Endrun, B., Lebedev, S., Meier, T., Tirel, C. and Friederich, W. (2011) Complex layered deformation within the Aegean crust and mantle revealed by seismic anisotropy. Nature Geoscience, 4 (3). pp. 203-207. DOI 10.1038/ngeo1065.

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Abstract

Continental lithosphere can undergo pervasive internal deformation, often distributed over broad zones near plate boundaries. However, because of the paucity of observational constraints on three-dimensional movement at depth, patterns of flow within the lithosphere remain uncertain. Endmember models for lithospheric flow invoke deformation localized on faults or deep shear zones or, alternatively, diffuse, viscous-fluid-like flow. Here we determine seismic Rayleigh-wave anisotropy in the crust and mantle of the Aegean region, an archetypal example of continental deformation. Our data reveal a complex, depth-dependent flow pattern within the extending lithosphere. Beneath the northern Aegean Sea, fast shear wave propagation is in a North–South direction within the mantle lithosphere, parallel to the extensional component of the current strain rate field. In the south-central Aegean, where deformation is weak at present, anisotropic fabric in the lower crust runs parallel to the direction of palaeo-extension in the Miocene. The close match of orientations of regional-scale anisotropic fabric and the directions of extension during the last significant episodes of deformation implies that at least a large part of the extension in the Aegean has been taken up by distributed viscous flow in the lower crust and lithospheric mantle.

Document Type:	Article
Research affiliation:	OceanRep > The Future Ocean - Cluster of Excellence > FO-R09 Kiel University OceanRep > The Future Ocean - Cluster of Excellence OceanRep > The Future Ocean - Cluster of Excellence > FO-R06
Refereed:	Yes
Open Access Journal?:	No
Publisher:	Nature Publishing Group
Projects:	Future Ocean
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2017 15:58
Last Modified:	31 Jan 2023 05:28
URI:	https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/39643

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