9628225 Burchfiel Study of active and young deformation in central and southern Bulgaria is of particular interest in that this deformation represents the northernmost extent of the Aegean extensional domain and thus represents an active example of back arc type extension adjacent to a zone of coeval subduction and convergence along the Hellenic subduction and convergence along the Hellenic subduction boundary. Studies suggest that extensions is controlled by motion of the subducting plate, but the dynamic and detailed kinematic processes that characterize such systems remain poorly understood. This project, collaborative with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, will study the detailed kinematics of how northward termination of active subduction along the Hellenic subduction system is related to northward termination of coeval extension in the back-arc region and ultimately, to gain additional insight into the dynamic processes that drive these systems.
