ESR12

Project Title: Uplift Pattern and mechanisms for the active forearc of Crete.

Supervisor: Sean Willett, Giuditta Fellin

Objectives: To establish the uplift pattern of Crete over the late Neogene and thereby constrain the mechanisms of crustal thickening and thinning. Crete is actively uplifting, but the surface exhibits dominantly normal faults. The working hypothesis is that there must be crustal thickening at depth and crustal thinning at the surface. We will constrain the surface uplift pattern by surveying dated marine terraces along the northern coast to add to similar data on the south coast. We will conduct river profile analyses for the entire island contrasting north and south flowing rivers to establish potential tilting. Surface mapping will document active normal faults to establish local uplift and subsidence patterns. Dating will be done using cosmogenic, OSL and U-series methods.

Expected Results: Constrained model for the tectonics of Crete with insight into processes of forearc thickening and uplift.

Academic secondment: Faccenna (UniRoma3), 3 months, documentation of active faults and tectonic model construction. Industry secondment: NAGRA, 3 months, working on detection, characterisation and dating of active faults.

Links to other projects: ESR13 will share data, methods or concepts with ESR6, 8, 10, 14, 15