TITLE:
Generation of Back-Arc Basins as Side Effect of Shortening Processes: Examples from the Central Mediterranean
AUTHORS:
Enzo Mantovani, Marcello Viti, Daniele Babbucci, Caterina Tamburelli, Nicola Cenni, Massimo Baglione, Vittorio D’Intinosante
KEYWORDS:
Central Mediterranean, Extrusion Tectonics, Back-Arc Basins
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.5 No.10,
September
17,
2014
ABSTRACT: The evolution of the Mediterranean area since the Oligocene-Lower Miocene
has been driven by the convergence of the surrounding plates. This implies that
the observed deformation pattern in that region must be the most convenient
shortening pattern, i.e. the one
controlled by the minimum action principle. To understand why the fulfilment of
such condition has required a complex spatio-temporal distribution of major
tectonic events, such as uplift, lateral displacement and bending of orogenic
belts, consumption of large lithospheric domains and formation of back arc
basins, it may be very useful to take into account a basic tectonic concept,
which helps to identify the process that can minimize the resistance of
tectonic forces. Such concept starts from the fact that the most convenient
consumption process is the one that involves low buoyancy oceanic lithosphere (Tethyan domains). However, such
process is highly favoured where the oceanic lithosphere is stressed by
vertical forces, a situation that develops when orogenic wedges are forced to
over thrust and load the oceanic domain to be consumed. This interpretation can
provide plausible and coherent explanations for the complex pattern of the
observed deformations. In this view, the generation of back arc basins is taken
as a side effect of an extrusion process, as suggested by numerical and
mechanical experiments.