Drilling to Resolve the Evolution of the Corinth Rift

Lisa Mcneill,Casey Nixon,Dimitris Sakellariou

doi:10.1002/2014eo200009

Abstract

The initiation and evolution of continental rifting, ultimately leading to rifted margin and ocean basin formation, are major unanswered questions in solid Earth–plate tectonics. Many previous insights have come from mature rifted margins where activity has ceased or from computer models. The Gulf of Corinth Rift in central Greece presents an ideal laboratory for the study of young, highly active rifting that complements other rift zones (e.g., the East African and Gulf of California rifts). Exposure and preservation of syn‐rift stratigraphy, high rates of extension, and an existing network of offshore seismic data offer a unique opportunity to constrain the rift history and basin development at exceptionally high resolution in the Gulf of Corinth.

Highlights

The Gulf of Corinth Rift in central Greece presents an ideal laboratory for the study of young, highly active rifting that complements other rift zones
An international collaborative project, launched in 2011, is integrating all marine geophysical data sets to generate a highresolution, high-precision fault network and stratigraphic framework of the modern rift axis combined with an equivalent onshore framework
The missing piece of the jigsaw for the Corinth Rift tectonic framework is offshore drilling at key locations to provide a chronology for the entire offshore basin, incidentally creating a high-resolution late Pliocene–Quaternary paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental record

Summary

Introduction

An international collaborative project, launched in 2011, is integrating all marine geophysical data sets to generate a highresolution, high-precision fault network and stratigraphic framework of the modern rift axis combined with an equivalent onshore framework. IODP Ocean Drilling Within the Corinth Rift, Greece; Athens, Greece, 11–14 February 2014

Results

Conclusion