Meteora: a Billion Years of Geological History in Greece to Create a World Heritage Site

Abstract

The rock pinnacles of the Meteora UNESCO World Heritage Site, Central Greece, are global geologic icons but are inadequately studied. Herein, we summarize decades of observations leading to a geohistory and geoenvironmental model of the unique conditions that were essential for their creation. Via this synthesis, we hope thus to encourage further specialized studies of the West Thessaly-Meteora region and to promote the value of updating geological research within World Heritage Sites. The Meteora rock spires owe their existence to ten critical geologic episodes spread over a period of nearly a billion years. Early Miocene sedimentary deposits that make up the rock spires are derived largely from the metamorphic core complex of the exhumed Pelagonian (~ Precambrian to Permian) continental complex and include fragments of “blueschist” derived from the Miocene exhumation of Mount Olympos (subducted Triassic-Eocene carbonate banks). The Miocene sediments are deposited as turbidite formations overlain by “Gilbert-style” deltaic conglomerates. The cobble-turbidite formations comprise submarine canyon fills. The rock spires themselves result from initiation of Pleistocene erosion into a peneplain estimated, very roughly, to ~ 700,000 years in age. This geoenvironment is similar to today’s active sedimentation ongoing off the Malibu coast of California in that the deposits include “Gilbert-style” deltas and turbidites originating from an exhuming metamorphic complex, simultaneously eroding and depositing within off-shore canyons. This comparative model requires a reinterpretation of the “consensus” interpretation of the Miocene oceanic margin south of the Meteora region to one hosting more active energetic deposition and a deeper basin.