Seismic images at the convergence zone from south of Cyprus to the Syrian coast, eastern Mediterranean N. Vidal a,b, * , D. Klaeschen a , A. Kopf a,c , C. Docherty a , R. Von Huene a , V.A. Krasheninnikov d a Geomar Research Centre, Wischhofstraße 1-3, D24148 Kiel, Germany b Escola Universitaria Salesiana de Sarria, Rafael Batlle 7, 08017 Barcelona, Spain c Ge ´osciences Azur, B.P.48, Villefranche-sur-Mer Ce ´dex, France d Department of Geology, Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russian Federation Received 4 March 1999; accepted 15 December 1999 Abstract Multichannel seismic profiles from cruise 5 of the R/V Akademik Nikolaj Strakhov provide the first deep seismic reflection images and extensive coverage south and east of Cyprus. Five NW–SE-trending seismic lines cross an area of active continental collision. Main tectonic structures are the Eratosthenes Seamount collision zone, the Hecateaus Rise and the Latakia–Larnaca Ridge systems. The Levantine Basin extends to the south all over the area. The data required careful processing due to the low-fold coverage, the reverberatory character of the signal and the strong multiple energy. The seismic results clearly image the thick sedimentary sequence of the Levantine Basin. This basin is observed to terminate abruptly at the junction with the Hecateaus Rise south of Cyprus. To the east and north, the deformation appears to be partitioned along two separated structures next to the Latakia and Larnaca Ridges. They correspond to major oblique fault systems. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Eastern Mediterranean; Cyprean Arc; plate boundary; deep seismic reflection profiling 1. Introduction Northward subduction of the African plate with respect Eurasia is considered to have begun south of Cyprus in the early Miocene (Eaton and Robertson, 1993). At Late Miocene times, the collision of the Arabian promontory with Eurasia and closure of the Neotethyan Biltis Ocean resulted in the westward extru- sion of part of Turkey (Anatolian plate; Dewey and Sengo ¨r, 1979). The present deformation in the eastern Mediterranean is dominated by the complex collision between three major plates. With respect to the stable Eurasian plate, the African and Arabian plates move to the N–NE and N–NW and their strong differential motion is accommodated along the Dead Sea transform fault. On the other hand, the Anatolian plate is moving as a single unit to the west with a major component of coun- ter clockwise rotation (McKenzie, 1970; Dewey and Sengo ¨r, 1979; Jackson and McKenzie, 1988; DeMets et al., 1990; Westaway, 1994; Oral et al., 1995; Reilinger et al., 1997; Seber et al., 1997). This confers a complex tectonic framework for the easternmost Mediterranean area. There, the Cyprean Arc represents the current plate boundary between the African and Anatolian plates (McKenzie, 1970, 1972, fig. 1; Smith, 1971; Dewey et al., 1973; Nur and Ben-Avraham, 1978). Tectonophysics 329 (2000) 157–170 0040-1951/00/$ - see front matter q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0040-1951(00)00194-3 www.elsevier.com/locate/tecto * Corresponding author. Tel.: 134-932-805244; fax: 134-938- 806642. E-mail address: vidal@euss.es (N. Vidal).