Abstract
The exhumed lower continental crust appears to be omnipresent in the intermediate domain of passive margins. However, the first oceanic crust seems to be essentially atypical in nature, herein called proto-oceanic, before the establishment of a homogeneous and stable oceanic crust. The interaction between these two domains suggested nearly 50 years ago (Bott in Tectonophysics 11:319–337, 1971) seems to be a crucial phenomenon in the genesis of passive margins; it has major consequences on the thermal and tectonic evolution of the margin, as well as on the geodynamic paleo-reconstructions of the system. In the Mediterranean, the Provençal Basin has already highlighted this relationship (Moulin et al. in BSGF 186:309–330, 2015; Afilhado et al. in BSGF, ILP Special volume 186:331–351, 2015) but some areas remain unresolved. We proposed two experiments, on either side of the Strait of Sicily: in the Algerian Basin (Western Mediterranean) and in the Levantine Basin (Eastern Mediterranean). In both places, the nature and geometry of the different segments of the Earth’s crust, their boundaries and links are of crucial importance for a precise geodynamic evolution, which remains controversial.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Afilhado A et al (2015) Deep crustal structure across an young passive margin from wide-angle and reflection seismic data (The SARDINIA Experiment)—II. Sardinia’s margin. BSGF, ILP Special volume 186, 331–351 (2015). https://doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.186.4-5.331
Aslanian, D., et al.: Seismic structure of the Maranhão-Barreirinhas-Ceará margin, NWBrazil, from the MAGIC wide-angleseismic, SBGF, Porto Alegre 2016.
Bott, M.H.P.: Evolution of young continental margins and formation of shelf basin. Tectonophysics 11, 319–337, 1971
Barrier, E., Vrielynck, B.: Paleotectonic maps of the Middle East: atlas of 14 maps. Comm. de la Carte Geol. du Monde, Paris (2008)
Carminati, E., et al.: Geodynamic evolution of the central and western Mediterranean: tectonics versus igneous petrology constraints. Tectonophysics 579, 173–192 (2012)
Dercourt, J., et al.: Atlas Tethys of Paleoenvironmental Maps. Gauthier-Villars, Paris (1993)
Dewey, J., et al.: Kinematics of the western mediterranean: In: Coward, M.P., Dietrich, D. (eds.) Alpine Tectonics, Geological Society of London Special Publication, vol. 45, pp. 265–283 (1989)
Etheve, N., et al.: Extensional versus contractional Cenozoic deformation in Ibiza (Balearic Promontory, Spain): integration in the West Mediterranean back-arc setting. Tectonophysics 682, 35–55 (2016)
Evain, M., et al.: Deep structure of the Santos Basin-São Paulo Plateau System (SSPS). Geophys. J. Int. (2015). https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JB011561
Gardosh, M.A., et al.: Tethyan rifting in the Levant region and its role in Early Mesozoic crustal evolution. Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. 341, 9–36 (2010)
Garfunkel, Z.: Constrains on the origin and history of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. Tectonophysics (1998)
Granot, R.: Palaeozoic oceanic crust preserved beneath the eastern Mediterranean. Nat. Geosci. 9(9), 701–705 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2784
Keeley, M.L.: Phanerozoic evolution of the basins of northern Egypt and adjacent areas. Geol. Rundsch. 83(4), 728–742 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00251071
Leprêtre, R., et al.: The Tell-Rif orogenic system(Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) and the structural heritage of the southern Tethys margin. BSGF Earth Sci Bull 189, 10 (2018)
Leroux, E., et al.: Sedimentary markers in the Provençal Basin (western Mediterranean): a window into deep geodynamic processes. Terra Nova 27, 122–129 (2015)
Leroux, E., et al.: Atlas of the stratigraphic markers in the western Mediterranean sea with focus on the Gulf of Lion. Commission de la Carte Géologique du Monde (2018)
Montadert, L., et al.: Petroleum systems offshore Cyprus. AAPG Mem. 106, 301–334 (2014)
Moulin, M., et al.: Kinematic keys of the Santos-Namibe Basins. In: Mohriak, W.U., et al., (eds.) Conjugate Divergent Margins. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, vol 369 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1144/SP369.3
Moulin, M., et al.: Deep crustal structure across an young passive margin from wide-angle and reflection seismic data (The SARDINIA Experiment)—I Gulf of Lion’s Margin. BSGF 186, 309–330 (2015). https://doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.186.4-5.309
Platt, J.P., Vissers, R.L.M., Extensional collapse of thickened continental lithosphere: a working hypothesis for the Alboran Sea and Gibraltar Arc. Geology 17, 540–543 (1989)
Ricou, L.E.: Tethys reconstructed: plates continental fragments and their boundaries since 260 Ma from Central America to south-eastern Asia. Geodin. Acta 7, 169–218 (1994)
Roure, F., et al.: Alpine inversion of the North African margin and delamination of its continental lithosphere. Tectonics 31, TC3006
Schattner, U., Ben-Avraham, Z.: Transform margin of the northern Levant, eastern Mediterranean: From formation to reactivation. Tectonics 26(5) (2007). https://doi.org/10.1029/2007TC002112
Schattner, U., Ben-Avraham, Z.: Tectonic development of the Levant continental margin, eastern Mediterranean. Researchgate (2012). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281763542
Segev, A., Rybakov, M.: Effects of Cretaceous plume and convergence, and Early Tertiary tectonomagmatic quiescence on the central and southern Levant continental margin. J. Geol. Soc. London 167(4), 731–749 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492009-118
Segev, A., et al.: Age and structure of the Levant basin, Eastern Mediterranean. Earth Sci. Rev. 182, 233–250 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.05.011
Stampfli, G., et al.: Tethyan margins in space and time. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 87, 373–409 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(91),90142-E
Stampfli, G.M., Borel, G.D.: The TRANSMED transects in space and time: Constraints on the paleotectonic evolution of the mediterranean domain. In: Cavazza, W., et al. (eds.) The TRANSMED Atlas: the Mediterranean Region from crust to mantle, vol. 1, pp. 53–80. Springer, Berlin (2004)
Van Hinsbergen, et al.: Origin and consequences of western Mediterranean subduction, rollback, and slab segmentation. Tectonics 33, 393–419 (2014)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Schnürle, P. et al. (2022). Exhumed Lower Continental Crust and Proto-oceanic Crust Interactions? The BasAlg and ArcMal Deep Seismic Projects. In: Meghraoui, M., et al. Advances in Geophysics, Tectonics and Petroleum Geosciences. CAJG 2019. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73026-0_120
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73026-0_120
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-73025-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-73026-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)