Subsidence history of the North Aegean Trough

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Abstract
Summary: The subsidence of the North-Aegean trough is examined quantitatively using available geophysical data, the emphasis being on thermal and gravity computations. The two dimensional thermal calculations incorporate conduction as well as convection with lateral variations, the effect of the sedimentary cover being treated as a perturbation. The data can be explained within the framework of the homogeneous stretching model with a maximum stretching factor of about 3.5. The stretched lithosphere has a very small flexural parameter so that local compensation prevails. The effect of conduction is sufficiently important to prevent large-scale melting of the mantle, thus making the transition to oceanic accretion rather improbable. The narrowness of the zone of extreme stretching, compared to the widths now observed on most continental margins where comparable stretching values have been observed, may be due to the presence of an earlier deep lithospheric fault which enabled the strain to concentrate along its path.