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Advanced Studies in Structural Geology: The Role of Tectonics on...
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Advanced Studies in Structural Geology: The Role of Tectonics on Applied Geology Αspects

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 11957

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ilias Lazos

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
School of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
Interests: active tectonics; crustal deformation; GNSS analysis; seismotectonics; tectonic geomorphology; structural geology; geological mapping
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Emmanouil Steiakakis

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Guest Editor
School of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 731 00 Chania, Greece
Interests: geologic hazards; mining geotechnics; hydrogeology
Dr. George Xiroudakis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Mineral Resources Engineering Department, Techical University of Crete, Chania, Greece
Interests: rock mechanics; fracture mechanics; mining engineering; rock cutting; underground stability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sotirios Sboras

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Geodynamics, National Observatory of Athens, Lofos Nymfon, Thessio, Athens, Greece
Interests: active tectonics; geodynamics; seismotectonics; structural geology; tectonic geomorphology; plate tectonics; palaeoseismology; seismic hazard

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tectonics is a crucial research field, holding a key-role in applied geology, as it provides qualitative and quantitative information, which is decisive in various types of studies. In particular, these studies are related to:

  • Geological Hazards: Natural disasters are linked to tectonic processes; their most important outcome is the earthquakes, as well as other secondary effects such as volcanic eruptions, landslides, and tsunamis. In all the above cases, performing tectonic analysis is essential to understand the nature of these hazards and to mitigate their impact on human settlements and infrastructure.
  • Groundwater Resources: The active tectonics have important effects on aquifer creation and groundwater flow. The detailed determination of tectonic structures is necessary to locate and manage these resources for human consumption and agriculture.
  • Geotechnical Engineering: Tectonic activity impacts the rock and soil stability. Additionally, the importance of structural geology in slopes, foundations for buildings, and pavements have been recognized. However, the integration of structural geology mapping and theory in all stages of engineering projects remains a challenge.
  • Mineral and Energy Resources: Tectonic movements form geological structures that trap and concentrate mineral and energy resources such as oil, gas, coal, and precious metals. Tectonic studies are important as guides for economic geologists searching for fuels and ore deposits of metallic and nonmetallic resources.
 

Dr. Ilias Lazos
Dr. Emmanouil Steiakakis
Dr. George Xiroudakis
Dr. Sotirios Sboras
Guest Editors

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • faults/fault zones
  • fault-induced slope failures
  • underground aquifers
  • fracture frequency
  • rock mass rating
  • fault rupture hazard
  • hydrocarbons trap and migration
  • constructions foundations
  • tunnelling
  • tectonically controlled ore deposits
  • hazard mitigation

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 10183 KiB  
Article
Tectonic Inversion and Deformation Differences in the Transition from Ionian Basin to Apulian Platform: The Example from Ionian Islands, Greece
by Avraam Zelilidis, Nicolina Bourli, Elena Zoumpouli and Angelos G. Maravelis
Geosciences 2024, 14(8), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14080203 - 31 Jul 2024
Viewed by 790
Abstract
The studied areas (the Ionian Islands: Paxoi, Lefkas, Kefalonia, and Zakynthos), are situated at the western ends of the Ionian Basin in contact with the Apulian Platform and named as Apulian Platform Margins. The proposed model is based on fieldwork, previously published data, [...] Read more.
The studied areas (the Ionian Islands: Paxoi, Lefkas, Kefalonia, and Zakynthos), are situated at the western ends of the Ionian Basin in contact with the Apulian Platform and named as Apulian Platform Margins. The proposed model is based on fieldwork, previously published data, and balanced geologic cross-sections. Late Jurassic to Early Eocene NNW–SSE extension, followed by Middle Eocene to Middle Miocene (NNW–SSE compression, characterizes the Ionian basin). The space availability, the distance of the Ionian Thrust from the Kefalonia transform fault and the altitude between the Apulian Platform and the Ionian Basin that was produced during the extensional regime were the main factors for the produced structures due to inversion tectonics. In Zakynthos Island, the space availability (far from the Kefalonia Transform Fault), and the reactivation of normal bounding faults formed an open geometry anticline (Vrachionas anticline) and a foreland basin (Kalamaki thrust foreland basin). In Kefalonia Island, the space from the Kefalonia Transform Fault was limited, and the tectonic inversion formed anticline geometries (Aenos Mountain), nappes (within the Aenos Mountain) and small foreland basins (Argostoli gulf), all within the margins. In Lefkas Island, the lack of space, very close to the Kefalonia Transform Fault, led to the movement of the Ionian Basin over the margins, attempting to overthrust the Apulian Platform. Because the obstacle between the basin and the platform was very large, the moving part of the Ionian Basin strongly deformed producing nappes and anticlines in the external part of the Ionian Basin, and a very narrow foreland basin (Ionian Thrust foreland basin). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Studies in Structural Geology: The Role of Tectonics on Applied Geology Αspects)
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12 pages, 8799 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Relation of Cave Passage Formation to Stress-Field: Spatio-Temporal Correlation of Speleogenesis with Active Tectonics in Asprorema Cave (Mt. Pinovo, Greece)
by Georgios Lazaridis, Emmanouil Katrivanos, Despoina Dora, Lambrini Papadopoulou, Ilias Lazos and Alexandros Chatzipetros
Geosciences 2024, 14(5), 126; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14050126 - 3 May 2024
Viewed by 1710
Abstract
Caves serve as time capsules, preserving significant markers of tectonic activity and offering insights into geological history. Fault geometries and past activations found in caves can be correlated with known deformational events in the broader area, temporally delimiting the speleogenesis. More specifically, cave [...] Read more.
Caves serve as time capsules, preserving significant markers of tectonic activity and offering insights into geological history. Fault geometries and past activations found in caves can be correlated with known deformational events in the broader area, temporally delimiting the speleogenesis. More specifically, cave passage formation is suggested to be affected by the regional stress-field. The Asprorema Cave in Northern Greece is a typical example of a fracture guided cave, with passage geometry influenced by relative sidewall movements, revealing these discontinuities as faults. This study constructs the timeframe and conceptual model of speleogenesis in relation to tectonic events, geomorphological evolution and hydrological zones, and verifies its relation to the stress-field. Active tectonics, mineralogy and cave geomorphology are investigated. Results suggest syntectonic speleogenesis under phreatic and epiphreatic conditions. The absence of corrosion on fault slip surfaces implies recent activations post cave’s shift to the vadose zone. Structural analysis identifies three main neotectonic phases: NNW-SSE striking faults (oldest group of structures), NE-SW striking faults with dextral strike-slip movement (post-middle Miocene), and NE-SW striking normal faults indicating extensional stress-regime (Quartenary). The last two phases affect cave passage shape causing wall displacement, highlighting passage formation along discontinuities perpendicular to the horizontal minimum stress axis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Studies in Structural Geology: The Role of Tectonics on Applied Geology Αspects)
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19 pages, 13818 KiB  
Article
The East Variscan Shear Zone (EVSZ) and Its Regional Mylonitic Complex: A New Geodynamic Interpretation of the Variscan Axial Zone in Sardinia (Italy)?
by Federico Mantovani and Franco Marco Elter
Geosciences 2024, 14(5), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14050113 - 24 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1428
Abstract
Sardinia (Italy) represents one of the most comprehensive cross-sections of the Variscan orogen. The metamorphic and structural complexity characterizing its axial zone still presents many unresolved issues in the current state of knowledge. The data presented from the structural study of the entire [...] Read more.
Sardinia (Italy) represents one of the most comprehensive cross-sections of the Variscan orogen. The metamorphic and structural complexity characterizing its axial zone still presents many unresolved issues in the current state of knowledge. The data presented from the structural study of the entire axial zone of this area have allowed the authors to propose a subdivision into two new structural complexes. In particular, a younger complex is identified as the New Gneiss Complex, containing remnants of an older and higher-grade metamorphic complex defined as the Old Gneiss Complex. The structural and geometric relationships between the two complexes suggest the redefinition of the axial zone of Sardinia as part of the intracontinental East Variscan Shear Zone/medium-temperature Regional Mylonitic Complex. Comparable relationships are also highlighted in many other areas of the Variscan chain (e.g., Morocco, Corsica, Maures Massif, and Argentera Massif). Extending this new structural interpretation to other axial zones of the South European Variscan orogen could provide new hints for reconstructing the collision boundaries between Gondwana and Laurussia in the late Carboniferous to the early Permian periods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Studies in Structural Geology: The Role of Tectonics on Applied Geology Αspects)
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16 pages, 39381 KiB  
Article
How Did the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic Tectonism Constrain the Carboniferous Stratigraphic Evolution in the Eastern Qaidam Basin, NW China?
by Chang Zhong, Xiaoyin Tang and Jiaqi Wang
Geosciences 2024, 14(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14020031 - 26 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1805
Abstract
The eastern Qaidam Basin (EQB), along with its surrounding orogenic belts, witnessed complicated tectonic movements in the period from the late Paleozoic to the early Mesozoic. As strategic succeeding strata, the Carboniferous strata (CST) in the EQB have gradually become a research hotspot [...] Read more.
The eastern Qaidam Basin (EQB), along with its surrounding orogenic belts, witnessed complicated tectonic movements in the period from the late Paleozoic to the early Mesozoic. As strategic succeeding strata, the Carboniferous strata (CST) in the EQB have gradually become a research hotspot in recent years. However, the question of how tectonism controlled the tempo-spatial evolution of the CST has yet to be studied. To resolve these issues, we collated statistics related to unconformities, seismic interpretation, and basin modeling in this study. The results show that the structure of the CST was mostly controlled by NNE-striking faults, namely the Zongjia and Ainan Fault, in the period from the Carboniferous to the Triassic time. During the Carboniferous time, the sedimentation of the CST was controlled by medium-high angle potential normal faults. The CST experienced two stages of tectonic subsidence and subsequent burial: the highest average subsidence and burial rate of 45 m/Ma and 12 m/Ma occurred at 340~285 Ma, decreasing to 15 m/Ma and 7.5 m/Ma between 305 Ma and 250 Ma. However, the maximum burial (~5500 m) took place at ~250 Ma. From the end of the late Permian to the late Triassic (254~195 Ma), the overall exhumation rate of the CST has averaged 38.71 m/Ma, and 75 m/Ma in the southern margin of the Huobuxun Depression. The CST near the piedmont margins of the EQB suffered essential denudation at 254~195 Ma, resulting in small amounts of the residual CST. In these areas, the CST were deformed with a steepening dip during this time and were characterized by the combinations of syncline-anticlinal asymmetric folds with the high-angle interlimb. These findings indicated that the tempo-spatial evolution of the CST was possibly influenced by the sedimentary and tectonic transition, and was a combined response to Paleo-Tethys Ocean subduction, and arc-continental collisions since the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic periods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Studies in Structural Geology: The Role of Tectonics on Applied Geology Αspects)
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34 pages, 74936 KiB  
Article
Accuracy of Structure-from-Motion/Multiview Stereo Terrain Models: A Practical Assessment for Applications in Field Geology
by Terry L. Pavlis and Laura F. Serpa
Geosciences 2023, 13(7), 217; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13070217 - 23 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1625
Abstract
We assess the accuracy of Structure-from-Motion/Multiview stereo (SM) terrain models acquired ad hoc or without high-resolution ground control to analyze their usage as a base for inexpensive 3D bedrock geologic mapping. Our focus is on techniques that can be utilized in field projects [...] Read more.
We assess the accuracy of Structure-from-Motion/Multiview stereo (SM) terrain models acquired ad hoc or without high-resolution ground control to analyze their usage as a base for inexpensive 3D bedrock geologic mapping. Our focus is on techniques that can be utilized in field projects without the use of heavy and/or expensive equipment or the placement of ground control in logistically challenging sites (e.g., steep cliff faces or remote settings). We use a Terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey as a basis for the comparison of two types of SM models: (1) models developed from images acquired in a chartered airplane flight with ground control referenced by natural objects located on Google Earth scenes; and (2) drone flights with a georeference established solely from camera positions located by conventional, differentially corrected Global Navigation Satellite systems (GNSS). We find that all our SM models are indistinguishable in scale from the LiDAR reference model. The SM models do, however, show rigid body translations and rotations, with translations generally within the 1–5 m size of the natural objects used for ground control, the resolution of the GNSS receivers, or both. The rigid body rotations can be attributed to a poor imaging plan, which can be avoided with survey planning. Analyses of point densities in various models show a limitation of Terrestrial LiDAR point clouds as a mapping base due to the rapid falloff of resolution with distance. In contrast, SM models are characterized by relatively uniform point densities controlled by camera optics, the numbers of images, and the distance from the target. This uniform density is the product of the Multiview stereo step in SM processing that fills areas between key points and is important for bedrock geologic mapping because it affords direct interpretation on a point cloud at a relatively uniform scale throughout a model. Our results indicate that these simple methods allow SM model construction to be accurate to the range of conventional GNSS with resolutions to the submeter, even cm, scale depending on data acquisition parameters. Thus, SM models can, and should, serve as a base for high-resolution geologic mapping, particularly in a steep terrain where conventional techniques fail. Our SM models appear to provide accurate visualizations of geologic features over km scales that allow detailed geologic mapping in 3D with a relative accuracy to the decimeter or centimeter level and absolute positioning in the 2–5 m precision of GNSS; a geometric precision that will allow unprecedented new studies of any geologic system where geometry is the fundamental data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Studies in Structural Geology: The Role of Tectonics on Applied Geology Αspects)
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Review

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72 pages, 45578 KiB  
Review
The Alpine Geological History of the Hellenides from the Triassic to the Present—Compression vs. Extension, a Dynamic Pair for Orogen Structural Configuration: A Synthesis
by Adamantios Kilias
Geosciences 2024, 14(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14010010 - 27 Dec 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2694
Abstract
In this paper, the Hellenic orogenic belt’s main geological structure and architecture of deformation are presented in an attempt to achive a better interpretation of its geotectonic evolution during Alpine orogeny. This study was based not only on recent research that I and [...] Read more.
In this paper, the Hellenic orogenic belt’s main geological structure and architecture of deformation are presented in an attempt to achive a better interpretation of its geotectonic evolution during Alpine orogeny. This study was based not only on recent research that I and my collaborators conducted on the deformational history of the Hellenides but also on more modern views published by other colleagues concerning the Alpine geotectonic reconstruction of the Hellenides. The structural evolution started during the Permo–Triassic time with the continental breaking of the supercontinent Pangea and the birth of the Neotethyan ocean realm. Bimodal magmatism and A-type granitoid intrusions accompanied the initial stages of continental rifting, followed by Triassic–Jurassic multiphase shallow- and deep-water sediment deposition on both formed continental margins. These margins were the Apulian margin, containing Pelagonia in the western part of the Neotethyan Ocean, and the European margin, containing continental parts of the Serbo-Macedonian and Rhodope massifs in the eastern part of the Neotethyan ocean. Deformation and metamorphism are recorded in six main deformational stages from the Early–Middle Jurassic to the present day, beginning with Early–Middle Jurassic Neotethyan intra-oceanic subduction and ensimatic island arc magmatism, as well as the formation of a suprasubduction oceanic lithosphere. Compression, nappe stacking, calc-alkaline magmatism, and high-pressure metamorphic events related to subduction processes alternated successively over time with extension, orogenic collapse, medium- to high-temperature metamorphism, adakitic and calc-alkaline magmatism, and partial migmatization related to the uplift and exhumation of deep crustal levels as tectonic windows or metamorphic core complexes. A S- to SW-ward migration of dynamic peer compression vs. extension is recognized during the Tertiary Alpine orogenic stages in the Hellenides. It is suggested that all ophiolite belts in the Hellenides originated from a single source, and this was the Neotethyan Meliata/Maliac-Axios/Vardar ocean basin, parts of which obducted during the Mid–Late Jurassic on both continental margins, Apulian (containing Pelagonia) and European (containing units of the Serbo-Macedonian/Rhodope nappe stack), W-SW-ward and E-NE-ward, respectively. In this case, the ophiolite nappes should be considered far-traveled nappes on the continental parts of the Hellenides associated with the deposition of Middle–Late Jurassic ophiolitic mélanges in basins at the front of the adjacent ophiolite thrust sheets. The upper limit of the ophiolite emplacement are the Mid–Upper Jurassic time(Callovian–Oxfordian), as shown by the deposition of the Kimmeridgian–Tithonian Upper Jurassic sedimentary carbonate series on the top of the obducted ophiolite nappes. The lowermost Rhodope Pangaion unit is regarded as a continuation of the marginal part of the Apulian Plate (External Hellenides) which was underthrust during the Paleocene–Eocene time below the unified Sidironero–Kerdylia unit and the Pelagonian nappe, following the Paleocene–Eocene subduction and closure of a small ocean basin in the west of Pelagonia (the Pindos–Cyclades ocean basin). It preceded the Late Cretaceous subduction of the Axios/Vardar ocean remnants below the European continental margin and the final closure of the Axios/Vardar ocean during the Paleocene–Eocene time, which was associated with the overthrusting of the European origins Vertiskos–Kimi nappe on the Sidironero–Kerdylia nappe and, subsequently, the final collision of the European margin and the Pelagonian fragment. Subsequently, during a synorogenic Oligocene–Miocene extension associated with compression and new subduction processes at the more external orogenic parts, the Olympos–Ossa widow and the Cyclades, together with the lower-most Rhodope Pangaion unit, were exhumed as metamorphic core complexes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Studies in Structural Geology: The Role of Tectonics on Applied Geology Αspects)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: The East Variscan Shear Zone (EVSZ) and its related melange: a new geodynamic interpretation about the Variscan Axial Zone in Sardinia (Italy)?
Authors: Federico Mantovani; Franco Marco Elter
Affiliation: Department of Earth, Environment and Life Science (DISTAV), University of Genova, 16132 Genova, Italy
Abstract: Sardinia (Italy) represents one of the most comprehensive cross sections of the Variscan orogen.The metamorphic and structural complexity characterizing its axial zone, in the current state of knowledge, still presents many unresolved issues. The data presented from the structural study of the entire axial zone of this area, allowed the authors to propose a subdivision into two new structural complexes. In particular, a younger complex is identified (New Gneiss Complex) containing remnants of an older and higher-grade metamorphic complex, defined as the Old Gneiss Complex. The structural and geometric relationships between the two complexes suggest the redefinition of the axial zone of Sardinia as a synkinematic to the intracontinental East Variscan Shear Zone/medium temperature Mélange . Comparable relationships are also highlighted in many other areas of the Variscan chain (e.g. Corsica, Maures Massif, Argentera Massif). Extending this new structural interpretation to other axial zones of the South European Variscan orogen,could provide a smaller-scale geodynamic framework for the reconstruction of the collision boundaries between Gondwana and Laurussia in the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian

Title: Crustal-scale duplexing beneath the central Lesser Caucasus orogen, Georgia
Authors: Victor Alania; Onise Enukidze; Thomas Gusmeo; Jonas Ruh; Tamar Beridze
Affiliation: 1 Institute of Geophysics, I. Javakhishvili State University, Tbilisi 2 Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna 3 Institute of Marine Sciences, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain 4 Institute of Geology I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Abstract: -

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