Middle Miocene E-W tectonic horst structure of Crete through extensional detachment faults

Abstract

Two east-west trending extensional detachment faults have been recognized in Crete, one with top-to-the-north motion of the hanging wall toward the Cretan Sea and one with top-to-the-south motion of the hanging wall toward the Libyan Sea. The east-west trending zone between these two detachment faults, which forms their common footwall, comprises a tectonic horst formed during Middle Miocene slip on the detachment faults. The detachment faults disrupt the overall tectono-stratigraphic succession of Crete and are localized along pre-existing thrust faults and along particular portions of the stratigraphic sequence, including the transition between the Permo-Triassic Tyros Beds and the base of the Upper Triassic-Eocene carbonate platform of the Tripolis nappe. By recognizing several different tectono-stratigraphic formations within what is generally termed the 'phyllite-quartzite', it is possible to distinguish these extensional detachment faults from thrust faults and minor discontinuities in the sequence. The deformation history of units within Crete can be summarized as: (i) compressional deformation producing arc-parallel east-west trending south-directed thrust faults in Oligocene to Early Miocene time (ii) extensional deformation along arc-parallel, east-west trending detachment faults in Middle Miocene time, with hanging wall motion to the north and south; (iii) Late Miocene-Quaternary extensional deformation along high-angle normal and oblique normal faults that disrupt the older arc-parallel structures. TS - RIS M4 - Citavi