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GAVDOS, ITS LANDSCAPE & GEOLOGY

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Limestone (plattenkalk), Southeastern Coast © A. van Roekel

Situated near to the Mediterranean Ridge and north of the Hellenic trench, Gavdos is located right at the spot where the African plate subduces under the Euroasian lithospheric plate with a speed of a few centimetres each year. As Africa keeps on moving north, scientists expect the Mediterranean Sea to close in seven million years. Crete will be the first part of the European continental plate to crash with Africa (Lybia).

Greece, the surrounding Aegean Sea and Turkey are the regions in the Mediterranean that are seismically most active. Two forces are reponsible for the large amount of earthquakes: the push from the Anatolian microplate (Turkey) and a pulling force caused by the sinking slab of the African lithosphere.