first evidence of high pressure metamorphism in the cover series of the southern menderes massif tectonic and metamorphic implications for the evolution of sw turkey abstract the menderes massif occupies a large part of western turkey it is tectonically overlain by nappes of the izmir ankara suture zone including the bornova flysch zone on its northern flank the afyon zone on its eastern border and the lycian nappes on its southern flank the discovery of magnesiocarpholite kyanite assemblages in the mesozoic cover sequence of the southern menderes massif leads to the very first consideration that a major high pressure hp metamorphic event affected the massif during its alpine evolution estimations of minimum pressure temperature conditions about 10 12 kbar and 440 c suggest a minimum burial of 30 km for the metasedimentary rocks of the menderes massif similar to that for the eocene dilek blueschists which belong to the cycladic complex this finding of high pressure rocks within the menderes cover series as well as the recent description of low grade high pressure parageneses in the basal thrust sheets of the overlying lycian nappe complex has strong implications for the tectono metamorphic evolution of these units the characteristics of this high pressure metamorphism and the deformation features observed in the southern menderes massif allow consideration of a fast burial during alpine subduction and nappe stacking three high pressure units were piled up during the eocene collision of the sakarya continent and the tauride menderes block the lowermost unit consists of the imbricated core and cover of the menderes massif the intermediate unit is the cycladic blueschist complex dilek and samos regions and the uppermost unit is made of the lycian nappes the retrogression of high pressure parageneses from the menderes massif follows an isothermal decompression path and the associated deformation is characterized by a severe stretching oriented n s to ne sw during the high pressure event and its exhumation we propose a tectono metamorphic model in three main stages 1 the southward translation of the high pressure lycian nappes and the burial of the menderes and cycladic metasediments to a depth of at least 30 km to allow their eocene high pressure metamorphism 2 a northward continuum of deformation responsible for top to the north fabrics associated with the main menderes metamorphism peak paleocene eocene and its progressive cooling late eocene north verging folding thrusting imbrication of core and cover series and n s to ne sw intense stretching associated with the menderes high pressure metamorphism and its exhumation these top to the north to top to the northeast movements are probably related to the northward backthrusting of the lycian nappes reactivating the contact between the menderes massif and the lycian nappes as a top to the ne shear zone that allowed exhumation of the lycian high pressure rocks 3 oligo miocene n s extension during which the final exhumation of the metamorphic rocks along kilometre scale low angle detachments occurred

deformation history of the high pressure lycian nappes and implications for tectonic evolution of sw turkey 1 in southwestern turkey the lycian nappe complex which overlies the autochthonous menderes massif and bey dag platform consists from base to top of metasediments a melange unit and an ophiolitic sequence fresh fe mg carpholite occurrence in the metasediments attests to a high pressure low temperature metamorphic event we report the distribution of fe mg carpholite and its breakdown products e g pyrophyllite and chloritoid on the bodrum peninsula south of the menderes crystalline massif the distribution of fe mg carpholite and its relics shows that the low grade high pressure metamorphism affected a widespread area in the lower units of the lycian nappes analysis of the ductile deformation in hp lt metasediments indicates shear senses top to the northeast to top to the east most of this deformation is contemporaneous with the retrogression of high pressure low temperature parageneses and is therefore coeval with exhumation from a depth of about 30 km at the top of the menderes massif cover series close to the contact with the lycian nappes similar eastward displacements are observed and trajectories of the stretching lineations are continuous from the lycian nappes to the menderes massif across the contact these observed movements are incompatible with the southward transport of the lycian nappes over the menderes massif we discuss the regional tectonic implications and conclude that the lycian nappes and the southernmost part of the menderes massif were exhumed in two stages 1 eocene top to the ne shear syn orogenic extension 2 miocene deformation contemporaneous with the aegean extension

visualisation and quantification of cv chondrite petrography using micro tomography abstract micro computed tomography is a non destructive technique that allows the study of 3d meteorite petrography the technique produces a unique and instructive visualisation of the meteorite for quantifying its components we studied the overall petrography of the two cv chondrites allende and mokoia to constrain their formation histories a set of movies and stereographic images detail the 3d petrography component modal abundances agree with previous reports and modal abundance differences between allende and mokoia support the chondrule matrix complementarity and that chondrules and matrix formed from the same chemical reservoir we identified two types of chondrules a normal type and one where a normal type i or ii chondrule is almost completely encapsulated by an opaque rich layer this layer was probably acquired during a late stage condensation process the appearance of opaques in chondrules and matrix is different not supporting a genetic relationships between these low abundances of compound chondrules 1 75 vol in allende and 2 50 vol in mokoia indicate low chondrule densities and or low relative component velocities in chondrule formation regions porosities on a scale

geochemistry and petrogenesis of intrusive and extrusive ophiolitic plagiogranites central anatolian crystalline complex turkey plagiogranites associated with the sarikaraman ophiolite of the central anatolian crystalline complex turkey closely resemble other plagiogranites from supra subduction zone type ophiolites of neotethys the ophiolite is remarkable in displaying a higher proportion of the plagiogranite suite ca 10 by volume than is usually associated with such bodies the sarikaraman plagiogranites are represented by intrusive sheets and netvein trondhjemites largely developed at the top of the upper gabbros and as multiphase dykes within the sheeted dyke complex the plagiogranite dykes are considered to feed extrusive silicified rhyolites associated with the basaltic lavas in the volcanic section of the ophiolite field relations suggest that the trondhjemites were probably generated from the roof section of a dynamic and evolving gabbroic magma chamber both the deep seated trondhjemites and the volcanic rhyolites constitute the sarikaraman plagiogranite suite geochemically there is complete overlap between the intrusive trondhjemites and extrusive rhyolites which are characterised by morb normalized low hfs element contents with small negative nb ta anomalies and variably enhanced lil element abundances unlike other plagiogranites however the sarikaraman suite is not characterized by consistently low k2o contents a feature that reflects the variable mobilization of the lil elements under lower greenschist facies conditions the ree are uniformly enriched relative to the basic components of the complex but have similar normalized patterns exhibiting mild light ree depletion in terms of their origin the initial or most primitive plagiogranite melts could have been generated by either fractional crystallization 70 85 of clinopyroxene feldspar amphibole or partial melting 5 15 batch melting of a gabbroic source material although only the first process can produce most of the range of the plagiogranite compositions as a group the plagiogranites exhibit some degree of internal variation which can be generated by further fractionation largely dominated by feldspar with minor apatite and amphibole

first occurrence of fe mg carpholite documenting a high pressure metamorphism in metasediments of the lycian nappes sw turkey in the basal thrust sheets of the lycian nappes fresh fe mg carpholite documents low grade high pressure hp metamorphism here we describe the first occurrences of this hp indicator mineral in turkey its regional distribution and geodynamic consequences carpholite and its breakdown products such as chloritiod and pyrophyllite occur in the lycian nappes s s relics of fe mg carpholite were also found in klippen of lycian nappe material located on top of the menderes crystalline massif the distribution of the fe mg carpholite and its relics traces an extensive area of hp metamorphism in the sediments of a passive continental margin

exhumation with a twist paleomagnetic constraints on the evolution of the menderes metamorphic core complex western turkey 1 much remains to be understood about the links between regional vertical axis rotations continental extension and shortening in western turkey miocene vertical axis rotations have been reported that occur simultaneously with the extensional exhumation of the menderes metamorphic core complex which has been related to back arc extension in the eastern part of the aegean back arc in this paper we explore the spatial and temporal relationships between vertical axis rotations in southwestern turkey and extensional unroofing of the menderes massif to this end we provide a large set of new paleomagnetic data from western turkey and integrate these with the regional structural evolution to test the causes and consequences of oroclinal bending in the aegean region the lycian nappes and bey daglari are shown to rotate 20 between 16 and 5 ma defining the eastern limb of the aegean orocline this occurred contemporaneously with the exhumation of the central menderes massif along extensional detachments and after the latest oligocene to early miocene exhumation of the northern and southern menderes massifs exhumation of the latter two was not associated with vertical axis rotations the lower miocene volcanics in the region from lesbos to usak to the north of the central menderes massif underwent a small clockwise rotation insignificant with respect to eurasia this shows that exhumation of the central menderes massif was associated with a vertical axis rotation difference between the northern and southern menderes massifs of 25 30 this result is in excellent agreement with the angle defined by the trends of buyuk menderes and alasehir detachments as well as the angle defined by the regionally curving stretching lineation pattern across the central menderes massif these structures define a pivot point rotation pole for the west anatolian rotations the rotation of the southern domain including the southern menderes massif the lycian nappes and bey daglari must have led to n s contraction east of this pole the eastern limit of the rotating domain is formed by the transpressional couple of the aksu thrust and kirkkavak fault in the center of the isparta angle previously reported clockwise rotations in the volcanic fields near afyon may be the result of distributed n s shortening east of the pivot point the precise accommodation of this shortening history remains open for investigation late oligocene to early miocene extension in the eastern part of the aegean back arc was ne sw oriented and likely bounded by a discrete transform this transform may be associated with an early evolution of the eastern aegean subduction transform edge propagator fault oroclinal bending in the west anatolian region is likely related to a reconnection of the eastern part of the aegean orocline with the african northward moving plate in tandem with roll back in the aegean back arc comparable to a recently postulated scenario for western greece

the berit transect of the tauride thrust belt s turkey late cretaceous early cenozoic accretionary collisional processes related to closure of the southern neotethys abstract we report on an integrated study of a critical segment of the tauride thrust belt in se turkey berit area units related to two sutures are exposed in the northerly and southerly parts of the area studied in the north the upper cretaceous binboga melange reflects the closure of a northerly mesozoic oceanic basin in the south contrasting units document the closure of the southern neotethys in the south the berit or goksun ophiolite formed as an incipient oceanic arc within the southern neotethys during the late cretaceous c 90 ma intercalated amphibolite granulite facies rocks may record a dismembered metamorphic sole an underlying meta sedimentary meta volcanic unit is interpreted as accreted continental rift and oceanic seamount lithologies the berit ophiolite was accreted to the tauride active continental margin to the north around 85 ma and was then intruded by calc alkaline granites c 70 85 ma northerly margin units were exhumed and covered by shelf carbonate sediments during latest cretaceous early cenozoic time northward subduction during the mid cenozoic c 45 ma resulted in back arc extension along the tauride active margin and subduction influenced volcanism possibly controlled by slab roll back during oligocene early miocene time the southern neotethys closed and the tauride active margin was telescoped to create the present south vergent thrust stack this was accompanied by mass wasting of the advancing allochthon to form sub aqueous frontal olistostromes the arabian platform was over ridden by mid miocene time followed by left lateral strike slip along the east anatolian fault zone as anatolia began to escape westwards towards the aegean sea

precise 40ar 39ar ages from the metamorphic sole of the mersin ophiolite southern turkey abstract the mersin ophiolite is located on the southern flank of the e w trending central tauride belt in turkey it is one of the late cretaceous neotethyan oceanic lithospheric remnants the mersin ophiolite formed in a suprasubduction zone tectonic setting in southern turkey at the beginning of the late cretaceous the mersin ophiolite is one of the best examples in turkey in order to study reconstruction of ophiolite emplacement along the alpine himalayan orogenic belt 40ar 39ar incremental heating measurements were performed on seven obduction related subophiolitic metamorphic rocks hornblende separates yielded isochron ages ranging from 96 0 0 7 ma to 91 6 0 3 ma all errors 1 five of the seven hornblende age determinations are indistinguishable at the 95 confidence level and have a weighted mean age of 92 6 0 2 2 ma we interpret these ages as the date of cooling below 500 c intraoceanic thrusting occurred 4 ma soon after formation of oceanic crust the sole was crosscut by microgabbro diabase dikes less than 3 m y later the final obduction onto the tauride platform occurred during the late cretaceous early paleocene our new high precision ages constrain intraoceanic thrusting for a single ophiolite mersin in the tauride belt

40ar 39ar and rb sr geochronology of high pressure metamorphism and exhumation history of the tavsanli zone nw turkey geochronological investigations in high and ultra high pressure metamorphic rocks are problematic since firstly the low temperatures lead to fine grain size and disequilibrium assemblages and secondly the problem of excess argon affects 40ar 39ar systematics the most commonly used isotopic system the tavsanli zone is a belt of high pressure low temperature hp lt rocks spanning nw turkey and is one such region where previous geochronological studies have produced a range of estimates for the age of hp lt metamorphism raising the question of whether they are geologically significant this study presents new data from the tavsanli zone 40ar 39ar ages are in the range 60 ma to 175 ma whilst rb sr ages are restricted to 79 7 ma to 82 8 ma confirming the presence of excess argon detailed ultra violet laser ablation microprobe uvlamp studies have revealed younger 40ar 39ar ages in the cores of coarser white micas which in conjunction with 40ar 39ar ages from the finest grained lithologies and the rb sr white mica crystallisation ages constrain the post hp lt metamorphism exhumation rates of these rocks petrological and regional constraints suggest that syn subduction exhumation and cooling took place initially by synchronous subduction and exhumation by underplating this is followed by a phase of syn continent continent collision at a rate of approximately 1 5 mma 1 and exhumation to the surface via thrusting the 40ar 39ar hornblende data from a granodiorite intruding the hp lt rocks constrain the later parts of exhumation path this study highlights the importance of a multi system geochronological approach when attempting to determine the history of hp lt rocks

southern menderes massif an incipient metamorphic core complex in western anatolia turkey in the southern sector of the menderes massif north of selimiye milas augen gneisses interpreted as a deformed peraluminous granite have been dynamothermally metamorphosed and are surrounded by and intrude a regionally metamorphosed palaeozoic envelope the granitic rocks exhibit a moderately dipping mylonitic foliation and nne ssw trending mineral elongation lineation the progressive deformation of the granitic rocks produces a structural sequence typical of an extensional shear zone marked from bottom to top by a very thick extensive zone of mylonites followed in turn by brecciated mylonite and cataclasite the kinematic indicators exhibit a top to the south down dip sense of shear these structures are attributed to exhumation of the granitic rocks of the massif along a major south dipping normal sense shear zone that accommodated crustal extension during late oligocene collapse of the orogen in western turkey thus the southern menderes massif may be interpreted as the exhumed footwall of a major extensional shear zone and possibly as an incipient core complex

k ar dating of some infra ophiolitic metamorphic soles from the eastern mediterranean new evidence for oceanic thrustings before obduction abstract k ar dating on separated minerals from the infra peridotitic metamorphic soles outcropping beneath various eastern mediterranean ophiolite complexes pindos nappe in greece lycian antalya beysehir hoyran mersin and pozanti karsanti nappes in the taurides belt turkey baer bassit nappe in syria shows that the main metamorphic recrystallization of those rocks occurred 25 30 m y prior to the tectonic emplacement of the ophiolite complexes onto a continental platform these data support the hypothesis of an early slicing of the oceanic crust before its obduction advocated recently by several authors

counterclockwise p t t trajectory from the metamorphic sole of a neo tethyan ophiolite turkey abstract the kiziltepe ophiolitic thrust sheet in the bolkar mountains of turkey occurs between two subparallel ophiolite belts bounding the tauride carbonate platform and represents a remnant of the cretaceous neo tethyan oceanic lithosphere it is underlain by foliated amphibolite that represents a metamorphic sole developed at the inception of an intra oceanic subduction zone in the neo tethys 92 90 ma blueschist facies overprinting of the amphibolite indicates that the metamorphic sole was dragged deeper into the subduction zone where it experienced increasing p t with cooling regional tectonic constraints suggest a maastrichtian age for the timing of this blueschist facies metamorphism sodic amphibole rich veins and crossite mg riebeckite rims on hornblende suggest that growth of blueschist facies minerals was facilitated by infiltration of fluid along fractures and grain boundaries we infer a counterclockwise p t t trajectory during which metamorphism was accompanied succeeded by rapid uplift along the northern edge of the tauride belt in late cretaceous early tertiary time

geological constraints on the alpine evolution of the mediterranean tethys abstract the geological data on the mediterranean chains and basins are used to point out the constraints that they put on the location through time of oceanic versus continental lithosphere and on the successive relations between them emphasis is put on the rules and conventions which enable us to interpret the geological data in terms of plate tectonics and on the major disputed points for which a solution must be chosen in the first part the location of oceanic versus continental lithosphere is dealt with using the data on the present day basins the ophiolites and the subduction processes a neogene age is retained for the western mediterranean and the surrounding continental blocks are considered to have been previously a part of iberia a cretaceous age is retained for the eastern mediterranean apulia is considered as a part of the african plate except for this period the black sea is considered as a back arc basin formed mostly during the upper cretaceous the ophiolites are used to locate the mesozoic oceans for the double ophiolitic belts of the dinaro hellenides and the taurides the tectonic interpretations which minimise the number of oceanic basins have been retained for the kirsehir block of turkey the chosen solution locates a jurassic ocean to the north and makes it disappear when a cretaceous ocean opens to the south data on the subduction processes added to the information on these basins and led us to consider as oceanic the unknown basements of the carpathian flysch and the maghrebian flysch basins the second part deals with the organisation of basins and platforms emphasising the chronology of their formation and subsequent crushing it furnished step by step constraints on the tectonic history of the system which is related to plate displacement the general pattern derived from these data shows a wedge shaped tethyan ocean which disappeared mostly through repeated subduction below the eastern part of its northern margin the jurassic stage shows westward extension of the ocean between the eurasian and african plates and ends with the dinaro hellenic obduction the cretaceous stage shows a complete reorganisation including individual displacement of the iberian apulian and kirsehir sub plates the tertiary stage shows the general collision between the renewed eurasian and african plates and neogene subduction of the basins which avoided collision

incipient blueschist metamorphism and metasomatism in the tavsanli region northwest turkey volcano sedimentary rocks in an imbricate tectonic zone around a peridotite massif have been studied northeast of the town of tavsanli in northwest turkey basic volcanic rocks which are the dominant rock type in this zone show incipient blueschist metamorphism and associated metasomatism while the igneous textures of the volcanic rocks are retained augites are partially to completely replaced by sodic pyroxene and plagioclase is albitised resulting in rocks with 6 8 wt na2o the volcanic rocks are cross cut by numerous veins of calcite aragonite quartz pumpellyite albite lawsonite and sodic pyroxene pelagic limestones which are interbedded with the basic volcanic rocks consist of coarse aragonite grains showing partial replacement by calcite the occurrence of aragonite lawsonite and albite indicates conditions of metamorphism for the whole zone in the range of 5 8 kb and 150 200 c metasomatism probably related to high pressure serpentinization has occurred contemporaneously with the incipient high pressure metamorphism

paleomagnetic reconstruction of the cenozoic evolution of the eastern mediterranean abstract a total of 113 paleomagnetic sites were sampled along an anatolian s n transect from the arabian platform the hatay region the eastern taurides the kirsehir block the sivas basin and the eastern pontides reliable characteristic remanent paleomagnetic directions were retrieved from 37 of these sites spanning in time from paleocene to miocene in a general way declinations are westerly deviated and inclinations are shallower than the geocentered dipole value at the present latitudes when combined with previously published results these data indicate that a large scale counterclockwise rotation of anatolia of some 25 has occurred since the miocene assuming that the pole of rotation of anatolia with respect to europe has remained constant in time at the location given by macclusky et al j geophys res 105 2000 5695 on the basis of the geodetic data this rotation implies that a large westward displacement 500 km at the average latitude of 40 has taken place assuming that the rotation was initiated by the arabia europe collision about 12 ma ago this corresponds to an average displacement of about 40 mm year together with previous results from the western part of the aegean arc these results indicate that the main trends of the cenozoic evolution of the eastern mediterranean appear to consist of two post early miocene rotations of opposite senses a clockwise rotation of the western part of the aegean tectonophysics 146 1988 183 around a pole situated in northern albania and a counterclockwise rotation around the pole given by mcclusky et al j geophys res 105 2000 5695 comparison with gps data suggest that both rotations are still active today

menderes massif western turkey structural metamorphic and magmatic evolution a synthesis the menderes massif covers large areas in western turkey the better understanding of its tectono metamorphic history would provide insight for the alpine evolution of western turkey and the entire eastern mediterranean region this paper summarizes the available literature on the metamorphic rocks of western turkey and that of the menderes massif with special reference and emphasis to the papers presented in the special issue

subduction complex of pre jurassic age northern anatolia turkey in northern anatolia a zone of pre liassic orogenic deformation is located mainly between the internal anatolian massifs and the north anatolian fault this belt consists of metamorphic rocks in blueschist greenschist and amphibolite facies and an ophiolitic dynamometa morphic melange the metamorphic rocks represent deformed and metamorphosed oceanic crust and upper mantle whereas the melange rocks originated in diverse environments in abyssal plain trench arc trench gap and forearc environments the evolution of these assemblages is interpreted as a product of subduction probably associated with the closure of the tethys subduction related deformation and meta morphism terminated diachronously from pre late triassic in the west to pre late liassic in the east probably as a result of the diachronous closure of the tethys

refined analysis of radar altimetry data applied to the region of the subglacial lake vostok antarctica satellite altimetry is a powerful tool to map the ice sheet elevation as well as a number of other parameters linked to geometrical and geophysical properties of ice sheets irrespective of new instrumental developments like the laser altimeter on icesat ice cloud and land elevation satellite the well established radar altimeter ra missions ers 1 2 european remote sensing satellites and envisat environment satellite are unique in their temporal coverage over more than a decade and in their temporal and spatial sampling therefore the full exploitation of these ra data by improved methods is imperative here we develop improved techniques to correct for topographically induced errors by a refined consideration of the relevant topographic conditions furthermore we improve the gridding procedure by adapting it to local conditions and thus preserving smaller scale features we apply our methods to the region of the subglacial lake vostok antarctica and derive digital elevation models dems for this region with the aim of improving resolving smaller scales the effect of our improvements is demonstrated in detail by comparing our dems and previously published dems to the icesat laser measurements which are taken as a reference here due to our improvements the standard deviation of the difference between ra based dems of the lake vostok region and icesat data decreases from more than 1 1 m to 0 5 m this remaining error is chiefly the error inherent in the ra observations our ra icesat comparisons supported by fourier analyses also reveal the presence and importance of small scale features that can be detected by laser but not by the ra measurements

tectonomagmatic evolution of bimodal plutons in the central anatolian crystalline complex turkey abstract the nw trending agacoren intrusive suite ais on the east side of the salt lake tuz golu turkey is part of a curvilinear volcanoplutonic complex along the western edge of the central anatolian crystalline complex cacc granitoids constitute the predominant lithological group within the ais and range in composition from monzonite through granite to alkali feldspar granite gabbroic rocks occur as irregular intrusive bodies with sinusoidal irregular contacts with the granitoid plutons and vary from dioritic compositions at the contacts to cumulate amphibole gabbros in their center these gabbroid to granitoid rocks are all subalkaline and display tholeiitic to calcalkaline affinities respectively modeling of the major element and trace element chemistry of the granitoids to gabbroids together with their field relations suggest that these rocks formed synchronously from a melt source that involved both mantle and crustal components mafic magmas were likely derived from a metasomatized u

tectonic controls on metamorphism partial melting and intrusion timing and duration of regional metamorphism and magmatism in the nigde massif turkey protracted heating and melting of orogenic middle crust followed by emplacement of a syn extensional pluton during decompression and cooling are demonstrated for a metamorphic core complex in central turkey new geochronologic data for the nigde massif of the central anatolian crystalline complex document an interval of melting crystallization and pb loss at elevated ambient temperature 85 92 ma determined by u pb shrimp within a single sample of peraluminous granite crustal melting was syn to post peak metamorphism 725 c dated at 91 0 2 0 ma by shrimp analysis of zircon rims in sillimanite schist that is part of the country rock to the pluton metamorphic monazite in sillimanite schist yields a younger age of 84 7 0 7 ma for matrix grains and inclusions in garnet hornblende 40ar 39ar ages from amphibolites interlayered with the sillimanite schists coincide with the timing of emplacement of magma into metamorphic country rock that had experienced cooling and decompression to 12 km and 550 c the similarity of 40ar 39ar ages for biotite in the pluton 79 ma and hornblende 79 81 ma biotite 74 76 ma and muscovite 78 83 ma in the metamorphic country rock document rapid cooling 100 c my following intrusion the coincidence of the youngest u pb magmatic zircon ages and the oldest 40ar 39ar ages combined with structural evidence for normal sense shearing and tectonic unroofing in the late cretaceous suggests that intrusion was driven by extension we propose that crustal melting occurred in the middle crust during prograde metamorphism and or initial decompression and that ascent and emplacement of magma as a pluton were only triggered once extension occurred and removed upper crustal rocks

a new classification of the turkish terranes and sutures and its implication for the paleotectonic history of the region abstract the turkish part of the tethyan realm is represented by a series of terranes juxtaposed through alpine convergent movements and separated by complex suture zones different terranes can be defined and characterized by their dominant geological background the pontides domain represents a segment of the former active margin of eurasia where back arc basins opened in the triassic and separated the sakarya terrane from neighbouring regions sakarya was re accreted to laurasia through the balkanic mid cretaceous orogenic event that also affected the rhodope and strandja zones the whole region from the balkans to the caucasus was then affected by a reversal of subduction and creation of a late cretaceous arc before collision with the anatolian domain in the eocene if the anatolian terrane underwent an evolution similar to sakarya during the late paleozoic and early triassic times both terranes had a diverging history during and after the eo cimmerian collision north of sakarya the kure back arc was closed during the jurassic whereas north of the anatolian domain the back arc type oceans did not close before the late cretaceous during the cretaceous both domains were affected by ophiolite obduction but in very different ways north directed diachronous middle to late cretaceous melange obduction on the jurassic sakarya passive margin senonian synchronous southward obduction on the triassic passive margin of anatolia from this it appears that the izmir ankara suture currently separating both terranes is composite and that the passive margin of sakarya is not the conjugate margin of anatolia to the south the cimmerian taurus domain together with the beydaglari domain part of the larger greater apulian terrane were detached from north gondwana in the permian during the opening of the neotethys east mediterranean basin the drifting cimmerian blocks entered into a soft collision with the anatolian and related terranes in the eo cimmerian orogenic phase late triassic thus suturing the paleotethys at that time the taurus plate developed foreland type basins filled with flysch molasse deposits that locally overstepped the lower plate taurus terrane and were deposited in the opening neotethys to the south these olistostromal deposits are characterized by pelagic carboniferous and permian material from the paleotethys suture zone found in the mersin melange the latter as well as the antalya and mamonia domains are represented by a series of exotic units now found south of the main taurus range part of the mersin exotic material was clearly derived from the former north anatolian passive margin huglu type series and re displaced during the paleogene this led us to propose a plate tectonic model where the anatolian ophiolitic front is linked up with the samail baer bassit obduction front found along the arabian margin the obduction front was indented by the anatolian promontory whose eastern end was partially subducted continued slab roll back of the neotethys allowed anatolian exotics to continue their course southwestward until their emplacement along the taurus southern margin mersin and up to the beydaglari promontory antaya mamonia in the latest cretaceous paleocene the supra subduction ocean opening at the back of the obduction front troodos type ocean was finally closed by eocene north south shortening between africa and eurasia this brought close to each other cretaceous ophiolites derived from the north of anatolia and those obducted on the arabian promontory the latter were sealed by a maastrichtian platform and locally never affected by alpine tectonism whereas those located on the eastern anatolian plate are strongly deformed and metamorphosed and affected by eocene arc magmatism these observations help to reconstruct the larger frame of the central tethyan realm geodynamic evolution

westward propagation of the north anatolian fault into the northern aegean timing and kinematics we present new evidence for the propagation processes of the north anatolian fault folding in the dardanelles straits region allows us to document the timing of the deformation preceding and the finite displacement after the passage of the propagating tip of the fault the accuracy of the observations is due to interplay between deformation and the sea level changes in the mediterranean the well known messinian regression followed by the pliocene transgression the long term kinematics around the sea of marmara pull apart total displacement of about 85 km over the past 5 m y is similar to the present day kinematics deduced from space geodesy at a larger scale westward propagation of the north anatolian fault over nearly 2000 km in the past 10 m y appears to be associated with strain recovery suggesting that the continental lithosphere retains long term elasticity

formation of the late palaeozoic konya complex and comparable units in southern turkey by subduction accretion processes implications for the tectonic development of tethys in the eastern mediterranean region abstract the southern margin of eurasia from the balkan region eastwards is widely envisaged as an active continental margin related to northward subduction at least during late carboniferous early cenozoic time by contrast the late palaeozoic setting of the southern gondwana margin was previously interpreted as an intra continental marginal basin related to southward subduction beneath the northern margin of gondwana or as part of a forearc complex e g forearc basin related to northward subduction beneath eurasia palaeotethyan evolution is recorded in the konya complex new name an assemblage of palaeozoic silurian carboniferous meta sedimentary and meta igneous rocks that is exposed beneath metamorphosed upper permian mesozoic shelf type sediments in central southern turkey to the north of the tauride mountains the konya complex is dominated by large thrust slices of mainly devonian shallow water platform carbonates bozdag unit there is also a melange that is made up of lenticular sheets and blocks of mainly lower carboniferous shallow water limestones silurian devonian black chert lydite pelagic limestones and rare blocks of mid ocean ridge type and within plate type basaltic rocks the blocks are set in a mainly terrigenous derived siliciclastic matrix locally including siliceous tuff the matrix is interpreted as mainly deep water turbidites and debris flow deposits an overlying intact volcanic sedimentary sequence includes chemically enriched extrusives e g trachyandesites that also exhibit a negative nb anomaly suggesting a subduction influence dykes crosscutting the carbonate platform units are relatively depleted and also show a subduction influence shallow marine carbonates and terrigenous quartzose sediments of mainly late permian age are exposed above the konya complex in the west of the area in contrast triassic non marine to shallow marine clastic sediments unconformably overlie the konya complex in the east of the area both the permian and the triassic sediments pass upwards without a break into a middle triassic upper cretaceous platform carbonate succession which was overthrust by accretionary melange and ophiolites during latest cretaceous time the mesozoic carbonate platform and the underlying konya complex experienced polyphase deformation and partial high temperature low pressure metamorphism related to alpine late cretaceous early cenozoic closure of tethys comparison of tauride and pontide units suggests the deformed konya complex upper palaeozoic carbonate platform has gondwanan affinities we also compare the complex with other upper palaeozoic units in southern turkey including the tekedere unit lycian nappes and the karaburun and chios melanges all of these units are interpreted to have formed by subduction accretion processes alternative possible settings involve northward subduction southward subduction or terrane displacement strike slip northward subduction beneath eurasia requires collisional assembly with gondwana possibly during the latest triassic cimmerian orogeny for which there is little evidence a southward dipping subduction zone would need to be located some distance outboard of the gondwana margin as there is little evidence of upper palaeozoic arc magmatism in the tauride platform emplacement as an exotic terrane probably derived from further west in the balkan region is also possible

intrusion age of pan african augen gneisses in the southern menderes massif and the age of cooling after alpine ductile extensional deformation

metamorphism of the central anatolian crystalline complex turkey influence of orogen normal collision vs wrench dominated tectonics on p t t paths the central anatolian crystalline complex cacc is a microcontinent in the alpine himalayan belt it has previously been considered as a coherent structural entity but although the entire cacc is comprised of similar rocks primarily metasedimentary rocks and granitoids it consists of at least four tectonic blocks characterized by different p t t paths these blocks are the kirsehir north west akdag north east nigde south and aksaray west massifs the northern massifs experienced thrusting and folding during collision and were slowly exhumed by erosion metamorphic rocks are characterized by clockwise p t paths at moderate p t and local low p high t lp ht overprinting in the highest grade rocks apatite fission track ages are eocene to oligocene 47 32 ma the aksaray block represents the hot shallow mid crust of a late cretaceous early tertiary arc it is dominated by intrusions rare metapelitic rocks record low p 4 kbar regional metamorphism overprinted by lp ht contact metamorphism apatite fission track ages are 50 45 ma the nigde massif is different from the other cacc blocks because it evolved as a core complex in a wrench dominated setting it is characterized by clockwise p t paths at moderate p t followed by widespread lp ht metamorphism apatite fission track ages are miocene 12 9 ma significantly younger than those in the northern massifs nigde rocks resided in the mid crust at a time when the rest of the cacc was at or near the earth s surface variations in p t t and tectonic histories especially timing of exhumation between the northern and southern cacc reflect the difference between head on collision vs mid crustal wrenching

geology and geochemistry of the pre early cambrian rocks in the sandikli area implications for the pan african evolution of nw gondwanaland abstract the pre early cambrian sandikli basement complex in western central anatolia comprises a low grade meta sedimentary succession guvercinoluk formation and meta rhyolites intruded by meta quartz porphyry rocks kestel cayi porphyroid suite the guvercinoluk formation consists of alternation of meta siltstones and meta sandstones with olistostromal conglomerates rare black chert and cherty meta dolomite lenses the kestel cayi porphyroid suite is a deformed highly sheared dome shaped rhyolitic body with quartz porphyry rocks quartz porphyry dykes intrude both the volcanic carapace and the meta sedimentary rocks of the guvercinoluk formation both the meta quartz porphyry rocks and meta rhyolites are typically mylonitic with relict igneous textures geochemical data indicate that the felsic rocks of the kestel cayi porphyroid suite are subalkaline and display characteristic features of post collisional i type granitoids the basement complex is unconformably overlain by variegated conglomerates mudstones and arkosic sandstones with andesitic lavas followed by siliciclastic rocks and carbonates that yielded early middle cambrian fossils based on the geochemical characteristics of the felsic rocks of kestel cayi porphyroid suite and the depositional features of the associated sediments it is suggested that the sandikli basement complex is related to a post collisional extension event in nw gondwanaland similar occurrences elsewhere have been related to a transition from continental plate convergence to continental plate divergence along the pan african belt

mineralogical geochemical constraints on intrusives in central anatolia turkey tectono magmatic evolution and characteristics of mantle source collision related rocks intrude metamorphic rocks overthrust by ophiolitic units to make up the central anatolian crystalline complex a wide variety of rock types were produced by the latest cretaceous magmatism in the complex these rocks can be divided into three distinct units 1 calc alkaline agacoren behrekdag cefalikdag celebi ekecikdag halacli karamadazi kosefakili terlemez uckapili yozgat 2 sub alkaline baranadag and 3 alkaline atdere davulalan egrialan hamit idisdagi karacayir the calc alkaline rocks are metaluminous peraluminous i to s type plutons ranging from monzodiorite to granite the sub alkaline rocks are metaluminous i type plutons ranging from monzonite to granite the alkaline rocks are metaluminous to peralkaline plutons predominantly a type ranging from foid bearing monzosyenite to granite these plutons crystallized under varying pressures 5 3 2 6 kbar and a wide range of temperatures 858 698 c from highly oxidized magmas log f o 2 17 to 12 all intrusive rocks display enrichment in lile and lree compare to hfse and have high 87 sr 86 sr and low 143 nd 144 nd ratios these characteristics indicate that these rocks are derived from a mantle source containing large subduction components and have experienced assimilation coupled with fractional crystallization afc during uprise through crust the coexistence of calc alkaline and alkaline magmatism in the complex may be ascribed to mantle source heterogeneity before collision either thermal perturbation of the metasomatized lithosphere by delamination of the thermal boundary layer or removal of a subducted plate slab breakoff are the likely mechanisms for the initiation of the collision related magmatism in the complex

high pressure metasediments in central turkey constraints on the neotethyan closure history 1 the distribution of oceanic domains and continental blocks in central anatolia remains a challenge in understanding the alpine geodynamic evolution of the tethys realm the consumption of a neotethys oceanic branch at the mesozoic cenozoic boundary welded the central anatolian crystalline complex in central turkey and the anatolide tauride block in western turkey with the northerly eurasian margin whether those two regions constituted a single or two distinct continental masses is still matter of debate high pressure metamorphism has been locally evidenced in the afyon zone which was however defined as a greenschist facies metamorphic zone of the anatolide tauride block since the afyon zone composes a metamorphic equivalent of a continental margin exposed far south of the izmir ankara suture zone this encouraged us to reevaluate its metamorphic evolution in order to better understand the relation between western and central turkey our investigations reveal that the high pressure minerals fe mg carpholite and glaucophane are present in the entire afyon zone which we reconsider as a blueschist facies zone we additionally present a tectonic reconstruction stripping off the postcollisional tectonics it reveals that today s bending of the high pressure belt is consistent with an eocene collision of the anatolide tauride block around the southern edge of the central anatolian crystalline complex we argue that the central anatolian crystalline complex and the anatolide tauride block were two distinct continental masses separated by a neotethyan oceanic stripe the closure of which engendered subduction related metamorphism in the latter and arc volcanism and high grade metamorphism in the former by late cretaceous to early cenozoic

emplacement age and direction of the lycian nappes in the soke selcuk region western turkey in the soke selcuk region western turkey the northernmost exposures of the lycian nappes are found as tectonic slices on the menderes massif the menderes massif is represented by a continuous platform sequence and a blocky unit the lower parts of the menderes platform sequence is composed of triassic jurassic marbles and an alternation of calcschists and micaschists however the upper parts are composed of emery and rudist bearing massive marbles along a gradational boundary a blocky unit is found on top of the platform sequence and it comprises blocks of metaophiolite and emery bearing marble set in garnet micaschists matrix along a low angle fault marked by thin slices of red green phyllites tectonic slices of the lycian nappes overlay garnet micaschists of the massif the lycian nappes are represented mainly by a carbonate sequence which consists of dolomites oncoidal limestones intraformational limestone conglomerates and cherty limestones in the carbonate sequence of the lycian nappes undeformed primary structures are clearly observed just several meters above the sole fault indicating a metamorphic break between the lycian nappes and the menderes massif the linear fabric in red green phyllites at the sole of the lycian nappes trends nne ssw gently plunges to ssw and nne and is parallel to the linear fabric of the neotectonic period in the western turkey s c relation suggests top to the ssw sense of shear in red green phyllites the deformation localized along the sole of the tectonic slices indicates that the red green phyllites acted as a decollement surface the deformational features stratigraphic relations orientation of linear fabric and metamorphic break reveal that lycian nappes were emplaced on the menderes massif along a low angle normal fault after the early to middle eocene main menderes metamorphism and prior to the deposition of the middle miocene sedimentary cover

complete tertiary exhumation history of the menderes massif western turkey an alternative working hypothesis the main exhumation of the menderes massif western turkey occurred along an originally n dipping datca kale main breakaway fault that controlled depositions in the kale and the gokova basins during the oligocene early miocene interval the isostatically controlled upward bending of the main breakaway fault brings the lower plate rocks to the surface in the early miocene e w trending n and s dipping graben bounding faults fragmented the exhumed dome shaped massif the development of half grabens by rolling master fault hinges has allowed further exhumation of the central menderes massif after the pliocene high angle normal faults cut all of the previous structures this model suggests that the menderes massif is a single large metamorphic core complex that has experienced a two stage exhumation process

geochemistry and tectonic significance of metamorphic sole rocks beneath the beysehir hoyran ophiolite sw turkey abstract the beysehir hoyran ophiolite is situated in the western part of the tauride belt sw turkey and crops out at two localities north of the lake beysehir it mainly comprises harzburgitic peridotites that were tectonically emplaced to their present position during the late eocene the ophiolites themselves are tectonically overlain by either slope basin deposits with lava blocks egirler formation or massive triassic limestone blocks deliktas formation high grade sub ophiolitic metamorphic rocks i e epidote amphibolite amphibolite and pyroxene amphibolite together with minor quartzite and calcschist are observed at the base of the ophiolite sequence where they occur as thin tectonic slices with an inverted metamorphic gradient average p t conditions of 630 770 c and c 6 1 5 kbar are calculated for the metamorphism of the amphibolites by conventional geothermobarometry corresponding to a burial depth of 18 20 km both the sub ophiolitic metamorphic rocks and the overlying mantle tectonites were intruded by isolated tholeiitic nb y 0 041 0 108 diabase dikes which do not transect the tectonic contact between the two units geochemical investigations of the amphibolites of the sub ophiolitic rock suite show two different geochemical affinities with the first group being alkaline in character nb y 1 3 86 and the second one being tholeiitic nb y 0 064 0 13 ree patterns trace element plots and tectonomagmatic discrimination diagrams indicate that the most probable protoliths for alkaline amphibolites are within plate type alkali basalts whereas those of the tholeiitic group resemble tholeiitic island arc basalts similarities between the geochemical characteristics of the amphibolites and those of the volcanic rocks of the egirler formation strongly suggest that the latter are the protoliths of the amphibolites