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Geodynamics of the Mediterranean Region: Primary Role of Extrusion Processes
This is a peer-reviewed entry published in Encyclopedia Journal, full entry can be found at 10.3390/encyclopedia5030097
Tectonic activity in the Mediterranean region has been driven by the convergence of the confining plates (Nubia, Arabia and Eurasia). This convergence has been accommodated by the consumption of the oceanic domains that were present in the late Oligocene. It is suggested that this process has been enabled by the lateral escape of orogenic belts in response to constrictional contexts. Where this condition was not present, subduction did not occur. This interpretation can plausibly and coherently account for the very complex pattern of tectonic processes in the whole area since the early Miocene. It is also suggested, by providing some examples, that the geodynamic context proposed here might help us to recognize the connection between the ongoing tectonic processes and the spatio-temporal distribution of past major earthquakes. A discussion is then reported about the incompatibilities of the main alternative geodynamic interpretation (slab pull) with the observed deformation pattern.
geodynamics Mediterranean extrusion tectonics
The present configuration of the Mediterranean region is considerably different from the Oligocene context reconstructed by geologists (Figure 1, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]). Most of the orogenic belts existing in the late Oligocene (Alpine–Iberian and Pelagonian–Aegean–Anatolian Tethyan belts) have undergone long migrations and strong deformations. A large part of the original oceanic domains (Alpine Tethys) has been consumed, leaving some remnants in the Ionian and Levantine domains. Large extensional zones developed, such as the Balearic, the Tyrrhenian, the Aegean and the Pannonian basins. New orogenic belts have been generated along the fronts of the migrating Alpine–Iberian (Western Mediterranean) and Tethyan (Eastern Mediterranean) belts. The tectonic mechanism that generated such systems is generally recognized as a trench-arc-back arc process, characterized by the migration of orogenic belts, with the development of accretionary activity along the fronts of the arcs and the formation of basins inside the arcs (e.g., [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]).
The first systems created by this mechanism were the Balearic and the Carpatho-Pannonian ones during the late Oligocene and upper Miocene (Figure 2). The Balearic involved a long migration and a strong bending of the Iberian–Alpine belt that was originally located along the western European margin (Figure 2A), The detachment of this belt from the European foreland also involved a major continental fragment (Corsica–Sardinia block). The accretionary activity that developed along the front of the migrating arc (due to the consumption of the Tethys oceanic domain) formed the Apennine belt along the S-N branch of the Alpine belt and the Maghrebian belt along the E-W branch of that arc. The extension that occurred in the wake of the migrating arcs generated the Balearic basin. The migration of the N-S arc ceased around the middle–upper Miocene, when it collided with the Adriatic continental domain (Figure 2B). The E-W arc ended its migration against the Nubian continental domain in the upper Miocene (Figure 2C), determining the end of extension in the Balearic basin.
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Figure 1. (A) Presumed configuration of the Mediterranean region in the Oligocene. (1) Continental (a) and thinned continental (b) Eurasian domains. (2) Continental (a) and thinned continental (b) Nubian–Adriatic domains. (3) Tethyan orogenic belt constituted by ophiolitic units (a) and metamorphic massifs (b). (4) Intracontinental Alpine orogenic belt. (5) Other orogenic belts. (6) Tethyan oceanic domains. (7) Zones affected by intense (a) or moderate (b) crustal thinning. (8,9,10) Compressional, extensional and strike–slip tectonic features. (11) External fronts of the belts. Present coastlines are reported for reference. Al = Alcapa block, RGS = Rhine Graben System, TD = Tisza-Dacia block. (B) Present configuration. BP = Balearic Promontory, Ca = Campidano graben, CS = Corsica–Sardinia block, EAF = Eastern Anatolian fault, ECA = External Calabrian arc, ECB = Eastern Cretan basin, NAF = North Anatolian fault, SV = Schio–Vicenza fault, Sy = Syracuse fault, TFS = Transmoroccan fault system, VHM = Victor Hensen–Medina fault system, WCB = Western Cretan basin. Blue arrows indicate the present kinematic pattern (e.g., [20][21][22]). Nubia’s motion trend is taken from [23][24].
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Figure 2. (A) Late Oligocene. The Nubian and Eurasian plates are separated by the Alpine belt. The convergence between Nubia and Eurasia induces a strong belt parallel compression on the Alpine–Iberian belt, causing its bending, at the expense of the Alpine Tethys oceanic domain. Blue arrows tentatively indicate the kinematic pattern. LG = Lion gulf, VG = Valencia gulf. (B) Early Miocene. The northern sector of the Alpine–Iberian–Apennine belt (NA) decouples from the southern sector (SA) by the dextral transpressional North Balearic fault (NB) and undergoes a counterclockwise rotation. TAF = Trans-Anatolian fault system. (C) Upper–late Miocene. The bending/migration of the Alpine–Iberian arc, and consequently the formation of the Balearic basin, ceased after the collision of the S-N arc (Alpine–Apennine belt) with the Adriatic continental domain (middle Miocene) and the collision of the E-W sector (Alpine–Maghrebian belt) with the African continental domain (upper Miocene). A similar mechanism, involving the migration and bending of the Tethyan Alpine belt at the expense of the Magura oceanic domain, led to the formation of the Pannonian basin. DSF = Dead Sea fault system, Gi = Giudicarie fault system, NT = Northern Tyrrhenian. (D) Pliocene. The collision between the Anatolian–Aegean Tethyan system and the Adriatic promontory causes the decoupling of a large part of that promontory (Adria plate) from Nubia by the formation of a long discontinuity (Victor Hensen–Medina–Sicily Channel). Am = Ambracique trough, AW = Adventure wedge, Ce = Cephalonia fault, Co = Corinth trough, CR = Crete–Rhodes (Eastern Hellenic Arc), CAp = Central Apennines, CT = Central Tyrrhenian (Vavilov basin), Cy = Cyprus, CyA = Cyclades Arc, Ep = Epirus, LP = Libyan promontory, NAp = Northern Apennines, NAT= North Aegean trough, Pe = Peloponnesus, SAp = Southern Apennines, SCH = Sicily Channel, SM = Serbo-Macedonian zone, Th = Thessaly, WPa = Western Padanian sector. Colors, symbols and other abbreviations as in Figure 1.
The other almost coeval trench-arc-back arc system developed on the other side of the Adriatic promontory, creating the Carpatho-Balkan–Pannonian complex.
In that case, the extension that determined the formation of the Pannonian basin developed in the wake of two major sectors of the Tethyan belt (Alcapa and Tisza–Dacia blocks), whose opposite rotations determined the consumption of the Magura oceanic domain. During this phase, the Anatolian–Aegean system, stressed by the indentation of the Arabian promontory, underwent a westward displacement and a strong deformation, which led to the formation of the Hellenic arc and the Aegean basins.
Around the late Miocene, the tectonic setting in the whole Mediterranean region underwent a major change, involving the formation of the Tyrrhenian basins [25][26][27], the strong deformation of the Apennine belt [28][29][30], the SE ward migration of the Calabrian arc [4][31][32], the formation of a long discontinuity crossing the Ionian domain (Victor Hensen–Medina fault [33][34] and the Pelagian foreland (Sicily Channel fault system [35][36], the northward displacement of the Maghrebian belt lying north of the Pelagian zone [37][38][39], the formation of the Campidano trough in Sardinia (Pliocene, [40][41]) and even the deformation of the northern Nubian belts (Tell and Atlas) in the Plio-Quaternary [42][43]. Since the upper Miocene, the Adriatic domain was affected by the formation of three major discontinuities. One, about 9 My ago, involved the reactivation of the Giudicarie fault system in the northwestern sector of the promontory, as a sinistral transpressional fault [44][45]. Another, at about 6 My ago, formed a long discontinuity crossing the Ionian domain (Victor Hensen–Medina fault) and the Pelagian foreland (Sicily Channel fault system). The last fracture developed around the late Miocene (6 My), by the reactivation of an old weak zone as an NNW dextral transpressional fault (Schio–Vicenza), in the northeastern Adriatic domain [46][47].
In the Quaternary, after the complete consumption of the peri-Adriatic oceanic domains, this plate (stressed by Nubia) has undergone a minor N to NNE motion, inducing belt parallel shortening in the Apennine belt and thrustings in the Eastern Alps. This regime, still going on, has been accommodated by the formation of arcs (southern and northern Apennines) and of transversal WSW-ENE thrust zones (e.g., Ancona–Anzio and Sangro–-Volturno, [48][49]) in the Apennine belt.
During the above evolution, the distance between Eurasia and Nubia has been significantly reduced, indicating a roughly NNE-ward plate convergence (e.g., [19] and references therein, [23]).

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Subjects: Geochemistry & Geophysics
Contributors MDPI registered users' name will be linked to their SciProfiles pages. To register with us, please refer to https://encyclopedia.pub/register : Enzo Mantovani , Marcello Viti ,
Caterina Tamburelli
, Daniele Babbucci
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Online Date: 11 Jul 2025
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