Giant Quasi-Ring Mantle Structure Beneath the Eastern Mediterranean: Interpretation of New Seismic Tomography, Magnetic Field, and Paleobiogeographic Data

Abstract: The article presents a quantitative reinterpretation of the residual satellite gravity anomaly. Additional necessary confirmation is provided by the distribution of anomalies in the regional magnetic field ΔZ, reduced to a height of 2.5 km above sea level. Based on an analysis of detailed paleomagnetic studies, the average rotation rate of the surface projection of the deep structure over the past 70 Ma is estimated at about 18 mm/year. The authors have compiled a paleobiogeographic map showing the counterclockwise displacement of the typical Ethiopian fauna to the northwest. The influence of the rotating deep structure on stress in the overlying blocks of the Earth’s crust and lithosphere before the destructive earthquakes with magnitudes M = 7.9 and M = 7.8 that occurred on February 6, 2023 in Turkey, is shown. The synthesis of seismic tomography profiles enabled the construction of a seismotomographic scheme for locating of the deep structure. This scheme agrees with the analysis of satellite gravity and marine/terrestrial gravity studies, geoid anomalies, magnetic anomaly distributions, paleomagnetic data, regional GPS vector directions, seismological and tectonic-structural, and mineralogical-petrological data. The integrative combination of all these factors is indisputable to confirm the existence of an anomalous deep rotating structure beneath the Eastern Mediterranean and adjacent regions.