First evidence of Campanian radiolarians in Turkey and implications for the tectonic setting of the Upper Antalya Nappes

Abstract

The definition and inventory of the upper units of the Antalya Nappes or “Calcareous Antalya Nappes” (CAN) are still a matter of controversies and often conflicting interpretations. In the Gedeller type locality, we logged a new succession that sheds light on the detailed stratigraphy of the Upper Antalya Nappes. The lower part of the series corresponds to the uppermost part of the Kemer Gorge Nappe and is overthrust by the Ordovician Seydişehir Formation of the Tahtalı Dağ Nappe. The newly described Gedeller Formation belongs to the Kemer Gorge Nappe and is represented by Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Scaglia-type pelagic limestones, which yielded radiolarians of the Amphipyndax pseudoconulus Zone. It is demonstrated that the “Calcareous Antalya Nappes” are composed of three different nappes, the Kemer Gorge, Bakırlı and the Tahtalı Dağ nappes, all of them belonging to the Upper Antalya Nappes system.