Devonian shallow-water sequences from the North Gondwana coastal margin (Central and Eastern Taurides, Turkey): Sedimentology, facies and global events

Abstract

Turkey is an integral part of the Alpine–Himalayan orogenic belt with a number of tectonostratigraphic units striking in an E–W direction. These belts consist of terranes of different tectonic settings, ranging from oceanic basins to active and passive continental margins. The age of incorporated units of continental margin origin ranges from the Cambrian to the Cenozoic, and includes unmetamorphosed to low-grade Devonian rocks in the Pontides, Taurides and on the Arabian Plate. This paper describes the detailed sedimentology, facies and biostratigraphy of three 900 to 1200 m thick Devonian successions in the Central and Eastern Taurides (Eceli, Halevikdere and Kocadere). During the Devonian, the Central and Eastern Taurides were situated at the northern margin of Gondwana. The sediments described were deposited on this margin in coastal to shelf environments. Despite similar large-scale trends, regional differences in the sedimentary sequences can be distinguished, especially for the lower part of the Devonian. For the first time, sufficient biostratigraphical data have been recovered to allow the successions to be subdivided at a stage scale, permitting their approximate correlation and comparison with the regional lithostratigraphy. The temporal development of sedimentary processes, facies changes, and hinterland signatures recorded in the individual sections have been reconstructed, allowing their correspondence to global events to be recognized and discussed for the first time. The palaeobiogeographic distribution of various organisms within these succession suggests a comparatively narrow sea (‘Rheic Ocean’) between Laurasia and Gondwana/Peri-Gondwana during the Devonian.