planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the neogene sequence in the adana basin turkey and its correlation with standard biozones the aim of this study is to describe the biostratigraphic chronostratigraphic and ecostratigraphic relationships of the neogene sequence in the adana basin the adana basin is located in southern turkey and bordered by the tauride orogenic belt to the north the amanos mountains to the east the mediterranean coast to the south and the ecemis fault zone to the west from base to top the neogene sequence consists of the gildirli formation continental redbeds the shallow marine kaplankaya formation the reefal limestones of the karaisali formation the shales of the guvenc formation slope to deep marine a thick submarine fan complex cingoz formation the shallow marine and fluvio deltaic kuzgun formation and the shallow marine lagoonal continental handere formation the planktonic foraminiferal biozones identified within the neogene sequence of the adana basin are globigerinoides trilobus and praeorbulina glomerosa curva burdigalian globorotalia fohsi peripheroronda orbulina suturalis langhian and globorotalia mayeri serravallian the late tortonian is characterized by the first occurrence of globorotalia suterae there are no planktonic foraminiferal zones in the messinian but this level may be correlated with a non distinctive zone in the mediterranean region the pliocene is represented by the sphaeroidinellopsis acme zone

neogene ignimbrites of the nevsehir plateau central turkey stratigraphy distribution and source constraints abstract in anatolia turkey extensive calc alkaline volcanism has developed along discontinuous provinces from neogene to quaternary times as a consequence of plate convergence and continental collision in the nevsehir plateau which is located in the central anatolian volcanic province volcanism consists of numerous monogenetic centres several large stratovolcanoes and an extensive mainly neogene rhyolitic ignimbrite field vent and caldera locations for the neogene ignimbrites were not well known based on previous studies in the neogene ignimbrite sequence of the nevsehir plateau we have identified an old group of ignimbrites kavak ignimbrites followed by five major ignimbrite units zelve sarimaden tepe cemilkoy gordeles kizilkaya and two smaller less extensive ones tahar sofular other ignimbrite units at the margin of the plateau occur as outliers of larger ignimbrites whose main distributions are beyond the plateau excellent exposure and physical continuity of the units over large areas have allowed establishment of the stratigraphic succession of the ignimbrites as from bottom to top kavak zelve sarimaden tepe cemilkoy tahar gordeles sofular kizilkaya our stratigraphic scheme refines previous ones by the identification of the zelve ignimbrite and the correlation of the previously defined akkoy ignimbrite with the sarimaden tepe ignimbrite correlations of distant ignimbrite remnants have been achieved by using a combination a field criteria 1 sedimentological characterisitics 2 phenocryst assemblage 3 pumice vesiculation texture 4 presence and characteristics of associated plinian fallout deposits and 5 lithic types the correlations significantly enlarge the estimates of the original extent and volume of most ignimbrites volumes range between 80 km 3 and 300 km 3 for the major ignimbrites corresponding to 2500 10 000 km 3 in areal extent the major ignimbrites of the nevsehir plateau have an inferred source area in the derinkuyu tectonic basin which extends mainly between nevsehir and the melendiz dag volcanic complex the kavak ignimbrites and the zelve ignimbrite have inferred sources located between nevsehir and derinkuyu coincident with a negative gravity anomaly the younger ignimbrites sarimaden tepe cemilkoy gordeles kizilkaya have inferred sources clustered to the south between the erdas dag and the melendiz dag volcanic complex we found evidence of collapse structures on the northern and southern flanks of the erdas dag volcanic massif and of a large updoming structure in the sahinkalesi tepe massif the present day derinkuyu tectonic basin is mostly covered with quaternary sediments and volcanics the fault system which bounds the basin to the east provides evidence that the ignimbrite volcanism and inferred caldera formation took place in a locally extensional environment while the basin was already subsiding drilling and geophysical prospecting are necessary to decipher in detail the presently unknown internal structure of the basin and the inferred probably coalesced or nested calderas within it

slab detachment during continental collision influence of crustal rheology and interaction with lithospheric delamination abstract collision between continents can lead to the subduction of continental material if the crust remains coupled to the downgoing slab a large buoyancy force is generated this force slows down convergence and promotes slab detachment if the crust resists to subduction it may decouple from the downgoing slab and be subjected to buoyant extrusion we employ two dimensional thermo mechanical modelling to study the importance of crustal rheology on the evolution of subduction collision systems we propose simple quantifications of the mechanical decoupling between lithospheric levels and the potential for buoyant extrusion of the crust the modelling results indicate that a variable crustal rheological structure results in slab detachment delamination or the combination of both mechanisms a strong crust provides coupling at the moho low and remains coherent during subduction low it promotes deep subduction of the crust 180 km and slab detachment exhumation occurs in coherent manners via eduction and thrusting slab detachment triggers the development of topography 4 5 km close to the suture a contrasting style of collision occurs using a weak crustal rheology mechanical decoupling at the moho high promotes the extrusion of the crust high disabling slab detachment ongoing shortening leads to buckling of the crust and development of topography on the lower plate collisions involving rheologically layered crust allow decoupling at mid crustal depths this structure favours both the extrusion of upper crust and the subduction of the lower crust such collisions are successively affected by delamination and slab detachment topography develops together with the buoyant extrusion of crust onto the foreland and is further amplified by slab detachment our results suggest that the occurrence of both delamination apennines and slab detachment himalayas in orogens may indicate differences in the initial crustal structure of subducting continental plates in these regions

uplift history of the central and northern andes a review the elevation of the andean cordillera is a crucial boundary condition for both climatic and tectonic studies the andes affect climate because they form the only barrier to atmospheric circulation in the southern hemisphere and they intrigue geologists because they have the highest plateau on earth formed at a noncollisional plate margin the altiplano puna yet until recently few quantitative studies of their uplift history existed this study presents both 1 a review of the quantitative paleoelevation estimates that have been made for the central and colombian andes and 2 an examination of the source and magnitude of error for each estimate in the central andes paleobotanical evidence suggests that the altiplano puna had attained no more than a third of its modern elevation of 3700 m by 20 ma and no more than half its modern elevation by 10 7 ma these data imply surface uplift on the order of 2300 3400 m since the late miocene at uplift rates of 0 2 0 3 mm yr paleobotanical and geomorphological data suggest a similar uplift history for the eastern cordillera namely no more than half the modern elevation present by 10 ma no evidence exists for an exponential increase in uplift rate as has been interpreted from fissiontrack data these uplift rates mostly reflect mean surface uplift rather than rock uplift that is uplift of material points because little dissection of the western eastern cordillera has occurred south of lat 19 s and of the altiplano puna thus the central andean plateau appears to be young in the colombian andes paleobotanical data imply rapid uplift of the eastern cordillera between 2 and 5 ma at rates on the order of 0 6 3 mm yr however some of this uplift is likely rock uplift due to erosion driven isostatic rebound rather than mean surface uplift

uplift of the altiplano puna plateau a view from the west 1 the western flank of the central andean plateau is a crustal scale monoclinal fold expressed in the geomorphology and in the westward tilt of fore arc basin strata data from three fore arc basins quantify the magnitude and time of displacement of the plateau system relative to the fore arc from 18 30 s to 22 s there is a single monocline strand there other authors documented 2000 m 500 m of early and middle miocene structural relief growth across small scale monoclines and our data reveal 810 m 640 m of 11 5 ma relief growth and 400 m 170 m relief growth since 5 ma across a long wavelength monoclinal fold limb this structural relief growth since 11 ma approximates the topographic relief growth between the fore arc and the altiplano plateau from 22 s to 24 s there are two subparallel long wavelength monoclines structural relief on the east side of the fore arc increased by 2840 m 2510 m during 17 10 ma and by 2320 m 1050 m since 10 ma some part of this monoclinal limb rotation led to topographic uplift of the adjacent puna plateau rotation across the western monocline could have increased the altitude of the fore arc basins by 900 m since 6 ma and may result from intense heating of the eastern margin of the cold and strong atacama lithosphere block although the wavelengths of the monoclines vary along strike and through time the monoclinal style of deformation dominated the uplift history of the eastern fore arc of the central andes throughout the neogene

benthic foraminiferal response to changes in bottom water oxygenation and organic carbon flux in the eastern mediterranean during lgm to recent times abstract we present a high resolution study of benthic foraminiferal abundances in 4 cores from the central aegean and ne levantine seas spanning the interval from 30 ka bp to the present the benthic foraminiferal faunas indicate that during lgm times bottom waters were well ventilated while organic flux to the sea floor was significantly higher than today from 30 to 10 2 ka bp faunal density and composition suggest a gradual decrease in organic flux to the sea floor this trend is interrupted by a short return to higher organic flux levels during the younger dryas 12 8 11 5 ka bp the faunas immediately preceding the early to middle holocene organic rich layer sapropel s1 are very similar to late holocene faunas indicating oligotrophic conditions the transition from well ventilated bottom waters to anoxic levantine basin or strongly dysoxic aegean sea bottom waters appears to take place within a time span of only 600 years from 10 8 to 10 2 ka bp sapropel s1 10 2 6 4 ka bp is characterized by extended periods of bottom water anoxia in the levantine basin and by strongly dysoxic conditions punctuated by episodic re ventilation events in the aegean sea re establishment of fully oxygenated bottom water conditions after sapropel s1 was extremely rapid the ensuing late holocene faunas are very similar to recent faunas found in the aegean sea suggesting much lower fluxes of organic matter to the sea floor than during glacial times

middle to upper miocene benthonic foraminiferal palaeoecology of the tap marls alicante province se spain and its palaeoceanographic implications abstract the benthonic foraminiferal faunas of twenty sections have been analysed statistically cluster analysis and interpreted palaeoecologically the analysis shows that oxygenation was the most important factor for the distribution of the faunas in the investigated area the lifting and lowering of the sill to the atlantic ocean gibraltar sill in conjunction with climatic changes and sea level fluctuations led to changes in the current system and to two faunal turnovers at the transition from langhian to serravallian 15 2 15 0 ma and at the end of the serravallian respectively 11 7 11 4 ma the faunas indicate well oxygenated langhian reduced oxygenated serravallian and again well oxygenated tortonian conditions a simplified circulation model for the western mediterranean based on the author s interpretation and additional sources suggests a an estuarine circulation during the langhian b a restricted anti estuarine pattern with sluggish circulation until the end of the serravallian and c an anti estuarine circulation similar to today s situation during the tortonian

mantle dynamics uplift of the tibetan plateau and the indian monsoon convective removal of lower lithosphere beneath the tibetan plateau can account for a rapid increase in the mean elevation of the tibetan plateau of 1000 m or more in a few million years such uplift seems to be required by abrupt tectonic and environmental changes in asia and the indian ocean in late cenozoic time the composition of basaltic volcanism in northern tibet which apparently began at about 13 ma implies melting of lithosphere not asthenosphere the most plausible mechanism for rapid heat transfer to the midlithosphere is by convective removal of deeper lithosphere and its replacement by hotter asthenosphere the initiation of normal faulting in tibet at about 8 3 ma suggests that the plateau underwent an appreciable increase in elevation at that time an increase due solely to the isostatic response to crustal thickening caused by india s penetration into eurasia should have been slow and could not have triggered normal faulting another process such as removal of relatively cold dense lower lithosphere must have caused a supplemental uplift of the surface folding and faulting of the indo australian plate south of india the most prominent oceanic intraplate deformation on earth began between about 7 5 and 8 ma and indicates an increased north south compressional stress within the indo australian plate a tibetan uplift of only 1000 m if the result of removal of lower lithosphere should have increased the compressional stress that the plateau applies to india and that resists india s northward movement from an amount too small to fold oceanic lithosphere to one sufficient to do so the climate of the equatorial indian ocean and southern asia changed at about 6 9 ma monsoonal winds apparently strengthened northern pakistan became more arid but weathering of rock in the eastern himalaya apparently increased because of its high altitude and lateral extent the tibetan plateau provides a heat source at midlatitudes that should oppose classical symmetric hadley circulation between the equator and temperate latitudes and that should help to drive an essentially opposite circulation characteristic of summer monsoons for the simple case of axisymmetric heating no dependence on longitude of an atmosphere without dissipation theoretical analyses by hou lindzen and plumb show that an axisymmetric heat source displaced from the equator can drive a much stronger meridianal monsoonlike circulation than such a source centered on the equator but only if heating exceeds a threshold whose level increases with the latitude of the heat source because heating of the atmosphere over tibet should increase monotonically with elevation of the plateau a modest uplift 1000 2500 m of tibet already of substantial extent and height might have been sufficient to exceed a threshold necessary for a strong monsoon the virtual simultaneity of these phenomena suggests that uplift was rapid approximately 1000 m to 2500 m in a few million years moreover nearly simultaneously with the late miocene strengthening of the monsoon the calcite compensation depth in the oceans dropped plants using the relatively efficient c4 pathway for photosynthesis evolved rapidly and atmospheric co2 seems to have decreased suggesting causal relationships and positive feedbacks among these phenomena both a supplemental uplift of the himalaya the southern edge of tibet and a strengthened monsoon may have accelerated erosion and weathering of silicate rock in the himalaya that in turn enhanced extraction of co2 from the atmosphere thus these correlations offer some support for links between plateau uplift a downdrawing of co2 from the atmosphere and global climate change as proposed by raymo ruddiman and froehlich mantle dynamics beneath mountain belts not only may profoundly affect tectonic processes near and far from the belts but might also play an important role in altering regional and global climates

revision of the early middle pleistocene calcareous nannofossil biochronology 1 75 0 85 ma the extant nannofossil biostratigraphic and biochronologic framework for the early middle pleistocene time interval has been tested through the micropaleontological analysis of globally distributed high quality low to mid latitude deep sea successions the quantitative temporal distribution patterns of relative abundances of selected taxa were reconstructed in critical intervals and the following biohorizons were defined first occurrence of medium sized gephyrocapsa spp last occurrence of calcidiscus macintyrei first occurrence of large gephyrocapsa spp last occurrence of large gephyrocapsa spp first occurrence of reticulofenestra asanoi re entrance of medium sized gephyrocapsa spp and last occurrence of reticulofenestra asanoi the detailed patterns of abundance change at these biohorizons were used to generate a detailed biostratigraphy and the biostratigraphic data were transformed into a precise biochronology by means of correlation to isotope stratigraphies and astronomical timescales the degree of isochrony or diachrony of the biohorizons was evaluated biohorizons and are isochronous occurring close to marine isotope stages mis 55 and mis 22 respectively and and are slightly diachronous on the order of 30 40 kyr whereas biohorizons and are confirmed as diachronous on the order of 100 80 and 60 kyr respectively some of the events are clearly controlled by environmental conditions e g the last occurrence of r asanoi related to significant environmental changes associated with the first large amplitude glaciation of the late quaternary mis 22

geochemical features of collision related volcanic rocks in central and eastern anatolia turkey in central and eastern anatolia volcanism related to continental collision occurred in neogene to quaternary times major and trace element compositions 87sr86 sr and k ar ages were determined for volcanic rocks from selected volcanoes in this region 87sr86 sr for basalts from erciyes volcano in the eastern part of central anatolia as well as ararat nemrut and karacadag volcanoes in eastern anatolia are in the range 0 7035 0 7040 these ratios are higher than those of n type morb but overlap arc volcanic rock values this suggests that the mantle source which was possibly contaminated by fluids and melts with higher87sr86 sr during the pre collisional events has similar sr isotopic compositions in wide areas of the eastern part of central anatolia and eastern anatolia even across the collision plate boundary in addition chemical compositions of the mantle source are not homogeneous with respect to hfs element contents indicating that the slab derived components resulting from past subductions are not homogeneously distributed the mantle source beneath the western part of central anatolia which corresponds to the transitional region from collision tectonics in the east to subduction tectonics in the west has different chemical and sr isotopic signatures from other parts of anatolia in the western part of central anatolia the87sr86 sr of basaltic rocks from three regions characterized by monogenetic volcanoes are in the range 0 70427 to 0 70581 and differ from region to region in spite of indistinguishable chemical compositions this indicates either source heterogeneity on a small scale or different contributions of local crustal contaminants calc alkaline lavas from ararat and kars in eastern anatolia have chemical compositions with subduction signatures inherited from pre collision subduction events in contrast the chemical and sr isotopic features of volcanic rocks from erciyes volcano in central anatolia indicate that the combined process of fractional crystallization of basaltic magma and crustal assimilation without injection of slab derived components is the dominant process generating calc alkaline andesite under the collision tectonics regime operating in this region

late miocene surface uplift of the southern margin of the central anatolian plateau central taurides turkey the timing and pattern of surface uplift of miocene marine sediments capping the southern margin of the central anatolian plateau in southern turkey provide a first order constraint on possible mechanisms of regional uplift nannofossil ostracod and planktic foraminifera biostratigraphy of the basyayla section mut ermenek basin within the mut and koselerli formations suggests a tortonian age for marine sediments unconformably capping basement rocks at 2 km elevation the identification of biozone mmi 12a 7 81 8 35 ma from planktic foraminifera in the upper part of the section provides the tightest constraint on the age which is further limited to 8 35 8 108 ma as a result of the reverse polarity of the collected samples chron 4r 1r or 4r 2r this provides a limiting age for the onset of surface uplift at the margin of one of the world s major orogenic plateaus from which an average uplift rate of 0 24 0 25 mm yr can be calculated subhorizontal beds of the uppermost marine sediments exposed throughout the mut ermenek basin suggest minimal localized deformation with just minor faulting at the basin margin and broad antiformal deformation across the basin this implies that the post 8 ma uplift mechanism must be rooted deep within the crust or in the upper mantle published pn wave velocity data for the region are compatible with topography compensated by asthenosphere across the southern margin of the plateau showing a close match to the highest topography when elevations are filtered with a 100 km wide smoothing window uplift along the southern margin of the central anatolian plateau is also reflected by the pattern of miocene marine sediments capping the margin which form an asymmetric drape fold over the topography these observations together with tomographic evidence for slab steepening and break off beneath the eastern anatolian plateau suggest that at least some of the 2 km of post 8 ma uplift of the southern central anatolian plateau margin is compensated by low density asthenospheric mantle that upwelled following slab break off

tectonics sea level changes and palaeoenvironments in the early pleistocene of rome italy abstract the historical site of the monte mario lower pleistocene succession rome italy is an important marker of the pliocene pleistocene boundary recently the monte mario site was excavated and restudied a spectacular angular unconformity characterizes the contact between the monte vaticano and the monte mario formations which marks the pliocene pleistocene boundary biostratigraphical analyses carried out on ostracod foraminifer and calcareous nannofossil assemblages indicate an early pliocene age topmost zanclean 3 81 3 70 ma for the underlying monte vaticano formation whereas the monte mario formation has been dated as early pleistocene santernian 1 66 1 59 ma palaeomagnetic analyses point to c2ar and c1r2r polarity chrons for the monte vaticano and the monte mario formations respectively the monte mario formation consists of two obliquity forced depositional sequences mm1 and mm2 characterized by transgressive systems tracts of littoral marine environments at depths respectively of 40 80 m and 15 20 m the data obtained from foraminifer and ostracod assemblages allow us to reconstruct early pleistocene relative sea level changes near rome at the plio pleistocene transition a relative sea level drop of at least 260 m occurred as a result of both tectonic uplift of the central tyrrhenian margin and glacio eustatic changes linked to early pleistocene glaciation marine isotope stage 58

magma generation by slab steepening and breakoff beneath a subduction accretion complex an alternative model for collision related volcanism in eastern anatolia turkey 1 eastern anatolia is regarded as one of the best examples of continental collision represented by a 2 km high plateau it displays shallow and diffuse seismicity indicating that the crust is still being actively deformed perhaps the most striking aspect of eastern anatolia is the volume and compositional variability of collision related volcanic products erupted during the neogene and quaternary time a number of models have been proposed for the genesis of this volcanism in the region however recent geophysical studies have revealed that a mantle lithosphere is almost completely absent beneath a greater portion of the region which makes us question the validity of the previous models in this paper we propose a new model for magma genesis slab steepening and breakoff beneath a large subduction accretion complex this model holds that a northward subducting oceanic lithosphere beneath the eastern anatolia accretionary prism gets steepened and eventually detached from the continental lithosphere of the bitlis poturge massif following the continent accretionary complex collision this brings the asthenospheric mantle in contact with the accretionary complex at shallow depths e g around 50 km resulting in rapid regional uplift and extensive melting which leads to collisional volcanism

decoding the mediterranean salinity crisis this historical narrative traces the steps to unravel over a span of 40 years an extraordinary event in which 5 of the dissolved salt of the oceans of the world was extracted in a fraction of a million years to form a deposit more than 1 million km 3 in volume a buried abyssal salt layer was identified with reflection profiling and sampled during the deep sea drilling project leg 13 the dolomite gypsum anhydrite and halite in the drill cores paint a surprising picture of a mediterranean desert lying more than 3 km below the atlantic ocean with brine pools that shrank and expanded by the evaporative power of the sun the desert drowned suddenly when the gibraltar barrier gave way the explanation of deep basin shallow water desiccation and the notion of a catastrophic zanclean flood had a mixed reception however the hypothesis became broadly accepted following subsequent drilling expeditions nevertheless as experts examined the evaporate facies and sequences of equivalent age in the terrestrial outcrops weaknesses appeared in the concept of repeated flooding and drying to account for the magnitude of the deposits the rosetta stone used to decipher conflicting interpretations turns out not to be the deposits but the erosion surfaces that enclose them these surfaces and their detritus formed in response to the drop in base level during evaporative drawdown extend to the basin floor evaporative drawdown began halfway through the salinity crisis when influx from the atlantic no longer kept up with evaporation prior to that time a million years passed as a sea of brine concentrated towards halite precipitation during the later part of this interval more than 14 cyclic beds of gypsum accumulated along shallow margins modulated by orbital forcing the thick salt on the deep seabed precipitated in just the next few cycles when drawdown commenced and the brine volume shrank upon closure of the atlantic spillway the remnants of the briny sea transformed into salt pans and endorheic lakes fed from watersheds of eurasia and africa the revised model of evaporative concentration now has shallow margin shallow water and deep basin deep water precursors to desiccation

paleobathymetry in the backstripping procedure correction for oxygenation effects on depth estimates abstract this paper aims to provide a straightforward and easily applicable method for estimating the depositional depth evolution of marine basins vertical movements of the basin floor can be reconstructed from the sedimentary record and more accurately constrained when information from the sedimentary history is combined with palaeodepth estimates derived from fauna to this end we propose to extend an existing method based on the percentage of planktonic foraminifera with respect to the total planktonic and benthic foraminiferal association which is expressed as the percentage planktonics p the ratio between planktonic and benthic foraminifera is related to water depth and the p generally increases with increasing distance to shore however next to water depth the oxygen level of bottom waters has a profound effect on the abundance of benthic foraminifera and as such influences the p depending on basin configuration the oxygen level at the sea floor can vary on milankovitch time scales and is reflected by the fraction of benthic foraminiferal species that indicate an effect of oxygen stress on the biotic system these species can be used as stress markers and their percentage with respect to the total benthic population is here expressed as s to assess whether the effect of sea floor oxygenation impairs depth reconstructions we studied the percentage of planktonic foraminifera p in five well dated sedimentary successions from the lower pliocene of crete corfu and milos in greece additionally we assessed whether different foraminiferal size fractions and counting methods affect the determination of the percentage of planktonic foraminifera the palaeobathymetric evolution calculated for each basin was confirmed for all successions by an independent check on depth related occurrences of benthic foraminifera after correction for bathymetry changes of the basin due to sedimentation compaction and eustatic sea level variations the vertical movement history of the basin floor was inferred we propose a standard methodology for reconstructions of palaeobathymetry of marine sedimentary successions from foraminiferal associations

apatite fission track data for the miocene arabia eurasia collision the collision between the eurasian and arabian plates along the 2400 km long bitliszagros thrust zone isolated the mediterranean from the indian ocean and has been linked to extension of the aegean rifting of the red sea and the formation of the north and east anatolian fault systems however the timing of the collision is poorly constrained and estimates range from late cretaceous to late miocene here we report the fi rst apatite fi ssiontrack aft ages from the bitlis zagros thrust zone the aft samples are distributed over the 450 km length of the bitlis thrust zone in southeast turkey and include metamorphic rocks and eocene sandstones despite the disparate lithology and large distance the aft ages point consistently to exhumation between 18 and 13 ma the aft ages along with a critical appraisal of regional stratigraphy indicate that the last oceanic lithosphere between the arabian and eurasian plates was consumed by the early miocene ca 20 ma the results imply that aegean extension predated the arabia eurasia collision

surface expression of eastern mediterranean slab dynamics neogene topographic and structural evolution of the southwest margin of the central anatolian plateau turkey 1 the southwest margin of the central anatolian plateau has experienced multiple phases of topographic growth including the formation of localized highs prior to the late miocene that were later affected by wholesale uplift of the plateau margin our new biostratigraphic data limit the age of uplifted marine sediments at the southwest plateau margin at 1 5 km elevation to 7 17 ma and regional lithostratigraphic correlations imply that the age is 6 7 ma single grain ca tims u pb zircon analyses from a reworked ash within the marine sediments yield dates as young as 10 6 ma indicating a maximum age that is consistent with the biostratigraphy our structural measurements within the uplifted region and fault inversion modeling agree with previous findings in surrounding regions with early contraction followed by strike slip and extensional deformation during uplift focal mechanisms from shallow earthquakes show that the extensional phase has continued to the present broad similarities in the change in the tectonic stress regime after 8 ma and the onset of surface uplift after 7 ma imply that deep seated process es caused post 7 ma uplift the geometry of lithospheric slabs beneath the plateau margin pliocene to recent alkaline volcanism and the uplift pattern with accompanying normal faulting point toward slab tearing and localized heating at the base of the lithosphere as a probable mechanism for post 7 ma uplift of the southwest margin considering previous work in the region there appears to be an important link between slab dynamics and surface uplift throughout the anatolian plateau s southern margin

arabia eurasia continental collision insights from late tertiary foreland basin evolution in the alborz mountains northern iran a poorly understood lag time of 15 20 m y exists between the initial arabia eurasia continental collision in late eocene to early oligocene time and the acceleration of tectonic and sedimentary processes across the collision zone in the early to late miocene the late eocene to miocene pliocene clastic and shallow marine sedimentary rocks of the kond eyvanekey and semnan basins in the alborz mountains northern iran offer the possibility to track the evolution of this orogen in the framework of collision processes a transition from volcaniclastic submarine deposits to shallow marine evaporites and terrestrial sediments occurred shortly after 36 ma in association with reversals in sediment provenance strata tilting and erosional unroofing these events followed the termination of subduction arc magmatism and marked a changeover from an extensional to a contractional regime in response to initiation of continental collision with the subduction of stretched arabian lithosphere this early stage of collision produced topographic relief associated with shallow foreland basins suggesting that shortening and tectonic loading occurred at low rates starting from the early miocene 17 5 ma flexural subsidence in response to foreland basin initiation occurred fast sediment accumulation rates and erosional unroofing trends point to acceleration of shortening by the early miocene we suggest that the lag time between the initiation of continental collision 36 ma and the acceleration of regional deformation 20 17 5 ma reflects a two stage collision process involving the soft collision of stretched lithosphere at first and hard collision following the arrival of unstretched arabian continental lithosphere in the subduction zone

a review of calcareous nannofossil astrobiochronology encompassing the past 25 million years this paper presents a review of astrobiochronological calibration of recent to late oligocene calcareous nannofossil datum events biohorizons included in the paper are those of the widely used standard nannofossil zonations of martini e 1971 standard tertiary and quaternary calcareous nannoplankton zonation in farinacci a ed proceedings of the second international conference on planktonic microfossils roma rome ed tecnosci vol 2 pp 739 785 and okada h and bukry d 1980 supplementary modification and introduction of code numbers to the low latitude coccolith biostratigraphy zonation bukry 1973 1975 marine micropaleontology 51 321 325 as well as supplementary biohorizons proposed in the literature the biohorizons have been selected on the basis of the unambiguous taxonomy of the index taxa and their biostratigraphic usefulness we emphasise the application of rigorous methodology in nannofossil studies which permits an evaluation of biohorizons in terms of reliability and calibrates their potential correlatability astrochronological age estimates rely on the geologic timescale developed by the ics in 2004 with some new calibrations included we provide an overview of the relative position of biohorizons versus the astronomically calibrated ages of magnetic reversals and reference isotope stratigraphies surprisingly there are still few high resolution quantitative biostratigraphic studies of astrochronologically tuned sections in spite of the central role of such studies in addressing fundamental problems such as the tempo and mode of plankton evolution

vertical gps ground motion rates in the euro mediterranean region new evidence of velocity gradients at different spatial scales along the nubia eurasia plate boundary we use 2 5 to 14 years long position time series from 800 continuous global positioning system gps stations to study vertical deformation rates in the euro mediterranean region we estimate and remove common mode errors in position time series using a principal component analysis obtaining a significant gain in the signal to noise ratio of the displacements data following the results of a maximum likelihood estimation analysis which gives a mean spectral index 0 7 we adopt a power law white noise stochastic model in estimating the final vertical rates and find 95 of the velocities within 2 mm yr with uncertainties from filtered time series 40 smaller than from the unfiltered ones we highlight the presence of statistically significant velocity gradients where the stations density is higher we find undulations of the vertical velocity field at different spatial scales both in tectonically active regions like eastern alps apennines and eastern mediterranean and in regions characterized by a low or negligible tectonic activity like central iberia and western alps a correlation between smooth vertical velocities and topographic features is apparent in many sectors of the study area glacial isostatic adjustment and weathering processes do not completely explain the measured rates and a combination of active tectonics and deep seated geodynamic processes must be invoked excluding areas where localized processes are likely or where subduction processes may be active mantle dynamics is the most likely process but regional mantle modeling is required for a better understanding

forcing of late cenozoic northern hemisphere climate by plateau uplift in southern asia and the american west geologic evidence indicates that net vertical uplift occurred on a large kilometer scale and at accelerating rates during the middle and late cenozoic in plateaus of southern asia and the american west based on this evidence general circulation model sensitivity tests were run to isolate the unique effects of plateau uplift on climate the experiments simulated significant climatic changes in many places some far from the uplifted regions the basic direction of most of these simulated responses to progressive uplift is borne out by changes found in the geologic record winter cooling of north america northern europe northern asia and the arctic ocean summer drying of the north american west coast the eurasian interior and the mediterranean winter drying of the north american northern plains and the interior of asia and changes over the north atlantic ocean conducive to increased formation of deep water the modeled changes result from increased orographic diversion of westerly winds from cyclonic and anticyclonic surface flow induced by summer heating and winter cooling of the uplifted plateaus and from the intensification of vertical circulation cells in the atmosphere caused by exchanges of mass between the summer heated and winter cooled plateaus and the mid latitude oceans disagreements between the geologic record and the model simulations in alaska and the southern rockies and plains may be related mainly to the lack of narrow mountain barriers in the model orography taken together the observed regional trends comprise much of the pattern of late cenozoic climatic deterioration in the northern hemisphere that culminated in the plio pleistocene ice ages the success of the uplift sensitivity experiment in simulating the correct pattern and sign of most of the observed regional climatic trends points to uplift as an important forcing function of late cenozoic climatic change in the northern hemisphere at time scales longer than orbital variations however the modest amplitude of the uplift induced cooling simulated at high latitudes indicates a probable need for additional climatic forcing

variability of surface water characteristics and heinrich like events in the pleistocene midlatitude north atlantic ocean biomarker and xrd records from iodp site u1313 mis 16 9 1 a reconstruction of milankovitch to millennial scale variability of sea surface temperature sst and sea surface productivity in the pleistocene midlatitude north atlantic ocean marine isotope stage mis 16 9 and its relationship to ice sheet instability was carried out on sediments from integrated ocean drilling program iodp site u1313 this reconstruction is based on alkenone and n alkane concentrations u37k index total organic carbon toc and carbonate contents x ray diffraction data magnetic susceptibility and accumulation rates increased input of ice rafted debris occurred during mis 16 12 and 10 characterized by high concentrations of dolomite quartz and feldspars and elevated accumulation rates of terrigenous matter minimum input values of terrigenous matter on the other hand were determined for mis 13 and 11 peak values of dolomite coinciding with quartz plagioclase and kalifeldspar peaks and maxima in long chain n alkanes indicative for land plants are interpreted as heinrich like events related to sudden instability of the laurentide ice sheet during early and late deglacial phases of the glacials the coincidence of increased toc values with elevated absolute concentrations of alkenones suggests increased glacial productivity probably due to a more southern position of the polar front alkenone based sst reached absolute maxima of about 19 c during mis 11 3 and absolute minima of 10 c during mis 12 and 10 within mis 11 prominent cooling events mis 11 22 and 11 24 occurred the absolute sst minima recorded directly before and after the glacial maxima mis 10 2 and 12 2 are related to heinrich like event meltwater pulses as supported by the coincidence of sst minima and maxima in c37 4 alkenones and dolomite these sudden meltwater pulses especially during terminations iv and v probably caused a collapse of phytoplankton productivity as indicated by the distinct drop in alkenone concentrations ice sheet disintegration and subsequent surges and outbursts of icebergs and meltwater discharge may have been triggered by increased insolation in the northern high latitudes

a revised stratigraphic framework for later cenozoic sequences in the northeastern mediterranean region this study describes the lithostratigraphic character of mid cenozoic oligocene pliocene sequences in different parts of the northeastern mediterranean area and offers a detailed stratigraphic correlation for this region the sequences concerned are drawn from the camardi area south central anatolia the adana basin the misis mountains and the kyrenia range northern cyprus and the submerged florence rise west of cyprus the stratigraphic relationships identified here indicate the following a following the middle eocene lutetian regression there was uplift throughout the entire region b episodes of fluvial and lacustrine deposition in intramontane settings ensued in most of this region during the late eocene early miocene interval c following a regionally extensive phase of tectonic compression major marine transgression commenced in the late oligocene in northern cyprus and in the early miocene in adjacent southern turkey with the exception of the ecemi fault zone where continental deposition continued d these oligo miocene transgressive sequences comprise a broadly diachronous complex of both shallow and deeper marine facies including reefal carbonates littoral clastics basinal shales and fan turbidites e deeper marine miocene facies persisted longer in the misis area and in northern cyprus f a regional regression occurred throughout most of the area during the late serravallian to tortonian interval and is marked by the abrupt locally discordant appearance of extensive shallow marine deltaic and fluvial deposits g continued regression in the messinian led to the formation of significant evaporite deposits in the western and southern parts of the region but localized uplift of the misis area is attested by the initial deformation of the neogene rocks there and the absence of messinian sediments from this area h in the pliocene there was extensive emergence of the northern parts of the region interrupted by brief marine incursions the present day drainage pattern was established at this time i marine conditions persisted longer in northern cyprus where emergence occurred only in the latest pliocene

evidence for 1 5 km of uplift of the central anatolian plateau s southern margin in the last 450 kyr and implications for its multiphased uplift history

the role of the early tertiary ulukisla basin southern turkey in suturing of the mesozoic tethys ocean the maastrichtian late eocene ulukisla basin is representative of the tectonic and sedimentary evolution of prominent early tertiary basins in central anatolia including the tuzgolu and arkisla basins the ulukisla basin overlies an ophiolitic melange of late cretaceous age between the bolkar carbonate platform to the south and the nigde kirsehir metamorphic massif to the north the basin stratigraphy records successive phases of transgression subsidence volcanism evaporite deposition deformation and uplift subsidence curves are consistent with an extensional or transtensional basin origin terminated by uplift the ulukisla basin includes a thick succession c 2 km of upper paleocene lower eocene basaltic to andesitic submarine pillow lavas lava flows volcaniclastic rocks and intercalated limestones whole rock xrf chemical analysis indicates a within plate origin with a marked subduction influence believed to be inherited rather than contemporaneous the ulukisla basin formed after late cretaceous ophiolite and melange emplacement and ended with late eocene emergence deformation and onset of oligo miocene non marine deposition we propose that late cretaceous ophiolite and melange emplacement reflect initial ocean basin closure this was followed by a long period c 30 ma of microcontinental adjustment including possible strike slip palaeorotation and suture tightening during which the early tertiary ulukisla basin developed possible driving forces were regional slab pull of a relict subduction zone or oblique diachronous convergence suture tightening was complete by late eocene time marked by collisional deformation and regional uplift

pleistocene raised marine terraces of the spanish mediterranean and atlantic coasts records of coastal uplift sea level highstands and climate changes detailed geological mapping morphostratigraphic palaeontological and geochronological uranium series analyses were undertaken on the raised marine terraces and interbedded terrestrial deposits along the spanish peninsular and insular atlantic and mediterranean coasts several sets of pleistocene shallow marine to coastal deposits exposed in a staircase arrangement are interpreted as being emplaced during sea level highstands coeval with interglacials or interstadials correlating with marine oxygen isotopic stages ois 5a 5c 5e 7 9 11 and older up to three highstands have been identified in deposits formed during ois 5e close to the end of ois 5e there is a record of sudden changes in sea surface conditions and climate marked by the disappearance of a major proportion of the warm senegalese fauna switches from oolitic to non oolitic facies and accumulation of boulder beaches dating of the coral cladocora caespitosa found in a layer that also contains strombus bubonius confirms the occurrence of warm fauna in the mediterranean basin during ois 7 as previously suggested by hillaire marcel et al 1986 goy et al 1986a b zazo and goy 1989 also the occurrence of warm faunas in deposits corresponding to an older interglacial probably ois 9 or 11 in the balearic islands suggests similar oceanographic conditions sea surface temperature assuming constant salinity during the last interglacial and at least two interglacials of the middle pleistocene in the western mediterranean a 2002 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

calcareous nannofossils in extreme environments the messinian salinity crisis polemi basin cyprus the rapidly changing and extreme environmental conditions of the early messinian salinity crisis are reflected in abrupt variations in nannofossil assemblages within the messinian units kalavasos formation from the polemi basin during the messinian sedimentary and microfossil data indicate that the polemi basin was a semi enclosed shallow water basin subject to repeated influxes of marine and freshwater this is supported by the absence of many open marine nannoplankton e g discoaster and by the presence of neritic littoral and freshwater diatoms whilst calcareous nannoplankton are known to occupy near shore habitats they are rarely preserved in such environments due to terrigenous and clastic influx the shallow and eutrophic environments of the messinian polemi basin therefore provide an unusual opportunity to investigate which extinct nannofossil taxa occupied marginal marine environments nannoplankton diversity 3 to 11 species is low in comparison to the open ocean and the assemblages are extremely uneven with high dominance one of five species reticulofenestra minuta reticulofenestra antarctica helicosphaera carteri umbilicosphaera jafari and sphenolithus abies was observed to dominate in all of the assemblages these were broadly distributed marine species but capable of opportunistic behaviour salinity and nutrient levels are thought to be the primary factors controlling the overall nature of the nannoplankton assemblages using the associated diatom and sedimentological evidence we infer the palaeoecology of key nannofossil taxa and speculate on the palaeoenvironments of the messinian polemi basin r antarctica is thought to have dominated in normal salinity mesotrophic shallow water environments h carteri in shallow brackish eutrophic environments u jafari in hypersaline conditions r minuta in eutrophic conditions with an abnormal salinity from brackish to hypersaline and s abies in mesotrophic deeper and normal salinity environments d 2005 elsevier b v all rights reserved

spatial patterns in dense algal blooms lntricatc and striking patterns are often created in dense algal blooms by the interaction of sinking floating or swllmming algae and local physical dynamics the structure of these patterns can reveal a great deal about the processes underlying the pattern formation here i explore three common patterns in dense algal blooms chaotic mixing internal wave banding and sharp fronts for each of these patterns i develop a simple model to simulate the qualitative aspects of the patterns the models are then analyzed to better understand the time and spacedependent processes involved in pattern formation and to suggest ways in which we might better sample such patterns to more accurately quantify the dynamics one significant result of this analysis is that complicated patterns of ilagrangian tracers need not be driven by similarly complicated patterns of the flow among the most striking manifestations of biological oceanographic dynamics are exceptionally dense algal blooms such blooms can color the water bright opaque hues often forming fantastic patterns with unexpectedly sharp boundaries these patterns typically arise through the interaction of the organism s behavior sinking floating or swimming and the ambient physical flows neutrally buoyant particles will not accumulate through physical biological dynamics as discussed by franks 1992a but may form patches driven by differential growth or grazing populations with any ability to move themselves independent of the water to any degree have the potential of forming dense accumulations in certain flow regimes a great deal can be learned about the local physical dynamics and the behavioral and physiological responses of the organisms by examining the structure of dense algal blooms certain accumulation patterns are characteristic of particular flows observation of only the surface expression of such patches may reveal much about the underlying dynamics here i present three examples of recurrent patterns in dense algal blooms chaotic mixing patterns internal wave banding and dense stripes forced by ageostrophic fronts fig 3 for each case i develop a simple illustrative model to elucidate the main features of the flow and behavior while the models reproduce the qualitative aspects of the patterns i e they look similgr i cannot claim that they have accurately captured the underlying dynamics in general insufficient sampling was performed at the time the photographs were taken to definitively identify the dominant physical and biological dynamics the models are useful vehicles however to identity the range of potential patterns and the types

use of a new 10be and 26al inventory method to date marine terraces santa cruz california usa marine terraces along active continental margins reflect the interplay between sea level oscillations and rock uplift well dated marine terraces record the timing of sea level highstands and delimit both uplift and geomorphic rates cosmogenic radionuclides provide a new tool for dating previously undatable terraces because the five marine terraces north of santa cruz california are capped by well developed soils formed in regressive marine sands both predepositional cosmogenic radionuclide inheritance and bioturbation of the profile must be accounted for we present a new cosmogenic radionuclide inventory method that uses the depth integrated cosmogenic radionuclide concentration to determine the terrace age this method yields terrace ages that correlate well with sea level highstands of marine oxygen isotope stages 3 5a 5c 5e and 7 the implied uplift rate is steady at 1 1 mm yr and is two to three times higher than rates suggested by earlier studies

east anatolian high plateau as a mantle supported north south shortened domal structure an edited version of this paper was published by the american geophysical union agu copyright 2003 agu see also http www agu org pubs crossref 2003 2003gl017858 shtml http atlas geo cornell edu turkey publications sengor et al 2003 htm

interpreting quaternary uplift rates at the mendocino triple junction northern california from uplifted marine terraces analysis of the altitudinal spacing of 14 flights of marine terraces indicates a spatial pattern of varying uplift rates that agrees with that determined from previously dated terraces for the past 3 81 ka and temporal changes in uplift rates from 1 m ka to 3 5 m ka that may reflect response to changes in tectonic regime during passage of the mendocino triple junction mtj a possible mechanism for regional uplift is growth of a slab window south of the mtj the region of most rapid uplift is 25 43 km south of the mtj immediately south of the northern boundary of the slab window the coastline is tilted upward to the south in the region directly above the southern edge of the subducted gorda plate at point delgada 55 km south of the present mtj where the northern edge of the slab window passes approximately 300 ka uplift rates have been 1 2 m ka for at least 330 ka more than 1 4 m y after passage of the southern edge of the subducted slab at the mendocino coast uplift rates have been less than 0 4 m ka for at least 330 ka

the kizilkaya ignimbrite an unusual low aspect ratio ignimbrite from cappadocia central turkey abstract the 4 3 m y old medium volume low aspect ratio kizilkaya ignimbrite 50 100 km3 dre is one of the most widespread in the cappadocian volcanic province covering about 8500 10 600 km2 the ignimbrite rests on a relatively fine grained fan of plinian pumice fall deposit md of 1 0 1 80 mm in proximal locations the eruptive center was located in the misli plain northeast of nigde as deduced from thickness and grain size variations of the fall deposit flow direction indicators welding patterns of the ignimbrite and the distribution of certain types ofxenoliths the massive ignimbrite generally about 15 m thick covers a paleoplain throughout at least two thirds of its areal extent it comprizes two flow units identified by local pumice enrichment in the upper part of the lower unit the ignimbrite is completely welded in many places in other places the lower flow unit is non welded particularly where the initial pumice fall deposit was eroded a fine grained ground layer was deposited and undulating or cross laminations with antidunes were developed the ground layer was derived from the ignimbrite ground mass by loss of fines depositional characteristics indicate that the ignimbrite was emplaced as high concentration flows with relatively low velocity and low heat loss during runout local development of a ground layer and internal bedding structures indicate local increased turbulence only within individual flow portions due to agitated fluidization from engulfed air the degree of welding of the lower flow unit was controlled by this turbulence and is not related to thickness variations

measurement of tectonic surface uplift rate in a young collisional mountain belt measurement of the rate of tectonically driven surface uplift is crucial to a complete understanding of mountain building dynamics the lack of a suitable rock record typically prevents determination of this quantity but the unusual geology of papua new guinea s finisterre mountains makes measurement of this rate possible the tectonic surface uplift rate at the finisterre range is 0 8 2 1 mmyr 1 approximately that expected to arise from crustal thickening

estimation of environmental paleogradient values based on presence absence data a case study using benthic foraminifera for paleodepth estimation abstract a two step procedure for estimating paleogradient values based on the presence absence of variates e g species chemical elements and traits is presented the first step requires information about the general basic distributions of variates along the gradient using species as variates fundamental ecological niches corresponding to the gradient represent these general distributions the second step involves a transfer equation which is the arithmetic mean of location parameters of variates weighted by their dispersion parameters this procedure strengthens variates with narrow dispersions yielding more information about the location at the gradient than variates with wide dispersion the method proposed here does not require information about frequencies solely the presence of variates is sufficient objective criteria are used to eliminate non overlapping variates along the gradient e g species whose distributions do not overlap in living individuals but are mixed in samples of empty tests this is important in estimating paleogradients because mixing of non overlapping variates is a common effect due to post mortem transport bioturbation or sediment reworking the new method is calibrated for depth estimation using living symbiont bearing benthic foraminifera and empty tests from the nw pacific and living smaller benthic foraminifera from the shelf and continental slope of senegal this approach is then successfully applied for paleodepth estimation of a lower to middle miocene transect in the styrian basin austria where plankton benthos ratios of foraminifera yield poor depth estimations

multi phased uplift of the southern margin of the central anatolian plateau turkey a record of tectonic and upper mantle processes abstract uplifted neogene marine sediments and quaternary fluvial terraces in the mut basin southern turkey reveal a detailed history of surface uplift along the southern margin of the central anatolian plateau from the late miocene to the present new surface exposure ages 10be 26al and 21ne of gravels capping fluvial strath terraces located between 28 and 135 m above the goksu river in the mut basin yield ages ranging from ca 25 to 130 ka corresponding to an average incision rate of 0 52 to 0 67 mm yr published biostratigraphic data combined with new interpretations of the fossil assemblages from uplifted marine sediments reveal average uplift rates of 0 25 to 0 37 mm yr since late miocene time starting between 8 and 5 45 ma and 0 72 to 0 74 mm yr after 1 66 to 1 62 ma together with the terrace abandonment ages the data imply 0 6 to 0 7 mm yr uplift rates from 1 6 ma to the present the different post late miocene and post 1 6 ma uplift rates can imply increasing uplift rates through time or multi phased uplift with slow uplift or subsidence in between longitudinal profiles of rivers in the upper catchment of the mut and ermenek basins show no apparent lithologic or fault control on some knickpoints that occur at 1 2 to 1 5 km elevation implying a transient response to a change in uplift rates projections of graded upper relict channel segments to the modern outlet together with constraints from uplifted marine sediments show that a slower incision uplift rate of 0 1 to 0 2 mm yr preceded the 0 7 mm yr uplift rate the river morphology and profile projections therefore reflect multi phased uplift of the plateau margin rather than steadily increasing uplift rates multi phased uplift can be explained by lithospheric slab break off and possibly also the arrival of the eratosthenes seamount at the collision zone south of cyprus

linking slab break off hellenic trench retreat and uplift of the central and eastern anatolian plateaus abstract the central and eastern anatolian plateaus are integral parts of the world s third largest orogenic plateau in the past decade geophysical surveys have provided insights into the crust lithosphere and mantle beneath eastern anatolia these observations are now accompanied by recent surveys in central anatolia and new data constraining the timing and magnitude of uplift along its northern and southern margins together with predictions from geodynamic models on the effects of various processes on surface deformation and uplift the observations can be integrated to identify probable mechanisms of anatolian plateau growth a changeover from shortening to extension along the southern margin of central anatolia that is coeval with the start of uplift can be most easily associated with oceanic slab break off and tearing this interpretation is supported by tomography deep seismicity or lack thereof and gravity data based on the timing of uplift geophysical and geochemical observations and model predictions slab break off likely occurred first beneath eastern anatolia in middle to late miocene time and propagated westward toward cyprus by the latest miocene alternatively the break off near cyprus could have occurred in late pliocene to early pleistocene time in association with collision of the eratosthenes seamount continental fragment with the subduction zone uplift at the northern margin of central anatolia appears to result from crustal shortening starting in the late miocene or early pliocene which has been linked to the broad restraining bend of the north anatolian fault the uplift history of the interior of central anatolia since the late miocene is unclear although shortening there appears to have ended by the late miocene followed by ne sw extension this change in the deformation style broadly coincides with faster retreat of the hellenic trench as well as uplift of the northern and southern margins of central anatolia these different events throughout the plateau may be linked as faster retreat of the hellenic trench has been predicted to occur after slab break off which could have induced extension of central anatolia and helped to form the north anatolian fault through accelerated westward movement of anatolia relative to eurasia correlative geochronologic evidence that we summarize here supports the hypothesis that the geodynamic activity throughout the aegean anatolian domain starting in latest miocene to early pliocene time defines a series of events that may all be linked to slab break off

andean uplift and climate change sedimentological data indicate that a semi arid arid climate prevailed across the central andes from 15 ma to 4 ma between 4 and 3 ma a switch to hyperaridity occurred along the western margin of south america palaeoaltitude data suggest that a substantial proto central andean mountain range was in place between 15 and 9 ma these data support the idea that the andean rain shadow existed by 15 ma and that it reinforced the pre existing climatic regime rather than changing it the change to hyperaridity in western south america is attributed to a combination of global climate cooling and enhanced upwelling of the humboldt current generated by closure of the central american seaway between 3 5 and 3 ma and not to the andean rain shadow

the elevation history of the tibetan plateau and its implications for the asian monsoon abstract the determination of the evolving palaeoaltitude of the tibetan plateau since the india eurasia collision underpins our understanding of how orography in central asia affects the intensity of the monsoon and hence global climate change palaeoaltitudes however cannot be measured directly and need to be inferred from proxy observations that are usually model dependent differing tectonic models for the behaviour of the lithosphere during continental collision have contrasting implications for the elevation of the plateau however two techniques recently employed for determining palaeo elevation are independent of tectonic models the first involving the variation with altitude of oxygen isotopes in precipitation and the second involving the change of leaf morphology with moist static energy of the atmosphere elevation studies have focused on southern tibet largely due to the relative ease of access to the region there is a remarkable unanimity amongst the diverse techniques applied that the altitude of the southern plateau has not significantly changed since at least the mid miocene ca 15 ma arguing for an onset of the monsoon system during or before the early miocene a range of tectonic studies suggest that the northern and eastern parts of the plateau are younger geomorphological features but there are few quantitative constraints of the timing of elevation from these regions of tibet since both the elevation and the surface area of the plateau impact on atmospheric circulation palaeoaltitude studies need to be extended to chart the increasing areas of elevated land surface through time

lower middle pleistocene ostracod assemblages from the montalbano jonico section basilicata southern italy abstract the montalbano jonico section is a pleistocene sequence about 450 m thick comprising silty clays and silty sands deposited during the upper part of the calabrian stage and lower part of the ionian stage it is a candidate global boundary stratotype section and point for the middle pleistocene subseries ostracod assemblage analyses were carried out on 40 samples from the uppermost levels of the lower pleistocene and the lowermost part of the middle pleistocene with the aim of reconstructing the paleoenvironmental evolution around the matuyama brunhes boundary taxonomic investigations quantitative distribution data and statistical analysis q mode cluster analysis define four intervals correlated with sea level changes linked to marine isotope stages mis 21 18 the lower part of the section ranging from 864 00 to 820 00 ka was deposited in an outer shelf paleoenvironment during a period of high sea level associated with mis 21 the transition to the second interval 815 42 785 62 ka is marked by a shallowing trend reflecting the mis 20 decrease in sea level the overlying part of the section 783 54 749 91 ka yielded assemblages indicating a return to deeper water conditions corresponding to the warm phase mis 19 the uppermost interval was deposited during 746 60 740 54 ka when cooling in mis 18 produced a sea level drop here some levels 164 20 m 745 51 ka 170 10 m 743 05 ka 176 10 m 740 54 ka show the presence of both deep and shallow autochthonous taxa suggesting the occurrence of upwelling episodes during this cold phase in some layers deposited during warm stages the ostracod assemblages indicate the presence of kenoxic bottom waters the lowest paleo oxygen levels are correlated with marine isotope substages 21 3 and 19 1

non marine sedimentation associated with oligocene recent exhumation and uplift of the central taurus mountains s turkey abstract three related basins in southern turkey the ecemis basin the karsanti basin and the aktoprak basin document the neogene recent regional exhumation and surface uplift history of the central taurus mountains the regional tectonic framework was established by a late eocene phase of compressional deformation that ended tethys related marine deposition during the oligocene early miocene non marine sedimentation was dominantly from braided rivers flowing from the nascent taurus mountains and from the nigde metamorphic massif further north during this period erosion more or less kept pace with exhumation and the topography remained subdued allowing a marine incursion probably eustatically controlled into the karsanti basin in the east during early oligocene time regional exhumation was possibly controlled by thermal uplift of an actively extending area located behind the subducting s neotethys in the eastern mediterranean sea during exhumation largely ophiolitic rocks were eroded revealing the deformed mesozoic tauride carbonate platform beneath the area was affected by a short lived pulse of compressional deformation transpression probably in mid miocene time but extensional exhumation then resumed as indicated by the presence of metamorphic derived clasts from the adjacent nigde massif late miocene deposition was dominated by large inward draining lakes consistent with regional evidence of a humid climate during this time strong surface uplift took place during plio quaternary time drainage to the mediterranean became established allowing river valleys to incise deeply into the flanks of the taurus mountains palaeo valleys were successively infilled with coarse alluvial sediments this deposition was influenced by ne sw trending extensional faults in addition the sedimentary evolution of the area was strongly influenced by the nne ssw trending ecemis fault zone which has experienced ca 60 km of left lateral strike slip since the late eocene an important pulse of normal faulting transtension in latest miocene early pliocene time generated large fault scarps these acted as sources for large plio quaternary alluvial fans which prograded across active strike slip faults the morphology of these fans was influenced by a combination of quaternary climatic change axial fluvial downcutting and active strike slip tectonics in general the plio quaternary regional uplift of the taurus mountains may relate to underplating of material derived from the african plate during progressive collision with the anatolian eurasian plate in the vicinity of the easternmost mediterranean sea

quaternary uplift astride the aseismic cocos ridge pacific coast costa rica the pacific coast of costa rica lies within the central american forearc and magmatic arc region that was created by northeastward subduction of the cocos plate beneath the caribbean plate at the middle america trench from the peninsula de nicoya south eastward toward the peninsula de osa and the peninsula de burica on the panamanian border the middle america trench loses its physiographic expression where it intersects the aseismic cocos ridge interaction between subduction of the buoyant aseismic cocos ridge and the overriding caribbean plate is invoked to explain the variation in rates of vertical crustal uplift along a coastal transect from nicoya to burica the pliocene and pleistocene stratigraphic record and holocene marine terraces and beach ridge complexes indicate that maximum rates of crustal uplift have occurred on the peninsula de osa immediately landward of the aseismic cocos ridge crustal uplift rates decrease northwest toward the peninsula de nicoya and to a lesser extent southwest toward the peninsula de burica the late quaternary stratigraphy on the peninsula de osa is subdivided into two major chronostratigraphic sequences from groupings of radiocarbon dates crustal uplift rates calculated from these sequences systematically decrease from 6 5 to 2 1 m ka north east across the peninsula deformation of the peninsula is modeled as uplifted and down to the northeast tilted fault blocks with an angular rotation rate of 0 03 to 0 06 per thousand years although less well constrained crustal uplift rates on the peninsula de nicoya 200 km to the northwest of the peninsula de osa vary from 1 m ka for pliocene and pleistocene sediments to 2 5 m ka for holocene marine terraces in the quepos region 100 km to the northwest of the peninsula de osa calculated uplift rates derived from incision of late quaternary fluvial terraces range from 0 5 to 3 0 m ka on the peninsula de burica only 60 km to the southwest of the peninsula de osa calculated uplift rates range from 4 7 m ka for a late holocene marine terrace to 1 2 m ka for post late pliocene deep sea sediments the variations in calculated uplift rates on the peninsula de osa constrain a dynamic model for subduction of the cocos ridge and the resulting uplift of the overriding caribbean plate deflection of the caribbean plate is modeled using various effective elastic thicknesses as the response of an elastic plate to the buoyant force of the subducted cocos ridge because the shape of the subducted end of the cocos ridge is unknown two scenarios are evaluated 1 a radially symmetric ridge with a slope similar to the slope of the flanks of the ridge and 2 a ridge where the subducted end was truncated by the panama fracture zone the best fit model utilizes a truncated ridge that has been subducted during the past 0 5 m y 50 km beneath the overriding caribbean plate which has an effective elastic thickness of 5 km the model predicts that the highest uplift rate should be 3 7 m ka and occur on the southwest coast of the peninsula de osa the rate of uplift slows considerably to the northeast and indicates that the peninsula de osa is tilting to the northeast which agrees with observations in that region the predicted uplift rate attributed to aseismic ridge subduction also decreases along the coast both north and south of the peninsula de osa resulting in little uplift that can be attributed to cocos ridge subduction in the northwestern portions of the peninsula de nicoya

influence of andean uplift on climate and paleoaltimetry estimates article i nfo article history recent elevation reconstructions of the andean plateau suggest a rapid 2 5 1 0 km rise of the central andes between 10 and 6 ma this rapid rise has been attributed to a catastrophic removal of a dense lithospheric mantle root beneath the andes however these findings are based on the assumption that climate did not change during deposition of paleoaltimetry proxies here we evaluate south american climate change due to andean uplift and its influence on interpretations of plateau elevation from climate sensitive paleoaltimetry data a series of experiments are presented using the regcm3 regional general circulation model rcm to characterize changes in andean precipitation amount surface temperature and wind direction vapor source as a function of changing plateau elevation results indicate that south american and andean climate changed significantly in response to plateau growth more specifically rising of the plateau results in up to a 900 mm increase in rainy season december january february precipitation over the plateau plateau uplift also results in a decrease in non adiabatic surface temperature of up to 6 5 c in addition to adiabatic cooling directly related to elevation change through the lapse rate finally the prevailing wind direction and the vapor source for precipitation switches from the south pacific ocean to the equatorial atlantic as plateau elevation increases above of its present day elevation taken together these changes in paleoclimate would have substantially depleted the oxygen isotopic concentration of paleoprecipitation through the cenozoic unless this climatic effect is taken into consideration paleoaltimetry reconstructions based on stable isotope methods may overestimate the rapid rise of the andes by up to several kilometers we conclude that some or all of the apparent rapid rise of the andean plateau from paleoaltimetry data could be an artifact of large changes in paleoclimate

correlation of ignimbrites in the central anatolian volcanic province using zircon and plagioclase ages and zircon compositions abstract episodes of high eruptive fluxes 10 3 km 3 year in continental environments are associated with magmatism related to subduction post orogenic collapse intra plate hot spots or rifting during such episodes voluminous ignimbrite deposits are produced which cover landscapes over 10 4 10 5 km 2 in such sequences brief eruptive recurrence and chemical similarity limit the applicability of geochronological and geochemical correlation methods here we present complementary geochronological data 40 ar 39 ar plagioclase eruption and 206 pb 238 u zircon crystallization ages for ignimbrites from the miocene holocene central anatolian volcanic province cavp in addition we successfully employed zircon geochemistry trace elements oxygen isotopes as an alteration resistant indicator to correlate rhyodacitic to rhyolitic ignimbrites whose eruption age differences are too brief to be resolved by 40 ar 39 ar geochronology by applying this method we dismiss previous correlations between stratigraphic members i e sofular and gordeles sofular and sarimadentepe but demonstrate close relationships for other cavp ignimbrites i e kavak units 1 to 4 cemilkoy ignimbrite and overlying fallout deposits our chronostratigraphy reveals two previously unrecognized eruptive pulses at 9 8 ma and 7 5 ma which are characterized by increasing magmatic temperatures 75 100 c within each cycle despite a long term 10 ma eruptive productivity that is about one order of magnitude smaller than in other magmatically active continental plateaus the cavp achieved high eruptive fluxes during brief 1 2 ma intervals

continental arc volcanism and tectonic setting in central anatolia turkey abstract the neogene and quaternary volcanism of central anatolia represents the central sector of the anatolian volcanic arc related to continental collision between the afro arabian and eurasian plates it is closely associated with a complex system of tectonic depressions related to brittle deformations of transtentional type and which commenced in the late miocene the volcanism here considered can be divided into three main periods of activity separated by important deformative and erosive events the first period is represented by a mostly andesitic effusive activity the second period is characterized by the emplacement of a thick ignimbritic sequence and shows an areal distribution up to 11 000 km 2 seven ignimbrite units have been recognized the three main units were found at a distance of more than 100 km from the presumed source area geological and sedimentological data lead us to recognize the melendiz dag volcanic complex and the ciftlik caldera as the probable ignimbrites source vent during the third period great andesitic basaltic stratovolcanoes and a number of prevalently acid monogenic centres developed the relationship between the volcanic activity is clearly conditioned by the main transcurrent fault systems present in central anatolia the neogene quaternary volcanic activity prevalently developed along the ene wsw karaman sivas lineament most of the great central volcanoes developed at the intersection between the ene wsw trends and the ecemis and tuz golu transcurrent faults the structural interpretation of the quaternary monogenic centres is more difficult probably they are related to the very recent n s fault swarms which cross the anatolides and the taurus range