Constraining deformation in the upper plate of the Western Hellenic Subduction zone: detailed analysis of normal faulting on Crete.

Studies in earthquake geology are fundamental to improve our understanding of how the Earth’s crust deforms, investigate the faults upon which future earthquakes may occur and examine the hazard and risk associated with such earthquakes.

The island of Crete, Greece, is located in the forearc of the Western Hellenic Subduction Zone and experiences extension parallel-to and normal-to subduction. However, we lack detailed understanding of this simultaneous multi-directional upper crustal extension and the rates of deformation it accommodates. Evidence of the faulting on Crete is visible in the landscape as prominent normal fault scarps. Detailed analysis of these normal faults (fault characterisation) is essential to constrain their slip rates, which in turn are used to (i) temporally and spatially analyse crustal deformation and, (ii) perform seismic hazard assessment and modelling.

This PhD project will constrain the slip rates of normal faults on Crete through field-based investigations in combination with the findings of recent research conducted by the supervisory team for the project. Numerical modelling will be used to transform the fault slip rates into extensional strain rates that can be visualised over different temporal and spatial scales to allow for detailed analysis of Crete’s crustal deformation. Within the PhD project there is also the potential for the candidate to explore how the rates of deformation measured over different timescales affects hazard calculations.

More broadly, the project has the potential to contribute to understanding the geodynamics and tectonics of arc-normal and arc-parallel upper plate deformation in arcuate subduction zones.