An exhumation model of the south Peloponnesus, Greece

An exhumation model comprising forward and backward thrusting and late orogenic collapse is proposed in order to explain the kinematics of the tectonic windows in the south Peloponnesus. The model is based on mapping, mesoscopic structural data and strain analysis. Syn-compressional thickening took place throughout the Oligocene and Early Miocene which includes the subduction of the Pindos Ocean at the western margin of the Pelagonian microcontinent and the intracontinental subduction of the Phyllite–Quartzite and the Plattenkalk series. The latter subduction was associated with blueschist metamorphism, westward-directed ductile thrusting, and folding. The exhumation history of the deeper parts of the orogen began at the Oligocene–Miocene boundary with the progressive entrance of the low-density crust and the Plattenkalk carbonates in the subduction zone. Increased buoyancy caused: (a) the initiation of the Phyllite–Quartzite series extrusion; (b) vertical coaxial stretching; and (c) the evolution of two pop-up structures, i.e. the Parnon and Taygetos anticlines. This syn-compressional exhumation was taking place in the lower Miocene with decreasing rates from 7 to 1.5 mm/year. The change in the local stress field from compression to extension began in the middle Miocene with the formation of hinterland-dipping normal faults. The exhumation/denudation rate caused by the footwall uplift along these faults does not exceed 0.2 mm/year. Received: 16 April 1999 / Accepted: 19 January 2000