High- to Low-Temperature Thermochronological Evolution of the Southeast Anatolian Orogenic Belt

Abstract

The Southeast Anatolian Orogen was resulted from collision of the Arabian platform in the south and the Tauride platform in the north, following the Cretaceous to Miocene closure of the southern Neotethyan oceanic basin (Şengör and Yılmaz, 1981; Yılmaz, 1993; Yılmaz et al., 1993; Robertson et al., 2007a,b). Tectonomagmatic/ metamorphic entities that are important in understanding the geological evolution of the southeast Anatolian orogenic belt are observed in Hatay- Kahramanmaras-Malatya-Elazig regions. These units are (a) the metamorphic massifs, (b) the ophiolites, (c) the metamorphic sole rocks, (d) the meta-ophiolites and (e) the granitoids. The metamorphic massifs in the region are characterized by Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic Malatya-Keban, Bitlis and Pütürge units that are interpreted as northern part of the Gondwana. The Malatya-Keban platform was thrust over ophiolites from north to south during Late Cretaceous (Yazgan and Chessex, 1991; Yılmaz, 1993; Robertson et al., 2007a,b). The Bitlis and Pütürge metamorphics were located in between Arabian and Tauride platform, and subducted beneath the Tauride platform during Late Cretaceous. Following this subduction, these units were undergone low to high pressure metamorphism during Late Cretaceous (Öberhansli et al., 2010; Karaoğlan, 2012; Robertson et al., 2013).