction
Steininger, F. F. & Rogl, F. Paleogeography and palinspastic reconstructions of the Neogene of the Mediterranean and Paratethys
Kissel, C, Jamet, M. & Laj, C. Palaeomagnetic evidence of Miocene and Pliocene rotational deformations of the Aegean Area
Kondoupoulou, D. & Lauer, J. P. Palaeomagnetic data from Tertiary units of the north Aegean zone
Fytikas, M., Innocenti, F., Manetti, P., Mazzuoli, R., Peccerillo, A. & Villari, L. Tertiary to Quaternary evolution of volcanism in the Aegean region
Myrianthis, M. L. Graben formation and associated seismicity in the Gulf of Korinth (Central Greece)
Lyberis, N. Tectonic evolution of the North Aegean trough
Le Pichon, X., Lyberis, N. & Alvarez, F. Subsidence history of the North Aegean Trough
Jackson, J. & McKenzie, D. Rotational mechanisms of active deformation in Greece and Iran
Ridley, J. Listric normal faulting and the reconstruction of the synmetamorphic structural pile of the Cyclades
Barka, A. A. & Hancock, P. L. Neotectonic deformation patterns in the convex-northwards arc of the North Anatolian fault zone
Quennell, A. M. The Western Arabia rift system
Jasko, S. On the Neogene development of the Eastern Mediterranean basins
Chorianopoulou, P., Galeos, A. & 1оакш, С. H. Pliocene lacustrine sediments in the volcanic succession of Almopias, Macedonia, Greece
Cramp, A., Collins, M. B., Wakefield, S. J. & Banner, F. T. Sapropelic layers in the NW Aegean Sea
Chiotis, E. D. A middle Miocene thermal event in northern Greece confirmed by coahfication measurements
Fabricius, F. H. Neogene to Quaternary geodynamics of the area of the Ionian Sea and surrounding land masses