Sedimentation and active faulting in the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

The Gulf of Corinth is one of the fastest-spreading intracontinental rift on Earth, a 120km long E-W structure propagating westward toward the Aegean subduction zone. Present day kinematics (GPS data) indicates an opening direction oriented NNE-SSW and an opening rate increasing westward from 11 mm y-1 in the central part to 16 mm y-1 in the westernmost part. The high extension rate in the western part of the rift would imply a high seismic hazard if faults are not creeping. Our work concerns this western extremity of the Gulf of Corinth, for which we propose an accurate map of submarine faults as well as first chronostratigraphic interpretations. The map is based on two high-resolution seismic reflection surveys (single channel sparker) performed aboard HCMR’s R/V ALKYON, within the frame of SISCOR ANR Project. About 600 km of seismic lines were acquired, with a 200 msTWTT maximum penetration. We identified last glacial maximum (LGM) lowstand erosion surfaces along the northern coast. They made possible the mapping of post-LGM sediment thickness as well as estimates of subsidence rates. Depocenters location is controlled by river deltas where up to 75m of post-LGM sediments are stored. Numerous, up to 15m thick, mass transport deposits fill the central and eastern parts. Seafloor erosion is observed on 7.5 km2 in the western part, involving action of marine currents. The northern coast is subsiding between 1.7 and 2.2 mm y-1. We also mapped the following fault network described from east to west. In the eastern part, the sedimentary infill is faulted by the known North Eratini, South Eratini and West Channel faults. At the longitude of the Trizonia Island, the seafloor is mainly horizontal and the only fault is the south dipping Trizonia fault. Between the Trizonia Island and the Mornos Delta, the shallower northern part of the gulf shows a diffuse pattern of deformation with faults striking mainly E-W and ESE-WNW. In the southern part of the rift, no fault has been observed between the Psatopyrgos fault bounding the southern side of the Gulf and the Mornos Delta. To the West, between the Mornos Delta and the Rion Straits, three main south dipping, normal and oblique faults have been identified. This NE-SW striking fault system could be part of a local transfer zone linking the Patras and the Corinth Basins, or of the NE-SW right-lateral slip fault system interconnecting the Gulf of Corinth to the Kephalonia transform Fault and the Hellenic subduction.