scholarly journals Morphotectonic Analysis along the Northern Margin of Samos Island, Related to the Seismic Activity of October 2020, Aegean Sea, Greece

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
Paraskevi Nomikou ◽  
Dimitris Evangelidis ◽  
Dimitrios Papanikolaou ◽  
Danai Lampridou ◽  
Dimitris Litsas ◽  
...  

On 30 October 2020, a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.0 occurred north of Samos Island at the Eastern Aegean Sea, whose earthquake mechanism corresponds to an E-W normal fault dipping to the north. During the aftershock period in December 2020, a hydrographic survey off the northern coastal margin of Samos Island was conducted onboard R/V NAFTILOS. The result was a detailed bathymetric map with 15 m grid interval and 50 m isobaths and a morphological slope map. The morphotectonic analysis showed the E-W fault zone running along the coastal zone with 30–50° of slope, forming a half-graben structure. Numerous landslides and canyons trending N-S, transversal to the main direction of the Samos coastline, are observed between 600 and 100 m water depth. The ENE-WSW oriented western Samos coastline forms the SE margin of the neighboring deeper Ikaria Basin. A hummocky relief was detected at the eastern margin of Samos Basin probably representing volcanic rocks. The active tectonics characterized by N-S extension is very different from the Neogene tectonics of Samos Island characterized by NE-SW compression. The mainshock and most of the aftershocks of the October 2020 seismic activity occur on the prolongation of the north dipping E-W fault zone at about 12 km depth.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paraskevi Nomikou ◽  
Dimitris Evangelidis ◽  
Dimitris Papanikolaou ◽  
Danai Lampridou ◽  
Dimitris Litsas ◽  
...  

<p>On October 30<sup>th</sup> 2020 a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.0 occurred north of Samos Island at the Eastern Aegean Sea. This seismic event was another destructive active deformation in the long seismic history of Samos since the ancient times. Preliminary reports focused the seismic epicenter at about 10 km north of Karlovassi, situated at the western part of the Samos E-W trending coastline. The earthquake mechanism corresponds to an E-W normal fault dipping to the north. The activated fault was assumed to be running along the northern margin of Samos Island, which bounds from the south the Samos basin.</p><p>Immediately after the seismic activity and during the aftershock period in December 2020 an hydrographic survey off the northern coastal margin of Samos Island was conducted with R/V NAUTILOS of the Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service, using the multibeam SeaBat 7160 RESON. The result of the hydrographic survey was a detailed bathymetric map with 15m grid interval and 50m isobaths.  The main morphological aspects of Samos Basin are a 14 km long, 6 km wide and 690 m deep elongated E-W basin developed north of Samos Island.</p><p>The southern margin of the basin is abrupt with morphological slopes of more than 10<sup>o</sup>, following the major E-W normal fault surface, running along the coastal zone, with an overall throw of more than 500m. In contrast, the northern margin of the basin shows a gradual slope increase towards the south from 1<sup>o</sup> to 5<sup>o</sup>. Numerous small canyons trending N-S transversal to the main direction of the Samos coastline are observed along the southern margin, between 600 and 100 m water depth.  These canyons have a length around 2,7 km and width between 100-300 m. Two large submarine landslides with a canyon width of 1,3 km and 0,8 Km, are located north of Karlovasi. The creation of the canyons is probably due to the uplift of Northern Samos Island and their 500 m vertical height difference corresponds to the average fault throw that has controlled the steep slopes of the margin. The orientation of the fault scarp changes at the western Samos coastline from E-W to ENE-WSW facing the neighboring Ikaria Basin, which is developed to the west of Samos Basin. The division line between the Ikaria and Samos basins runs N-S from the northern slopes and coast of the Kerketeas mountain (1443m). The aftershocks of the 30<sup>th</sup> October main shock are limited east of the N-S division line with only a minor activity 15 km to the west within the eastern margin of the Ikaria Basin.</p>


Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 132
Author(s):  
Varvara Antoniou ◽  
Paraskevi Nomikou ◽  
Dimitrios Panousis ◽  
Effrosyni Zafeirakopoulou

The volcanic island of Nisyros (Greece) is here presented as it presents unique characteristics being a Quaternary volcano in the eastern Aegean Sea, composed of volcanic rocks, and featuring a central caldera that is surrounded by volcanic domes and thick lavas. Its history is strongly connected to the volcano impressing the visitors with steaming hydrothermal craters, intensive smell of sulfur and fumarolic gases, and hot springs. Due to its morphology and geographical position, its cultural and historical heritage has been unchanged in time, bequeath to the island plenty of churches, monasteries with hagiographic frescoes, castles, caves, and spas. To present the geodiversity, the cultural environment, and the biodiversity of this geosite, a relatively new geographic approach was used, ESRI Story Maps. Being web-based applications, they are widespread as an interactive responsive tool used for spatial data communication and dissemination, by combining thematic 2D and 3D webmaps, narrative text, and multimedia content. Such applications can be an ideal way for presenting the available information of places characterized as geosites or protected areas worldwide, providing quick access to the available information to a broader, non-technical audience, developing the interest, and possibly motivating the public to learn more or visit them.


1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 147-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. O. Öncel ◽  
Ö. Alptekin ◽  
I. Main

Abstract. Seismically-active fault zones are complex natural systems exhibiting scale-invariant or fractal correlation between earthquakes in space and time, and a power-law scaling of fault length or earthquake source dimension consistent with the exponent b of the Gutenberg-Richter frequency-magnitude relation. The fractal dimension of seismicity is a measure of the degree of both the heterogeneity of the process (whether fixed or self-generated) and the clustering of seismic activity. Temporal variations of the b-value and the two-point fractal (correlation) dimension Dc have been related to the preparation process for natural earthquakes and rock fracture in the laboratory These statistical scaling properties of seismicity may therefore have the potential at least to be sensitive short- term predictors of major earthquakes. The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) is a seismicallyactive dextral strike slip fault zone which forms the northern boundary of the westward moving Anatolian plate. It is splayed into three branches at about 31oE and continues westward toward the northern Aegean sea. In this study, we investigate the temporal variation of Dc and the Gutenberg-Richter b-value for seismicity in the western part of the NAFZ (including the northern Aegean sea) for earthquakes of Ms > 4.5 occurring in the period between 1900 and 1992. b ranges from 0.6-1.6 and Dc from 0.6 to 1.4. The b-value is found to be weakly negatively correlated with Dc (r=-0.56). However the (log of) event rate N is positively correlated with b, with a similar degree of statistical significance (r=0.42), and negatively correlated with Dc (r=-0.48). Since N increases dramatically with improved station coverage since 1970, the observed negative correlation between b and Dc is therefore more likely to be due to this effect than any underlying physical process in this case. We present this as an example of how man-made artefacts of recording can have similar statistical effects to underlying processes.


Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 264
Author(s):  
Kanella Valkanou ◽  
Efthimios Karymbalis ◽  
Dimitris Papanastassiou ◽  
Mauro Soldati ◽  
Christos Chalkias ◽  
...  

The aim of this study is to evaluate the relative tectonic activity in the north part of the Evia Island, located in Central Greece, and to investigate the contribution of neotectonic processes in the development of the fluvial landscape. Five morphometric parameters, including Drainage Basin Slope (Sb), Hypsometric Integral (Hi), Asymmetry Factor (Af), Relief Ratio (Rh), and Melton’s Ruggedness Number (M), were estimated for a total of 189 drainage basins. The catchments were classified into two groups, according to the estimated values of each morphometric parameter, and maps showing their spatial distribution were produced. The combination of the calculated morphometric parameters led to a new single integrated Index of relative tectonic activity (named Irta). Following this indexing, the basins were characterized as of low, moderate, or high relative tectonic activity. The quantitative analysis showed that the development of the present drainage systems and the geometry of the basins of the study area have been influenced by the tectonic uplift caused by the activity of two NW-SE trending offshore active normal fault systems: the north Gulf of Evia fault zone (Kandili-Telethrion) and the Aegean Sea fault zone (Dirfis), respectively. The spatial distribution of the values of the new integrated index Irta showed significant differences among the drainage basins that reflect differences in relative tectonic activity related to their location with regard to the normal fault systems of the study area.


2013 ◽  
Vol 597-598 ◽  
pp. 106-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Chatzipetros ◽  
A. Kiratzi ◽  
S. Sboras ◽  
N. Zouros ◽  
S. Pavlides

Author(s):  
Okan Akyol ◽  
Halil Şen ◽  
H. Tuncay Kınacıgil

Reproductive properties of Eledone moschata from the north-eastern Aegean Sea are reported for the first time. A total of 471 specimens was collected during monthly samplings from December 2004 to November 2005. The mantle lengths of the species were between 4.5 and 15.0 cm with an average of 8.1 cm ±0.15 for 204 males, and between 2.7 and 14.0 cm with an average of 7.8 cm ±0.12 for 267 females. The annual sex ratio (males: females) of the sampled specimens was 1:1.31. Maturity stages were recorded on a monthly basis in both sexes. The highest monthly percentage of mature females (21%) and males (46%) was recorded in January 2005 and June 2005, respectively. The monthly and seasonal gonadosomatic index (GSI) results indicated that E. moschata shows two annual reproduction peaks for each sex. For males, the first spring peak occurs in March–June and the second, autumn peak is in November. For females, the first summer peak occurs in May–June and the second, winter peak is in January, respectively. On the other hand, the reproductive season extends from November to July with two peaks in the Aegean Sea. Total oocyte stock varied from 273 to 2896 with a mean of 836 ±193 oocytes. The mean size of the oocytes was 6.26 ±0.10 mm. The maximum oocyte size found was 10.7 mm. The mean length of spermatophores was of 13.66 ±0.08 mm (range: 7.3–18.3) and their average number was 52 ±6 (range: 6–172).


Solid Earth ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Baptiste P. Koehl ◽  
Steffen G. Bergh ◽  
Tormod Henningsen ◽  
Jan Inge Faleide

Abstract. The SW Barents Sea margin experienced a pulse of extensional deformation in the Middle–Late Devonian through the Carboniferous, after the Caledonian Orogeny terminated. These events marked the initial stages of formation of major offshore basins such as the Hammerfest and Nordkapp basins. We mapped and analyzed three major fault complexes, (i) the Måsøy Fault Complex, (ii) the Rolvsøya fault, and (iii) the Troms–Finnmark Fault Complex. We discuss the formation of the Måsøy Fault Complex as a possible extensional splay of an overall NE–SW-trending, NW-dipping, basement-seated Caledonian shear zone, the Sørøya–Ingøya shear zone, which was partly inverted during the collapse of the Caledonides and accommodated top–NW normal displacement in Middle to Late Devonian–Carboniferous times. The Troms–Finnmark Fault Complex displays a zigzag-shaped pattern of NNE–SSW- and ENE–WSW-trending extensional faults before it terminates to the north as a WNW–ESE-trending, NE-dipping normal fault that separates the southwesternmost Nordkapp basin in the northeast from the western Finnmark Platform and the Gjesvær Low in the southwest. The WNW–ESE-trending, margin-oblique segment of the Troms–Finnmark Fault Complex is considered to represent the offshore prolongation of a major Neoproterozoic fault complex, the Trollfjorden–Komagelva Fault Zone, which is made of WNW–ESE-trending, subvertical faults that crop out on the island of Magerøya in NW Finnmark. Our results suggest that the Trollfjorden–Komagelva Fault Zone dies out to the northwest before reaching the western Finnmark Platform. We propose an alternative model for the origin of the WNW–ESE-trending segment of the Troms–Finnmark Fault Complex as a possible hard-linked, accommodation cross fault that developed along the Sørøy–Ingøya shear zone. This brittle fault decoupled the western Finnmark Platform from the southwesternmost Nordkapp basin and merged with the Måsøy Fault Complex in Carboniferous times. Seismic data over the Gjesvær Low and southwesternmost Nordkapp basin show that the low-gravity anomaly observed in these areas may result from the presence of Middle to Upper Devonian sedimentary units resembling those in Middle Devonian, spoon-shaped, late- to post-orogenic collapse basins in western and mid-Norway. We propose a model for the formation of the southwesternmost Nordkapp basin and its counterpart Devonian basin in the Gjesvær Low by exhumation of narrow, ENE–WSW- to NE–SW-trending basement ridges along a bowed portion of the Sørøya-Ingøya shear zone in the Middle to Late Devonian–early Carboniferous. Exhumation may have involved part of a large-scale metamorphic core complex that potentially included the Lofoten Ridge, the West Troms Basement Complex and the Norsel High. Finally, we argue that the Sørøya–Ingøya shear zone truncated and decapitated the Trollfjorden–Komagelva Fault Zone during the Caledonian Orogeny and that the western continuation of the Trollfjorden–Komagelva Fault Zone was mostly eroded and potentially partly preserved in basement highs in the SW Barents Sea.


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