Table Of ContentWilliam Cavazza
Francois Roure
Wim Spakman
Gerard M. Stampfli
Peter A.Ziegler
(Editors)
TheTRANSMED Atlas
The Mediterranean Region from Crust to Mantle
William Cavazza
Francois Roure
Wim Spakman
Gerard M. Stampfli
Peter A. Ziegler
(Editors)
The TRANSMED Atlas
The Mediterranean Region
from Crust to Mantle
Geological and Geophysical Framework
ofthe Mediterranean andthe Surrounding Areas
Apublication oftheMediterranean Consortium
for the32ndInternational GeologicalCongress
With 44Figures,37in Color
~
Springer
Editors
Professor Dr. William Cavazza
Department of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences, University of Bologna
Piazza Porta San Donato 1,40126 Bologna, Italy
E-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www.geomin.unibo.it/
Dr. Fran~ois Roure
Institut Fran<=ais du Petro Ie, 1-4 Avenue de Bois Preau, 92 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex, France
E-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www.ifp.fr
Professor Dr. Wim Spakman
Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Utrecht, P.O. Box 80.021, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
E-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www.geo.uu.nl/
Professor Dr. Gerard M. Stampfli
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, BFSH2 -1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
E-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www-sst.unil.ch/
Professor Dr. Peter A. Ziegler
Department of Geosciences, University of Basel, Bernoullistrasse 32,4056 Basel, Switzerland
Internet: http://www.unibas.ch/geo
Reference to this publication should be made as follows:
(i) entire publication: Cavazza W, Roure F, Spakman W, Stampfli GM, Ziegler PA (eds)(2004) The
TRANSMED Atlas - The Mediterranean Region from Crust to Mantle. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg
(ij) individual chapters or transects: Schmid SM, Fuegenschuh B, Kissling E, Schuster R (2004)
TRANSMED Transect IV. In: Cavazza W, Roure F, Spakman W, Stampfli GM, Ziegler PA (eds) (2004) The
TRANSMED Atlas - The Mediterranean Region from Crust to Mantle. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg
Library of Congress Control Number: 2004106760
ISBN 3-540-22181-6 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York
Additional material to this book can be downloaded from http://extras.springer.com
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Cover design: Erich Kirchner, Heidelberg
Typesetting: BOro Stasch ([email protected]) . Klaus Haringer, Bayreuth
Production: Luisa Tonarelli
Printing and binding: StOrtz AG, WOrzburg
Printed on acid-free paper 32/3141 ILT - 5 4 3 2 1 0
Foreword
Inthe Spring of2000the idea ofaconsortiumofMediterraneancountriessupport
ingthe Italian bid tohost the32ndInternationalGeologicalCongress tookoffduring
ageologicalfieldtrip ontheslopesofMountVesuviushostedbyProf.BrunoD'Argenio
(UniversityofNaples) with the sponsorshipofSMED(the UNESCO-CNROfficefor
Scientific and Technological Cooperation with Mediterranean Countries). On that
occasion,the head ofthe Italian delegationto the coming31stIGCProf.GianBattista
Vaichampionedthenotionthat- hadthebidbeenaccepted- suchcooperationshould
havenot onlytranslatedinto the participationofthe Mediterraneancountriesinthe
organization of the future congress, but also should have been a springboard for
launching a scientific project focused on the Mediterranean region and whose re
sults had tobepresentedatthe congress.
Duringthe31stIGCinRiodeJaneiro,after thedesignationofFlorencebythelUGS
Council asthe venue forthe 32ndIGC,the Mediterranean Consortiumwasset up.In
its full configuration,the Consortium was an association of thirty-one Mediterra
neanand nearbycountries.AlongwithItaly,theyare:Albania,Algeria,Austria,Bosnia
Herzegovina, Bulgaria,Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece,Hungary, Iran, Iraq,
Israel,Jordan,Lebanon,Libya,Macedonia,Malta,Morocco,Palestine,Romania,Saudi
Arabia,Serbiaand Montenegro,Slovakia,Slovenia,Spain,Switzerland,Syria,Tunisia,
and Turkey.
Each membercountrynominated aNational Representative who served asaliai
sonbetweenhis/hernationalgeologicalcommunityand theIGCOrganizingCommit
tee.TheNationalRepresentativesdisseminatedinformationonthecongressandstimu
latedthesubmissionofproposalsforscientificsessions,shortcourses,workshopsand
fieldtrips from their nationalEarthsciencescommunities.ThreeMediterraneanCon
sortium representatives sat on the Advisory Board of the 32ndIGC,representing the
MediterraneancountriesofEurope,North Africaand the MiddleEast,thus providing
additionalinputforthe organizationofthe congress.
This publication is the main outcome of the TRANSMED Project,a scientific re
search program sponsored by the Organizing Committee of the 32ndIGCwithin the
framework ofthe activities ofthe MediterraneanConsortium.TheProjectkicked off
atthe end of2001and inabouttwoyearsgeneratedanumberoftransectsdepicting
the lithospheric and mantle structure across selected, representative regions of the
Mediterranean domain and adjoining areas.This was accomplished integrating sur
facegeology,seismic profiles and mantle tomography, both on land and at sea.The
goalisto provide the internationalgeoscientist with an updated,supranationalover
view of the geological and geophysical structure of the complex Mediterranean do
main.Itismyhopethat thisscientificand editorialinitiativewillbeusefulbothtothe
Earth scientists unfamiliar with the Mediterranean and to those willing to put the
results oftheirownresearch withinawider framework.
Attilio Boriani
President,32ndInternational Geological Congress
Preface
"Thewholeissimpler than thesumofitsparts."
Josiah Willard Gibbs(1839-1903)
Asalready noted bySchwan(1997),the geologicalliterature on the Mediterranean
regionisforbiddingfortheoutsiders,beingpublishedinagalaxyofoutlets,including
regional journals,geologicalsurvey reports and academic theses written in at least
twenty languages.Despiteseveralpublications summarizing specificor broader as
pects of Mediterranean geology (e.g.Biju-Duval and Montadert 1977; Dixon and
Robertson 1984;StanleyandWeze11985;MorrisandTarling1996;Durand etal.1999),
it istherefore hardly surprisingthat until nowthere wasno coherent synthesis ade
quatelycoveringthiswideregion.Thisvolume-cum-CDaimsatfillingthegap.
Geologicalresearch onthe Mediterraneanregion iscurrentlyexperiencingquite
adynamic period,characterizedbythetransitionfromdisciplinarytomultidiscipli
nary research, as wellas from national to international investigations. In order to
synthesize and integrate thevast disciplinaryand nationaldatasets which are avail
ableit is necessary to implementmaximum interaction among geoscientists ofdif
ferent extractions. The creation of project-oriented task forcesin universities and
other research institutions,aswellasthe development of large international coop
eration programs,isinstrumental in pursuing such a multidisciplinaryand supra
national approach.
This publication is the main result of the TRANSMED Project,an international
scientific cooperation program which brought together sixty-two structural geolo
gists,geophysicists,marinegeologists,petrologists,sedimentologists,stratigraphers,
paleogeographers,and petroleum geologists coming from eighteen countries and
working for the petroleum industry, academia, and other institutions, both public
and private.
The TRANSMED Atlas(printed volumeplus CD-ROM) strives to provide an up
datedoverviewofthegeologicaland geophysicalfabricofthe Mediterraneanregion.
Theprintedvolumecontainsthreechapters:anintroductorychapteronthemaingeo
logicaland geophysicalfeatures,achapter onthelithosphericstructureasimagedby
mantle tomography, and a chapter on the paleogeographic-paleotectonic evolution
ofthe studyarea.The CD-ROM includes eightlithospherictransects across signifi
cantdomains oftheMediterraneanregionand the surroundingareas.Eachtransect
was drawn at 1:1000000 scale (with no vertical exaggeration) in two versions:
chronolithostratigraphic (rock units are divided solelyaccording to their age) and
tectonic (rock units aredivided accordingto their tectonic affiliation).Chronostrati
graphic subdivisions followthe InternationalStratigraphic Chart byUNESCO-lUGS
(2000);tectonicaffiliationsfollowwithsomemodifications theschemedevelopedfor
theNorthAmericanContinent-OceanTransectsProgram (seeSpeed1991).
The transects provide acomparative viewof the complexPhanerozoic structure
oftheMediterraneanregionand thesurroundingareasusingastandardizedformat,
and portraythe natureand sequence ofeventsin the tectonic evolutionwith a tec
tonic coding scheme.Eachtransectisaccompaniedbyan explanatorytextwith fig
uresaswellasbyaseriesofclickableinsets(seismiclines,welllogs,lithochronostrati
graphic charts,detailed maps, etc.) providing data in support of the interpretation
showninthetransects.Alltransectsweredrawnfollowingthesamelegendsalthough
VIII Preface
some leewaywasgiven to the various working groups to accommodate the varying
amountsofdata and detail availableforthe different regions.
The TRANSMED Atlas is geared towards (i) all Earth scientists working in the
Mediterraneandomain,particularlythose willing to put the results of theirown re
search withinawider framework,(ii) those unfamiliarwith the Mediterranean,and
(iii) universityteachers lookingforasource ofsyntheticinformationforacourse in
Mediterraneanregional geology.Wehope thiscompilationwillserveasasynthesis of
the currentstateofknowledge on thegeologyofthe Mediterraneandomainand will
stimulatefurther research in this geologicallyfascinating region.
~ Cavazza,F. Roure, ~ Spakman,G.M.Stampfli, P.A.Ziegler
Bologna,Paris,Utrecht, Lausanne, and Basle,May2004
Acknowledgements
Dimitrios Papanikolaou first suggested that the networkof the Mediterranean Con
sortium should tacklenot onlyaspects pertainingto the organizationof the 32ndIn
ternational GeologicalCongress but also should work on a scientific project on the
entire Mediterraneanarea.Thisseminal ideawasthen elaboratedamong thesoon-to
become editors ofthis publicationwhoagreed that an efficientand visuallystimulat
ing way to portray the geological-geophysical fabric of the area was by drawing
lithosphericcross-sectionsacrossrepresentativeareas.Thisproposalwasacceptedby
theOrganizing Commmitteeofthe32ndInternationalGeologicalCongresswhichsup
ported the TRANSMED Project in many ways.Weare most grateful for this as it is
uncommonthat theorganizingcommitteeofacongress actuallysponsorsascientific
research project. Additional support was provided by the Italian National Research
Council (CNR)through its Officefor Scientificand TechnologicalCooperationwith
Mediterranean Countries.Most participants in the Project received additional sup
portbyotherfunding agenciesand institutionstowhichthanksarealsodue.
During the twoyears of the project, the participants met in Amsterdam,Athens,
Barcelona,Basle,Bologna,Florence,Istanbul, Lausanne, Nice,Paris,Rabat and Sofia.
Themeetings inAthensand Sofiaweresponsored bythe GeneralSecretariatforCivil
Protection ofthe MinistryofInterior, PublicAdministration and Decentralizationof
the HellenicRepublicand bythe BulgarianAcademyofSciences,respectively.
The editors would like to thank the participants in the TRANSMED Project not
onlyfor their contributionsto this publication, but also for theirenthusiasm for the
objectives of the Project over twoyears.Particular thanks goto the Working Group
Coordinators,who managed the often difficult task of synthesizing geological and
geophysicaldata acrosspolitical boundaries.Wewouldalsoliketothankthe external
reviewersfortheirefforts,aswellasthenumerousgeoscientistswhoatvarious stages
providedexpertiseandadvice.Severalpublicand privateorganizationshaveprovided
original data forthis atlas.
Wethankthefollowingorganizationsand publisherswhichgrantedpermissionto
reproducecopyrightedillustrations:American GeophysicalUnion,BlackwellPublish
ingLtd.,BulgarianAcademyofSciences,ElsevierLtd.,GeologicalSocietyofAmerica,
GeologicalSocietyof London, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris), Oster
reichische GeologischeGesellschaft.
Contents
Part One - Printed Volume
TheMediterraneanAreaandthe SurroundingRegions:ActiveProcesses,
RemnantsofFormerTethyan Oceansand RelatedThrustbelts .
WilliamCavazza . PrancoisRoure. PeterA.Ziegler
Abstract .
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Mediterranean Fold-and-thrust Belts 2
1.3 Mediterranean Marine Basins 7
1.4 Geological-geophysicalBaseline 11
1.4.1 HeatFlow 11
1.4.2 Crustal and Lithospheric Structure 11
1.4.3 Gravity 11
1.4.4 Magnetic Field 14
1.4.5 Seismicity 15
1.4.6 Geodetic Data 16
1.4.7 StressField 18
1.5 GlobalDynamicsandActiveProcessesExemplifiedintheMediterranean 18
1.5.1 Subduction ofthe Eastern MediterraneanLithosphere
beneaththe Calabrian and AegeanArcs 20
1.5.2 Riftingand PassiveMargin Development in
Back-arcRegionsand Other MediterraneanDomains 20
1.5.3 Mudand SaltDiapirism RelatedtoTectonicWedges,
TiltedBlocksand SedimentaryLoading
(Eastern MediterraneanRidge,Alboran Sea,NileDelta) 22
1.5.4 Sea-levelChanges,SalinityCrisis,Flooding
(MessinianMediterraneanversus Pleistocene BlackSea) 22
1.6 RecordofAncientDynamicsoftheTethyanOceans,OphioliticSutures,
MantleTomographyversusPaleogeographyoftheMediterraneanRealm ....23
1.6.1 Collisionalvs.IntracontinentalThrust BeltsandOceanicSutures '" 23
1.6.2 PlateDynamics and Palinspastic Restorations:
Demiseofthe ConceptofaSingleTethys 23
1.6.3 CenozoicMagmatism inthe MediterraneanRegion 24
1.7 Conclusions 28
Acknowledgements 29
2 ATomographicView onWestern Mediterranean Geodynamics 31
WimSpakman . RinusWortel
Abstract 31
2.1 Introduction 31
2.2 TheGlobalTomographyModelBS2000 32
2.3 Interpretation ofModelBS2000fortheWesternMediterraneanMantle 33
2.3-1 Alps,Apennines,and the WesternMediterranean 33
2.3.2 TheBetic-Rifand Alboran Region 43
2.4 Analysis:the Geodynamic Evolutionofthe WesternMediterranean 44
2.4.1 Tomographic EvidenceforSlabRoll-back 44
XII Contents . Part One- PrintedVolume
2.4.2 NorthernApennines and Alpine-Tethys Subduction 45
2.4.3 SlabDetachmentbeneaththe Central-southernApennines 45
2.4.4 Calabria Subduction 46
2.4.5 The NorthAfrican Margin 46
246 Betic-Rifand Alboran Region:I.Subductionand Roll-back
of PredominantlyOceanic Lithosphere 47
247 Betic-Rifand Alboran Region:II.Development ofArcGeometry
and SubductionRoll-back 48
2.4.8 Synthesis ofTomographicConstraintson the Geodynamic
Evolution ofthe Western MediterraneanRegion 48
2.5 Summary 51
Acknowledgements 51
Appendix1 (CD-ROM) 51
Appendix2 (CD-ROM) 52
3 TheTRANSMEDTransectsin SpaceandTime:Constraintsonthe
PaleotectonicEvolution oftheMediterranean Domain 53
GerardM. Stampfli . GillesBorel
Abstract 53
3.1 Introduction 53
3.2 The Western TethysMain PlateTectonicConstraints 56
3.2.1 The East Mediterranean-Neotethys Connection 56
3.2.2 The Apulia-AdriaProblem 57
3.3 TheGeodynamic EvolutionofGreaterApuliaand SurroundingRegions 60
3.3.1 Paleotethys Evolution (Figs.3.2-3.6) 60
3.3.2 CimmerianEventsand TriassicMarginal Oceans(Figs.3.6-3.9) 62
3.3.3 TheJurassicOceans:AlpineTethys,CentralAtlanticand Vardar
(Figs.3.8-3.n) 66
3.3.4 TheCretaceousOceans:NorthAtlanticand the PyreneanDomain
(Figs.3.10-3.14) 69
3.4 TheTRANSMEDTransects inSpaceandTime 71
3.4.1 Transects I-II-III West 71
342 Transects IV-V-VI 77
3.4.3 Transects IIIEast,VIIand VIII 78
3.5 Conclusions 80
Acknowledgements 80
Appendix3(CD-ROM) 80
References:Preface,Chapters 1,2and 3 81
References:CO-ROM 91
TransectI:IberianMeseta- Guadalquivir Basin- BeticCordillera-
Alboran Sea- Rif- Moroccan Meseta- HighAtlas- Sahara Domain 91
TransectII:Aquitaine Basin- Pyrenees- Ebro Basin-
Catalan Coastal Ranges- ValenciaTrough - Balearic Promontory-
Algerian Basin- Kabylies- Atlas- Saharan Domain 97
TransectIII:MassifCentral-Provence- GulfofLion- ProvencalBasin
Sardinia- Tyrrhenian Basin- SouthernApennines - Apulia-
Adriatic Sea- Albanian Dinarides - Balkans- Moesian Platform 103
Transects IV,Vand VI:TheAlpsand TheirForelands 108
TransectVII:EastEuropean Craton- Scythian Platform - Dobrogea
Balkanides- Rhodope Massif- Hellenides- EastMediterranean- Cyrenaica 114
TransectVIII:EasternEuropean Craton- Crimea- BlackSea-
Anatolia - Cyprus - Levant Sea- Sinai- Red Sea 120
Index 127
Contents
Part Two - CD-ROM
TransectP:
IberianMeseta- GuadalquivirBasin- BeticCordillera- Alboran Sea
Rif- Moroccan Meseta- HighAtlas- Sahara Domain
Dominique Frizon de Lamotte . Ana Crespo-Blanc . Bertrand Saint-Bezar
Menchu Comas . Manel Fernandez . Hermann Zeyen . Puy Ayarza
CharlesRobert-Charrue . Ahmed Chalouan . Mahmoud Zizi
Antonio Teixell . Maria-Luisa Arboleya . Fernando Alvarez-Lobato
Manuel[ulivert . AndreMichard
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Description oftheBroadMainFeaturesalongTRANSMEDTransectI
1.2.1 TheBeticand RifChainsaroundtheAlboranSea:TheGibraltarArc
1.2.2 TheAtlasSystem
1.2.3 The Sahara Domain
1.2.4 SomeFeatures ofthe CrustalandLithosphericStructure
1.3 Sources of Information
1.J.1 BeticsandAlboranSea
1.3.2 Rif
1.3.3 Atlas
1.3.4 Sahara Domain
1.4 DescriptionofTectonostratigraphicand LithostratigraphicUnits
1.4.1 The IberianMeseta and the GuadalquivirBasin
1.4.2 The Prebetic andSubbetic Units (South IberianCover)
1.4.3 The Alboran Domain
1.4.4 The FlyschUnits
1.4.5 The ExternalRif
1-4-6 TheAtlasSystem
1-4-7 The Sahara Domain
1.5 StructuralEvolution along the Transect
II TransectII:
Aquitaine Basin- Pyrenees- EbroBasin- Catalan Range- ValenciaTrough
Balearic Block- Algerian Basin- Kabylies- Atlas-SaharanPlatform
EduardRoca . DominiqueFrizondeLamotte . Alain Mauffret
Rabah Bracene .[aume Verges . Narimane Benaouali . Manel Fernandez
losepAntonMunoz . HermannZeyen
II.l Introduction
II.2 Significance ofTransectII withinthe MediterraneanFramework
II.3 Sources of Information
II.3.1 Aquitaine Basin- Pyrenees- Ebro Basin
II.3.2 Catalan Coastal Ranges
11.3.3 ValenciaTrough
1FororientationseeFig.0.1(pageXVII)showingthestudyareaand thegeologicaltransects.
