Late Cainozoic geodynamic evolution of Thessaly and surroundings (central-northern Greece)

Abstract

In the framework of the late Alpide deformation of Greece and of the recent and active extensional tectonism of the Aegean region, the geotectonic evolution of the Thessaly region (central-northern Greece) has been examined, using a quantitative and qualitative structural analysis; stratigraphie, sedimentological, morphotectonic and seismological data. The geometry of the faults, their architecture and the knowledge of the stress pattern are used to explain some aspects of the tectonics and crustal dynamics of Thessaly and the surrounding area. The oldest compressional phases taken into account show a mean ENE-WSW trending direction of shortening and have been defined as late Alpide (early Aquitanian and Langhian). A later (Late Miocene-Pliocene) NE-SW oriented extensional phase has been related to the Hellenic post-orogenic collapse which developed behind the collisional front between the Aegean (Eurasia) and African plates. This phenomenon diachronically migrated from the east (Central Macedonia, Thermaikos Basin) towards the west (Epirus, Albania) where it is still active. As a consequence of this second phase, the area forms a basin and range like structure. The third, and last, phase (Middle Pleistocene-present) is characterized by a N–S direction of extension and affects the entire Aegean region. It generated new E–W trending basins, superimposed on the inherited ones. This gave as a final result, the complex block pattern we can see today. The recent and active right-lateral strike-slip movements along the North Aegean Trough seem to stop in the Sporades Basin and do not affect the uppermost crust of mainland Greece. A further WNW-ESE directed extension observed occasionally in central and northern Greece could be explained by local events or as block-related deformation.