Neogene vertical tectonics of the south margin of the Central Anatolia plateau in relation to Cyprus Arc subduction
Creators: name: Fernández-Blanco, David
name: Bertotti, Giovanni
name: Willet, Sean
name: Cassola, Teodoro
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Geology
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences

description: We present a synthesis of Neogene tectonics and related vertical movements of the northeastern Mediterranean in order to better understand the uplift mechanisms behind the formation of the southern margin of the Late Miocene Central Anatolia orogenic plateau. We analyze regional vertical motions and horizontal deformations using depth-converted seismic reflection lines, stratigraphic and basin analysis techniques, remote-sensing 3D-mapping and fieldwork observations. Our new data, combined with the available literature, was used as constraints for a 2D finite-element model of the Cyprus forearc basin system. The area of interest extends N-S from the Central Anatolia Plateau interior basins to the Cyprus arc trench and is characterized by three independent vertical motion domains: the Tauride Range; the Cilicia Basin; and the Cyprus structural high. These domains belonged to a single basin in Early Miocene times and were differentiated by Late Miocene uplift of the north and south terrains. In the north, the Taurus domain is capped by Miocene carbonates that were deposited during regional subsidence and divided into the modern basins by Messinian uplift. The central Taurus (Mut Basin) remained at shallow depths during the pre-Messinian Miocene and no synsedimentary faults are found in the area. In contrast, the flanking regions to the W (Kaprücay - Manavgat basins) and the E (onshore Adana Basin) are characterized by Early-Mid Miocene deep marine deposits and Late Miocene thrusting propagating outward, which progressively caused the cessation of sedimentation and the onset of erosion in their hanging wall. The Cilicia Basin domain underwent continuous, protracted subsidence that continues to the present day. Minor horizontal deformation took place in the Late Miocene and Pliocene, or younger times. This is manifested as a monocline at the Turkish onshore-offshore transition and a south-dipping back-thrust fan linked to the south-verging Kyrenia thrust system. The Kyrenia thrust system, at the northern limit of the Cyprus domain, concentrated the horizontal deformation during post-Tortonian times and thereafter, driving the upward motion that uplifted northern Cyprus. This uplift disrupted deep water sedimentation by mid-Pliocene and settled shallow marine deposition until exposure of the Kyrenia Range above sea level by Late Pliocene-Pleistocene times. Related uplift at the Troodos Ophiolite led to coeval subaerial exposure. These vertical motions are consistent with upper-plate wedge deformation in response to Cyprus subduction, as we validate with a series of numerical models. We demonstrate that the uplift of the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau can be explained by the rheology of the upper plate that evolves in space and time. Growth of the upper plate accretionary complex and forearc basin system lead to thermal weakening, lower crustal viscous deformation and surface uplift of the landward side of the forearc basin, creating the modern Taurides.