Abstract
The Menderes Massif is a major Alpide metamorphic complex in western Turkey; it is subdivided into southern, central, and northern submassifs by the east-west trending grabens. The basement of the southern Menderes Massif consists of Neoproterozoic micaschists (Selimiye Formation) intruded by Neoproterozoic granites. The basement is overlain by Permo-Carboniferous phyllite, marble, and quartzite (Goktepe Formation), which pass up into a thick sequence of Mesozoic marbles with emery horizons (Milas Marble). The marbles are overlain by latest Cretaceous recrystallized pelagic limestone and Paleocene metaclastics, which are thrusted over by the Lycian nappes. The metamorphism and deformation of the Phanerozoic sequence of the Menderes Massif is Eocene in age. The structure of the central Menderes Massif is controversial with views ranging from an inverted metamorphic sequence to a pile of nappes. Here we report the results from four deep (>3 km) geothermal wells from the central Menderes Massif. Two distinctive lithological units are differentiated in the wells. The top 0.5 to 1 km of the well sections are made up of micaschists, correlated with the Neoproterozoic Selimiye Formation, whereas the lower parts of the wells have cut through graphite-bearing quartzite, phyllite, and marble regarded as being parts of the Goktepe Formation and Milas Marble. The lithological differences are also picked up by a magnetotelluric study, which shows a sharp increase in the conductivity at the contacts of the Selimiye and Goktepe Formations. The question of whether the inversion of the stratigraphic sequence is due to thrusting or recumbent folding is still open.
Highlights
The Menderes Massif is a large dome-shaped Alpide metamorphic culmination in western Anatolia and constitutes one of the major tectonic units in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean Regions
The Menderes Massif is part of the Anatolide-Tauride Block, which was separated from Gondwana during the Triassic through the opening of the southern branch of the Neo-Tethys ocean (Şengör and Yılmaz, 1981)
An upper unit dominated by micaschist and quartz-micaschist, and a lower unit consisting mainly of marble, phyllite and quartzite. If we compare these units with the stratigraphy of the Menderes Massif, as known from the Southern submassif, the upper unit can be correlated with the Neoproterozoic Selimiye Formation and the lower unit with Permian-Carboniferous Göktepe Formation and Triassic-Cretaceous Milas Marble
Summary
The Menderes Massif is a large dome-shaped Alpide metamorphic culmination in western Anatolia and constitutes one of the major tectonic units in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean Regions. The Menderes Massif is part of the Anatolide-Tauride Block, which was separated from Gondwana during the Triassic through the opening of the southern branch of the Neo-Tethys ocean (Şengör and Yılmaz, 1981). The Menderes Massif became a distinct tectonic unit as a result of this Eocene regional metamorphism and deformation, and subsequent Miocene domal exhumation The internal structure of the Menderes Massif is highly debated; the views range from an essentially in situ metamorphic dome to a pile of nappes (e.g., Dürr, 1975; Şengör et al, 1984; Bozkurt and Oberhansli, 2001; Okay, 2001; Ring et al, 1999; Candan et al, 2011a, 2011b). We present results from four deep geothermal wells from the Menderes Massif, which shed light on the internal structure of the Menderes Massif
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