Slab top dips resolved by teleseismic converted waves in the Hellenic subduction zone

International audienceThe variations of the arrival times and polarities with backazimuth and distance of teleseismic P-to-S converted waves at interfaces bounding the slab crust under the upper plate mantle are used to constrain the depth, dip angle and azimuth of the slab of the Hellenic subduction zone. A grid search is designed to estimate the model parameters. Dip values of 16-18°, with an azimuth of 20° to 40°, are thus derived at 3 sites aligned over 50 km along the eastern coast of Peloponnesus. They are consistent with the variation from 54 to 61 km of the slab top depths constrained below each receiver. North of the Gulfs of Corinth and Evvia, a similar depth for the top of the slab is found at a distance from the subduction at least 100 km larger. This suggests flatter subduction of a different slab segment. Such a variation in slab attitude at depth across the region from south of the eastern Gulf of Corinth to north of Evvia is a candidate for the control of the recent or active localized crustal thinning of the upper plate we documented in earlier work, and of the surface deformation

Rapid spatiotemporal variations in rift structure during development of the Corinth Rift, central Greece

The Corinth Rift, central Greece, enables analysis of early rift development as it is young (<5Ma) and highly active and its full history is recorded at high resolution by sedimentary systems. A complete compilation of marine geophysical data, complemented by onshore data, is used to develop a high-resolution chronostratigraphy and detailed fault history for the offshore Corinth Rift, integrating interpretations and reconciling previous discrepancies. Rift migration and localization of deformation have been significant within the rift since inception. Over the last circa 2Myr the rift transitioned from a spatially complex rift to a uniform asymmetric rift, but this transition did not occur synchronously along strike. Isochore maps at circa 100kyr intervals illustrate a change in fault polarity within the short interval circa 620-340ka, characterized by progressive transfer of activity from major south dipping faults to north dipping faults and southward migration of discrete depocenters at ~30m/kyr. Since circa 340ka there has been localization and linkage of the dominant north dipping border fault system along the southern rift margin, demonstrated by lateral growth of discrete depocenters at ~40m/kyr. A single central depocenter formed by circa 130ka, indicating full fault linkage. These results indicate that rift localization is progressive (not instantaneous) and can be synchronous once a rift border fault system is established. This study illustrates that development processes within young rifts occur at 100kyr timescales, including rapid changes in rift symmetry and growth and linkage of major rift faults

Seismic structure and the active Hellenic subduction in the Ionian islands

International audienceIn the region of the Ionian Islands of western Greece, the active margin of the Hellenic domain passes from oceanic subduction in the south to continental collision in the north, linked by the right-lateral Cephalonia transform fault. A slightly landward dipping interface revealed at 13 km depth by a single previous line in the channel between Cephalonia and Zante has been suggested as the interplate subduction boundary. New marine multichannel reflection profiles and OBS refraction and wide-angle reflection data confirm the reflector as a regional feature. These data evidence its extension to the south, where large, low-angle thrust earthquakes occur offshore to Zante. The new profiles establish a coincidence between the focal depths of these large subduction events and the imaged bright reflective level, confirming its tentative interpretation as the interplate boundary, which generally appears with a positive reflection polarity. In this context, the Ionian Islands outcrop corresponds to a shallowing of the interplate boudary from south to north. In the south, offshore Zante, the interplate boundary comprises a stratified zone that may be considered as the sedimentary cover of the Ionian Basin oceanic-like crust, which forms the lower plate here. The shallower position and single-cycle reflection character of the interplate further north suggest that the lower plate could there be the Apulian paleomargin to that basin

The oceanic nature of the African slab subducted under Peloponnesus: thin-layer resolution from multiscale analysis of teleseismic P-to-S converted waves

International audienceIn the Hellenic subduction zone, the lithospheric slab may comprise continental and oceanic units juxtaposed downdip and along strike. For stations along eastern Peloponnesus, teleseis-mic P-wave receiver-function (RF) processing in the standard frequency band produces an image of a low-velocity layer (LVL) at the top of the slab apparently twice thicker than for an oceanic crust. To assess if this could come from a lack of resolution of the standard processing , we develop a multiscale approach with the RFs based on the wavelet-response of the medium, akin to the wavelet-transform of the velocity-depth function. The synthetic response in conversion is obtained for a multiscale singularity formed by two opposite velocity-steps at the boundaries of a crust embedded in mantle material. This indicates that only wavelet periods shorter than about 0.8 s will allow to identify clearly a 7 km thin oceanic crust. Going to longer periods leads to underestimate or overestimate the time-thickness of the LVL, due to interference phenomena. The analysis of the response in conversion from full waveform synthetic seismograms in a dipping slab model validates a multiresolution approach to real observations. With earthquakes of broad-enough spectrum towards high frequencies, yielding energy to provide wavelet periods significantly shorter than 1 s, the P-to-S conversions obtained allow us to resolve for the first time a standard oceanic crust at the slab top beneath the eastern coast of Peloponnesus. This documents the subduction of a purely oceanic slab of most reduced buoyancy since 4-5 Myr under the rapidly southwestward extending upper plate continental material

Thin-layer resolution from multiscale analysis of teleseismic P-to-S converted waves: the oceanic nature of the African slab subducted under Peloponnesus

International audienceIn the Hellenic subduction zone, the lithospheric slab may comprise continental and oceanic units juxtaposed downdip and along strike. For stations along eastern Peloponnesus, teleseis-mic P-wave receiver-function (RF) processing in the standard frequency band produces an image of a low-velocity layer (LVL) at the top of the slab apparently twice thicker than for an oceanic crust. To assess if this could come from a lack of resolution of the standard processing , we develop a multiscale approach with the RFs based on the wavelet-response of the medium, akin to the wavelet-transform of the velocity-depth function. The synthetic response in conversion is obtained for a multiscale singularity formed by two opposite velocity-steps at the boundaries of a crust embedded in mantle material. This indicates that only wavelet periods shorter than about 0.8 s will allow to identify clearly a 7 km thin oceanic crust. Going to longer periods leads to underestimate or overestimate the time-thickness of the LVL, due to interference phenomena. The analysis of the response in conversion from full waveform synthetic seismograms in a dipping slab model validates a multiresolution approach to real observations. With earthquakes of broad-enough spectrum towards high frequencies, yielding energy to provide wavelet periods significantly shorter than 1 s, the P-to-S conversions obtained allow us to resolve for the first time a standard oceanic crust at the slab top beneath the eastern coast of Peloponnesus. This documents the subduction of a purely oceanic slab of most reduced buoyancy since 4-5 Myr under the rapidly southwestward extending upper plate continental material