New Dalmatian islands forming
Wednesday, 23 Jan 2008 13:05
An old fortress in Dubrovnik on top of an Eocene thrust fault near the newly discovered fault
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Scientists have discovered a previously unknown fault off the Croatian coast that is building new Dalmatian islands.
It had been thought that the Dalmatian islands – of which there are 1,185 - and Dinaride mountains stopped growing 20 to 30 million years ago.
But Richard Bennett, an assistant professor of geology at the University of Arizona, believes the two continents meeting at the fault are "colliding and building mountains".
The fault runs under the Adriatic Sea from a region north-west of Dubrovnik in a north-west direction at least 200km under the seafloor.
At the fault, the edge of the Eurasian plate is scraping its way over a former piece of the African plate called the South Adria microplate.
Mr Bennett and colleagues found that Italy's 'boot heel' is moving toward the Croatian coast at a rate of about 4mm per year.
They argue that the motion between Italy and Eurasia is absorbed at the Dinaride mountains and Dalmatian islands.
By combining geodetic data with other geological information the researchers revealed that the movement is accommodated by the previously unknown fault under the Adriatic.
"You can see hints of new islands out there," Mr Bennett said.
"This new finding is an important piece in the puzzle to understanding Mediterranean tectonics."
His team will now set out antennas to learn more about current movement of the region and to find out what the fault has been doing for the past 40 million years.
This work will also help to gauge the region's earthquake potential.
The research is published in the journal Geology.