Review of heat flow data from the eastern Mediterranean region

• DOI: 10.1007/bf00879742
• Publication Date: 2004-12-25T01:57:29Z
• Authors: Yoram Eckstein
• Keywords: Heat flow; Mediterranean Basin; Nile delta

Heat flow data from the eastern Mediterranean region indicates an extensive area of low heat flow, spreading over the whole basin of the Mediterranean east of Crete (Levantine Sea), Cyprus, and northern Egypt. The average of the marine heat flow measurements in the Levantine Sea is 25.7 ± 8.4 mW/m2, and the heat flow on Cyprus is 28.0 ±8.0 mW/m2. The estimated values of heat flow in northern Egypt range from 38.3 ± 7.0 to 49.9 ±9.3 mW/m2, apparently with no consistent trend. To the east, on the coast of Israel, the heat flow values increase, ranging from 36.6 ± 22.4 to 56.7 ± 14.2 mW/m2 along a SSE trend. The trend apparently correlates with an increase in crustal thickness, which is about 23 km at the north-west base of the Nile-Delta-cone, and close to 40 km beneath Israel.