Crustal structure of the eastern Mediterranean inferred from Rayleigh wave dispersion

Abstract

Rayleigh wave group velocity data from paths crossing the Levantine Sea are presented. We have derived a suite of models for the crustal structure of the Levantine Sea for extreme values of data errors and of the data corrections which were applied in order to account for lateral heterogeneity.

We conclude that models with a crustal thickness less than 30 km are not consistent with the data. Our preferred models are characterized by a crustal thickness of 35–40 km. These results and the presence of an extremely thick sedimentary sequence point to a passive continental margin type of structure underlying the Levantine Sea. Additional data from the path Sicily-Jerusalem suggest that this type of structure is representative of the whole of the eastern Mediterranean (Levantine Sea and Ionian Sea).