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1 Reactivation Research Group, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
2 Present address: Fault Analysis Group, Department of Geology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland (e-mail: wayne{at}fag.ucd.ie)
Scientific editing by Rob Strachan.
The Mamonia Complex Suture Zone in SW Cyprus marks an arcuate tectonic suture between an Upper Cretaceous, oceanic microplate of supra-subduction zone origin (Troodos Complex) and a deformed Triassic passive margin sequence (Mamonia Complex). Mapping of the serpentinite-filled fault zones that define the suture zone, combined with microstructural studies of its constituent fault rocks, has revealed evidence of three main tectonic events of Upper Cretaceous age: (1) high temperature (c. 600°C), transform-related, dextral strike-slip and localized metamorphism of Mamonia Complex units (c. 90–83 Ma); (2) retrograde hydration (<400°C) during dextral transtension associated with the rotation of the Troodos microplate and the shallow-level emplacement of serpentinite (c. 83–73 Ma); (3) regional contractional reactivation at low temperatures, which ceased by the latest Maastrichtian (c. 65 Ma). The present day structural geometries are interpreted as the result of Maastrichtian contractional reactivation of a pre-existing, steep and irregular structural architecture that formed during transtension. The resultant orientation of finite strain axes and thrust displacements display a radial distribution, documenting near fault normal contraction along the whole length of the arcuate suture zone. This pattern of displacements suggests a model whereby the Troodos microplate impinged on the Mamonia Complex during westerly- to southwesterly-directed plate motion, contractionally reactivating the mechanically weak suture zone.
Keywords: Cyprus, Troodos, ophiolite, serpentinite, peridotite, reactivation.
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