Deformation Patterns of a Mesozoic Carbonate Platform Offshore South of Crete

Abstract

Summary Subduction in the region south of Crete is controlled by the oblique Africa-Eurasia convergence. This sort of tectonics has created 3 troughs – the Hellenic Troughs – believed to be accommodating this movement. They strike at an angle of ∼45° to the relative motion vectors of the plates demonstrating a left-lateral strike-slip motion with transtensional and transpressional components. The areas between the troughs (Cretan Margin and Backstop) are filled with Oligocene to Holocene sediments, while the pre-Oligocene deposits are tectonised. Previous studies offshore south of Crete, based on 2D geophysical data suggested that these pre-Oligocene series might be related to a severely tectonised carbonate platform. However, the limits of this platform and its homogeneous character remain debatable. The study area is very frontier with no wells ever been drilled, so lithologies offshore are rather difficult to be identified on the available seismic. Therefore, gravity modeling was an additional useful tool, in order to locate possible “bodies” with different densities, which could be assigned to different lithologies. The aim of this study is to describe the severe tectonism in the area and its role to the deposition of recent sediments and the spatial distribution of the carbonate deposits, south of Crete.