Corinth Rift margin uplift: new evidence from Late Quaternary marine shorelines

New evidence for uplift of the southern margin to the Corinth rift, one of the world's most rapidly extending continental regions, defines an area of uniform uplift separating a more rapidly uplifting western rift flank from a slowly backtilting eastern flank. This major tectonic boundary coincides with geophysical evidence for a junction between flat underlying subducted oceanic plate and steep subduction. We propose that trench rollback by the Anatolian plate over the subducting African plate has led to differential uplift and possible migration of active faulting at the southern rift margin in the last few million years

Normal faulting and crustal deformation, Alkyonides Gulf and Perachora peninsula, eastern Gulf of Corinth rift basin, Greece

Geophysical, structural, geochronological and geomorphological data indicate that the Psatha, East Alkyonides, Skinos and Pisia faults are Holocene-active structures whereas the status of the West Alkyonides, Strava, Perachora and Loutraki faults is less certain. We see no evidence for significant lateral surface fault growth. New data for late-Pleistocene footwall uplift of the Psatha fault is comparable to previously estimated Holocene rates. Pre-Holocene stratigraphic sequences in the Alkyonides gulf enable calculation of vertical displacement on the Skinos fault, in the range 1.42 - 1.60 km over >0.6 My. Previous palaeoseismological studies indicate comparable displacement rates extrapolated to 0.61-2.20 My, whereas extrapolation of previous geodetic data indicate a range 0.17-0.46 Ma. The latter is too short given the evidence of the stratigraphic record, signifying either that they may not be representative of longer-term rates, or that significant deformation has taken place elsewhere e.g. on offshore antithetic faults. A case is established for uniform late Quaternary (post-MIS 7) uplift of the Perachora peninsula at rates of c. 0.2-0.3 mm a-1. The lack of regional tilting over Perachora/Corinth/Isthmia is in marked contrast to the situation in the Alkyonides/Megara basins to the east

A new deglacial climate and sea-level record from 20 to 8 ka from IODP381 site M0080, Alkyonides Gulf, eastern Mediterranean

Records of relative sea-level rise for the last deglaciation are mostly limited to coral reef records and geophysical model estimates, but observational data from regions with temperate climates is sparse. We present a new relative climatic and regional sea-level rise record for glacial Termination 1 (Marine Isotope Stages [MIS] 2–1) based on ostracode paleoecology from the upper 8 m of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site M0080 collected on Expedition 381, in the Gulf of Alkyonides, eastern Corinth basin of the Mediterranean Sea. Results show a series of major faunal transitions from lacustrine (Ponto-Caspian, Lake Corinth) glacial-age assemblages to fully marine (Mediterranean) interglacial assemblages between 20 and 8 ka. During glacial and early deglacial intervals, the Gulf of Alkyonides was characterized by non-marine lacustrine conditions with episodic sediment input from coastal, saline lake environments. Relatively stable lake shoreline conditions marked by the distinctive Tuberoloxoconcha sp. Existed from ∼17.5 to 15 ka. During the peak deglacial interval, the BØlling-AllerØd (B-A, ∼15–13.5 ka), rapid sea-level rise is indicated by a fully marine ostracode fauna colonization, which persisted from 13.5 to 7.5 ka (Late Pleistocene-Early to Middle Holocene). The transition from lacustrine to marine environments confirms that during the last glacial maximum (LGM) low sea level (130 - 125 m below present day), the Corinth-Alkyonides depocentres were lacustrine. Marine water breached the shallow Rion and Acheloos-Cape Pappas sills, which today are ∼50–60 m deep, separating the Mediterranean and Corinth-Alkyonides system beginning about 15 ka. Based on Alkyonides sedimentation rates, mean rates of sea-level rise during the B-A flooding of the Corinth-Alkyonides system are comparable to those obtained from coral reef sea level (SL) records, at least 10–20 mm yr−1. Changes in sedimentation and sill depths in this tectonically active region may have played a role in reconnection of the Mediterranean and Corinth/Alkyonides system over a prolonged period. However, the ages and scale of the faunal changes and their clear correspondence with previously published global sea-level curves and the regional sea-level curve based on deglacial land elevation changes predicted by the ICE-7G model suggests the M0080A deglacial is dominated by the glacio-eustatic sea-level rise and records details of global climate changes during Termination 1

Author Correction: High-resolution record reveals climate-driven environmental and sedimentary changes in an active rift (Scientific Reports, (2019), 9, 1, (3116), 10.1038/s41598-019-40022-w)

This Article contains errors in Reference 40 which is incorrectly given as: Palyvos, N., Pantosti, D. & Zabci, C. Paleoseismological evidence of recent earthquakes on the 1967 Mudurnu Valley earthquake segment of the North Anatolian fault. Bull. Seis. Soc. Am. 97, 1646–1661 (2007). © 2019, The Author(s)