Amir Joffe, Yizhaq Makovsky, Rebecca E. Bell, Josh Steinberg

The Levant Basin, Eastern Mediterranean, has a complex geological history. The separation of Africa from Arabia, and the collision of the latter with Eurasia during the Oligocene – Miocene had significant implications for the tectono-stratigraphy of the region, as recorded in the thick, siliciclastic-dominated sequence preserved in the Levant Basin. Previous studies mostly focused on either onshore or relatively local offshore areas, with a synthesis of the interplay between plate motions and sedimentation, as largely documented in offshore geophysical and geological (i.e., borehole) data still lacking. Using multiple high-resolution, 3D seismic reflection surveys, we generated sediment thickness maps, spectral decomposition, and ISO-proportional slices that document the structural and sedimentological elements shaping the basin during the Oligocene – Miocene. More specifically, our results show that during the Early Oligocene, sedimentation was dominated by an easterly (Arabian) source, whereas the Late Oligocene to Aquitanian witnessed a shift to a southerly (African) source through the evolution of the Nile River. The Burdigalian period marked a significant tectono-stratigraphic transition period during which large-scale folding, regional faulting and renewed incision occurred. Widespread carbonate deposition during the Langhian-Serravallian was followed, during the Early Tortonian, by a catastrophic event that mostly affected the southern Levant Basin. The Late Tortonian was largely characterised by widespread submarine incision across the southern Levant Basin. Our study reveals how sedimentary systems record important clues as to complex tectonic reorganisations involving rifting, subduction, and strike-slip motion.