Abstract
Two systems of counterclockwise-converging and northeastward-curving left-lateral shears, which belong to a global pattern of spiraling geosutures, have played a major role in shaping the Eastern Mediterranean. The first one, the Pelusium system, composed of the Dead Sea, Pelusium Line, and Qattara-Eratosthenes shears, is primarily responsible for the structure of the eastern Levantine Basin and the Levant. The other one, composed of the Pliny-Sirte and the Antalia shears, forms the divide between the western Levantine and Ionian basins. Several other geosutures, such as the Coastal Fault of Israel, are also found within the Pelusium system, but they are not necessarily shears. Depositional basins were formed along the axes of the lithospheric subslices that are bound by the main shears. The troughs of these basins systematically hug their eastern boundary shears, whereas their basinal fill moderately rises and thins toward the west; excessive sediment accumulation has taken place in these troughs since Paleozoic or even late Precambrian time. The Levantine Basin, with its 15–16 km thick sedimentary sequence, is therefore considered a relict of the Tethys Ocean, which is of an appreciably older age than hitherto considered.
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Neev, D., Greenfield, L., Hall, J.K. (1985). Slice Tectonics in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin. In: Stanley, D.J., Wezel, FC. (eds) Geological Evolution of the Mediterranean Basin. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8572-1_12
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