The geological signature of a slab tear below the Aegean

• Rotation of Hellenides is coeval with granite migration.
• Migration of granitoids signs a slab tear in the Cyclades.
• HT domes and a left-lateral gradient of extension also sign the tear.

In this paper we explore the geology of the Aegean region in the Miocene to identify the geological signature of a first-order slab tear observed in all tomographic models. From 15 to 8 Ma, the tear is associated, spatially and timely, with a fast clockwise rotation of the External Hellenides, alkaline volcanism, high-temperature metamorphic domes with a predominance of north-dipping detachments, and south-westward migration of granitoid intrusions. These features suggest a warmer geodynamic environment during the rotation and the impact of a hot mantle flow associated with the tear. The ~ 8 Ma duration between the first high-temperature metamorphic domes in the centre of the archipelago and the beginning of the fast rotation may correspond to the time needed for the slab to bend, stretch and finally tear.