Magnetic Anomalies in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Tectonic Setting of the Eratosthenes Seamount

Abstract

An investigation of the nature of the magnetic anomalies in the eastern Mediterranean, mainly those associated with the Eratosthenes Seamount, was carried out. The Seamount and its vicinity are associated with large (˜400 gammas) magnetic anomalies. This might suggest that this area is underlain by basic or ultrabasic material, although we found evidence that most of the volume of the Seamount itself is composed of sediments. We also found indications that the Eratosthenes Seamount is superimposed on a much larger structure, which occupies a major portion of the eastern Mediterranean basin. The peak of the positive magnetic anomaly is offset some 40 km to the south‐east of the Eratosthenes Seamount. An analysis of the magnetic anomalies suggests that the magnetized block which produces the Eratosthenes magnetic anomaly might have been rotated counterclockwise since the time of its formation. Copyright © 1976, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved