Middle-late Pleistocene marine molluscs from Izmit Bay area (eastern Marmara Sea, Turkey) and the nature of Marmara - Black Sea corridors

In this study, marine Pleistocene mollusc faunas from deposits along the southern shores of the Izmit Bay area (Marmara Sea, Turkey) are reviewed. Ten samples from five localities spanning middle and late Pleistocene intervals are assessed and compared to four samples of a Holocene age. For the Pleistocene fauna, a total of 59 mollusc species (33 bivalve and 26 gastropod species) are recorded, some of which are reported for the first time for this region. The middle Pleistocene fauna bears large resemblance to the late Pleistocene faunas, even though marine conditions were lacking during sea-level drops in the Marmara Sea Basin in intervening times. The middle Pleistocene mollusc fauna is dominated by species that typify the so-called Uzunlarian faunas while the late Pleistocene mollusc fauna is indistinguishable from Karangatian faunas of the Black Sea Basin.Several common species (including Bittium reticulatum, Rissoa spp. and Lucinella divaricata) show that the both Uzunlarian and Karangatian assemblages of Yalova fauna mainly represent seagrass palaeoenvironments. Palaeosalinities estimates for the Yalova area are uppermost mesohaline to polyhaline, typically around or above 20 psu, which is almost similar to the optimum salinity estimates for the middle Pleistocene Uzunlarian. However, it is slightly lower then the Upper Pleistocene Karangatian, representing the location of the Yalova area in an embayment with freshwater input at that time.The Yalova sections are located in the southern flank of the North Anatolian fault system responsible for a strong local uplift of the study area. The sections contain evidence for three marine high stands, separated by terrestrial intervals. When regional uplift rates (approximately 0.2 mm/y) and oceanic sea-levels are considered it is likely that the three highstand intervals correspond to relative sea level high stands of MIS7, MIS5e and possibly MIS5d but further study is required to confirm such a suggestion. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

Discussion on “Neogene-Quaternary evolution of the Tefenni basin on the Fethiye-Burdur fault zone, SW Anatolia-Turkey. Journal of African Earth Science 118, 137–148” by R. Aksoy, S. Aksarı

[No abstract available]Russian Foundation for Basic Research, RFBR: 111Y192 Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, MCA Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi 0111-NAP-10 Ege Üniversitesi: TTM/002/2011, 2013/BIL/038 Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştirma Kurumu, TÃ?BITAKData presented here are raised after several project studies. MCA and SM were supported by international bilateral cooperation project between The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and The Russian Scientific Foundation (RFBR) with grant number of 111Y192 ; SM was granted by Ege University projects with grant numbers of TTM/001/2010 , 2013/BIL/038 and TTM/002/2011 . AD is supported by Mehmet Akif Ersoy University ( 0111-NAP-10 : Survey of Neogene and Pleistocene Fossil Localities of Burdur). We are grateful to T.Tanju Kaya (Ege Univ. Natural Hist. Museum) for her support. We are grateful to Dr. Emiko J. Kent (Plymouth Univ.) and Dr. Frank P. Wesselingh (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for their comments and linguistic editing. MCA granted by TUBA-GEBIP (Outstanding Young Scientist Award by the Turkish Academy of Sciences). -

Dating of the Kocabaş travertines with the 26Al/10Be cosmogenic nuclide method [Datation des travertins de Kocabaş par la méthode des nucléides cosmogéniques 26Al/10Be]

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Contouring the Cataclysm: A Geographical Analysis of the Effects of the Minoan Eruption of the Santorini Volcano

This study is a step forward in understanding the palaeoenvironmental effects of the Minoan eruption of Santorini (1627–1600 BCE). We employ geostatistics to produce a prediction map for the thickness of the tephra fallout over the Eastern Mediterranean, and we reconstruct the effects by comparisons with recent eruption analogues. Based on the geostatistical map, the amount of environmental disruption over so far undocumented areas is estimated by comparison with archaeological sites where emplaced Minoan tephra has been recorded before. Nevertheless, independent field evidence suggest that the environment responded differently in places, occasionally posing challenges to the presented interpolation. A second line of evidence coming from contemporaneous fluvial archives provides clues for a widespread ‘Minoan flood’ over a large part of the Eastern Mediterranean, associated with the eruption itself. This simultaneous hydrological event may have had a counterbalancing effect on the impacts of the Minoan tephra cover, and could explain the sporadic discrepancies between the predicted effects and the palaeoenvironmental evidence. Traces of the effects of this extraordinary volcanic event are also sought in the regional Late Bronze Age literature. © 2017, © Association for Environmental Archaeology 2017

Superimposed basin formation during Neogene-Quaternary extensional tectonics in SW-Anatolia (Turkey): Insights from the kinematics of the Dinar Fault Zone

In the extensional province of SW-Anatolia, the cross-cutting relationship between the NW- and NE-oriented Neogene and Quaternary basins is an ongoing debate in the understanding of the tectonic evolution of this area. In order to contribute to this issue, we carried out a structural and kinematic study along the seismogenic NW-trending Dinar Fault Zone (DFZ). This structure was initially controlled by the sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the NE-oriented Neogene Baklan, Ac??göl and Burdur basins and, later, by the NW-oriented Quaternary Dinar Basin. On the basis of N1000 structural and kinematic data, in conjunctionwith basin stratigraphy, the DFZ can be divided into three almost parallel and continuous bands, that are: (a) the Hangingwall where Quaternary sediments are deformed by normal faults with mechanical striations; (b) the Inner Zone, corresponding to the present Dinar fault scarp, where NW-trending normal faults with mechanical striations are dominant, and (c) the Outer Zone, located in the footwall of the structure comprising the area between the fault scarp and undeformed bedrock, where faults exhibit variable orientation and kinematics, from strike-slip to normal dip-slip. These kinematics are mainly indicated by calcite shear veins and superimposed mechanical striations, respectively. This suggests that the DFZ changed kinematics over time, i.e., the DFZ initiated as dominant dextral strike-slip to oblique-slip fault system and continued with a dominant normal movement. Therefore, we hypothesize that the NWtrending DFZ was initially a transfer zone during the lateMiocene???Pliocene, coeval to the sedimentary and structural evolution of the NE-trending Baklan, Acigöl and Burdur basins. During the Quaternary the DFZ, representing an already weakened crustal sector, played the role of a normal fault system providing the accommodation space for the Quaternary Dinar Basin. Hydrothermal circulation and volcanism at NE-/NW-trending faults intersection implies structurally-driven conduits channeling fluids from depth to surface

The Homo erectus skullcap from Kocabaş (Denizli Bassin, Turkey)

In 2002, a fragmentary skullcap was discovered in Denizli basin, in the locality of Kocabaş, in the southwest of Turkey (Kappelman et al., 2008). The skullcap was ascribed to Homo erectus on the basis of morphological and metric similarities with the Chinese fossils from Zhoukoudian L-C (Vialet et al., 2012). An in-depth morphological and metric analysis (2D and 3D) was carried out on a new 3D reconstruction of the fossil, made up of the frontal bone and parietal fragments. The results confirm that the morphology of the frontal bone, the conformation and the dimensions of the Kocabaş specimen, clearly differentiate it from Homo habilis. Homo georgicus, on one hand, and Homo heidelbergensis-Neanderthal, on the other. It displays similar metric characteristics to African (KNM-ER3733, OH9, Daka-Bouri) and Asian (skulls from Zhoukoudian L-C, Nankin1, Sangiran 17) Homo erectus, a marked post-orbital constriction, a supraorbital torus bordered posteriorly by a supratoral sulcus and showing, on its inferior border, a supraorbital notch and tuber, temporal lines in a medium high position delimiting an infratemporal frontal zone with a clear bulge. However, the proportions of the short and large Kocabaş frontal bone (without the supraorbital torus) differentiate it from Asian Homo erectus, which present a longer squama frontalis. This feature is also present on African Homo erectus. Consequently, the Turkish fossil appears to be intermediary between the Homo erectus from Africa and Asia, both from an anatomic and geographic point of view. In the light of the new dates advanced for this fossil, at least 1.1. Ma (Lebatard et al., 2014a, b; Khatib et al., 2014; Boulbes et al., 2014), it contributes, along with OH9, to bridging a palaeoanthropological gap between KNM-ER3733 (1.78. Ma) and the Chinese fossils from Zhoukoudian L-C, Sangiran 17 (earlier than 0.78. Ma) and Nankin 1 (approximately 0.63. Ma). This study, which mainly concerns the frontal bone, implies that Homo erectus is a species with a vast geochronological distribution and marked morphometric variability. © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS

A multiproxy study of the early Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions of an anastomosed fluvial sequence from the Çameli Basin (SW Anatolia, Turkey)

A multiproxy study of the anastomosed fluvial succession from the Çameli Basin (SW Anatolia, Turkey) provides new insights on the palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographical evolution of an extensional basin located at the top of western Taurides mountain range in the eastern Mediterranean. Detailed sedimentological, palaeontological and geochemical analyses on biogenic carbonates were carried out on the early Pleistocene (latest Villanyian) organic-rich fluvial succession in the Bıçakçı locality. Five main facies association groups characteristic of different sedimentary environments are recognized: (i) channel (CH), comprising lens-shaped bodies of fine- to medium-grained sandstones with minor siltstone interlayers; (ii) crevasse-splay (CS), including laminated siltstones and fine- to medium-grained sandstones sheets; (iii) pond (PD), containing laminated carbonaceous shales interbedded with siltstone or sandstone; (iv) swamp (SW), comprising coal beds with siltstone interbeds; and (v) floodplain (FP), including massive mudstones interbedded with siltstone and sandstone beds. Detailed facies analysis of the Bıçakçı succession reflects deposition on a floodplain which was traversed by a network of low-energy, well-defined channels separated by swamp and ponded areas in an anastomosed fluvial system. The Bıçakçı succession comprises a very rich micromammal fauna with a few large mammal remains, a rich variety of molluscs, plant macrofossils and pollen. This comprehensive record allows a multiproxy approach in reconstructing the early Pleistocene palaeoenvironment. The fauna and flora and stable isotope composition of the mollusc fauna of the Bıçakçı succession reflect vegetated quiet to slow moving freshwater shallow lakes and swamps under mostly cold and arid climatic conditions (stages 1 and 3) interrupted by a warm and subhumid interval (stage 2). The multiproxy record from Bıçakçı shows that early Pleistocene palaeoenvironments were predominantly open, steppe with some isolated shrubs and trees with forest at higher elevations. The very diverse landscape mosaics in the Çameli Basin during the early Pleistocene provided an excellent setting for refugia of Eurasian taxa. The biogeographic signature of mollusc and plant biota is predominantly modern Palaearctic with a minor amount of modern Palaearctic of the eastern Mediterranean, whereas mammal biota are dominated by extinct Palaearctic with a low proportion of the modern Palaearctic. During the early Pleistocene (2.25–2.1 Ma), the palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental conditions in Bıçakçı correspond to climatic deterioration after the onset of northern hemisphere glaciation (NHG, ~ 2.55 Ma) in the eastern Mediterranean. © 2016 Elsevier B.V

Revision of morphological changes observed in the Kocabaş frontal bone (Denizli, Turkey)

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Revision of morphological changes observed in the Kocabaş frontal bone (Denizli, Turkey)

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