On the tectonic processes along the Hellenic Arc

On the grounds of existing geophysical data one might be allowed lo conclude t h a t the origin of t h e stress field in the Ionian center (Ceplialonia-Zante-Patras) at t h e northwestern margin of the Aegean microplate is r a t h e r shallow and in the southeastern center (Dodecanese-Crete) is surely under the crust. In the area occupied by the second center of higher earthquake activity t h e relief of the Moho-discontinuity is shallower and smoother in comparison to t h a t derived from g r a v i t y and seismic d a t a for t he area of t h e northwestern center. Another difference derived from the fault-plane solutions is t h a t the Ionian center is seated in a region of horizontal pressure; the second center in the southeastern Aegean Sea belongs to a region of paramount horizontal tension. In the western side of the Hellenic arc the high sediment supply rate, combined with a thickening of the E a r t h ' s crust along the Ionian zone, is interpreted as evidence t h a t accretion has occurred there until recently or may still be occurring locally; plate consumption, if any, is rather low. The existence, 011 t h e other hand, of two very deep subparallel trenches with little fill southeast of Crete (Pliny trench, Strabo trench), combined with a very high subcrustal activity in the southeastern margin of t h e Aegean Bubplate, suggest that the subduction rate at the northern boundary of the African plate must be relatively high; 110 p l a t e accretion is expected to occur there