Palaeomagnetic evidence of Miocene and Pliocene rotational deformations of the Aegean Area

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Abstract
Summary: Palaeomagnetic measurements have been made on the Mio-Pliocene sedimentary series along the external Hellenic Arc as well as in the Oligocene to Middle Miocene Ionian flysch of northwestern Greece. The results show that the central and eastern parts of the arc (Crete and Rhodes) have not undergone significant rotation since the Tortonian-Messinian stage. On the other hand, the northwestern part has undergone a clockwise rotation which, in the Ionian islands, has begun 5 Ma ago and has proceeded since then at roughly 5 degrees/Ma. We suggest that the beginning of this rotation is related to the Lower Pliocene compressive phase which most probably initiated the tectonic activity of the present day Aegean Arc. No rotational deformation occurred between 5 and 12 Ma, but the results from 16 sites in Epirus and Akarnania sampled in Ionian flysch sections indicate that another clockwise rotation, of the order of 30 degrees, occurred between 30 and 12 Ma ago. These Oligo-Miocene and Plio-Quaternary episodes of rotational deformation may be related to the Oligo-Miocene and Plio-Quaternary arc-related volcanic activity in the Aegean Sea.