Lithospheric boundaries and plate motions in the Cyprus area

Abstract

Accurate location of earthquakes recorded by seismographs and reliable fault plane solutions of strong recent earthquakes are used to define the plate boundaries and the pattern of plate motion in Cyprus and surrounding area. Spatial distribution of shallow ( h<60 km) and intermediate depth (60 km ≤ h ≤130 km) earthquakes define a continuous boundary between the Eurasian and the African lithospheric plates in this area. This boundary is formed of two arcuate structures, the eastern and western, which have their concave side to the north and are connected by a NNE striking transform dextral fault, the Paphos Transform Fault (PTF), just west of Cyprus. The eastern structure consists of the Cyprean arc and its continuation to the Gulf of Adana, which then joins the Eastern Anatolian Fault. The western one is an arc-like structure which strikes in a northwest direction following the Florence rise and joins the Rhodes thrust fault. The African plate is slowly subducted under the Eurasian plate from south to north but in the Cyprean arc the Cyprean microplate overrides also the Levantine lithosphere in a SW direction. Some interesting tectonic similarities between the Cyprean and the Hellenic arcs are pointed out.