Abstract
We have carried out a several-year-long study of the Amanos Mountains, on the basis of which we present new sedimentary and structural evidence, which we combine with existing data, to produce the first comprehensive synthesis in the regional geological setting. The ca. N-S-trending Amanos Mountains are located at the northwesternmost edge of the Arabian plate, near the intersection of the African and Eurasian plates. Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments accumulated on the north-Gondwana margin during the Palaeozoic. Triassic rift-related sedimentation was followed by platform carbonate deposition during Jurassic-Cretaceous. Late Cretaceous was characterised by platform collapse and southward emplacement of melanges and a supra-subduction zone ophiolite. Latest Cretaceous transgressive shallow-water carbonates gave way to deeper-water deposits during Palaeocene-Eocene. Eocene southward compression, reflecting initial collision, resulted in open folding, reverse faulting and duplexing. Fluvial, lagoonal and shallow-marine carbonates accumulated during Late Oligocene(?)-Early Miocene, associated with basaltic magmatism. Intensifying collision during Mid-Miocene initiated a foreland basin that then infilled with deep-water siliciclastic gravity flows. Late Miocene-Early Pliocene compression created mountain-sized folds and thrusts, verging E in the north but SE in the south. The resulting surface uplift triggered deposition of huge alluvial outwash fans in the west. Smaller alluvial fans formed along both mountain flanks during the Pleistocene after major surface uplift ended. Pliocene-Pleistocene alluvium was tilted towards the mountain front in the west. Strike-slip/transtension along the East Anatolian Transform Fault and localised sub-horizontal Quaternary basaltic volcanism in the region reflect regional transtension during Late Pliocene-Pleistocene (<4 Ma).
Highlights
The Tethys ocean has dominated the geology of the Eastern Mediterranean region
This ocean basin is known to have developed through a series of discrete tectonic stages, including pre-Triassic platform, Triassic rift basin, Jurassic-Cretaceous passive margin, Late Cretaceous supra-subduction zone ophiolite genesis and emplacement and Neogene collision, culminating in final emplacement and surface uplift
Much research has focussed on the allochthonous units that resulted from closure of the Southern Neotethys, as exemplified by the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey (Figure 1)
Summary
The Southern Neotethys was bordered by North Africa, southern Greece and southern Turkey and extended eastwards though Iran (Barrier & Vrielynck, 2009; Robertson & Dixon, 1984; Robertson, Parlak, & Ustaömer, 2012; Şengör & Yılmaz, 1981) This ocean basin is known to have developed through a series of discrete tectonic stages, including pre-Triassic platform, Triassic rift basin, Jurassic-Cretaceous passive margin, Late Cretaceous supra-subduction zone ophiolite (exposed oceanic crust) genesis and emplacement and Neogene collision, culminating in final emplacement and surface uplift. The mountains are located at the interface between the central and eastern segments of the Taurus Mountains, close to the triple junction between the Arabian, African and Eurasian plates (e.g. Gülen, Barka, & Toksöz, 1987; Karig & Kozlu, 1990; McKenzie, 1976; Perinçek & Çemen, 1990; Westaway, 2004) This mountainous region encodes much critical evidence concerning Tethyan evolution which is explored here. For ease of description here, we loosely divide the Amanos Mountains into northern, central and southern areas and we commonly compare the eastern and western flanks
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