U-Pb detrital zircon ages used to infer provenance and tectonic setting of Late Triassic- Miocene sandstones related to the Tethyan development of Cyprus

Figure S1: Histograms show U–Pb analytical zircon data for analysed sandstones from Cyprus. Two main age populations (Ediacaran-Cryogenian, Tonian-Stenian; highlighted with dotted shading) are identified in the sandstones analysed (see text for discussion). Histograms of each sample analysed in this study are shown in Figs. 9–12. Peak ages for the Paleozoic and younger zircons are given as specific numbers besides the columns. Only grains with 90–110% concordance are included. n=number of grains analysed

Late Palaeozoic extensional volcanism along the northern margin of Gondwana in southern Turkey: implications for Palaeotethyan development

The Late Palaeozoic-Early Mesozoic Tethyan development of the Eastern Mediterranean region remains debatable, especially in Turkey, where alternative northward and southward subduction hypotheses are proposed. Relevant to this debate, new whole-rock geochemical data are provided here for early Carboniferous (Late Tournaisian-Late Visean; c. 340-350 Ma) tuffaceous sedimentary rocks within the cataloturan thrust sheet (Aladag nappe), eastern Taurides. The tuffs accumulated from evolved alkaline volcanism, variably mixed with terrigenous and radiolarian-rich sediments. In addition, Late Palaeozoic meta-volcanic rocks, c. 150 km farther NE, within the Binboga (= Malatya) metamorphics (a low-grade high-pressure unit), are indicative of a within-plate setting. An impersistent geochemical subduction signature in these volcanics may represent an inherited, rather than contemporaneous, subduction influence, mainly because of the absence of a continental margin arc or of arc-derived tuff. Both the Binboga metamorphics and the cataloturan thrust sheet (Aladag nappe) restore generally to the north of the relatively autochthonous Tauride carbonate platform (Geyik Dag), within the carbonate platform bordering north-Gondwana. The cataloturan thrust sheet is interpreted, specifically, as a c. E-W, deep-water, volcanically active rift that progressively infilled. Regional geological evidence suggests that melange units (Konya Complex, Afyon zone), Teke Dere unit, Lycian nappes), and Chios-Karaburun melange, E Aegean) accreted to the north-Gondwana continental margin during the late Carboniferous; this was coupled with localised calc-alkaline granitic magmatism (Afyon zone of Anatolide crustal block). We propose an interpretation in which Late Devonian-Carboniferous alkaline intra-plate volcanism relates to extension/rifting along the north-Gondwana margin. In contrast, the melange accretion and granitic magmatism could relate to short-lived late Carboniferous southward subduction that accompanied the diachronous closure of Palaeotethys

Testing Alternative Tectono-Stratigraphic Interpretations of the Late Palaeozoic−Early Mesozoic Karakaya Complex in NW Turkey: Support for an Accretionary Origin Related to Northward Subduction of Palaeotethys

Lower Carboniferous-Upper Triassic rocks of the Karakaya Complex exposed E-W across Turkey are critical to reconstructions of Palaeotethys in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Despite decades of research, the origin and emplacement of the Karakaya Complex remains controversial because it is mapped either as an overall stratigraphic succession of sedimentary olistostromes or as a stack of thrust sheets and melange. Tectonic models include a continental rift, a back-arc rift, a marginal oceanic basin, and an accretionary prism formed by subduction of a wide ocean. Subduction is seen as either northwards or southwards. To test the alternatives, the various litho-tectonic units and their contact relations were studied in nine outcrops across northwestern Turkey. Our field evidence indicates that the Karakaya Complex was assembled by regional-scale thrust faulting without evidence of stratigraphical contacts or even of deformed sedimentary contacts between the main units. The structurally lower levels of the Karakaya Complex of Triassic age (similar to lower Karakaya assemblage) are dominated by an imbricated, mainly volcaniclastic sequence (similar to Nilufer Unit) that was metamorphosed under high pressure-low temperature conditions and rapidly exhumed. Structurally higher, lower-grade rocks (similar to upper Karakaya assemblage) are characterised by several coherent lithotectonic units, including the Upper Permian-Lower Triassic Cal Unit, dominated by alkaline volcanics and shelf to redeposited carbonates, a contrasting mainly Upper Permian unit including terrigenous sediments, and the Triassic Ortaoba Unit, dominated by mid-ocean ridge-type basalts, radiolarian sediments and sandstone turbidites. Two associated composite units (Hodul and Orhanlar units) are interpreted as accretionary melanges (rather than olistostromes) that were tectonically assembled and emplaced during Late Triassic time. Pre-Karakaya-age meta-siliciclastic sedimentary rocks (similar to Kalabak unit) are intruded by Devonian and Lower Carboniferous granites in several areas. Arkosic cover sediments (Halilar Formation) above the Kalabak unit accumulated during Late Triassic (Norian) time prior to final emplacement of the Karakya Complex. The 'basement units' are interpreted as thrust slices that were emplaced to a high structural level during final emplacement of the Karakaya Complex in latest Triassic time. Transgression by shelf sediments followed from the Early Jurassic onwards following regional uplift and erosion

Evidence of Early Cretaceous remagnetization in the Crimean Peninsula: a palaeomagnetic study from Mesozoic rocks in the Crimean and Western Pontides, conjugate margins of the Western Black Sea

We report on a palaeomagnetic study from Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks from the conjugate areas of the Western Black Sea Basin; that is, the Crimean Peninsula in the north and the Western and Central Pontides in the south, to better constrain their palaeogeographic relationships within the southern margin of Eurasia. From the study of 87 sites in Crimea, we found that Triassic to Lower Jurassic sandstones and siltstones from the Tavric series, and Middle-Upper Jurassic sandstones, siltstones and limestones exhibit remagnetization. Both fold and conglomerate tests confirm a widespread remagnetization in Crimea. Comparison of palaeopoles with the expected reference apparent polar wander path (APWP) of Eurasia and results from conglomerate tests suggest that the remagnetization occurred in the Early Cretaceous. In the Central Pontides, no reliable palaeomagnetic results can be obtained from Triassic-Upper Jurassic rocks, however, a negative fold test in Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous rocks from the Western Pontides shows that the palaeolatitude agrees with Lower Cretaceous data from Crimea. Our new palaeomagnetic results indicate a pervasive remagnetization in Crimea and the Western Pontides that could be attributed to the rifting phase of the Black Sea Basin during Lower Cretaceou