The eastern Mediterranean region is in the embryonic stages of continent-to-continent collision, and has a pristine Miocene–Quaternary tectonic and stratigraphic record which is not overprinted by pervasive collisional processes often seen in more mature orogens, thus can serve as a model for ancient orogenic belts. This manuscript is based on the interpretation and mapping of ~38,500 km of seismic reflection profiles across the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and provides a holistic synthesis of the tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the region since the Miocene. The synthesis is presented using three regional tectonic maps (time slices at pre-Messinian Miocene, Messinian and uppermost Messinian–Quaternary) and two regional isopach maps (time slices at Messinian and uppermost Messinian–Quaternary), six tectonostratigraphic charts and six geological cross-sections across the forearc region north of the greater Cyprus Arc. These data showed that the southern margins of the Eurasian Plate in the Miocene and the Aegean–Anatolian Microplate during the Pliocene–Quaternary following the extrusion of Anatolia have changed gradually from subduction of the Afro–Arabian Plate to collision, first the Arabian Plate with the Eurasian Plate along the Bitlis–Zagros fold-thrust belt, and now the incipient collision between the African Plate and the Aegean–Anatolian Microplate along the greater Cyprus Arc, including the Florence Rise. During the pre-Messinian Miocene, the strain appears to be by minor oblique slip on thrusts, but during the uppermost Messinian–Quaternary the strain becomes partitioned between thrusts and new strike-slip faults, with ultimately the strike-slip faults cutting across the dying thrusts. The Messinian interval was marked by Mediterranean-wide tectonic quiescence, during a period of remarkable variations of base-level and the deposition of shallow-water evaporite succession within deep basins. During the uppermost Messinian–Quaternary 5–6 regionally arcuate convex to the south oblique fault zones developed across the eastern sector of the forearc region. The eastern limbs of these prominent fault zones exhibit sinistral strike-slip and normal-sense dip-slip, whereas the western limbs of the fault zones exhibit dextral strike slip and normal- and reverse-sense dip-slip. In the east, these fault zones link with the horse-tail splays of the East Anatolian fault zone. These oppositely moving strike-slip zones create distinctive V-shaped conjugate fault patterns across Central Anatolia extending southward into the central portion of the eastern Mediterranean region north of the Cyprus Arc. It is speculated that these V-shaped conjugate fault patterns represent the upper crustal expression of an incipient minor slab tear immediately west of the Island of Cyprus. The Anaximander Mountains (sensu lato) and the Rhodes and Finike basins developed across the western sector of the forearc at the junction of the Hellenic and Cyprus arcs. These structures show extreme tectonic activity during the uppermost Messinian–Quaternary, with major subsidence of the Rhodes and Finike basins, and concomitant uplift of the Anaximander Mountains.

地中海东部地区处于大陆碰撞的萌芽阶段，具有原始的中新世-第四纪构造和地层记录，没有被更成熟的造山带中常见的普遍碰撞过程覆盖，因此可以作为一个模型古代造山带。这份手稿基于对东地中海约 38,500 公里地震反射剖面的解释和制图，并提供了自中新世以来该地区构造和沉积演化的整体综合。综合使用三个区域构造图（前墨西拿中新世、墨西拿和最上层墨西拿第四纪的时间切片）和两个区域等厚图（墨西拿和最上墨西拿第四纪的时间切片）呈现，横跨大塞浦路斯弧以北的弧前区的六个构造地层图和六个地质横截面。这些资料表明，中新世欧亚板块南缘和上新世-第四纪安纳托利亚挤压后的爱琴海-安纳托利亚微板块逐渐从非洲-阿拉伯板块的俯冲转变为碰撞，首先是阿拉伯板块与沿比特利斯-扎格罗斯褶皱冲断带的欧亚板块，现在是非洲板块与大塞浦路斯弧沿线的爱琴海-安纳托利亚微板块之间的初期碰撞，包括佛罗伦萨隆起。在前墨西拿中新世期间，应变似乎是由逆冲断层上的轻微斜滑引起的，但在墨西拿-第四纪最上层，应变在逆冲断层和新的走滑断层之间分配，最终走滑断层穿过垂死的逆冲断层。墨西尼阶以地中海范围内的构造静止为标志，在一个显着变化的基础水平和深盆地内浅水蒸发岩层序的沉积期间。在最上部的墨西拿-第四纪 5-6 期间，弧前区东段形成了向南斜断层带凸出的区域弧形。这些突出断裂带的东翼表现为左旋走滑和正常倾滑，而西翼则表现为右旋走滑和正反倾滑。在东部，这些断层带与东安纳托利亚断层带的马尾张开连接。这些相反移动的走滑带在安纳托利亚中部形成了独特的 V 形共轭断层模式，向南延伸到塞浦路斯弧以北的地中海东部地区的中部。据推测，这些 V 形共轭断层模式代表了紧邻塞浦路斯岛以西的早期小板块撕裂的上地壳表现。阿那克西曼德山脉（sensu lato ) 和 Rhodes 和 Finike 盆地在希腊和塞浦路斯弧的交界处横跨前弧的西部部分发育。这些结构在最上层的墨西拿-第四纪期间显示出极端的构造活动，伴随着罗德和菲尼克盆地的重大下沉，以及伴随着阿那克西曼德山脉的隆起。