Reconciling the stratigraphy and depositional history of the Lycian orogen-top basins, SW Anatolia

Terrestrial fossil records from the SWAnatolian basins are crucial both for regional correlations and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. By reassessing biostratigraphic constraints and incorporating new fossil data, we calibrated and reconstructed the late Neogene andQuaternary palaeoenvironments within a regional palaeogeographical framework. The culmination of the Taurides inSWAnatolia was followed by a regional crustal extension from the late Tortonian onwards that created a broad array of NE-trending orogen-top basins with synchronic associations of alluvial fan, fluvial and lacustrine deposits. The terrestrial basins are superimposed on the upper Burdigalian marine units with a c. 7 myr of hiatus that corresponds to a shift from regional shortening to extension. The initial infill of these basins is documented by a transition from marginal alluvial fans and axial fluvial systems into central shallow-perennial lakes coinciding with a climatic shift from warm/humid to arid conditions. The basal alluvial fan deposits abound in fossil macro-mammals of an early Turolian (MN11–12; late Tortonian) age. The Pliocene epoch in the region was punctuated by subhumid/humid conditions resulting in a rise of local base levels and expansion of lakes as evidenced by marsh-swamp deposits containing diverse fossilmammal assemblages indicating late Ruscinian (lateMN15; late Zanclean) ageWe are grateful for the support of the international bilateral project between The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and The Russian Scientific Foundation (RFBR) with grant a number of 111Y192. M.C.A. is grateful to the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA) for a GEBIP (Young Scientist Award) grant. T.K. and S.M. are grateful to the Ege University Scientific Research Center for the TTM/002/2016 and TTM/001/2016 projects. M.C.A., H.A., S.M. and M.B. have obtained Martin and Temmick Fellowships at Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden). F.A.D. is supported by a Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Scientific Research Grant. T.A.N. is supported by an Alexander-von-Humboldt Scholarship. L.H.O. received support from TUBITAK under the 2221 program for visiting scientists

Brief communication: First Homo erectus from Turkey and implications for migrations into temperate Eurasia

Remains of fossil hominins from temperate regions of the Old World are rare across both time and space, but such specimens are necessary for understanding basic issues in human evolution including linkages between their adaptations and early migration patterns. We report here the remarkable circumstances surrounding the discovery of the first fossil hominin calvaria from Turkey. The specimen was found in the Denizli province of western Turkey and recovered from within a solid block of travertine stone as it was being sawed into tile-sized slabs for the commercial natural stone building market. The new specimen fills an important geographical and temporal gap and displays several anatomical features that are shared with other Middle Pleistocene hominins from both Africa and Asia attributed to Homo erectus. It also preserves an unusual pathology on the endocranial surface of the frontal bone that is consistent with a diagnosis of Leptomeningitis tuberculosa (TB), and this evidence represents the most ancient example of this disease known for a fossil human. TB is exacerbated in dark-skinned peoples living in northern latitudes by a vitamin D deficiency because of reduced levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Evidence for TB in the new specimen supports the thesis that reduced UVR was one of the many climatic variables presenting an adaptive challenge to ancient hominins during their migration into the temperate regions of Europe and Asia. ©2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Non Pollen Palynomorphs and pollen of the long lacustrine sequence of Acigöl (Anatolia, Turkey): preliminary results

International audienc

Non Pollen Palynomorphs and pollen of the long lacustrine sequence of Acigöl (Anatolia, Turkey): preliminary results

International audienc

Ecosystems changes in a context of hominins presence in the SW of Turkey. First results

International audienc

Stratigraphy and sedimentology of Neogene mammal bearing deposits in the Akkaşdaǧι area, Turkey

The Akkaşdaǧι area, situated in the southern margin of the Tertiary Çankιrι-Çorum Basin, Central Anatolia, Turkey, includes a 280 m thick, mostly continental sediment sequence that overlies either marine Palaeogene transgressive deposits or metamorphic rocks of Kirşehir Massif. From bottom to top the sequence can be divided into units of Deliceirmak Fm. (alluvial fan deposits) and Ceritkale member (marine fan-delta and shelf carbonates) of mid-upper Eocene, Güvendik Fm. (gypsum) of Oligocene, and Akkaşdaǧι Fm. (fine to coarse-grained alluvial clastics and lacustrine limestone) of upper Miocene-lower Pliocene. A granitic intrusion was emplaced into the basin after late Eocene. The Neogene succession includes mammalian fossils and the lithological composition of the succession is rather different from its equivalences in other parts of the basin. By facies analysis die Neogene infill could be categorised into alluvial fan deposits (facies association I), fluvial deposits (facies association II), lacustrine deposits (facies association III) and pyroclastic flow deposits (facies association IV). Facies association I is dominant and the others are observed inside as alternating sequences. The facies architecture and facies associations suggest that a structural depression existed in the area and was filled with sediments of distal alluvial fans, flood plains and lakes receiving deposits of distal or terminal alluvial fans and flood plains, and occupied partly by lakes. © Publications Scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris

Chronostratigraphy, depositional patterns and climatic imprints in Lake Acigöl (SW Anatolia) during the Quaternary

International audienceA 601 m long sedimentary sequence was drilled in Lake Acigöl, located in the lakes region of SW Anatolia, near the Denizli travertine from which the oldest hominin of Turkey was unearthed. Among all dating methods applied to the sedimentary sequence, paleomagnetism, through the recognition of geomagnetic chrons, was the most successful and led to a quasi linear age model, with the 601 m long sedimentary record covering the last 2.3 Ma. An attempt to use the atmospherically deposited 10 Be as a dating method was not very successful but provides interesting clues on this new method. Long-term lake level changes are depicted through lithological variations, in particular the carbonates and evaporites abundance. This change could be influenced by both long term cooling during the last 2 Ma and tectonic activity, which may in particular be responsible for a maximum water depth at around 1.8 Ma. Despite active tectonic influence, the sedimentary facies description and the magnetic susceptibility record (cleaned from tephra intervals) show that climate fluctuations (i.e., glacial-interglacial alternations) are likely recorded in the sedimentary succession, with warm periods marked by enhanced carbonate precipitation and cold and dry periods characterized by more detrital input linked to reduced vegetation cover and consequently more erosion in the catchment area. Preliminary pollen data, used to interpret magnetic susceptibility fluctuations, show that an average dry and open landscape prevailed around Acigöl lake during the whole record