See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225303116

Normal faulting and crustal deformation,

Alkyonides Gulf and Perachora Peninsula,
Eastern Gulf of Corinth Rift, Greece

Article in Journal of the Geological Society · May 2005

DOI: 10.1144/0016-764904-075

CITATIONS READS

43 83

9 authors, including:

M.R. Leeder Julian Edward Andrews

University of East Anglia University of East Anglia
17 PUBLICATIONS 877 CITATIONS 138 PUBLICATIONS 3,347 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Emma Finch Marta M. Pérez-Arlucea

The University of Manchester University of Vigo
22 PUBLICATIONS 306 CITATIONS 72 PUBLICATIONS 992 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

PROJECT INPULSE (CTM2016-75129-C3-2-R): Interaction of the oceanographic and sedimentary

processes on the continental slope: environmental and habitats implications, mathematical
modeling and technological development View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Marta M. Pérez-Arlucea on 07 April 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document
and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately.
Journal of the Geological Society, London, Vol. 162, 2005, pp. 1–13. Printed in Great Britain.

Normal faulting and crustal deformation, Alkyonides Gulf and Perachora

peninsula, eastern Gulf of Corinth rift, Greece

M . R . L E E D E R 1 , C . P O RT M A N 1, J. E . A N D R E W S 1 , R . E . L L . C O L L I E R 2 , E . F I N C H 3 , R . L .
G AW T H O R P E 3 , L . C . M C N E I L L 4 , M . Pè R E Z - A R L U C E A 5 & P. ROW E 1
1
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK (e-mail: )
2
School of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
3
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
4
Southampton Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
5
Departamiento de Geociencias Marinas, Universidad de Vigo, 36.200 Vigo, Spain

Abstract: Geophysical, structural, geochronological and geomorphological data indicate that the Psatha, East
Alkyonides, Skinos and Pisia faults are Holocene-active structures whereas the status of the West Alkyonides,
Strava, Perachora and Loutraki faults is less certain. We see no evidence for significant lateral surface fault
growth. New data for late Pleistocene footwall uplift of the Psatha fault are comparable with previously
estimated Holocene rates. Pre-Holocene stratigraphic sequences in the Alkyonides Gulf allow calculation of
vertical displacement on the Skinos fault of 1.42–1.60 km over a period of .0.6 Ma. Previous
palaeoseismological studies indicate comparable displacement rates extrapolated to 0.61–2.20 Ma, whereas
extrapolation of previous geodetic data indicate a range of 0.17–0.46 Ma. The latter is too short given the
evidence of the stratigraphic record, signifying either that these data may not be representative of longer-term
rates, or that significant deformation has taken place elsewhere, for example, on offshore antithetic faults. A
case is established for uniform late Quaternary (post-MIS 7) uplift of the Perachora peninsula at rates of c.
0.2–0.3 mm a
1 . The lack of regional tilting over Perachora–Corinth–Isthmia is in marked contrast to the
situation in the Alkyonides–Megara basins to the east.

Keywords: Gulf of Corinth rift, normal faulting, absolute age, neotectonics, geophysics.

The normal faulting and crustal deformation in the eastern Gulf
of Corinth (Fig. 1) were first brought to light by field investiga-
tions of the effects of the 1981 earthquakes (Jackson et al.
1982a). Since then the area has received widespread scrutiny
from the point of view of seismology (e.g. King et al. 1985;
Taymaz et al. 1991; Abercrombie et al. 1995;Hubert et al. 1996;
Hatzfeld et al. 2000), palaeoseismology (Ambraseys & Jackson
1997; Collier et al. 1998), marine geology and geophysics
(Perissoratis et al. 1986; Sakellariou et al. 1998; Leeder et al.
2002; Stefatos et al. 2002), tectonics (Jackson et al. 1982b; King
et al. 1985; Vita-Finzi & King 1985; Jackson & White 1989;
Collier et al. 1992; Armijo et al. 1996; Leeder et al. 2003;
McNeill & Collier 2004), structural geology (King et al. 1985;
Vita-Finzi & King 1985; Roberts & Stewart 1994; Roberts 1996;
Roberts & Koukouvelas 1996; Morewood & Roberts 1999, 2002;
Cowie & Roberts 2001), sedimentology (Bentham et al. 1991;
Papatheodorou & Ferentinos 1993; Leeder et al. 1998), sequence
stratigraphy (Gawthorpe et al. 1994), basin analysis (Leeder et
al. 2002) and tectonic geomorphology (Vita-Finzi & King 1985;
Leeder et al. 1991, 2002). As a result of all this attention, the
normal faults in the eastern Gulf of Corinth are undoubtedly
some of the most studied examples in the world. Yet the cited
literature contains a divergence of views concerning the status,
definition and history of the faulting and vertical crustal
deformation, central themes of this study.
Previous work on fault activity and tectonics
Two major parallel faults, the Pisia and Skinos faults, were
recognized (Jackson et al. 1982a) from surface breaks of the
1981 earthquakes on the south side of the Gulf of Corinth (Fig.
2; we do not concern ourselves further here with the antithetic
faults on the northern side). Each fault comprised surface rupture
strands 0.25–7 km long, separated by short (up to 1 km) gaps.
Surface breaks with up to 1.5 m throw and slip vectors generally
to the NNE were mostly coincident with basal slopes to major
linear escarpments. Bornovas et al. (1984) subsequently mapped
five further western fault ruptures ascribed to the 1981 earth-
quakes (A–E in the inset of Fig. 2). Seismological investigations
of the 1981 earthquakes and their aftershocks initially suggested
that ruptures along the Skinos and Pisia faults were responsible
for the second of the main earthquakes, and that the first was due
to rupture along an offshore fault inferred to lie along a linear
bathymetric gradient on the northern margin of the Perachora
peninsula (Strava fault (Fig. 2) ofPapatheoderou & Ferentinos
1993;Hubert et al. 1996; Perachora fault of Stefatos et al. 2002).
Subsequent work (Taymaz et al. 1991; Abercrombie et al. 1995)
led to reappraisal of epicentral locations, and Taymaz et al.
assigned movement of the two segments of the Pisia fault to the
first earthquake with mean displacements of 0.9 m. The second
earthquake was associated with the Skinos fault and a mean
displacement of 0.3 m.
Fault modelling by Hubert et al. (1996) supported the view of
Taymaz et al. (1991) that the offshore Strava fault did not rupture
in 1981. Hatzfeld et al. (2000) reported results of microseismi-
city recorded in the summer of 1993 together with reprocessing
of 1981 aftershocks. Activity was concentrated in the footwall of
the Strava fault and the hanging walls of the Pisia and Skinos
faults, profiles of which indicate moderate dips of c. 458, with no
evidence for any dip decrease with depth.

Article number = 04075

2 M. R. LEEDER ET AL.

Fig. 1. General location and tectonic summary maps for the context of the study area in the eastern Gulf of Corinth, Central Greece, within its Aegean
context (inset: plate velocities after McCluskey et al. 2000). Topography and onshore and offshore faulting after Jackson et al. (1982a), Higgs (1988),
Papatheodorou & Ferentinos (1993), Goldsworthy & Jackson (2000), Leeder et al. (2002) and Stefatos et al. (2002). C, Corinth city; X, Xylocastron; Is,
Isthmus of Corinth; P, Perachora peninsula. The area that includes Corinth, Isthmia and the Perachora peninsula enclosed by the bold dashed line is
thought to have been uniformly uplifting for the past 240 ka (see text for discussion). Dashed line A–B in the Alkyonides Gulf marks the approximate
line of the sketch section in Figure 3.

Fig. 2. Map to show disposition of normal

faulting in the Alkyonides Gulf and
adjacent onshore areas, eastern Gulf of
Corinth. Onshore 1981 fault breaks after
Jackson et al. (1982a), with eastern extent
of Skinos fault after Collier et al. (1998).
Offshore faults mapped by Papatheodorou
& Ferentinos (1993), Leeder et al. (2002)
and Stefatos et al. (2002), from whom the
fault names are taken. Numbered faults: 1,
Pisia fault; 2, Skinos fault; 3, East
Alkyonides fault; 4, Psatha fault; 5, West
Alkyonides fault. Filled circles 6–8 are the
favoured locations for the epicentres to the
three 1981 earthquakes (after Taymaz et al.
1991). The data on status of uplifting and
subsiding coastline are from Jackson et al.
(1982a), Hubert et al. (1996) andLeeder et
al. (2002, 2003). The dashed line labelled
SPK 25 is the seismic reflection ‘sparker’
line shot in 1996, used subsequently in this
paper to determine stratigraphic controls on
tectonic tilting. Inset shows faults A–E in
the western Perachora peninsula mapped by
Bornovas et al. (1984).
 N O R M A L FAU LT I N G , G U L F O F C O R I N T H
Roberts (1996) proposed that the faults bounding the southern
margin of the Alkyonides Gulf defined a ‘South Alkyonides Fault
Segment’, with the 1981 ruptures affecting only part of
this.Morewood & Roberts (1999, figs 11 and 12) proposed that
the surface rupture trace of the stationary deep western tip to the
South Alkyonides Fault Segment has gradually propagated west-
wards over the past 300 ka, displacing marine terraces and
producing wind gaps as drainages were truncated in the footwall
of the propagating rupture. Lateral fault growth has also been
postulated for the eastern tip to the South Alkyonides Fault
Segment, along the Psatha fault (Morewood & Roberts 2002).
Geodetic surveys indicate up to 100 years of aseismic crustal
strain in central and southern Greece (Clarke et al. 1997; Davies
et al. 1997; Briole et al. 2000). Separation across the Gulf of
Corinth varied, although not as a smooth meridional gradient,
from 12  2.6 mm a
1 in the west to 6  2.7 mm a
1 at the
longitude of the mouth of the Alkyonides Gulf in the east.
Collier et al. (1998) completed the first conclusive palaeoseismo-
logical investigation in the Gulf of Corinth at a site located on an
alluvial fan cut by the Skinos fault (Fig. 2; Vramvrakies trench
site) where a 0.6 m 1981 displacement was superimposed upon
older scarps of unknown age. Average recurrence intervals of
around 350 years were determined from 14 C dates of hanging-
wall stratigraphic successions, with mean vertical displacement
rates in the range 0.7–2.5 mm a
1 .
Leeder et al. (1991) mapped uplifted shoreline deposits in the
footwalls to the active Skinos and Psatha faults. U-series dating
of corals associated with deposits at c. 35–40 m gave a maxi-
mum age of MIS 5, probably 5e, and a mean rate since then of c.
0.3 mm a
1 . The age of initiation of footwall uplift by the active
coastal faults was extrapolated as 1–1.5 Ma. In modelling crustal
deformation associated with the faulting along the Alkyonides
margin, Armijo et al. (1996) determined that a post-MIS 5e slip
of 220 m fitted the uplifted 40 m inner edge of the MIS 5e
terrace, giving a mean throw rate of some 1.3 mm a
1 along the
458-dipping fault. Novel diagenetic evidence for footwall uplift
along the coastal faults was presented by Roberts & Stewart
(1994). Those workers recorded marine dolomite at altitudes up
to 650 m above sea level and, making use of the uplift rate
determined byLeeder et al. (1991), inferred that the uplift had
taken place over the past 2.2 Ma.
Deformation and faulting: offshore and onshore
perspectives
Key evidence for the evolution and activity of faulting is located
offshore. Early marine geophysical surveys (Perissoratis et al.
1986) supported the existence of major offshore faults. In the
first detailed study, Papatheoderou & Ferentinos (1993) docu-
mented faulting and its role in submarine mass movements in the
western approaches to the Alkyonides Gulf and defined the
Strava graben as a major eastwards-narrowing structure bounded
by the north-throwing Strava fault (Fig. 2). Sakellariou et al.
(1998) and Leeder et al. (2002) presented further results on
offshore faulting in the gulf.
Psatha fault
This WSW–ENE structure (Fig. 2) was mapped 1.5 km offshore
(Leeder et al. 2002) as the Holocene-active western continuation
of a 7.7 km long onshore scarp (Morewood & Roberts 2002).
Seismic coverage suggests, but line-spacing is too coarse to
prove, that the fault tip ends before the East Alkyonides fault.
Onshore, the Mesozoic limestone footwall scarp features strongly
3
oblique kinematic markers. King et al. (1985) proposed that the
fault lost displacement rapidly to the east, an observation not
supported by recent mapping (Morewood & Roberts 2002). King
et al. (1985) interpreted 1981 aftershock data in terms of a tip-
zone model for the oblique slip, a hypothesis later developed by
Roberts (1996) and, in more detail, by Morewood & Roberts
(2001).
The base of the fault footwall is cut by a prominent 2 m high
uplifted Holocene marine solution notch, a feature previously used
(Leeder et al. 1991) to estimate a mean footwall uplift rate for the
Psatha fault of c. 0.3 mm a
1 since the local Holocene marine
highstand abutted the Psatha fault scarp at c. 7 ka. We stress that
this rate is a minimum value, as the notch would have required
considerable time to form following the local highstand; hence we
may be looking at more recent Holocene displacements of consid-
erable proportions. New evidence for footwall uplift occurs in the
form of raised beach gravels preserved in partially exhumed
fissure fills (neptunean dykes), locally cemented onto the fault
surface. The deposits comprise well-sorted and rounded polymict
(serpentinite, chert, limestone) pebbles cemented by fibrous low-
Mg calcite that we have 14 C-dated to 24 690  170 years (sample
OxA-10101), approximately the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM).
The cement has a ä18 O of
5.1‰ VPDB, a composition
consistent with precipitation from meteoric water. The highest
gravel is at þ10.2 m above mean sea level (MSL), about 2 m
beneath a discontinuous ledge present along the western margin of
the fault footwall that may represent a small palaeocliff. We
cannot date the gravel directly but the youngest plausible age for
its formation is OIS 5a at c. 83 ka, when sea level was about
10  4 m lower than at present (Cutler et al. 2002; see later
discussion and Table 3). This gives a maximum estimate for a
mean footwall uplift rate from 83 ka to the present as
0.24  0.05 mm a
1 , a value similar to the mean Holocene rate.
The onshore trace of the Psatha fault is noteworthy for the
existence in its hanging wall of several ‘beheaded’ drainage
catchments (Gawthorpe et al. 1994; Morewood & Roberts 2002)
that once flowed southwards into the Megara basin when this
feature was an active fault-bounded depocentre. These drainages
end in closed, flat-bottomed depressions, the southern sides of
which are downfaulted against the steep footwall scarp of the
Psatha fault. The latter thus clearly postdates activity on the
Megara basin faults. Morewood & Roberts (2002) proposed that
the eastward decline in throw documented for the Psatha fault
was due to lateral propagation of the fault tip in the same
direction, although no direct evidence for this is available.
East Alkyonides fault
This is an active (Leeder et al. 2002), 10 km long, WSW–ENE-
trending structure (Fig. 2), mapped for most of its length along
the base of a prominent 250 m high linear submarine escarpment
with a maximum slope of 408.
West Alkyonides fault
This east–west-trending fault (Fig. 2) is at least 15 km long.
Leeder et al. (2002) presumed it to be largely inactive relative to
the immediately onshore Skinos fault, although some degree of
late Quaternary slip cannot be ruled out.
Skinos fault
This onshore structure has already been described in conjunction
with the Jackson et al. (1982a) mapping of the 1981 fault breaks.
4 M. R. LEEDER ET AL.
We note here that Collier et al. (1998) located the eastern tip of
the fault close to their trenching site in the Vramvrakies alluvial
fan (Fig. 2), thereby considerably shortening, to c. 6 km, the
surface extent of the active structure defined by Jackson et al.
(1982a), Taymaz et al. (1991) andHubert et al. (1996). We
estimate the total throw across this fault in the area of its
intersection with the East Alkyonides fault below.
Pisia fault
Concerning the western extensions to the 1981 faulting (the latter
discussed above) proposed by Bornovas et al. (1984), only some
traces of the ruptures may be seen today, because of subsequent
building and agricultural activity. Observations and measurements
of cracks and small (centimetre-scale) surface scarps throwing
north were made by Bornovas et al. (1984) and, more recently, by
N. Morewood (pers. comm.) and G. Roberts (pers. comm.).
Although accepting the case for the existence of these 1981
ruptures, we see no field evidence for pre-1981 Holocene activity
on these western fault strands. Thus the ruptures: (1) do not
significantly displace Holocene raised shoreline markers in the
most western examples (A and B in Fig. 2); (2) do not occur along
well-defined precursor linear fault scarps (A, B, C and E in Fig.
2); (3) do not appear as penetrative, through-going displacive
structures in good vertical exposures of Holocene alluvium
(scarps D and E in Fig. 2). We contrast this situation, for example,
with that of the 1981 Skinos fault and precursor scarps, which
have been mapped across, and excavated through, Holocene
alluvium (Collier et al. 1998). However, we stress that our
arguments are negative ones: further systematic mapping and
palaeoseismic trenching in this critical area is clearly necessary to
resolve the issue. Hubert et al. (1996) also extrapolated the 1981
ruptures mapped by Jackson et al. (1982a) westwards, in this case
to a prominent linear escarpment in Mesozoic limestone bedrock
on the northern margin of Lake Vouliagmeni. We have seen no
evidence that this degraded fault-line scarp is Holocene active.
Strava fault
This trends east–west offshore a few kilometres north of the
Perachora peninsula (Fig. 2;Papatheoderou & Ferentinos 1993;
Stefatos et al. 2002) and lies along a prominent bathymetric
gradient that defines the southern faulted margin to the Strava
graben. The eastern and western extent of the fault are poorly
defined by available seismic reflection lines, and seismic cover-
age is insufficient to assess the degree of Holocene to Late
Quaternary activity on the fault.
Perachora fault
This NE–SW-trending structure (Fig. 2;Papatheoderou & Feren-
tinos 1993; Stefatos et al. 2002) also has poorly defined tip
zones. The occurrence of uplifted Holocene to Late Quaternary
marine shorelines on the northern Perachora peninsula coastline
might at first sight be taken as evidence for activity along the
structure. Although we cannot rule this out, as we discuss below,
the raised shorelines are part of a peninsula-wide phenomena and
show no southward backtilt, a feature that might be expected if it
was due entirely to footwall effects from the Perachora fault.
Loutraki faults
Two faults occur along the SW flank to the Gerania Range north
and NW of Loutraki (see Figs 2 and 6a). The southernmost
trends east–west and features as an active structure in some
previous structural maps of the Perachora peninsula (Armijo et
al. 1996, fig. 2). A similar structure has been extrapolated
offshore along the NW–SE-trending southern coastline of the
peninsula to Cape Heraion (e.g. Roberts & Jackson 1991). The
two onshore faults clearly cut the surface across Mesozoic
limestones, but to the east the faults are obscured amongst poor
exposures of ophiolitic basement. Natural exposures of the two
fault footwall scarps reveal highly irregular, eroded and karstified
limestone free faces, with quarry exposures of the slickenslided
fault planes in contact with Quaternary alluvial fan and talus
cone deposits in the hanging wall. A thick deposit of hydro-
thermal aragonite obscures the southernmost fault on the coast
immediately NW of Loutraki town. The field evidence of weath-
ering, erosion and precipitation suggests to us that both the
Loutraki faults are probably Holocene-inactive, and possibly
longer-term dormant.
Summary of faulting
Of the eight normal faults considered as past major contributors
to the tectonic evolution of the study area only four, the Psatha,
East Alkyonides, Skinos and Pisia faults, yield direct evidence
that they are Holocene-active. We are doubtful concerning the
Holocene-active status of the remainder. The surface expressions
of the various faults making up the South Alkyonides Fault
Segment are generally distinct, but that does not prove that the
South Alkyonides Fault Segment behaves as a kinematically
coherent (soft-linked) array as previously proposed (e.g. by
Roberts 1996; Morewood & Roberts 2001).
Long-term deformation rates from Alkyonides hanging-
wall basement tilting
Previous attempts to determine long-term deformation rates
(Roberts 1996; Collier et al. 1998) along the active south
Alkyonides faults have used approximations for vertical strati-
graphic separation between hanging-wall and footwall cutoff of
pre-rift basement against fault surfaces (see Figs 3 and 4 for
summaries and definitions). Approximations were necessary
because of the lack of datum for directly determining cutoff. Two
chief problems in estimating separation remain unsolved. First,
the contribution of footwall uplift well above the datum provided
by late Quaternary to Holocene marine shoreline indicators
cannot be precisely estimated. Second, calculation of the fault
slip rate requires knowledge of the time elapsed since fault and
basin initiation. This has been possible only by linear extrapola-
tion of the footwall uplift rate determined for the MIS 5e marine
terrace at Alepochori (Leeder et al. 1991; Collier et al. 1992) as
applied to the maximum elevation of the Megara basin floor, c.
400 m. The youngest age thus computed, c. 1 Ma, has been used
to constrain estimates for timing of initiation of the Gulf of
Corinth rift and modelling of Aegean tectonics (e.g. Armijo et
al. 1996; Duermeijer et al. 1999), although arguments from the
western Gulf have also been made for this age (Goldsworthy &
Jackson 2001).
We make use of tilt-induced stratigraphic features imaged by
offshore geophysical surveys to estimate fault throw (Figs 3 and
4). Tilt-block geometry (Jackson & McKenzie 1983; Barr 1987;
Jackson & White 1989) requires normal faults of dip Ł to rotate
horizontal pre-stretch basement to angle ł with the understand-
ing that at time t0 ł ¼ 0 and Ł ¼ Ł0 . We develop a solution to
determine ł from offshore stratigraphic and sedimentological
data using the unpublished sparker dip line SPK 25 (Fig. 5), shot
 N O R M A L FAU LT I N G , G U L F O F C O R I N T H
Fig. 3. Schematic section along the line A–B in Figure 1 across the eastern part of the Alkyonides Gulf and Megara basin to show major morphological
features useful in parameterization of rates of uplift and subsidence associated with displacements along the active Psatha–East Alkyonides faults.
slightly oblique to the surface intersection of the active Skinos
and East Alkyonides faults. The seismic data reveal a strong
tilted reflector, interpreted from wider seismic mapping and
spatial alignment with onshore basement ridges as pre-rift
Mesozoic basement. This basement is overlain by more than six
well-defined pre-Holocene stratigraphic sequences, which we
interpret as the record of the periodic, low-frequency (c. 100 ka),
global sea-level cycles (e.g. Chappell & Shackleton 1986; Gallup
et al. 1994; Cutler et al. 2002; Siddall et al. 2003; Fig. 5)
developed over the last 600 ka. The evidence for this assignation
comes in the form of high-amplitude reflectors interpreted as
transgressional to highstand events, which progressively onlap
the tilted hanging-wall basement. These reflectors each overlie
major packages of prograding and offlapping shoreline deltaic
clinoforms interpreted as lowstand deposits (see Fig. 5 and
Collier et al. 2000, fig. 1). It is probable that a sedimentary
record of higher-frequency sea-level change exists within these
sequences, but an exploration of this aspect is beyond the scope
of the present study. We assume that tilting has been achieved by
progressive rigid-body rotation of the upper crust on the active
Skinos fault. The effective tilt radius º (Fig. 4) is given by the
17.5 km fulcral distance from the active Kaparelli–Livadostros
antithetic faults (Fig. 2) at the northern gulf shoreline to the
outcrop of the eastern strand of the Skinos fault. We propose that
the relatively smooth hanging-wall basement surface has been
formed progressively as horizontal to gently sloping shoreline
5
Fig. 4. Definition diagram for determining
tilting across normal faulted tilt blocks.
Symbols defined in text.
topography, produced by marine shoreface erosion along a
ravinement surface. We also make the assumption that tilt has
not been substantially reduced by the antithetic faulting.
Using water depths and sediment thicknesses computed along
SPK 25 under mapped survey points of known spacing, deter-
mined from accurate differential global positioning system (GPS)
navigation, we derive 10 determinations of ł, with a mean value
3.98 (2
¼ 0:34). We use these values (Table 1) to estimate the
maximum downthrow of the Skinos fault as 1.12 km (range
1.02–1.20 km) from basic trigonometry. Although we have no
direct knowledge of the extent of footwall uplift at the intersec-
tion of the Skinos and East Alkyonides faults (see discussion
above), we make the reasonable assumption that it is comparable
with the 0.4 km estimate for the main part of the East
Alkyonides fault a few kilometres east, around Alepochori
(Leeder et al. 1991). We compute a total fault throw of some
1.52 km (range 1.42–1.60 km).
We next enquire, using independently determined rates of fault
displacement from geodetic and palaeoseismic studies, how long
the basin may have been active and whether our calculated long-
term rates of displacement are compatible with these and with
the limited subsurface stratigraphic controls available. As dis-
cussed above, geodetic data for crustal extension at the longitude
of the mouth of the Alkyonides Gulf (Clarke et al. 1997) give
rates of 6  2.7 mm a
1 over the past 100 years. Assuming this
extension is taken up only by vertical displacement along
6 M. R. LEEDER ET AL.

Fig. 5. Interpreted trace of seismic line SPK 25 to show hanging-wall dip-slope gradient and major reflectors used to define highstand onlap and lowstand
offlap deposits. Gradient changes are much emphasized because of the great vertical exaggeration (326) of the section. Inset shows schematic definition
sketch to outline the geometric relations of highstand and lowstand shoreline deposits over a tilt-block hanging-wall surface in relation to the late
Quaternary glacio-eustatic sea-level curve for the last 400 ka. TWT, two-way travel time.

Table 1. Data derived from seismic line SPK 25

Surface distance (m) of GPS Sediment thickness, hs 2 (m) Water depth, hw (m) Water depth þ sediment Tilt, ł, as tan
1 (basement
location point along SPK 251 (velocity 2000  250 m s
1 ) (velocity 1500 m s
1 ) thickness (m) depth/horizontal distance to
modern shoreline) (deg)

2600 59  8 113 172  8 3.78

3100 87  11 145 232  11 4.28
3600 92  12 168 260  12 4.13
4150 118  15 185 303  15 4.18
4700 108  14 205 313  14 3.81
5250 110  14 225 335  14 3.65
5900 120  15 255 375  15 3.64
6450 160  20 275 435  20 3.86
7200 191  24 293 484  24 3.85
7850 233  29 307 540  29 3.94
Mean 3.91  0.34 at 2

confidence
1
GPS-determined points along a line projected from the northern gulf shoreline (the pivot focus) to the outcrop of the Skinos fault. Line drawn along sparker seismic line SPK
25 (Fig. 5), with survey points projected laterally and orthogonally onto the line where necessary.
2
In the absence of detailed knowledge concerning subsurface sediment lithologies the sediment columns above basement (see Fig. 5) are assumed uncompacted and assigned a
mean seismic velocity of 2000 m s
1 , appropriate to carbonate muds at a burial depth of 250 m (see discussion by Collier et al. 2000), with generous error limits of
250 m s
1 .
 N O R M A L FAU LT I N G , G U L F O F C O R I N T H
458-dipping normal faults in the upper crust (see the evidence for
this value given by Taymaz et al. 1991; Hatzfeld et al. 2000)
along the southern gulf margin, ages of deformation appropriate
to the mean total 1.52 km vertical displacement are the range
0.17–0.46 Ma, with a mean of 0.25 Ma. These times are too
short given both the known post-MIS 5e rate of footwall uplift
and the stratigraphic record of the Alkyonides Gulf sediments. It
seems that (1) GPS-determined displacement for the western
limit to the Alkyonides Gulf must either decline eastwards (by
.50%) into the Alkyonides Gulf, (2) deformation rates over the
past 100 years are significantly greater than those averaged over
the main part of the Holocene and Late Pleistocene, or (3) there
is significant displacement taken up by antithetic faulting (see
Fig. 2) along the northern gulf shoreline.
Adopting displacement rates of 0.7–2.5 mm a
1 from Holo-
cene palaeoseismology (Collier et al. 1998), the calculated long-
term displacement requires a time in the range of 0.61–2.20 Ma
for the total duration of fault activity. The latter is a reasonable
upper range estimate, given the stratigraphic constraints avail-
able.
The Perachora peninsula: part of a uniformly uplifting
crustal terrane?
Introduction and previous work
The Perachora peninsula lies in a pivotal geographical position,
defining a large-scale left step between the active faults of the
main Corinth and Alkyonides sub-basin (Fig. 1). Vita-Finzi &
King (1985), on the basis of field observations and interviews
with local inhabitants, suggested that much of the peninsula
underwent subsidence as a result of the effects of the 1981
earthquakes, a conclusion at odds with later observations in the
area (Hubert et al. 1996). Regarding Holocene to Late Quatern-
ary deformation, several workers (e.g.Vita-Finzi 1993; Pirazzoli
et al. 1994; Dia et al. 1997; Leeder et al. 2003) subsequently
proved persistent Holocene to Late Quaternary uplift by radio-
metric dating of marine fossil assemblages in raised marine
shoreline deposits.
Raised shorelines
We have mapped beachface deposits, terrace platform inner
edges, notched and Lithophaga-bored shorelines along palaeo-
cliffs and sea stacks at 1:5000 scale, aided by local levelling,
altimetric determinations and SPOT digital elevation model
(DEM) images to give palaeo-sea levels to an accuracy of a few
metres or less. Preliminary results of some of our field studies
were reported by Leeder et al. (2003). We have found palaeo-
shoreline deposits up to maximum altitudes of 220 m. Palaeo-
sea-level elevations are correlated with eustatic sea-level curves,
underpinned by previously published and numerous new U-series
dates on coral samples accurately located with respect to local
palaeo-shoreline elevation (Fig. 6b; Table 2). We have also
mapped areas surrounding shoreline features to search for active
fault traces that may have locally altered terrace elevations, by
displacement and/or tilting.
The coastal terraces of the Perachora peninsula are predomi-
nantly constructional. Their geometry is the expression of a
complete sea-level cycle (sea-level rise, highstand and fall). The
lower terrace bounding surface typically takes the form of an
unconformity, formed as an erosive ravinement surface during
the initial marine transgression, overlain by a coarse-grained
transgressive lag deposit. The major part of the deposit com-
7
prises progradational highstand to early falling stage deposits.
Unfortunately, terrace deposits per se cannot be used to locate
palaeo-shorelines without identification of the inner edge, the
highest and oldest position reached by the early marine transgres-
sion, which demonstrates palaeo-sea level to within a metre or
so. This position can be achieved approximately using a simple
topographic profile calculated from a detailed, accurate contour
map, but in the field is most accurately recognized by the
occurrence of unequivocal shoreline indicators such as notches,
intertidal to very shallow subtidal trottoir (cemented red algal–
vermetiform gastropod–bryozoan carbonate deposits) and Litho-
phaga borings. Four clusters of palaeo-shoreline elevations have
been mapped around the Perachora peninsula: þ8–12 m, þ25–
30 m, þ35–42 m and þ50–55 m.
Concerning intertidal notches, these are formed by combina-
tions of chemical dissolution, physical abrasion and biogenic
abrasion by boring, rasping and encrusting organisms (see
Pirazzoli 1986a; Trenhaile 1987). In areas of the gulf facing the
most exposed wave action (north- and west-facing coastlines)
notches have up to 1 m vertical amplitude relative to MSL.
Recognition of uplifted notches is difficult at these locations, as
the modern notch appears to be simply a composite of uplifted
notches resulting from general high-energy coastline abrasion.
This may indicate either steady uplift, or coseismic uplift
insufficient to remove the base of the notch from the zone of
erosion (i.e. <1 m). Because more sheltered areas around the
peninsula record small-amplitude, multiple uplifted notches, we
infer that uplift must have occurred seismically. The overall
result is continuously undercut cliffs on exposed shorelines
and vertical cliffs with multiple shallow notches on sheltered
shorelines.
Pirazzoli et al. (1994) identified four notches at Cape Heraion.
Kershaw & Guo (2001) identified three notches in the Cape
Heraion area. We recognize three notches around Makrugoaz
Ridge and Cape Sterna (Fig. 6b) at similar elevations. The
highest notch is also well preserved at around 3 m along the
coast NW of Loutraki. The elevation of all notches varies over
short distances by up to 30 cm, probably as a result of contrast-
ing local exposure. The notch at Mylokopi occurs at two
significantly different heights, þ1.7 m and c. þ3 m, as a result of
Holocene faulting (Pirazzoli et al. 1994). Field observations
indicate that the elevation of the lower notch increases towards
Cape Sterna, where it reaches þ3 m elevation.
A chronology for Late Quaternary to Holocene raised
shorelines
We make use of the Pirazzoli et al. (1994) 14 C-dating of
Lithophagain life position at the level of the highest notches (c.
3 m) at both Mylokopi and Cape Heraion. The resultant
corrected ages were c. 4400 bc and c. 3100 bc, respectively. The
older age gives the minimum rate of uplift, 0.43 mm a
1 , since
the onset of the c.7 ka Holocene highstand. The lower notches
dated from biogenic material obtained at Mylokopi by Pirazzoli
et al. (1994) do not yield satisfactory results, exemplified by 14 C
ages of ad 400–540 and ad 1450–1830 from Vermetus triqueter
at 0.8 m and Lithophaga sp. at 1.1 m, respectively. Chthamalus
valves sampled by Pirazzoli et al. (1994) from the lower notch at
Cape Heraion gave an age of ad 190–440, indicating minimal
uplift rate of 0.06 mm a
1 .
For dating Pleistocene shoreline deposits we have used U-
series dating of Cladocora caespitosa. At present ubiquitous
throughout the Mediterranean, including the Gulf of Corinth, this
coral has a preferred bathymetry 5–25 m below sea level
 8
M. R. LEEDER ET AL.
Fig. 6. (a) Detailed topography and sampling sites of raised shoreline features over the western Perachora peninsula assembled from field slips originally mapped at 1:5000 scale with the additional aid of
altimetric observations, levelling and satellite imagery (after Portman 2004). (b) Generalized topography of the Perachora peninsula to show faulting, interior drainage basins and location of Panorama
catchment (Fig. 7).
Table 2. Summary of new and published Perachora and Corinth radiometric determinations from C. cuspitosa corals: sample numbers, palaeo-shorelines, U and Th activity ratios and 230 Th ages
234
Location, sample Palaeo-shoreline (m) Interpreted MIS U concentration (ppm) U/238 U (234 U/238 U)i3 230
Th/234 U 230
Th/232 Th Age (ka)

Cape Heraion A
UEA798 25–30 5e 3.529 1.107  29 1.157  42 0.728  35 52  6 136.5 þ 13.6/
12.1
UEA842 25–30 5e 3.202 1.149  18 1.248  40 0.836  26 389  130 181.7 þ 16.6/
14.3
Cape Heraion B

N O R M A L FAU LT I N G , G U L F O F C O R I N T H
UEA824 25–30 5e 2.909 1.133  25 1.196  41 0.7333  19 .1000 137.6 þ 8.2/
7.4
UEA825 25–30 5e 2.5 1.132  27 1.201  48 0.767  21 51  6 150.8 þ 10.5/ 9.4
UEA826 25–30 5e 2.499 1.111  20 1.174  36 0.784  19 116  20 159.2 þ 9.9/
8.9
VF89/2 25–30 5e 3.01 1.14  1 1.201  4 0.706  9 284  49 128  3
Makreegoaz Ridge
VF 89/34 25–30 5e 3.19 1.17  1 1.248  15 0.727  9 .400 134  3
V-35-1a5 25–30 5e 3.69 1.140  3 1.203  3 0.699  2 582  1 125.9  0.7
V-35-1b5 25–30 5e 3.67 1.160  4 1.228  4 0.698  3 614  1 124.7  1.0
V-35-2a5 25–30 5e 3.52 1.176  2 1.257  2 0.725  2 411  2 133.4  0.9
V-35-2b5 25–30 5e 3.58 1.175  3 1.252  3 0.711  2 326  1 128.7  0.7
V-35-4a5 25–30 5e 3.12 1.139  3 1.195  3 0.676  2 496  2 118.4  0.8
V-35-4b5 25–30 5e 3.12 1.153  2 1.208  2 0.643  2 516  2 108.5  0.7
Lake Vouliagmeni junction
CTP22 35–42 7a–c 2.249 1.1344  26 1.2329  4 0.8557  2 n.d 194.5  0.8
CTP2 (2)7 35–42 7a–c 2.009 1.1213  26 1.2072  3 0.8452  75 n.d 189.5  4.8
UEA823 35–42 7a–c 2.054 1.117  23 1.275  101 0.970  26 74  4 304 þ 67.8/
40.7
UEA833 35–42 7a–c 1.818 1.151  15 n.a .1.020  19 .1000
UEA834 35–42 7a–c 2.034 1.134  15 1.226  35 0.842  24 .1000 186.2 þ 15.7/
13.6
New Corinth terrace
2906013 20–25 5e 2.62 1.140  192 1.203  32 0.718  21 41  4 132.1 þ 8.2/
7.5

Quoted errors are 1
m . Sample locations are shown in Figure 6a. n.d., not determined; n.a., not applicable.
3
Initial U activities calculated from [(234 U=238 U)i
1] ¼ [(234 U=238 U)t
1]e
º234 t, where t is the age of the sample and º234 ¼ 2:82629 3 10
6 . Late Holocene corals trawled from the shallow gulf have a U content of 2.336 ppm,
with a 234 U/238 U ratio of 1.139  0.027.
4
Vita-Finzi (1993).
5
Leeder et al. (2003).
6
Activities calculated from 234 U using 234 U ¼ f[(234 U=238 U)sample =(234 U=238 U)eq ]
1g 3 103 , where (234 U/238 U)eq is equal to º238 =º234 ¼ 5:472 3 10
5 .
7
Dia et al. (1997).

9
10 M. R. LEEDER ET AL.
(Aguirre & Jimenez 1998; Peirano et al. 1998), the exact level
being strongly influenced by local factors including wave energy,
sedimentation rate, predation and substrate. Assessing the pa-
laeobathymetry of this coral at a particular locality therefore
requires a detailed palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Dia et al.
(1997), when calculating uplift rates in the Corinth area,
estimated the palaeobathymetry of the corals as 10  10 m,
which, although within the likely living depth of the colonies,
was not correlated in the field with terrace inner-edge elevations
or other palaeo-sea-level indicators. Importantly, error ranges of
10 m become large when applied to low sample elevations.
The results of U-series dating of corals by previous and
current workers are shown in Table 2. UEA analyses are by alpha
spectrometry, others are by thermal ionization mass spectrometry
(TIMS). The difficulties of interpreting coral dates from the
eastern Mediterranean area have been referred to by Collier et al.
(1992) and Dia et al. (1997). The dates are organized into six
groups based on sample locations, as follows.
(1) Cape Heraion A. Two samples are from marine sediments
above prominent microbial bioherms (Richter et al. 1979;
Portman 2004) at about þ8 m MSL. The bioherms here are
fractured and sometimes rotated landward. Both they and
coralliferous sediments correlate with identical deposits 15 m
higher in cliffs 200 m NE, indicating that post-depositional
faulting has occurred. As the higher deposits may be correlated
with the þ25–30 m palaeo-shoreline, the lower deposits must
also. UEA 798 gave an age of 136.5 þ13.6/
12.1 ka, corre-
sponding to early MIS 5e or late MIS 6, and UEA 842 gave an
age of 181.7 þ16.6/
14.3 ka, which corresponds to early MIS 6
or late MIS 7a.
(2) Cape Heraion B. Three new samples and one from Vita-
Finzi (1993) were obtained from marine sediments overlying the
bioherms that correlate with the 25–30 m palaeo-shoreline.
Three samples had ages compatible with MIS 6: 137.6 þ8.2/

7.4 ka (UEA 824), 150.8 þ10.5/
9.4 ka (UEA 825) and
159.2 þ9.9/
8.9 ka (UEA 826), although UEA 824 is also
within error of MIS 5e. Sample VF 89/2 gave a clear MIS 5e age
(128  3 ka).
(3) Makrugoaz Ridge. Seven samples were dated from this
site, which correlates with the 25–30 m palaeo-shoreline. All
these samples (six from Leeder et al. (2003), one from Vita-Finzi
(1993)) provide an MIS 5e age, with the exception of V-35-4b,
which indicates MIS 5d.
(4) NW Lake Vouliagmeni. This coralliferous deposit corre-
lates with the 35–42 m palaeo-shoreline and occurs by the road
from the junction west of Lake Vouliagmeni to Cape Heraion. It
includes three samples from this work and two from Dia et al.
(1997). Three samples are within error of MIS 7a: 194.5 
0.8 ka (CTP2), 189.5  4.8 ka (CTP2(2)) and 186.2  15.7 ka
(UEA 834); the last could also be MIS 6. UEA 823 gave an age
of 304  67.8 ka, which is within error of MIS 7e, MIS 8 and
MIS 9, and UEA833 gave no age and had a 230 Th/234 U activity
ratio of 1.020  19.
(5) New Corinth. A final sample UEA 290601 originates from
the New Corinth terrace (C, Fig. 1), and corresponds to a palaeo-
shoreline c. þ25 m above sea level. The sample yielded an age
of 132.1 þ8.2/
7.5 ka, within MIS 5e.
Perhaps the most telling conclusion from the above is that ages
calculated by mass spectrometry from Vita-Finzi (1993) and
Leeder et al. (2003), a technique requiring less coral for analysis
and thereby allowing higher standards of sample selectivity, have
consistently produced dates corresponding to MIS 5e from the
25–30 m palaeo-shoreline. From the mass spectrometry dates
alone, it is reasoned therefore that the 25–30 m palaeo-shoreline
corresponds to the MIS 5e highstand. Of the alpha-spectrometry
dates, three samples (UEA 798, UEA 824 and 290601) are
within error of MIS 5e and may also be correlated with the 25–
30 m palaeo-shoreline (albeit indirectly for 290601).
Coral dates from deposits associated with the 35–42 m
palaeo-shoreline include three ages (two of them TIMS dates
from Dia et al. (1997)) that are within error of MIS 7a, the
highstand preceding MIS 5e. All the corals from this strati-
graphic level contain lower concentrations of U than those from
25–30 m, although all except one (UEA833, for which no age
could be calculated) lie within the observed living and fossil
coral U content distribution (Burnett & Veeh 1992). This may
indicate some degree of diagenetic U loss, but equally it may
simply reflect a lower marine uranium concentration in the
nearshore zone of the Gulf of Corinth during MIS 7 relative to
later interglacials. Late Holocene corals we have collected from
dredged samples taken the shallow gulf have a U content of
2.336 ppm. The fact that the two TIMS ages overlap at 1 SD and
that stratigraphically the samples derive from a palaeo-shoreline
topographically higher than the MIS 5 shoreline lead us to the
conclusion that the dates are reliable.
Late Quaternary uplift rates
Estimation of uplift rates (Fig. 6b; Table 3) requires accurate
knowledge of (1) elevation of palaeo-shoreline inner edge; (2)
level of formative sea-level highstand relative to present sea
level; (3) timing of onset of highstand. The highest Holocene
notch is at c. þ3 m with a minimum age of 6.4 ka, thus yielding
a minimum mean uplift rate of 0.43 mm a
1 . The best estab-
lished Late Quaternary palaeo-shoreline is that of MIS 5e. For a
þ30 m palaeo-shoreline, a highstand some 6 m above present
and an age of 130 ka for onset of highstand (Gallup et al. 1994),
the mean uplift rate is 0.18 mm a
1 . The 8–12 m palaeo-shore-
line is undated, but as it is inset into downfaulted MIS 5e
deposits it must be younger. The only highstands realistically
placed to explain this are MIS 5c and MIS 5a, which both
reached similar elevations (Chappell & Shackleton 1986; Gallup
et al. 1994; Siddall et al. 2003) so that we are unlikely to be able
to discriminate between them. An age of 100 ka for the com-
bined MIS 5a–c highstand, with a palaeo-sea level of 10  4 m
below the present level (Cutler et al. 2002), gives a likely mean
uplift rate in the range 0.2  0.04 mm a
1 .
Maximum elevation of the closely spaced MIS 7a–c palaeo-
shorelines is 42 m. Sea level at those times, c. 200 ka, was
possibly about 10 m relative to present sea level (Gallup et al.
1994; Siddall et al. 2003), giving c. 30–50 m of uplift at a mean
rate of c. 0.25  0.06 mm a
1 . The final palaeo-shoreline, 50–
55 m above the present sea level, probably correlates with the
MIS 7e highstand. Using an age of 240 ka and assuming the MIS
7e sea level was similar to the present sea level (Chappell &
Shackleton 1986), a mean uplift rate of 0.23  0.05 mm a
1 is
calculated.
Discussion of uplift rates
Using the above data we deduce the following. (1) There are
numerous distinctive and correlatable palaeo-shoreline features
and terrace inner edges around the Perachora peninsula, from
Cape Sterna in the north to Loutraki in the south. (2) Ages and
elevations of mapped shoreline features correlate well with
global sea-level highstands. (3) Rates of Late Pleistocene uplift
in the western peninsula are reasonably consistent when likely
errors caused by determination of highstand sea-level elevation
 N O R M A L FAU LT I N G , G U L F O F C O R I N T H 11

Table 3. Uplift rates: mean rates have varied between 0.18 and 0.43 mm a
1 since MIS 7e

Highstands of sea level Palaeo-sea level (relative to present) Age (ka)9 Palaeo-shoreline elevation Mean uplift rate at present
(m)8 (m) (mm a
1 )

Holocene 0 7 3 0.43
MIS 5a–5c
10  4 100 12 0.22  0.04
MIS 5e þ6 130 30 0.18
MIS 7a–c 0  10 210 42 0.25  0.06
MIS 7e 0  10 240 55 0.23  0.05
8
Palaeo-sea level for MIS 5c from Cutler et al. (2002). MIS 7a–c and MIS 7e levels are poorly constrained. Imbrie et al. (1984) indicated that MIS 7e was significantly lower
than MIS 7a–c, whereas Chappell & Shackleton (1986) suggested that all MIS 7 high sea levels were similar to the present level. Gallup et al. (1994) suggested an elevation of

6 m to þ9 m relative to the present level for MIS 7a. For the purposes of this paper, MIS 7 levels are taken to be within 10 m of present sea level.
9
Ages for Holocene highstand from Siddall et al. (2003); MIS 5 from Cutler et al. (2002); MIS 7 from Waelbroeck et al. (2002).

are taken into account, with median values in the range c. 0.18–
0.25 mm a
1 . (4) There is no systematic evidence for displace-
ment or warping of Holocene and late Quaternary shoreline
deposits in our study area (Fig. 6a; see alsoLeeder et al. 2003,
fig. 3B), apart from that caused by minor faulting such as around
Cape Heraion (see alsoKershaw & Guo 2000), Milokopi (see
Pirazzoli et al. 1994) and on the SE margins of Agriliou Bay
(Fig. 6a and unpublished mapping by the authors). This lack of
evidence for warping leads us to doubt the hypothesis for late
Quaternary surface lateral growth of the subsurface tip to the
Pisia fault as proposed by Morewood & Roberts (1999). (5) The
well-dated MIS 5e shoreline remains at 25–30 m over a 200 km
area to the south of Loutraki that includes the Bay of Corinth,
the Isthmus (where extensive minor faulting is superimposed on
this uplift; Collier et al. 1992) and New Corinth (Leeder et al.
2003; Fig. 1).
Drainage, fault propagation and uplift
Preliminary geomorphological studies of drainage in the Per-
achora peninsula are aided by quantitative analysis of SPOT
imagery and DEMs by RiverToolsTM software. The outstanding
feature relevant to the present study is the presence of a number
of closed interior drainage basins (Fig. 6b) with conspicuously
level floors infilled by fine-grained continental sediment. Cols
eroded in Mesozoic basement are present around the periphery
of the depressions; an example at the head of Panorama gorge
(Fig. 6b) issuing from Perachora interior basin was postulated by
Morewood & Roberts (1999) to represent a wind-gap formed by
a drainage subsequently truncated by westward lateral propaga-
tion of the surface trace to the South Alkyonides Fault Segment.
Some of the cols must indeed mark formerly active valleys that
led westwards and southwards out of the basin prior to active
infill, but we have found no evidence that Panorama gorge was
shut off by footwall uplift during fault propagation. Morewood &
Roberts (1999) also interpreted fluvial deposits in Panorama
gorge as depositional remnants of the pre-faulting drainage. We
reinterpret these important deposits as mostly of fan delta origin
(Fig. 7). They overlie and interdigitate with beach conglomerates
that lie on a prominent littoral abrasion surface at about 150–
155 m elevation. The shoreline sequence is buried and onlapped
by south-prograding clinoform sets of fan delta beachface

Fig. 7. General and detailed sketches from photomosaics to summarize the arrangement of ?Plio-Pleistocene sediments in a narrow strike-slip pull-apart
basin in the central portion of Panorama gorge (location on Fig. 6b). The topmost fan delta and beachface deposits indicated in the detailed sketch
erosively overlie the underlying deposits and their bounding faults and may date from c. 600 ka (see text for discussion).
12 M. R. LEEDER ET AL.
origins, comprising often well-sorted and rounded gravels of
mixed (chert, limestone, serpentinite) provenance (Fig. 7).
In the context of drainage capture by possible fault propaga-
tion, the Panorama drainage catchment has evidently fed a fan
delta and beachface like the present one for a very long time in
the Late Quaternary, with shoreline and fan delta deposits of
mixed provenance preserved as discontinuous remnants from sea
level up to þ220 m. Outcrops in the existing catchment south of
the Perachora interior drainage basin have the necessary base-
ment lithologies to supply the mixed sediment provenance. Any
drainage closure at upper levels that may have taken place has
clearly accompanied sedimentary infill of the Perachora basin
and cannot be specifically ascribed to shut-off by fault propaga-
tion. Regarding the age of the gorge, our mean late Quaternary
uplift rates for the peninsula indicate that the higher elevation
marine deposits are possibly as old as 0.7–1.1 Ma. The gorge
has progressively developed by incision as a result of uplift since
that time and remains an active, although ephemeral, bedrock
channel system.
Conclusions
(1) Stratigraphic interpretation of offshore geophysical data,
onshore field mapping and geochronology, together with pre-
viously published data, indicate that the Psatha, East Alkyonides,
Skinos and Pisia faults are Holocene-active structures, whereas
the status of the West Alkyonides, Strava, Perachora and Loutraki
faults is less certain.
(2) New data are presented for the maximum rate of late
Pleistocene footwall uplift on the Psatha fault, 0.24 
0.05 mm a
1 over the past c. 83 ka. This is comparable with the
Holocene footwall uplift rate on the same structure and within
limits of a previously computed value for the adjacent East
Alkyonides fault over the past 130 ka.
(3) More than six well-defined pre-Holocene stratigraphic
sequences imaged from shallow seismic reflection profiles are
interpreted as the record of periodic, low-frequency (c. 100 ka),
global sea-level cycles that developed over the last 600 ka.
(4) The calculated tilt of pre-rift basement in the Alkyonides
Gulf yields 1.42–1.60 km of vertical displacement across the
458-dipping Skinos fault. Displacement rates from a published
palaeoseismological study indicate that deformation may have
continued for 0.61–2.20 Ma. In contrast, previous geodetic data
give durations with the range of 0.17–0.46 Ma; either the
geodetic rate may not be representative of longer-term mean
rates or significant extra deformation has taken place on other
offshore faults.
(5) Existing and new U-series geochronology establishes the
case for uniform late Quaternary (post-MIS 7) uplift of the
Perachora peninsula, generally at rates of c. 0.2–0.3 mm a
1 .
The tectonic style of the uplifting Perachora–Isthmus–New
Corinth terrane seems distinct from the back-tilted crustal blocks
of the Alkyonides Gulf and Megara basin to the east.
(6) Our studies provide no evidence to support published
hypotheses for lateral surface growth of the relatively young and
highly active eastern Gulf of Corinth faults. This may be because
(a) we have misread the field evidence, (b) surface growth has
not occurred or (c) growth was so rapid during the early stages
of fault evolution (e.g. Cowie 1998) that it is now difficult to
detect from field studies of the more evolved surface faulting.
We thank the University of East Anglia, Royal Society, Mobil North Sea
Ltd, NERC for Research Grant NER/C/S/2000/00588 to R.L.G. and
Studentship NER/S/A/2000/03324 to C.P., and IGME for logistical and
financial support during our continuing research in Greece. Seismic line
SPK 25 was shot during a joint University of Leeds–University of Patras
research cruise in 1996. Radiocarbon date Ox-A-10101 was produced by
the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. We thank referees N. More-
wood and G. Roberts for numerous helpful criticisms of an earlier
version, but this acknowledgement does not mean that they necessarily
agree with all of our conclusions.
References
Abercrombie, R.E., Main, I.C., Douglas, A. & Burton, P.W. 1995. The
nucleation and rupture processes of the 1981 Gulf of Corinth earthquakes
from deconvolved broad-band data. Geophysical Journal International, 120,
393–405.
Aguirre, J. & Jimenez, A.P. 1998. Fossil analogues of present-day Cladocora
caespitosa coral banks: sedimentary setting, dwelling community, and
taphonomy (Late Pliocene, W. Mediterranean). Coral Reefs, 17, 203–213.
Ambraseys, N.N. & Jackson, J.A. 1997. Seismicity and strain in the Gulf of
Corinth (Greece) since 1694. Journal of Earthquake Engineering, 1, 433–474.
Armijo, R., Meyer, B., King, G.C.P., Rigo, A. & Papanastassiou, D. 1996.
Quaternary evolution of the Corinth Rift and its implications for the late
Cenozoic evolution of the Aegean. Geophysical Journal International, 126,
11–53.
Barr, D. 1987. Lithospheric stretching, detached normal faulting and footwall
uplift. In: Coward, M.P., Dewey, J.F. & Hancock, P.L. (eds) Continental
Extensional Tectonics. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 28,
75–94.
Bentham, P.R.E., Collier, R.E.Ll., Gawthorpe, R.L., Leeder, M.R., Prossor,
S. & Clark, C.P. 1991. Tectono-sedimentary development of an extensional
sedimentary basin: the Neogene Megara basin, Greece. Journal of the
Geological Society, London, 148, 923–934.
Bornovas, J., Gaitanakis, P. & Spiridopoulos, A. 1984. Geological Map of
Greece, 1:50 000, Perachora Sheet. IGME, Athens.
Briole, P., Rigo, A. & Lyon-Caen, H. et al. 2000. Active deformation of the
Corinth rift, Greece: results from repeated Global Positioning System surveys
between 1990 and 1995. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105, 25605–
25625.
Burnett, W.C. & Veeh, H.H. 1992. Uranium-series studies of marine phosphates
and carbonates. In: Ivanovich, M. & Harmon, R.S. (eds) Uranium-series
Disequilibrium: Applications to Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences,
2nd. Clarendon Press, Oxford, xx–xxx.
Chappell, J. & Shackleton, N.J. 1986. Oxygen isotopes and sea level. Nature,
324, 137–140.
Clarke, P.J., Davies, R.R. & England, P.C. et al. 1997. Geodetic estimate of
seismic hazard in the Gulf of Korinthos. Geophysical Research Letters, 24,
1303–1306.
Collier, R.E.Ll., Leeder, M.R., Rowe, P.J. & Atkinson, T.C. 1992. Rates of
tectonic uplift in the Corinth and Megara Basins, central Greece. Tectonics,
11, 1159–1167.
Collier, R.E.Ll., Pantosti, D., D’Addezio, G., De Martini, P.M., Masana, E.
& Sakellariou, D. 1998. Paleoseismicity of the 1981 Corinth earthquake
fault: seismic contribution to extensional strain in central Greece and
implications for seismic hazard. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103,
30001–30019.
Collier, R.E.Ll., Leeder, M.R., Trout, M., Ferentinos, G., Lyberis, E. &
Papatheodorou, G. 2000. High sediment yields and cool, wet winters
during the last glacial lowstand, northern Mediterranean. Geology, 28,
999–1002.
Cowie, P.A. 1998. A healing–reloading feedback control on the growth rate of
seismogenic faults. Journal of Structural Geology, 20, 1075–1087.
Cowie, P.A. & Roberts, G.P. 2001. Constraining slip rates and spacings for active
normal faults. Journal of Structural Geology, 23, 1901–1915.
Cutler, K.B., Edwards, R.L. & Taylor, F.W. et al. 2002. Rapid sea-level fall
and deep-ocean temperature change since the last interglacial period. Earth
and Planetary Science Letters, 206, 253–271.
Davies, R., England, P., Parsons, B., Billiris, H., Paradissis, D. & Veis, G.
1997. Geodetic strain of Greece in the interval 1892–1992. Journal of
Geophysical Research, 102, 24571–24588.
Dia, A.N., Cohen, A.S., O’Nions, R.K. & Jackson, J.A. 1997. Rates of uplift
investigated through 230 Th dating in the Gulf of Corinth (Greece). Chemical
Geology, 138, 171–184.
Duermeijer, C.E., Krijgsman, W., Langereis, C.G., Meulenkamp, J.E.,
Triantaphyllou, M.V. & Zachariasse, W.J. 1999. A Late Pleistocene
clockwise rotation phase of Zakynthos (Greece) and implications for the
evolution of the western Aegean arc. Earth and Planetary Science Letters,
173, 315–331.
 N O R M A L FAU LT I N G , G U L F O F C O R I N T H
Gallup, C.D., Edwards, R.L. & Johnson, R.G. 1994. . The timing of high sea
levels over the past *8200,000 years. Science, 263, 796–800.
Gawthorpe, R.L., Fraser, A.J. & Collier, R.E.Ll. 1994. Sequence stratigraphy
in active extensional basins: implications for the interpretation of ancient
basin-fills. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 11, 642–658.
Goldsworthy, M. & Jackson, J.A. 2001. Migration of activity within normal
fault systems: examples from the Quaternary of mainland Greece. Journal of
Structural Geology, 23, 489–506.
Hatzfeld, D., Karakostas, V. & Ziaza, M. et al. 2000. Microseismicity and
faulting geometry in the Gulf of Corinth (Greece). Geophysical Journal
International, 141, 438–456.
Higgs, W. 1988. Syn-sedimentary structural controls on basin deformation in the
Gulf of Corinth. Greece. Basin Research, 1, 155–165.
Hubert, A., King, G.C.P., Armijo, R. & Meyer, B. 1996. Fault reactivation, stress
interaction and rupture propagation in the 1981 Corinth earthquake sequence.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 142, 573–586.
Imbrie, J., Hays, J.D. & Martinson, D.G. et al. 1984. The orbital theory of
Pleistocene climate: support from a revised chronology of the marine 18 O
records. In: Berger, A.L., Imbrie, J., Hays, J., Kukla, G. & Saltzman, B.
(eds) Milankovitch and Climate, Part 1. Reidel, Dordrecht, 269–305.
Jackson, J.A. & McKenzie, D.P. 1983. The geometrical evolution of normal fault
systems. Journal of Structural Geology, 11, 15–36.
Jackson, J.A. & White, N.J. 1989. Normal faulting in the upper crust:
observations from regions of active extension. Journal of Structural Geology,
11, 15–36.
Jackson, J.A., Gagnepain, J., Houseman, G., King, G.C.P., Papadimitriou, P.,
Soufleris, C. & Virieux, J. 1982a. Seismicity, normal faulting, and the
geomorphological development of the Gulf of Corinth (Greece): the Corinth
earthquakes of February and March 1981. Earth and Planetary Science
Letters, 57, 377–397.
Jackson, J.A., King, G.C.P. & Vita-Finzi, C. 1982b. The neotectonics of the
Aegean: an alternative view. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 61,
303–318.
Keraudren, B. & Sorel, D. 1987. The terraces of Corinth (Greece)—a detailed
record of eustatic sea-level variations during the last 500 000 years. Marine
Geology, 77, 99–107.
Kershaw, S. & Guo, L. 2001. Marine notches in coastal cliffs: indicators of
relative sea-level change, Perachora Peninsula, central Greece. Marine
Geology, 179, 213–228.
King, G.C.P., Ouyang, Z.X. & Papadimitriou, P. et al. 1985. The evolution of
the Gulf of Corinth (Greece): an aftershock study of the 1981 earthquakes.
Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 80, 677–693.
Leeder, M.R., Seger, M. & Stark, C.P. 1991. Sedimentology and tectonic
geomorphology adjacent to active and inactive normal faults in the Megara
basin and Alkyonides Gulf, Central Greece. Journal of the Geological
Society, London, 148, 331–343.
Leeder, M.R., Harris, T. & Kirkby, M.J. 1998. Sediment supply and climate
change: implications for basin stratigraphy. Basin Research, 10, 7–18.
Leeder, M.R., Collier, R.E.Ll., Aziz, L.H.A., Trout, M., Ferentinos, G.,
Papatheodorou, G. & Lyberis, E. 2002. Tectono-sedimentary processes
along an active marine/lacustrine half-graben margin: Alkyonides Gulf, E.
Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Basin Research, 14, 25–41.
Leeder, M.R., McNeill, L.C., Collier, R.E.Ll., Portman, C., Rowe, P.J.,
Andrews, J.E. & Gawthorpe, R.L. 2003. Corinth rift margin uplift: new
evidence from Late Quaternary marine shorelines. Geophysical Research
Letters, 30, 1611–1614.
McCluskey, S., Balassanian, S. & Barka, A. et al. 2000. Global positioning
system constraints on plate kinematics and dynamics in the eastern
Mediterranean and Caucusus. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105,
5695–5719.
McNeill, L.C. & Collier, R.E.Ll. 2004. Uplift and slip rates of the eastern Eliki
fault segment, Gulf of Corinth, Greece, inferred from Holocene and
Pleistocene terraces. Journal of the Geological Society of London, xx,
xx–xxx.
Morewood, N.C. & Roberts, G.P. 1999. Lateral propagation of the surface trace
of the South Alkyonides normal fault segment, central Greece: its impact on
models of fault growth and displacement–length relationships. Journal of
Structural Geology, 21, 635–652.
Morewood, N.C. & Roberts, G.P. 2001. Comparison of surface slip and focal
mechanism data along normal faults: an example from the eastern Gulf of
Received 18 June 2004; revised typescript accepted 25 August 2004.
Scientific editing by Haakon Fossen
View publication stats
13
Corinth, Greece. Journal of Structural Geology, 23, 473–487.
Morewood, N.C. & Roberts, G.P. 2002. Surface observations of active normal
fault propagation: implications for growth. Journal of the Geological Society,
London, 159, 263–272.
Papatheoderou, G. & Ferentinos, G. 1993. Sedimentation processes and basin-
filling depositional architecture in an active asymmetric graben: Strava
graben, Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Basin Research, 5, 235–253.
Peirano, A., Morri, C., Mastronuzzi, G. & Bianchi, C.N. 1998. The coral
Cladocora caespitosa (Anthozoa, Scleractinia) as a bioherm builder in the
Mediterranean Sea. Memorie Descrittive della Carta Geologica d’Italia, 52,
59–74.
Perissoratis, C., Mitropoulos, D. & Angelopoulos, L. 1986. Marine geological
research at the eastern Corinthiakos Gulf. Geological and Geophysical
Research, Special Issue, 381–401.
Pirazzoli, P.A. 1986a. Marine notches. In: van de Plassche, Q. (ed.) Sea Level
Research: a Manual for the Collection and Evaluation of Data. GeoBooks,
Norwich, 361–400.
Pirazzoli, P.A. 1986b. The early Byzantine tectonic paroxysm. Zeitschrift für
Geomorphologie, Supplement, 62, 31–49.
Pirazzoli, P.A., Stiros, S.C., Arnold, M., Laborel, J., Laborel-Deguen, F. &
Papageorgiou, S. 1994. Episodic uplift deduced from Holocene shorelines
in the Perachora Peninsula, Corinth area, Greece. Tectonophysics, 229,
201–209.
Portman, C.P. 2004. Pleistocene geology, neotectonics and palaeoenvironments of
microbial bioherms, Perachora, Greece. PhD thesis, University of East
Anglia, Norwich.
Richter, D.K., Herforth, A. & Ott, E. 1979. Pleistozane, brackische Blaugru-
nalgenriffe mit Rivularia haematites auf der Perachorahalbinsel bei Korinth
(Greichenland). Neues Jahrburgh für Geologie und Palaontologie, Abhan-
dlungen, 159, 14–40.
Roberts, G.P. 1996. Noncharacteristic normal faulting surface ruptures from the
Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Journal of Geophysical Research, 101, 25255–
25267.
Roberts, S. & Jackson, J. 1991. Active normal faulting in central Greece: an
overview. In: Roberts, A.M., Yielding, G. & Freeman, B. (eds) The
Geometry of Normal Faults. Geological Society, London, Special Publica-
tions, 56, 125–142.
Roberts, G.P. & Koukouvelas, I. 1996. Structural and seismological segmenta-
tion of the Gulf of Corinth fault system: implications for models of fault
growth. Annales Geofisica, 39, 619–646.
Roberts, G.P. & Stewart, I.S. 1994. Uplift, deformation and fluid involvement
within an active normal fault zone in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece. Journal of
the Geological Society, London, 151, 531–542.
Sakellariou, D., Lykousis, V. & Papanikolaou, D. 1998. Neotectonic structure
and evolution of the Gulf of Alkyonides, central Greece. Bulletin of the
Geological Society of Greece, 32, 241–250.
Siddall, M., Rohling, E.J., Almogi-Labin, A., Hemleben, Ch., Meischner, D.,
Schmelzer, I. & Smeed, D.A. 2003. Sea-level fluctuations during the last
glacial cycle. Nature, 423, 853–858.
Stefatos, A., Papatheodorou, G., Ferentinos, G., Leeder, M. & Collier, R.
2002. Seismic reflection imaging of active offshore faults in the Gulf of
Corinth: their seismotectonic significance. Basin Research, 14, 487–502.
Stiros, S.C. 2001. The AD 365 Crete earthquake and possible seismic clustering
during the fourth to sixth centuries AD in the Eastern Mediterranean: a
review of historical and archaeological data. Journal of Structural Geology,
23, 545–562.
Taymaz, T., Jackson, J.A. & McKenzie, D.P. 1991. Active tectonics of the north
and central Aegean. Geophysical Journal International, 106, 433–490.
Trenhaile, A.S. 1987. The Geomorphology of Rocky Coasts. Oxford University
Press, New York.
Vita-Finzi, C. 1993. Evaluating Late Quaternary uplift in Greece and Cyprus. In:
Pritchard, H.M., Alabaster, T., Harris, N.B.W. & Neary, C.R. (eds)
Magmatic Processes and Plate Tectonics. Geological Society, London,
Special Publications, 76, 417–424.
Vita-Finzi, C. & King, G.C.P. 1985. The seismicity, geomorphology and
structural evolution of the Corinth area of Greece. Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society of London, Part A, 314, 379–407.
Waelbroeck, C., Labeyrie, L. & Michel, E. et al. 2002. Sea-level and deep
water temperauture changes derived from benthic foraminifera isotopic
records. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 295–305.