İzmir‐Ankara suture as a Triassic to Cretaceous plate boundary – data from central Anatolia

The İzmir‐Ankara suture represents part of the boundary between Laurasia and Gondwana along which a wide Tethyan ocean was subducted. In northwest Turkey, it is associated with distinct oceanic subduction‐accretion complexes of Late Triassic, Jurassic and Late Cretaceous ages. The Late Triassic and Jurassic accretion complexes consist predominantly of basalt with lesser amounts of shale, limestone, chert, Permian (274 Ma zircon U‐Pb age) metagabbro and serpentinite, which have undergone greenschist facies metamorphism. Ar‐Ar muscovite ages from the phyllites range from 210 Ma down to 145 Ma with a broad southward younging. The Late Cretaceous subduction‐accretion complex, the ophiolitic mélange, consists of basalt, radiolarian chert, shale and minor amounts of recrystallized limestone, serpentinite and greywacke, showing various degrees of blueschist facies metamorphism and penetrative deformation. Ar‐Ar phengite ages from two blueschist metabasites are ca. 80 Ma (Campanian). The ophiolitic mélange includes large Jurassic peridotite‐gabbro bodies with plagiogranites with ca. 180 Ma U‐Pb zircon ages. Geochronological and geological data show that Permian to Cretaceous oceanic lithosphere was subducted north under the Pontides from the Late Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. This period was characterized generally by subduction‐accretion, except in the Early Cretaceous, when subduction‐erosion took place. In the Sakarya segment all the subduction accretion complexes, as well as the adjacent continental sequences, are unconformably overlain by Lower Eocene red beds. This, along with the stratigraphy of the Sakarya Zone indicate that the hard collision between the Sakarya Zone and the Anatolide‐Tauride Block took place in Paleocene

Subduction, ophiolite genesis and collision history of Tethys adjacent to the Eurasian continental margin: New evidence from the Eastern Pontides, Turkey

This paper presents several types of new information including U-Pb radiometric dating of ophiolitic rocks and an intrusive granite, micropalaeontological dating of siliceous and calcareous sedimentary rocks, together with sedimentological, petrographic and structural data. The new information is synthesised with existing results from the study area and adjacent regions (Central Pontides and Lesser Caucasus) to produce a new tectonic model for the Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonic development of this key Tethyan suture zone.The Tethyan suture zone in NE Turkey (Ankara-Erzincan-Kars suture zone) exemplifies stages in the subduction, suturing and post-collisional deformation of a Mesozoic ocean basin that existed between the Eurasian (Pontide) and Gondwanan (Tauride) continents. Ophiolitic rocks, both as intact and as dismembered sequences, together with an intrusive granite (tonalite), formed during the Early Jurassic in a supra-subduction zone (SSZ) setting within the İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan ocean. Basalts also occur as blocks and dismembered thrust sheets within Cretaceous accretionary melange. During the Early Jurassic, these basalts erupted in both a SSZ-type setting and in an intra-plate (seamount-type) setting. The volcanic-sedimentary melange accreted in an open-ocean setting in response to Cretaceous northward subduction beneath a backstop made up of Early Jurassic forearc ophiolitic crust. The Early Jurassic SSZ basalts in the melange were later detached from the overriding Early Jurassic ophiolitic crust.Sedimentary melange (debris-flow deposits) locally includes ophiolitic extrusive rocks of boninitic composition that were metamorphosed under high-pressure low-temperature conditions. Slices of mainly Cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks within the suture zone are interpreted as a deformed forearc basin that bordered the Eurasian active margin. The basin received a copious supply of sediments derived from Late Cretaceous arc volcanism together with input of ophiolitic detritus from accreted oceanic crust.Accretionary melange was emplaced southwards onto the leading edge of the Tauride continent (Munzur Massif) during latest Cretaceous time. Accretionary melange was also emplaced northwards over the collapsed southern edge of the Eurasian continental margin (continental backstop) during the latest Cretaceous. Sedimentation persisted into the Early Eocene in more northerly areas of the Eurasian margin.Collision of the Tauride and Eurasian continents took place progressively during latest Late Palaeocene-Early Eocene. The Jurassic SSZ ophiolites and the Cretaceous accretionary melange finally docked with the Eurasian margin. Coarse clastic sediments were shed from the uplifted Eurasian margin and infilled a narrow peripheral basin. Gravity flows accumulated in thrust-top piggyback basins above accretionary melange and dismembered ophiolites and also in a post-collisional peripheral basin above Eurasian crust. Thickening of the accretionary wedge triggered large-scale out-of-sequence thrusting and re-thrusting of continental margin and ophiolitic units. Collision culminated in detachment and northward thrusting on a regional scale.Collisional deformation of the suture zone ended prior to the Mid-Eocene (~45 Ma) when the Eurasian margin was transgressed by non-marine and/or shallow-marine sediments. The foreland became volcanically active and subsided strongly during Mid-Eocene, possibly related to post-collisional slab rollback and/or delamination. The present structure and morphology of the suture zone was strongly influenced by several phases of mostly S-directed suture zone tightening (Late Eocene; pre-Pliocene), possible slab break-off and right-lateral strike-slip along the North Anatolian Transform Fault.In the wider regional context, a double subduction zone model is preferred, in which northward subduction was active during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, both within the Tethyan ocean and bordering the Eurasian continental margin. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.Natural Environment Research Council: IMF01000

Collision Chronology Along the İzmir‐Ankara‐Erzincan Suture Zone: Insights From the Sarıcakaya Basin, Western Anatolia

International audienceDebate persists concerning the timing and geodynamics of intercontinental collision, style of syncollisional deformation, and development of topography and fold-and-thrust belts along the >1,700-km-long İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture zone (İAESZ) in Turkey. Resolving this debate is a necessary precursor to evaluating the integrity of convergent margin models and kinematic, topographic, and biogeographic reconstructions of the Mediterranean domain. Geodynamic models argue either for a synchronous or diachronous collision during either the Late Cretaceous and/or Eocene, followed by Eocene slab breakoff and postcollisional magmatism. We investigate the collision chronology in western Anatolia as recorded in the sedimentary archives of the 90-km-long Sarıcakaya Basin perched at shallow structural levels along the İAESZ. Based on new zircon U-Pb geochronology and depositional environment and sedimentary provenance results, we demonstrate that the Sarıcakaya Basin is an Eocene sedimentary basin with sediment sourced from both the İAESZ and Söğüt Thrust fault to the south and north, respectively, and formed primarily by flexural loading from north-south shortening along the syncollisional Söğüt Thrust. Our results refine the timing of collision between the Anatolides and Pontide terranes in western Anatolia to Maastrichtian-Middle Paleocene and Early Eocene crustal shortening and basin formation. Furthermore, we demonstrate contemporaneous collision, deformation, and magmatism across the İAESZ, supporting synchronous collision models. We show that regional postcollisional magmatism can be explained by renewed underthrusting instead of slab breakoff. This new İAESZ chronology provides additional constraints for kinematic, geodynamic, and biogeographic reconstructions of the Mediterranean domain

Lutetian arc-type magmatism along the southern Eurasian margin: New U-Pb LA-ICPMS and whole-rock geochemical data from Marmara Island, NW Turkey

The rocks of Turkey, Greece and Syria preserve evidence for the destruction of Tethys, the construction of much of the continental crust of the region and the formation of the Tauride orogenic belt. These events occurred between the Late Cretaceous and Miocene, but the detailed evolution of the southern Eurasian margin during this period of progressive continental accretion is largely unknown. Marmara Island is a basement high lying at a key location in the Cenozoic Turkish tectonic collage, with a Palaeogene suture zone to the south and a deep Eocene sedimentary basin to the north. North-dipping metamorphic thrust sheets make up the island and are interlayered with a major metagranitoid intrusion. We have dated the intrusion by Laser Ablation ICP-MS analysis of U and Pb isotopes on zircon separates to 47.6 ± 2 Ma. We also performed major- and trace-elemental geochemical analysis of 16 samples of the intrusion that revealed that the intrusion is a calc-alkaline, metaluminous granitoid, marked by Nb depletion relative to LREE and LIL-element enrichment when compared to ocean ridge granite (ORG). We interpret the metagranitoid sill as a member of a mid-Eocene magmatic arc, forming a 30 km wide and more than 200 km long arcuate belt in NW Turkey that post-dates suturing along the İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan Suture zone. The arc magmatism was emplaced at the early stages of mountain building, related to collision of Eurasia with the Menderes-Taurus Platform in early Eocene times. Orogenesis and magmatism loaded the crust to the north creating coeval upward-deepening marine basins partially filled by volcanoclastic sediments.P. Ayda Ustaömer, Timur Ustaömer, Alan S. Collins and Jörg Reischpeitsc

Implications of U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotopic analysis of detrital zircons for the depositional age, provenance and tectonic setting of the Permian–Triassic Palaeotethyan Karakaya Complex, NW Turkey

New zircon U-Pb age data, combined with Lu-Hf isotopic data, are presented here for sandstones of mainly arkosic composition from the Permian-Triassic Karakaya Complex. Predominantly, Carboniferous, Triassic and Devonian zircon age groups are recognised, most of which have a Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian) maximum depositional age. Carboniferous- and Devonian-aged zircon populations exhibit intermediate epsilon (Hf(t)) values (-11 to +2), consistent with formation in a continental margin arc setting where juvenile mantle-derived magma mixed with (recycled) old crust of Palaeoproterozoic Hf model age. In contrast, the Triassic-aged zircon population exhibits higher epsilon (Hf(t)) values (-5 to +4), consistent with mixing of juvenile mantle-derived melts with (recycled) old crust of Neoproterozoic Hf model age. Potential igneous source rocks for the sandstones of the Karakaya Complex exist in the Devonian and Carboniferous granitic rocks of the Sakarya continental basement to the north. Their epsilon (Hf(t)) and corresponding model ages are nearly identical to the age-equivalent zircon populations within the Karakaya Complex sandstones. However, the Triassic granitic rocks of the Sakarya continental crust differ significantly in epsilon (Hf(t)) and corresponding model age from the sandstones of the Karakaya Complex. Late Triassic sandstones from the Tauride continental unit to the south lack the dominant Late Palaeozoic and Triassic zircon populations of the Karakaya Complex sandstones. Triassic granitic bodies and intermediate-composition extrusive rocks in the Tauride continental unit also differ in epsilon (Hf(t)) and corresponding Hf model ages from the Karakaya Complex sandstones. In addition, Late Triassic sandstones of the Kocaeli Triassic unit (A degrees stanbul Terrane) in the north differ strongly from the Karakaya Complex sandstones in zircon population ages and epsilon (Hf(t)). In the regional context, the new zircon age and lutetium-hafnium isotopic data are consistent with derivation of the Late Triassic Karakaya Complex sandstones from a Late Palaeozoic-Triassic continental margin arc located somewhere along the southern margin of Eurasia, although its exact position cannot be pinpointed at present owing to lack of suitable outcrop and comparable isotopic data

P‐T‐t evolution of the Cycladic blueschist unit in Western Anatolia / Turkey: Geodynamic implications for the Aegean region

International audienceEclogite and blueschist facies rocks occurring as a tectonic unit between the underlying Menderes Massif and the overlying Afyon Zone / Lycian Nappes and the Bornova Flysch Zone in western Anatolia represent the eastward continuation of the Cycladic Blueschist Unit in Turkey. This high-P unit is attributed to the closure of the Pindos Ocean and consists of (i) a Triassic to Upper Cretaceous coherent series derived from passive continental margin sediments and (ii) the tectonically overlying Upper Cretaceous Selçuk mélange with eclogite blocks embedded in a pelitic epidote-blueschist matrix. The coherent series has experienced epidote-blueschist facies metamorphism (490 ± 25°C / 11.5 ± 1.5 kbar; 38 km depth). 40 Ar/ 39 Ar white mica and 206 Pb/ 238 U monazite dating of quartz metaconglomerate from coherent series yielded middle Eocene ages of 44 ± 0.3 and 40.1 ± 3.1 Ma for epidote-blueschist facies metamorphism, respectively. The epidote-blueschist facies metamorphism of the matrix of the Selçuk mélange culminates at 520 ± 15°C / 13 ± 1.5 kbar, 43 km depth, and is dated 57.5 ± 0.3-54.5 ± 0.1 Ma (40 Ar/ 39 Ar phengite). Eclogite facies metamorphism of the blocks (570 ± 30°C / 18 ± 2 kbar, 60 km depth) is early Eocene and dated at 56.2 ± 1.5 Ma by 206 Pb/ 238 U zircon. Eclogites experienced a nearly isothermal retrogression (490 ± 40°C / ~ 6-7 kbar) during their incorporation into the Selçuk mélange. The retrograde overprints of the coherent series (410 ± 15°C / 7 ± 1.5 kbar from Dilek Peninsula and 485 ± 33°C / ~ 6-7 kbar from Selçuk-Tire area) and the Selçuk mélange (510 ± 15°C / 6 ± 1 kbar) are dated at 35.8 ± 0.5-34.3 ± 0.1 Ma by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar white mica and 31.6 ± 6.6 Ma by 206 Pb/ 238 U allanite dating methods, respectively. Regional geological constrains reveal that the contact between the Menderes Massif and the Cycladic Blueschist Unit originally formed a lithosphere-scale transform fault zone. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar white mica age from the contact indicates that the Cycladic Blueschist Unit and the Menderes Massif were tectonically juxtaposed under greenschist facies conditions during late Eocene, 35.1 ± 0.3 Ma