Abstract
The effects of Arabia-Eurasia collision are recorded in faults, basins, and exhumed metamorphic massifs across eastern and central Anatolia. These faults and basins also preserve evidence of major changes in deformation and associated sedimentary processes along major suture zones including the Inner Tauride suture where it lies along the southern (Ecemis) segment of the Central Anatolian fault zone. Stratigraphic and structural data from the Ecemis fault zone, adjacent NE Ulukisla basin, and metamorphic dome (Nigde Massif) record two fundamentally different stages in the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of this part of central Anatolia. The Paleogene sedimentary and volcanic strata of the NE Ulukisla basin (Ecemis corridor) were deposited in marginal marine to marine environments on the exhuming Nigde Massif and east of it. A late Eocene-Oligocene transpressional stage of deformation involved oblique northward thrusting of older Paleogene strata onto the eastern Nigde Massif and of the eastern massif onto the rest of the massif, reburying the entire massif to >10 km depth and accompanied by left-lateral motion on the Ecemi§ fault zone. A profound change in the tectonic setting at the end of the Oligocene produced widespread transtensional deformation across the area west of the Ecemis fault zone in the Miocene. In this stage, the Ecemis fault zone had at least 25 km of left-lateral offset. Before and during this faulting episode, the central Tauride Mountains to the east became a source of sediments that were deposited in small Miocene transtensional basins formed on the Eocene–Oligocene thrust belt between the Ecemiş fault zone and the Niğde Massif. Normal faults compatible with SW-directed extension cut across the Niğde Massif and are associated with a second (Miocene) re-exhumation of the Massif. Geochronology and thermochronology indicate that the transtensional stage started at ca. 23–22 Ma, coeval with large and diverse geological and tectonic changes across Anatolia.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1358-1384 |
| Number of pages | 27 |
| Journal | Geosphere |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was funded by National Science Foundation grant EAR-1109762, “Continental Dynamics: Central Anatolian Tectonics (CD-CAT)” to Whitney and Teyssier (University of Minnesota); EAR-1109336 to Thomson (University of Arizona); and EAR-1109826 to Umhoefer (Northern Arizona University). We thank Nuri Kaymakci, Daniel F. Stockli, Lauren Idleman, Erkan Toraman, Maud Meijers, Annia Fayon, Mike Darin, Kirk Schleif-farth, Ahmet Peynircioğlu, Noah Keller, and the whole CD-CAT team for many productive discussions. We thank the Geosphere editors and reviewers, and especially Megan Mueller for her thorough review. We thank Başar Şafak (Özşafak Pension in Çamardı) for his hospitality and friendship. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was funded by National Science Foundation grant EAR-1109762, ?Continental Dynamics: Central Anatolian Tectonics (CD-CAT)? to Whitney and Teyssier (University of Minnesota); EAR-1109336 to Thomson (University of Arizona); and EAR-1109826 to Umhoefer (Northern Arizona University). We thank Nuri Kaymakci, Daniel F Stockli, Lauren Idleman, Erkan Toraman, Maud Meijers, Annia Fayon, Mike Darin, Kirk Schleiffarth, Ahmet Peynircioglu, Noah Keller, and the whole CD-CAT team for many productive discussions. We thank the Geosphere editors and reviewers, and especially Megan Mueller for her thorough review. We thank Ba?ar ?afak (?z?afak Pension in ?amardi) for his hospitality and friendship. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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