Academic literature on the topic 'Mediterranean suture zone'

AbstractWhile the Neogene history of the Eastern Mediterranean region is now fairly well understood, our knowledge of older regional palaeogeographies is less accurate, especially the positions of blocks and nappes constituting the Aegean Islands prior to the Cenozoic. Our study focuses on the ophiolite exposed on the island of Karpathos (Dodecanese), which is located in the Aegean fore-arc at a pivotal position between the ‘western’ and ‘eastern’ ophiolites of the Mediterranean region and where conflicting Late Jurassic and Late Cretaceous ages have led to diverging tectonic and palaeogeographic interpretations. To test these ages, we targeted the radiolarian cherts that depositionally overlie the ophiolite and extracted diagnostic radiolarian assemblages of Aptian (∼125−113 Ma), early–middle Albian (∼113−105 Ma) and Turonian (∼93.9−89.8 Ma) ages. These results suggest that previous Late Cretaceous K–Ar isotopic ages (from 95.3 ± 4.2 Ma to 81.2 ± 1.6 Ma) may have been reset by Late Cretaceous metamorphism or affected by argon loss. Overall, the new Early Cretaceous ages show that the Karpathos ophiolite should not be correlated with the Pindos Nappes of Greece or the ophiolites of Cyprus or Syria but rather with the Lycian Nappes of Turkey and their root located in the Izmir–Ankara–Erzincan Suture Zone. Therefore, the Karpathos ophiolite represents a remnant of the Northern Neotethys, not the Pindos Ocean or the proto-Eastern Mediterranean Basin.

Heat flow data from the Eastern Mediterranean region indicates an extensive province of low heat flow, spreading over the whole basin of the Mediterranean to the east of Crete (Levantine Sea), Cyprus, and Northern Egypt. Surface geology of East Anatolia is complex because of recent active tectonic and volcanic activity. The region is composed of major tectonic units of Pontides, the Anatolid-Tauride Belt and Bitlis Suture Zone, North and East Anatolian faults. Ophiolitic and young volcanic rocks can be observed in many parts of East Anatolia. The Black Sea is surrounded by the Alpine-Himalayan Orogenic Belt of Crimea, Greater Caucasus, Pontides, Rhodope-Stranja Massif, Eastern Srednegorie, North Dobrogea and older tectonic units of different origins and ages such as the Precambrian East European Craton, Moesian Platform, Istanbul Zone and Adzhar-Trialet Folded System. Low heat flow density dominates in the Black Sea. The lowest (less•30 mW/m2 ) values have been recorded in central parts of the Western and Eastern Black Sea basins with maximal sedimentary thickness. Geothermal studies within the territories of Ukraine have been under way since sixties. Many important features of the thermal field remain unstudied. This applies in particular to the Ukrainian Shield and to the southern part of the Carpathian region. In general, the territory of Alpine folding within Turkey, Marmara and Aegean seas, Caucasus is characterized by high heat flow. The anomaly of its highest values (above 100 –150 mW/m2 ) exists within western Turkey, where tectonic conditions of extension prevail and underground steam is used to produce electricity. Three heat flow density profiles crossing the studied region and heat flow map were compiled.

AbstractThe Lower Carboniferous flysch of the Istanbul Zone in Turkey is an over 1500 m thick turbiditic sandstone–shale sequence marking the onset of the Variscan deformation in the Pontides. It overlies Lower Carboniferous black cherts and is unconformably overlain by Lower Triassic continental sandstones and conglomerates. The petrography of the Carboniferous sandstones and the geochronology and geochemistry of the detrital zircons and rutiles were studied to establish the provenance of the clastic rocks. The sandstones are feldspathic to lithic greywackes and subgreywackes with approximately equal amounts of quartz, feldspar and lithic clasts. The amount of quartz and lithic fragments decreases upwards in the sequence at the expense of feldspar. The lithic fragments are dominated by intermediate volcanic rocks, followed by metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments. Coarse lithic fragments are generally granitoidic. In the discrimination diagrams, sandstone samples lie mainly in the field of dissected arc. A total of 218 detrital zircons and 35 detrital rutiles from four sandstone samples were analysed with laser ablation ICP-MS. The detrital zircons show a predominantly bimodal age distribution with Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous (390 to 335 Ma) and Cambrian–Neoproterozoic (640 to 520 Ma) ages. The remaining 9 % of the analysed zircons are in the 1700–2750 Ma range; zircons of the 700–1700 Ma age range are absent. The REE patterns and Th/U ratios of the zircons are consistent with a magmatic origin. With one exception (Neoproterozoic), the rutile ages are Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous and their geochemistry indicates that they were derived from amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks. Sandstone petrography and detrital zircon–rutile ages suggest one dominant source for the Lower Carboniferous sandstones: a Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous magmatic and metamorphic province with overprinted Neoproterozoic basement. Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous magmatic and metamorphic rocks are unknown from the Eastern Mediterranean region. They are, however, widespread in central Europe. The Istanbul Zone is commonly correlated with the Avalonian terrranes in central Europe, which collided with the Armorican terranes during Carboniferous times, resulting in the Variscan orogeny. The Carboniferous flysch of the Istanbul Zone must have been derived from a colliding Armorican terrane, as indicated by the absence of 700–1700 Ma zircons and by Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous magmatism, typical features of the Armorican terranes. This suggests that during Carboniferous times the Istanbul terrane was located close to the Bohemian Massif and has been translated by strike-slip along the Trans-European Suture Zone to its Cretaceous position north of the Black Sea.

The Tell-Rif (Tell in Algeria and Tunisia; Rif in Morocco) is the orogenic system fringing to the south the West Mediterranean basins. This system comprises three major tectonic-palaeogeographic zones from north to south: (1) the internal zones (AlKaPeCa for Alboran, Kabylies, Peloritan, Calabria) originating from the former northern European margin of the Maghrebian Tethys, (2) the “Flyschs zone” regarded as the former cover of the oceanic domain and (3) the external zones, forming the former southern Maghrebian Tethys margin more or less inverted. The Tell-Rif is interpreted as the direct result of the progressive closure of the Maghrebian Tethys until the collision between AlKaPeCa and Africa and, subsequently, the propagation of the deformation within Africa. This gives a consistent explanation for the offshore Neogene geodynamics and most authors share this simple scenario. Nevertheless, the current geodynamic models do not completely integrate the Tell-Rif geology. Based on the analysis of surface and sub-surface data, we propose a reappraisal of its present-day geometry in terms of geodynamic evolution. We highlight its non-cylindrical nature resulting from both the Mesozoic inheritance and the conditions of the tectonic inversion. During the Early Jurassic, we emphasize the development of NE-SW basins preceding the establishment of an E-W transform corridor connecting the Central Atlantic Ocean with the Ligurian Tethys. The Maghrebian Tethys developed just after, as the result of the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous left-lateral spreading between Africa and Iberia. By the Late Cretaceous, the occurrence of several tectonic events is related to the progressive convergence convergence between the two continents. A major pre-Oligocene (pre-35 Ma) compressional event is recorded in the Tell-Rif system. The existence of HP-LT metamorphic rocks associated with fragments of mantle in the External Metamorphic Massifs of the Eastern Rif and Western Tell shows that, at that time, the western part of the North-African margin was involved in a subduction below a deep basin belonging to the Maghrebian Tethys. At the same time, the closure of the West Ligurian Tethys through east-verging subduction led to a shift of the subduction, which jumped to the other side of AlKaPeCa involving both East Ligurian and Maghrebian Tethys. Slab rollback led to the development of the Oligo-Miocene back-arc basins of the West-Mediterranean, reworking the previous West Ligurian Tethys suture. The docking of AlKaPeCa against Africa occurred during the Late Burdigalian (17 Ma). Subsequently, the slab tearing triggered westward and eastward lateral movements that are responsible for the formation of the Gibraltar and Tyrrhenian Arcs respectively. The exhumation of the External Metamorphic Massifs occurred through tectonic underplating during the westward translation of the Alboran Domain. It resulted in the formation of both foredeep and wedge-top basins younger and younger westward. The lack of these elements in the eastern part of the systems signs a different evolution dominated by frontal accretion. In the discussion, we precisely address the origin of the non-cylindrical behavior of the orogenic system and question the mechanisms explaining at large scale the phases of coupling/uncoupling between the major plates.

The aim of this study is to describe the biostratigraphic, chronostratigraphic and ecostratigraphic relationships of the Neogene sequence in the Adana Basin. The Adana Basin is located in southern Turkey, and bordered by the Tauride Orogenic Belt to the north, the Amanos Mountains to the east, the Mediterranean coast to the south and the Ecemiş Fault Zone to the west. From base to top, the Neogene sequence consists of the Gildirli Formation (continental redbeds), the shallow marine Kaplankaya Formation, the reefal limestones of the Karaisalı Formation, the shales of the Güvenç Formation (slope to deep marine), a thick submarine fan complex (Cingöz Formation), the shallow marine and fluvio-deltaic Kuzgun Formation and the shallow marine lagoonal–continental Handere Formation. The planktonic foraminiferal biozones identified within the Neogene sequence of the Adana Basin are Globigerinoides trilobus and Praeorbulina glomerosa curva (Burdigalian), Globorotalia fohsi peripheroronda/Orbulina suturalis (Langhian), and Globorotalia mayeri (Serravallian). The Late Tortonian is characterized by the first occurrence of Globorotalia suterae. There are no planktonic foraminiferal zones in the Messinian, but this level may be correlated with a non-distinctive zone in the Mediterranean region. The Pliocene is represented by the Sphaeroidinellopsis Acme Zone.

In this study, all samples from Tortonian to Early Pliocene sediments of Zvernec-Vlora and Kavaja-Durres regions within Peri-Adriatic Foredeep (PAF) of Albania containing Globorotalia acostaensis were studied qualitatively and quantitatively. Based on these analyses resulted that G. acostaensis have changed coiling ratio direction during G. acostaensis and G. obliquus extremus Zone of Tortonian, differently from that known in Mediterranean area up to now. This is not a short time interval, which more exactly is from the first appearance of G. acostaensis to first appearance of G. suterae, at the upper part of G. extremus Zone. Another documented and explaining unconformity here is related with beginning of Pliocene sediments. There are at least four alienating sinistral and dextral coiling changes in G.acostaensis populations. Also in this work is given the history of the study of G acostaensis and which maybe causes that this species in Mediterranean province and especially in our country is used relatively late as zonal marker species. The main object of stratigraphers and paleontologists has been finding a successive section, with uninterrupted sedimentation, possibly for the longest geological time. Regarding to this phenomenon could be explained resulting unconformity between coiling ratio changes in Globorotalia acostaensis of the present study and other studies carried out in Mediterranean area on this occasion up to now. It is difficult to understand here the resulting unconformity during the main part of Tortonian age, which prolonged more than 2 m.y. Another resulting unconformity discovered at the Miocene/Pliocene boundary of the Kavaja-Durres regions is very significant. In these regions was discovered an earlier Pliocene sedimentation than known up to now according to resulting alternations of coiling direction of Globorotalia acostaensis prior to Pliocene Sphaeroidinellopsis Acme zone. These data are in favour of those based on the isotopie stratigraphy, which give a new definition at 5.32 M.Y. Miocene/Pliocene boundary instead of 5.1 or 5.2 M.Y. given previously based on absolute age. Coiling changes, in our case that of G. acostaensis are in response to changing climates or alternation of different cold and warm water populations resulting from changes in the boundaries between water masses as at the beginning of the Pliocene when the water masses of the Atlantic Ocean overflowed the Mediterranean area. Here is also proposed to correct the Neogene paleoclimatic curve referring, for the interval of G. acostaensis range distribution.

It is argued that the time-space distribution of major post middle Miocene deformation events in the Central-Eastern Mediterranean region, deduced from the relevant literature, can be coherently explained as a consequence of the convergence between the Africa/Arabia and Eurasia blocks. This plate convergence has mainly been accommodated by the consumption of the thinnest parts of the Northern African (Ionian and Levantine basins) and peri-Adriatic margins. During each evolutionary phase the space distribution of trench zones is controlled by the basic physical requirement of minimizing the work of horizontal forces, induced by plate convergence, against the resisting forces, i.e., the cohesion of the upper brittle crustal layer and the buoyancy forces at the consuming boundaries. The significant changes of tectonic styles which determined the transition from one phase to the next, like those which occurred around the Messinian and the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene, were determined by the suture of consuming boundaries. When such an event occurs, the system must activate alternative consuming processes to accommodate the convergence of the major confining blocks. The observed deformations in the study area suggest that this tectonic reorganization mostly developed by the lateral extrusion of crustal wedges away from the sutured borders. This mechanism allowed the translation of maximum horizontal stresses from the locked collisional fronts to the zones where consumable lithosphere was still present, in order to activate the next consuming processes. The extensional episodes which led to the formation of basins and troughs in the Tyrrhenian and Aegean zones are interpreted as secondary effects of the outward escape of crustal wedges, like those which occurred in response to longitudinal compressional regimes in the Apennines and Aegean regions.

La spéciation est le processus évolutif au cours duquel une espèce se scinde en deux lignées qui divergent en accumulant des barrières reproductives, jusqu'à l’acquisition d’un isolement reproductif total. Durant ce processus, les lignées divergentes peuvent toujours s’échanger des gènes par hybridation, mais le flux génique est progressivement limité par l’accumulation des barrières. Il en résulte une semi-perméabilité des génomes, où certains locus s’échangent librement entre lignées et restent indifférenciés tandis que d’autres n’introgressent pas, contribuant ainsi à l’établissement de régions génomiques divergentes, appelées îlots génomiques de spéciation. L'étude de l’établissement, l’accumulation, l’érosion et la maintenance de ces barrières et de leurs effets sur la semiperméabilité des génomes de lignées en cours de spéciation permet de comprendre comment de nouvelles espèces se forment. L'avènement des techniques de séquençage à haut débit a permis de caractériser le paysage génomique de divergence chez de multiples lignées en cours de spéciation à travers l’arbre du vivant. Ces études ont permis de mesurer l’influence de l’histoire démographique et de l’architecture génomique comme déterminants majeurs du paysage génomique de divergence. Toutefois, d'autres facteurs pourraient intervenir et expliquer la diversité des trajectoires évolutives pouvant conduire ou non à la spéciation. Le principal objectif de cette thèse est d'évaluer l'impact des traits d'histoire de vie des espèces sur la spéciation. Nous avons choisi d’étudier 20 espèces de poissons marins subdivisées en deux lignées (Atlantique et Méditerranéenne), et présentant une large diversité de niveaux de divergence et de traits d’histoire de vie. Dans le premier chapitre, nous avons étudié les déterminants de la diversité génétique, substrat sur lequel s’établit la divergence lors de la séparation initiale des lignées. Nous avons observé que la longévité adulte des po issons marins est corrélée négativement à la diversité génétique, et nous avons démontré que cette relation pouvait s’expliquer par une plus grande variance du succès reproducteur chez les espèces longévives à cause de stratégies reproductives particulières aux poissons marins (forte mortalité juvénile, faible mortalité adulte et augmentation de la fécondité avec l’âge). Puis, dans un second chapitre, nous avons détecté une grande diversité d’histoires évolutives entre espèces, caractérisée par un fort gradient de divergence génétique entre lignées atlantiques et méditerranéennes. Ce gradient reflète en partie le niveau de semi-perméabilité des génomes. Les espèces à faible différentiation présentent un isolement reproductif faible, alors que les espèces les plus fortement différenciées montrent un isolement reproductif quasi-complet. Les traits d’histoire de vie des espèces expliquent en partie cette diversité de niveaux d’isolement via différents mécanismes. La durée de vie larvai re influence négativement la différenciation génétique en modulant les capacités de dispersion, l’effet de la taille du corps indique un effet négatif de l’abondance long-terme sur la divergence, et la longévité semble impacter le nombre de générations écoulées depuis la séparation ancestrale. En conclusion, les 20 espèces étudiées présentent une variabilité surprenante d’histoires évolutives au regard des similitudes de leur histoire biogéographique et leur architecture génomique. Les relations entre traits d’histoire de vie et histoire évolutive des espèces sont complexes, mais nous avons pu éclairer certaines d’entre elles en décomposant l’implication des traits dans les différentes étapes de la spéciation. L’application de l’approche de génomique comparative développée au cours de cette thèse dans d’autres zones de suture permettra d’étendre nos connaissances des déterminants du tempo et du mode de la spéciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process through which a species splits into two lineages that diverge and accumulate reproductive barriers, until complete reproductive isolation is achieved. During this process, the diverging lineages can still exchange genes by hybridisation, but gene flow is progressively restricted by the accumulation of barriers. This results in semi-permeable genomes, whereby some loci exchange freely between lineages and remain undifferentiated while others do not introgress, thus contributing to the establishment of divergent genomic regions, called genomic islands of speciation. The study of the establishment, accumulation, erosion and maintenance of these barriers and their effects on the semipermeability of the genomes of lineages undergoing speciation helps to understand how new species are formed. The advent of high-throughput sequencing techniques has made it possible to characterise the genomic landscape of divergence in multiple lineages undergoing speciation across the tree of life. These studies have shown the influence of the demographic history and genomic architecture as major determinants of the genomic landscape of divergence. However, other factors could intervene and explain the diversity of evolutionary trajectories that may or may not lead to speciation. The main objective of this thesis is to assess the impact of species' life history traits on speciation. We have chosen to study 20 marine fish species subdivided into two lineages (Atlantic and Mediterranean), and presenting a wide diversity of degrees of divergence and life history traits. These traits are thought to impact on the intensity of genetic drift, dispersal abilities and generation time of the species. In the first chapter, we studied the determinants of genetic diversity, the substrate on which divergence is built during the initial separation of lineages. We observed that adult longevity of marine fishes is negatively correlated w ith genetic diversity, and we demonstrated that this relationship could be explained by a greater variance in reproductive success in long-lived species due to reproductive strategies specific to marine fishes (high juvenile mortality, low adult mortality and increased fecundity with age). Then, in a second chapter, we discovered a great diversity of evolutionary histories between species, characterised by a strong gradient of genetic divergence between Atlantic and Mediterranean lineages. This gradient partly reflects the level of semi-permeability of the genomes. Species with low differentiation show low reproductive isolation, whereas the most highly differentiated species show almost complete reproductive isolation. Species' life history traits partly explain this diversity in isolation levels via different mechanisms. Larval duration negatively influences genetic differentiation by modulating dispersal capacities, the effect of body size indicates a negative effect of long-term abundance on divergence, while longevity seems to impact the number of generations elapsed since ancestral separation. In conclusion, the 20 species studied show a surprising variability of evolutionary histories considering the similarities of their biogeographic history and genomic architecture. The relationships between life-history traits and the evolutionary history of the species proved to be complex, but we were nevertheless able to shed light on some of them by decomposing the involvement of traits in the different stages of speciation. The application of the comparative genomics approach developed in this thesis to other suture zones will further extend our knowledge of the determinants of the tempo and mode of speciation