Anatolian plateThe Anatolian plate is a continentaltectonic plate lying under Asiatic part of Turkey, known as Anatolia. Most of the country of Turkey is located on the Anatolian plate. The plate is separated from the Eurasian plate and the Arabian plate by the North Anatolian Fault and the East Anatolian Fault respectively. According to the American Museum of Natural History, the Anatolian transform fault system is "probably the most active in the world".
Hellenic arcThe Hellenic arc or Aegean arc is an mountain chain of the southern Aegean Sea located on the southern margin of the Aegean Sea plate. Geologically it results from the subduction of the African plate under it along the Hellenic subduction zone. The Hellenic Trench trends parallel to its southern side. The Aegean Sea plate, a microplate, is often considered part of the Eurasian plate from which it is in the process of diverging.
SubductionDiagram of the geological process of subductionSubduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second plate, the heavier plate dives beneath the other and sinks into the mantle.
East Anatolian FaultThe East Anatolian Fault (EAF; Turkish: Doğu Anadolu Fay Hattı) is a ~700 km long major strike-slip fault zone running from eastern to south-central Turkey. It forms the transform type tectonic boundary between the Anatolian sub-plate and the northward-moving Arabian plate. The difference in the relative motions of the two plates is manifest in the left lateral motion along the fault.
African plateThe African plate, also known as the Nubian plate, is a major tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Africa (except for its easternmost part) and the adjacent oceanic crust to the west and south. It also includes a narrow strip of Western Asia along the , including much of Israel, Palestine and Lebanon.
Latakia RidgeThe Latakia Ridge is a major underwater formation extending over 200 km along the northern margin of the Levantine Basin, marking the plate boundary between the African Plate and the Anatolian Plate. Rising up to 500 metres above the surrounding seafloor, it forms the easternmost segment of the Cyprus Arc, connecting the Hecataeus Rise south of Cyprus with a series of ridges off the Syrian coast.
Fault (geology)In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as the megathrust faults of subduction zones or transform faults. Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes.
Arabian plateThe Arabian plate, also known as Circum-Arabian tectonic plate is a minor tectonic plate in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres. It is one of the three continental plates (along with the African and Indian plates) that have been moving northward in geological history and colliding with the Eurasian plate.
Eastern MediterraneanThe Eastern Mediterranean is a loosely delimited region comprising the easternmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the adjoining land—often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It includes the southern half of Turkey's main region, Anatolia; its smaller Hatay Province; the island of Cyprus; the Greek Dodecanese islands; and the countries of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Egypt.
Plate tectonicsMovement of Earth's lithosphereMap of Earth's 16 principal tectonic platesConvergent: Collision zone Subduction zoneDivergent: Extension zone Spreading centreTransform: Dextral transform Sinistral transformPlate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago.
Extensional tectonicsExtensional tectonics is concerned with the structures formed by, and the tectonic processes associated with, the stretching of a planetary body's crust or lithosphere. Deformation stylesThe types of structure and the geometries formed depend on the amount of stretching involved.
Compression (geology)In geology, the term compression refers to a set of stresses directed toward the center of a rock mass. Compressive strength refers to the maximum amount of compressive stress that can be applied to a material before failure occurs. When the maximum compressive stress is in a horizontal orientation, thrust faulting can occur, resulting in the shortening and thickening of that portion of the crust.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.