Structural development of Neogene basins in western Greece

An account is given of the structural setting of the various Neogene sedimentary basins of western Greece. Compressional basins are attributable to foreland loading by the Alpine fold and thrust belt of the Outer Hellenides, and to active subduction in the adjacent western Hellenic arc. Late extensional basins are related to N‐S crustal extension in the Aegean marginal basin and, in western Greece, are superimposed on the earlier compressional structures. The local seismicity provides evidence that the main E‐W‐trending basin‐bounding faults of the extensional basins form a linked system that includes NW‐SE‐ and NE‐SW‐trending transfer zones of transtension. The transfer zones are themselves the sites of small extensional basins.