Abstract
Recent drilling in the eastern Mediterranean Sea south of Cyprus has revealed important insights into fundamental tectonic
processes asso-ciated with continental collision and ophiolite emplacement. A transect of four sites was drilled across the
Africa-Eurasia plate boundary. The results show that the African plate, represented by the Eratosthenes Seamount, underwent
rapid subsidence and related faulting in Pliocene-Pleistocene time. The driving force was tectonic loading by the Eurasian
plate. In this area the leading edge is represented by the Troodos ophiolite. The breakup and subsidence history of the
Eratosthenes Seamount, as revealed by drilling during Leg 160, is clearly linked with the emplacement of the Troodos
ophiolite. This underwent strong surface uplift during active tectonic emplacement, associated with collision of the
seamount with the Cyprus margin.