The Death Throes of the Tethys Seaway and the Birth Pangs of the Red Sea: The Geodynamics of the Levant

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Abstract

As the Tethys Seaway closed in the tectonic domain of the Levant, it left behind two branches. The continental collision occurs in the eastern branch along the Bitlis–Zagros suture. Subduction still prevails along the western branch between the Anatolia–Balkan sections of Eurasia, where the last remnant of the Tethyan maritime domain persists. It seems that differences in the northward plate motion of Arabia as its convergence with Iran–Anatolia gradually changed from subduction to collision took place, leading to the break up of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Concurrently, the subduction along the Hellenic convergence in the west was associated with extensive rollback that broke up the Aegean Sea as its back-arc basin, and the rollback of the deformation front dragged Anatolia westward. It seems that the closure of Tethys Seaway led to the emergence of the Aegean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRecent Research on Geotechnical Engineering, Remote Sensing, Geophysics and Earthquake Seismology - Proceedings of the 1st MedGU, Istanbul 2021 Volume 3
EditorsAttila Çiner, Zeynal Abiddin Ergüler, Mourad Bezzeghoud, Mustafa Ustuner, Mehdi Eshagh, Hesham El-Askary, Arkoprovo Biswas, Luca Gasperini, Klaus-Günter Hinzen, Murat Karakus, Cesare Comina, Ali Karrech, Alina Polonia, Helder I. Chaminé
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages321-325
Number of pages5
ISBN (Print)9783031432170
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024
Event1st International conference on Mediterranean Geosciences Union, MedGU 2021 - Istanbul, Turkey
Duration: 25 Nov 202128 Nov 2021

Publication series

NameAdvances in Science, Technology and Innovation
ISSN (Print)2522-8714
ISSN (Electronic)2522-8722

Conference

Conference1st International conference on Mediterranean Geosciences Union, MedGU 2021
Country/TerritoryTurkey
CityIstanbul
Period25/11/2128/11/21

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

Keywords

  • Aegean backarc breakup
  • Arabia CCW rotation
  • Bitlis–Zagros collision suture
  • Hellenic subduction
  • Red Sea—Levant rifting

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Architecture
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

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