TITLE:
Tethys Subduction History in Caucasus Region
AUTHORS:
Mojtaba Manafi, Mehran Arian, Seyed Hashem Tabatabaee Raeesi, Ali Solgi
KEYWORDS:
Moghan; Tethys; Caucasus; Subduction; Gondwana; Baltic
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Geology,
Vol.3 No.3,
July
11,
2013
ABSTRACT: Caucasus region is located in the center of
Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt. It is made of two Great and Lesser Caucasus
fold thrust belts and an intramountain area called Trans caucasus
or Mid caucasus. This region contains a system of oceanic crust subduction,
island arcs, volcanic arcs, back arc basins and rifts. The earthquakes of 60 km in depth are the evidences of deep
brittle zone under Great Caucasus. Without considering Prototethys, Paleotethys
and Neotethys Oceans, the tectonic situation of this
region is not possible to study. The oceanic lithosphere under oceanic
lithosphere subduction made Trans caucasus containing a trans crust. The
subduction of Prototethys under Baltic made Great Caucasus and the subduction
of Paleotethys under Iran, made Lesser Caucasus. The earth sutures caused by
the closure of Prototethys and Paleotethys
Oceans are clear in the
region. The direction of Paleotethys subduction in lesser Caucasus is a
considerable issue. Most of the existing evidences prove the southward
direction which is different from Paleotethys subduction in Alborz of Iran. The
lithospheric type of Midcaucasus is different from Caspian. Midcaucasus plays
the role of determining collision type in the region.