Magnetic fabrics may proxy as neotectonic stress trajectories, Polis rift, Cyprus

[1] The Miocene Polis rift opened along a NNW axis, obviously in response to WSW relative extension and relative tension starting similar to 5 Myr ago. However, geologically young plate movements are believed to be closing the rift by sinistral transpression producing minor younger faults since 1 Ma. Modern earthquake solutions give E-W compression compatible with the younger faults. Magnetic fabrics using anisotropy of low field magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of anhysteretic remanent magnetization are kinematically compatible with stress axes required by the fault and rift geometry and thus were acquired in < 5 Ma. However, by different statistical treatments and selecting samples from different subareas it is possible to reveal sedimentary-depositional fabrics and perhaps also a composite AMS fabric related to young transpression ( ∼ 1 Ma).