Jurassic‐Cretaceous paleomagnetism and paleogeography of the Pontides (Turkey)

Abstract

Published paleomagnetic data from the Pontides indicate anomalously low Jurassic and Early Cretaceous paleolatitudes compatible with the southern Neo‐Tethyan (African) continental margin and significantly different from paleolatitudes predicted for the northern (Eurasian) Neo‐Tethyan margin. We present a new set of paleomagnetic data from 50 Late Cretaceous sites mainly from the Western Pontides and from the Eastern Pontides, and 11 Early Jurassic sites mainly from the Eastern Pontides. Fold tests indicate that the characteristic magnetization components predate Eocene folding. Late Cretaceous site mean declinations are northerly in the Eastern Pontides and rotated to the west by a few tens of degrees in the Western Pontides. Late Cretaceous site mean declinations are affected by local clockwise rotation in one sampling region close to the North Anatolian Fault. The mean Late Cretaceous inclinations and resulting paleolatitudes are 41.1° (23.5°N) and 43.7° (25.5°N) for the Western and Eastern Pontides, respectively. For the Eastern Pontides, the Early Jurassic (Liassic) mean inclination is 60.5°, yielding a paleolatitude of 41.4°N, considerably further north than previous paleolatitude estimates for the Eastern Pontides at this time. The paleolatitude estimates for the Western and Eastern Pontides are consistent with these units being close to the Eurasian continental margin during Liassic and Late Cretaceous time.