A geologic reconnaissance of the Cycladic blueschist belt, Greece

The Cycladic blueschist belt consists of two distinctive segments separated by a broad zone of superposed granitic and high-temperature metamorphic rocks. The northern segment contains early metamorphic fold axes and parallel glaucophane lineations that trend ∼060° with a progressive increase in metamorphism toward the southeast. The southern segment contains similar fold axes and glaucophane lineations that trend ∼010° with an apparent increase in metamorphism toward the northwest. Radiometric dating of metamorphic minerals from both segments give apparent ages of about 40 to 80 m.y.

These data suggest the existence of late Mesozoic or early Cenozoic subduction zones in the Aegean region that subsequently collided.