STRUCTURAL AND GEOPHYSICAL EXPRESSION OF THE SOLEA GRABEN, TROODOS OPHIOLITE, CYPRUS

Field studies show that extensional structures in the north-central part of the Troodos Ophiolite, including steep normal faults, grabens, dikes, and low-angle detachment faults are related to E-W (present coordinates) spreading. The Solea graben, directly north of the mafic-ultramafic rock outcrops around Mount Olympus, consists of a 10- to 15-km-wide western portion that is underlain by a low-angle detachment fault between the sheeted dike complex and the plutonic section. Structural and paleomagnetic evidence indicates that the sheeted dikes above this detachment have been rotated 40 degrees or more about subhorizontal axes. The eastern portion of the graben contains sheeted dike blocks with varying axes of rotation and significantly different style of intrusive activity. Most structural features in the graben formed simultaneously with or shortly after cessation of spreading at the graben axis based on cross-cutting ophiolitic dikes and hydrothermal mineralization. Timing of the uplift of the central part of the Troodos Ophiolite is uncertain but is probably related to the tectonic thinning of the upper crust by low-angle normal faulting. The Solea graben spreading center provides a model for the structure of modem mid-ocean ridges that are spreading amagmatically.