Correlation of the Hellenide nappes in the south-east Aegean and their tectonic reconstruction

Summary The central Aegean nappe pile can be readily related to that of the mainland Hellenides and has the advantage that the deeper levels are well displayed, particularly in the Cyclades. The following units can be distinguished, from base to top: (1) The para-autochtonous Ida or Talea Ori Sequence , recognized in Crete, Kassos, Rhodes (Lindos sequence) and Amorgos is, in part, a neritic carbonate platform sequence. It can be correlated with the Ionian-Preapulian autochthon of the mainland and most probably with the Menderes sequence of western Anatolia, there exposed in a tectonic window. (2) The major Tripolitza Nappe , a carbonate platform sequence, with the Phyllite Nappe at its base, is well represented in the outer arc as well as in Astypaleia and Santorini. (3) The Pindos and Arvi Nappes of Crete, Rhodes and Tilos are the remnants of an ocean basin active from Upper Triassic to Late Cretaceous times. (4) The Cycladic Blueschist Unit exposed on Syros, Siphnos, Naxos and other islands, occupies a tectonic position similar to the Pindos Nappe. It is interpreted as the subducted margin of the European plate, while the Pindos Nappe, the abyssal plain of the Apulian plate, was obducted just before continental collision in the Late Eocene-Oligocene. (5) The Asteroussia Nappe , composed of high-grade metamorphic rocks yielding cooling ages around 75 Ma, is present in Crete and in the Cycladic islands of Syros, Nikouria, Denoussa and Keros. It is interpreted as the remnants of a Pelagonian basement nappe, eroded in Miocene times. In the external or outer belt it has been thrust on to the unmetamorphosed Pindos Nappe but in the Cyclades it rests on the Cycladic Blueschist unit.