Nubia-Eurasia kinematics: an alternative interpretation from Mediterranean and North Atlantic evidence

• Published in: Annals of Geophysics
• Main Authors: D. Albarello, D. Babbucci, M. Viti, E. Mantovani
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) 2007
• Subjects: Nubia-Eurasia kinematics; Mediterranean region; Plio-Quaternary deformation; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Geophysics. Cosmic physics; QC801-809; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4401/ag-3073; https://doaj.org/article/60e7013078aa4842a7319fba85b8816c

It is argued that the Plio-Quaternary deformation pattern in the Mediterranean region is compatible with a SSWNNE convergence between Africa (Nubia) and Eurasia and that the significant difference between this kinematics and the one provided by global models (SSE-NNW convergence e.g., the NUVEL-1) may be due to the fact that those models interpret North Atlantic data by adopting an oversimplified two-plate configuration, which cannot account for the occurrence of significant seismotectonic activity inside the presumed Nubia and Eurasia blocks. It is shown that the adoption of a new plate configuration involving the Iberia and Morocco microplates, strongly suggested by geological and seismotectonic evidence, makes it possible to identify a kinematic model compatible within errors with the constraints recognized in the Mediterranean region and with the NUVEL-1 North Atlantic data set. Some considerations are made about why the present-day Nubia-Eurasia kinematic models inferred from geodetic observations are significantly different from long-term models, such as model NUVEL- 1 and the one proposed in this work.