Recent Evolution and Seismicity of the Mediterranean Region

The Mediterranean is one of the most studied regions of the world. In spite of this, a considerable spread of opinions exists about the geodynamic evolution and the present tectonic setting of this zone. The difficulty in recognizing the driving mechanisms of deformation is due to a large extent to the complex distribution in space and time of tectonic events, to the high number of parameters involved in this problem and to the scarce possibility of carrying out quantitative estimates of the deformation implied by the various geodynamic hypotheses. However, we think that a great deal of the present ambiguity could be removed if there were more frequent and open discussions among the scientists who are working on this problem. The meeting ofERICE was organized to provide an opportunity in this sense. In making this effort, we were prompted by the conviction that each step towards the understanding of the Mediterranean evolution is of basic importance both for its scientific consequences and for the possibleimplicationsfor society. It is well known, for instance, that the knowledge ofongoing tectonic processes in a given region and of their connection with seismic activity may lead to the recognition of middle long term precursors of strong earthquakes. The few cases of tentative earthquake prediction in the world occurred where information on large scale seismotectonic behavior was available. This led to identify the zones prone to dangerous shocks, where observations of short-term earthquake precursors were then concentrated.

Inhalt
Some current problems on the tectonic evolution of the Mediterranean during the Cainozoic.- Rates of active deformation in the Eastern Mediterranean.- Post Tortonian deformation pattern in the Central Mediterranean: a result of extrusion tectonics driven by the Africa-Eurasia convergence.- Africa-Eurasia kinematics in the Mediterranean: an alternative hypothesis.- Tectonic evolution of the Northern Arabian Plate in Western Syria.- The tectonic regimes along the convergent border of the Aegean Arc from the late Miocene to the present; southern Peloponnesus as an example.- Tyrrhenian basin and Apennines. Kinematic evolution and related dynamic constraints.- Neogene basins in the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean): tectonic settings and geodynamic implications.- Seismological studies of upper mantle structure below the Mediterranean with a regional seismograph network.- The determination of earthquake size and source geometry in the Mediterranean Sea.- Tectonic and seismic processes of various space and time scales in the Greek area.- A review of the Eastern Alps Northern Dinarides seismotectonics.- Regional stresses in the Mediterranean region derived from focal mechanisms of earthquakes.- Source process of some large earthquakes in Greece and its tectonic implication.- Recent seismic activity and earthquake occurrence along the Apennines.- P-wave teleseismic tomography contribution to the delineation of the upper mantle structure of Italy.- Geological and seismological evidence of strike-slip displacement along the E-W Adriatic-Central Apennines belt.- Stable fault sliding and earthquake nucleation.- Paleomagnetism in the Mediterraneum from Spain to the Aegean: a review of data relevant to Cenozoic movements.- Use of the Paleomagnetic databases for geodynamicalstudies: some examples from the Mediterranean Region.