Facies and palaeogeographic evidence for the Miocene evolution of the Isparta Angle in its regional eastern Mediterranean context

Abstract

We summarise facies evidence for four Miocene Basins (Lycian, Aksu, Köprü and Manavgat) within the Isparta Angle. Facies patterns are plotted on six palaegeographic maps restored to their pre-late Miocene setting. These maps are used to help infer the various controls on deposition. Facies trends and structural features suggest that the individual basins were kinematically linked within the overall African–Eurasia convergence zone. The Miocene Basins represent a classic example of how related basins may develop within an evolving orogen subject to variable controls through time. The dominant control was tectonic although autocyclic sedimentary processes (e.g., reef growth), and both relative and eustatic sea-level change played a significant role. From the palaeogeographic reconstructions and the tectonic context of the Isparta Angle, we infer that during the early Miocene, the westerly Lycian basin and the neighbouring Aksu basin experienced flexural subsidence related to southeastward thrusting of the Lycian Nappes. More distal effects of the forebulge may have caused uplift around the Aksu and Köprü basins initiating N–S half-grabens bounded by master faults on the eastern side of each basin. Later, the eastern basins of the Isparta Angle were influenced by regional northward subduction and inferred slab retreat within a remnant of the Southern Neotethys located within the Mediterranean Sea at the intersection of the south Aegean and Cyprus arcs.