Hellenic arc

Map of the Hellenic arc showing the main tectonic elements

The Hellenic arc or Aegean arc is an arcuate tectonic feature of the eastern Mediterranean Sea related to the subduction of the African Plate beneath the Aegean Sea Plate. It consists of an oceanic trench, the Hellenic Trench, on its outer side; two arcs—a non-volcanic outer arc and an inner volcanic arc, the South Aegean Volcanic Arc; and a marginal sea on its inner side.

Geometry

The Hellenic arc extends from the Ionian islands in the west to just east of the island of Rhodes in the east, where it links to the Cyprus arc.

Hellenic trench

The Hellenic ocean trench is not the surface expression of the subduction zone but is better understood as a sediment-starved part of a fore-arc basin.[1] The Mediterranean Ridge, which forms the southern boundary of the trench is the accretionary complex that marks the subduction zone. The northern boundary of the Mediterranean Ridge is formed by a major backthrust.[2] The Hellenic trench is most clearly developed in the western part of the arc, splitting into the Pliny and Strabo trenches to the east.

Non-volcanic arc

The non-volcanic arc consists of a raised topographic feature running the full length of the Hellenic arc, occasionally above sea level, forming the Ionian islands, Crete and Rhodes. This zone represents an uplifted part of the fore-arc.[3]

Volcanic arc

The inner or volcanic arc extends for 450 km from Methana on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese in the west to the island of Nisyros off the Aegean coast of Turkey in the east. It consists of a series of dormant or active volcanic islands including Santorini, the site of the catastrophic Minoan-era eruption.

Development

The current geometry of the Hellenic arc is a result of the southwards migration of the subduction zone.[3] This has led to extension both along the line of the arc as it bulged out and extension perpendicular to the arc, which is the current tectonic state.

Seismicity

The Hellenic arc is one of the most active seismic zones in western Eurasia.[4] It has regularly been the source for magnitude 7 earthquakes in the last hundred years of instrumental recording and the location for at least two historical events that were probably of about magnitude 8 or more, the 365 Crete earthquake and the 1303 Crete earthquake.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Stern, R.J. (2004). "Ocean Trenches" (PDF). Earth Processes. Elsevier. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  2. ↑ Chamot-Rooke, N.; Rabaute, A.; Kreemer, C. (2005). "Western Mediterranean Ridge mud belt correlates with active shear strain at the prism-backstop geological contact" (PDF). Geology 33 (11): 861–864. Bibcode:2005Geo....33..861C. doi:10.1130/G21469.1. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  3. 1 2 ten Veen, J.H.; Kleinspehn, K.L. (2003). "Incipient continental collision and plate-boundary curvature: Late Pliocene–Holocene transtensional Hellenic forearc, Crete, Greece". Journal of the Geological Society 160 (2): 161–181. doi:10.1144/0016-764902-067. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  4. ↑ Papadopoulos, G. A.; Ganas, A.; Karastathis, C. (2004). "Seismicity Properties as a Marker of the Active Plate Convergence in the western Hellenic Arc". American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting Abstracts 53: 0483. Bibcode:2004AGUFM.T53B0483P.
  5. ↑ USGS (29 March 2010). "Tectonic Summary of Greece". Retrieved 26 July 2010.

Coordinates: 36°N 25°E / 36°N 25°E / 36; 25

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