Petrogenesis of late Campanian alkaline igneous rocks in Eastern Anatolia: magmatism related to a subduction transform edge propagator (STEP) fault?

In eastern Anatolia, the Divriği-Hekimhan Magmatic Province (DHMP) includes ~77–69 Ma alkaline rock units which are located to the NW of the Baskil Arc of ~85–74 Ma. The magmatic rocks are composed of nepheline (Ne)–to quartz (Q)–normative alkaline basaltic to trachytic/syenitic units. Among them, the basaltic rocks are composed of plagioclase (Or 2–11Ab 32–51An 39–64) + clinopyroxene (Wo 47–51En 35–42Fs 9–16) + Fe-Ti oxide ± alkali feldspar (Or 57–98Ab 2–42An 1) ± biotite ± olivine. Their 87Sr/ 86Sr (I) ratios and ɛNd (I) values vary in the ranges of 0.70591–0.70871 and−3.2–1.6, respectively. The subvolcanic trachytic rocks are composed of perthitic alkali feldspar phenocryst in a matrix of feldspar (Or 45–61Ab 38–54An 0–2), biotite, and Fe-Ti oxides. The trachytic volcanic rocks are made up of feldspar (Or 38–63Ab 34–59An 1–4) in a fine-grained matrix. Their 87Sr/ 86Sr (I) ratios and ɛNd (I) values vary in the ranges of 0.70532–0.70952 and−3.2–0.7, respectively. The syenitic rocks in the region contain both quartz- and nepheline-sodalite-bearing syenites. Geochemical features reveal that the Ne-normative basaltic magmas have undergone mafic mineral fractionation coupled with crustal contamination to produce the Q-normative derivatives. Enhanced differentiation of the Ne- and Q-normative fractionated magmas via feldspar-dominated fractionation created the silica-undersaturated and -oversaturated trachytic magmas, respectively. During the feldspar-dominated differentiation, the re-melting of accumulated alkali feldspars in the magma chamber likely gave rise to the formation of trachytic rocks with alkali feldspar-like whole rock compositions. The final products of the Ne-normative magmas are represented by the phonolites and foid-syenites with silica-undersaturated eutectic compositions. A geochemical evaluation of the basaltic rocks revealed that the alkaline magmatism mainly originated from a shallow asthenospheric mantle source which had previously been metasomatized by oceanic to continental subduction. We suggest that the DHMP was formed in response to STEP fault-controlled rolling back of the northward subducting slab of the Baskil Arc, which created a localized gap for asthenospheric upwelling. </p

Late Mesozoic Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Hekimhan Basin and the environs (central eastern Anatolia): implications for the eastern Taurides and Gürün Curl

The east-west trending Taurides form a curved area in central eastern Anatolia known as the Gürün Curl. In order to understand the origin of the Gürün Curl and Tauride evolution in general, the results of a new field study of this region have been synthesized together with previously published data. We suggest that the geodynamic evolution of the area began with the likely presence of a Tethys Ocean transform fault. This fault separated the Taurides into the Akdere Sector in the west and the Munzur Sector in the east in the Late Cretaceous. During the late Santonian–early Campanian, ophiolites obducted onto the Munzur Sector, while platform sediments continued to accumulate in the Akdere Sector. This was followed by the development of an Andean-type arc-type magmatism (the Baskil Arc) during the early–middle Campanian in the Munzur Sector. Continued closure of the Tethys led to the collision of the Bitlis Massif in the south of the Munzur Sector in the Campanian. This, in turn, resulted in continental subduction and slab roll-back that was controlled by a Subduction Transform Edge Propagator (STEP) Fault that lay on the original transform fault between the Akdere and Munzur sectors. Because the subducted slab was free at its western corner, the western edge rolled back faster than in the east, leading to an asymmetrical extensional regime on the upper plate that created the late Campanian Hekimhan Basin. While these geodynamic events were taking place in the Munzur Sector, the Akdere Sector was in a platform setting. During the Palaeocene, the Late Mesozoic units of the Akdere Sector began to overthrust on the Hekimhan Basin and the ophiolites. Following the Palaeocene, all these tectonostratigraphic units were covered by Eocene sediments around the Gürün Curl of which the modern appearance was completed by the Miocene to Recent movements along the strike-slip faults.</p

U-Pb zircon geochronology of the Paleogene – Neogene volcanism in the NW Anatolia: Its implications for the Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Aegean

The northern Aegean region was shaped by subduction, obduction, collision, and post-collisional extension processes. Two areas in this region, the Rhodope-Thrace-Biga Peninsula to the west and Armutlu-Almacik- Nallihan (the Central Sakarya) to the east, are characterized by extensive Eocene to Miocene post-collisional magmatic associations. We suggest that comparison of the Cenozoic magmatic events of these two regions may provide insights into the Late Mesozoic to Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Aegean. With this aim, we present an improved Cenozoic stratigraphy of the Biga Peninsula derived from a new comprehensive set of U-Pb zircon age data obtained from the Eocene to Miocene volcanic units in the region.& para;& para;The compiled radiometric age data show that calc-alkaline volcanic activity occurred at similar to 43-15 Ma in the Biga Peninsula, similar to 43-17 Ma in the Rhodope and Thrace regions, and similar to 53-38 Ma in the Armutlu-Almacik-Nalhhan region, which are slightly overlapping. We discuss the possible cause for the distinct Cenozoic geo-dynamic evolution of the eastern and western parts of the region, and propose that the Rhodope, Thrace and Biga regions in the north Aegean share the same Late Mesozoic to Cenozoic geodynamic evolution, which is consistent with continuous subduction, crustal accretion, southwestward trench migration and accompanying extension; all preceded by the Late Cretaceous - Paleocene collision along the Vardar suture zone. In contrast, the Armutlu-Almacik-Nallihan region was shaped by slab break-off and related processes following the Late Cretaceous - Paleocene collision along the Izmir-Ankara suture zone. The eastern and western parts of the region are presently separated by a northeast-southwest trending transfer zone that was likely originally present as a transform fault in the subducted Tethys oceanic crust, and demonstrates that the regional geodynamic evolution can be strongly influenced by the geographical distribution of geologic features on the subducting plate