Ev. Artyushkov et Na. Morner, Steep bending of continental lithosphere without its stretching or plate collision: an indication for lithospheric failure and phase transitions, TERRA NOVA, 10(2), 1998, pp. 101-105
The Black Sea and Peri-Caspian basin include steep slopes which are 4-10 km
high and only 20-30 km wide. They formed without extension-related normal
faulting beneath the slopes and convergence in the adjacent regions. In the
Peri-Caspian basin a steep bending of the lithosphere was associated with
rapid crustal subsidence which evolved over a few million years. The large
intensity and high rate of the deformations indicate a temporary loss of hi
gh rigidity in the lithospheric layer which occurred independently of plate
-boundary-related processes. The origin of this phenomenon presents a speci
al problem. A tentative explanation is that a lithospheric failure in cool
intraplate regions can result from infiltration of volatiles from the asthe
nosphere and rapid metamorphism in mafic rocks in the lower crust.