Download On the Origin of the Mediterranean Sea and its Surrounding

Microsymposium 36, MS042, 2002
On the Origin of the Mediterranean Sea and its Surrounding
Mountain Ranges (i.e. the Anti-Pacific) Exclusively by Permanently
West – East Acting Forces as Consequence of the TRURNIT – Cycle
Heinz – Peter Jöns, Geographisches Institut der Universität
Würzburg, Germany
Email: [email protected]
As stated already last year during this conference, it is a fact that tidal forces of the
Earth – Moon double system act w e s t w a r d on Earth (i.e. within the Earth’s
hydrosphere a n d lithosphere) whereas the off-centre rotation of the Earth – Moon
double system ultimately results in an e a s t w a r d –facing rolling-off of the
Earth’s upper mantle with respect to the Earth’s lithosphere (i.e. the “crust” s.l.).
That relative movement happens very probably along the boundary between the
uppermost mantle and the lowermost “crust”. Co-acting of these forces ultimately
causes a global West – East trending zone of young (i.e. alpine) mountain ranges
and depressions of various dimensions, the so called Tethys suture. The “eastern”
part of that suture consists of the Pacific which permanently propagates eastward.
The “western” part of that suture is mainly indicated by the Mediterraneis and its
unique set of large-scale features, i.e. the Western Mediterranean Sea and its
surrounding alpine mountain ranges which are arrange schlierically with respect to
the general axis of that system. As these features form the Anti-Pacific they are
caused by an impulse which permanently carries out the same general movement as
the Pacific does, i.e. it propagates permanently eastward, too.
In general the whole sequence of features which forms the Overall-Mediterraneis
consists of the following large-scale features:
- the Caribbean,
- the Ogygis (i.e. the southern part of the northern Atlantic with its
Jurassic sea floor),
- the Iberia,
- the Alpia, and
- the Carpatia.
Speaking in general this alignment of mega structures consists of a chain of a set of
sub-features which is repeated again and again: In front of the eastward-facing
activity there is always a young alpine mountain range which is always bent. In the
rear of this mountain range there is always a depression which is either filled with
water (e.g. Western Mediterranean Sea) or with young/recent sediments (e.g.
Pannonian plain, Hungaria). The back of that sub-structure is always “open”. If
volcanism occurs it mainly tends to happen along the inner flank of the mountain
Microsymposium 36, MS042, 2002
range. This set of features occurs repeatedly along the entire Tethys suture and has
formed the Overall-Mediterraneis with its young alpine mountain ranges and their
typical spatial distribution.
After opening of the Atlantic Ocean which happened and still happens due to ocean
floor spreading, i.e. due to convection of the Earth’s mantle (i.e. WILSON –
Sequence) the Overall-Mediterraneis was subdivided into two parts: West of the
Atlantic spreading axis the Caribbean set of features continued its geodynamic
evolution and is right now already influenced by the eastward propagating of the
Pacific structure. East of that spreading axis the Mediterraneis was and still is under
construction, mainly along the suture between North Africa and the southern flank
of Europe. But this geographic position is by no means the result of a collision of
these continents because they never collided during the last TRURNIT–Cycle, i.e.
during the last 250Mill. years!
From the Carpatia the collision of the impulse with the TORNQUIST lineament
has directed the impulse into the western part of the Black Sea.
It should be pointed out that the Eastern Mediterranean Sea is a remnant of the
paleozoic/mesozoic Tethys ocean and has nothing to do with the dynamics of the
Western Mediterranean Sea at all! That’s why there are no alpine mountain ranges
in the vicinity of that part of the Mediterranean Sea.
References
Jöns. H.-P. (2001): Zur Kinematik globaler Prozesse: Der Einfluß des
Mondes auf die endogene Dynamik der Erde: Der TRURNITZyklus. – Zeitschrift für Geologische Wissenschaften (Z. geol.
Wiss.), 29 (5/6), 441 – 568, Berlin 2001.