Stress and deformation patterns in the Aegean region

The Aegean region constitutes the overriding plate of the Africa-Eurasia convergent plate system, in the eastern Mediterranean. To explain the fault kinematics and tectonic forces that controlled rift evolution in the Aegean area. we present fault-slip data from about 900 faults, and summarise the structural analyses of five key structural provinces. Five regional tectonic maps are used as the basis for a new stress map for the Aegean region and for discussions on regional geodynamics. Since the Late Miocene, the central Aegean has been affected by WNW- and NE-trending faults which transfer the motion of the Anatolian plate to the southwest, synchronous with are-normal pull acting on the boundary of the Ae::ean plate. At the same time, the Hellenic Peninsula has suffered moderate extension by NW-trending grabens formed due to collapse of the Hellenic mountain chain. During intense extension in the southern Aegean in the Plio-Quaternary the arcuate shape of the Hellenic Trench was established. Arc-normal pull in the Aegean plate margin, combined with transform resistive forces along the Hellenic subduction gave rise to widespread strike-slip and oblique-normal faults in the eastern segment and moderate oblique extension in the western segment of the are. To the north, subduction involves: more continental crust and consequently the push of subduction is transmitted to the overriding plate (Hellenic Peninsula), resulting in the formation of NE-trending grabens. WNW-trending grabens in this area are considered to have propagated westward from the Aegean Sea to the Ionian Sea during Plio-Quaternary times, probably acting as pull-apart structures between stable Europe and the rapidly extending southern Aegean area. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.