The Geological Society, Journal of the Geological Society, 2(164), p. 425-438, 2007
DOI: 10.1144/0016-76492006-005
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Structural and metamorphic data from the island of Amorgos (central Aegean Sea) show evidence for the existence of two distinct high-pressure units, the Metabasite Unit and the Basal Conglomerate Unit. These are exposed at the base of a thick marble sequence and overlying flysch deposits. The Metabasite Unit is characterized by a mineral assemblage of blue amphibole, garnet and clinopyroxene, indicating P-T conditions of 500-600 degrees C and > 13 kbar. It is juxtaposed below carpholite-bearing metaconglomerates and quartz-rich micaschists of the Basal Conglomerate Unit, for which metamorphic conditions of 300-450 degrees C and 10-14 kbar are estimated. The contact between the two units is interpreted as a low-angle detachment fault that accommodated top-to-the-NW sense of motion. The Amorgos succession above the Basal Conglomerate Unit collectively resembles the stratigraphy of external units in the Hellenides and could possibly be correlated with the so-called 'Basal Unit', which crops out in a number of tectonic windows throughout the Aegean Sea. This means that the Metabasite Unit in Amorgos could possibly represent the lowermost structural unit in the central Aegean Sea.