New geosite candidates from Urla (İzmir, Western Anatolia, Turkey): a list of geological assets nested with antique and modern cultural heritage

Abstract

The Urla Basin is an approximately 20 km wide and 30 km long N-S-trending strike-slip basin, located in the westernmost part of the Western Anatolia Extensional Province. Although the basin-fill units are generally composed of sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Miocene to Recent, Triassic and Late Cretaceous-Paleocene sedimentary rocks are also exposed in the middle and western part of the basin. In addition to this geological diversity, the basin hosts many ancient settlements due to its geographical position and close contact with the Aegean Sea. This study mostly focuses on the northern part of the basin with a concentration on the possible geological heritage sites from the Urla and surroundings and its cultural heritage assets with respect geotourism. Klazomenai and Liman Tepe, one of the best examples of archaeological sites in the area, have a respectable Earth-science importance. Some other cultural heritage assets are also very valuable, such as the Yıldız Tepe Martyrdom Monument, Karantina Island, traditional vineyards of Urla, Urla Art Street and fellow-townsman that are well-known figures of literature and popular culture (e.g., Yorgo Seferis, Necati Cumalı and Tanju Okan). We present seven new geosite candidates, which are evaluated in the geological framework category groups B, C and E of the geosite framework list for Turkey. These sites have quite important geological meaning and value for the Earth-science education and geotourism potential.