Tectonic Evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean Region

The Eastern Mediterranean region occupies a dynamic junction between the African, Arabian and Eurasian plates, where closure of the Neotethys Ocean during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic has driven successive phases of rifting, subduction, ophiolite emplacement and continental collision. Initial Permian–Triassic rifting along the northern Neotethyan margin established a passive continental margin that evolved into an active subduction zone by the Late Cretaceous. Oceanic lithosphere was progressively thrust onto the southern Turkish and Levantine margins, forming ophiolite belts and accretionary prisms. During the Paleogene, roll-back of the African slab induced back-arc extension, giving rise to the Aegean–Anatolian extensional province and the Eastern Black Sea Basin. Collision of microcontinents, such as the Eratosthenes Seamount, with the Cyprus arc in the Miocene punctuated the tectonic history with rapid uplift, crustal shortening and strike-slip faulting. Today, this intricate interplay of compressional and extensional regimes underpins seismic hazard, drives hydrocarbon basin evolution and controls geothermal potential across the region. Integrating geological mapping, geochronology, seismic imaging and geodynamic modelling continues to refine our understanding of how large-scale plate motions and local structural complexities have shaped the Eastern Mediterranean from the deep crust to the sea floor.

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Tectonic Evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean Region publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in tectonic evolution of the eastern mediterranean region across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Subduction zone: A tectonic boundary where one lithospheric plate sinks beneath another into the mantle, generating magmatism and seismicity.

Ophiolite: A slice of oceanic crust and upper mantle emplaced onto continental margins, preserving evidence of ancient seafloor spreading.

Accretionary prism: A wedge-shaped body of sediments and crustal fragments scraped off a subducting plate and accreted to the overriding plate.

Back-arc basin: A marine depression formed behind a volcanic arc as the subducting slab rolls back, inducing extension in the overlying plate.

Passive margin: A continental margin characterised by thermal subsidence and sediment accumulation with little or no active tectonism.

References

1. Testing alternative tectonic models for the Permian-Pleistocene tectonic development of the Kyrenia Range, N Cyprus: Implications for E Mediterranean Tethyan palaeogeography. Gondwana Research (2024).
2. Ophiolite association of Cape Fiolent (western part of the Mountainous Crimea) – the upper age constraint according to the U-Pb isotope dating of plagiorhyolites (Monakh Cliff). Journal of Mining Institute (2022).
3. Spatial and Temporal Evolution of Rifting and Continental Breakup in the Eastern Black Sea Basin Revealed by Long‐Offset Seismic Reflection Data. Tectonics (2019).