Radiolarian assemblages of Middle and Late Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) ages from an olistolith record pelagic deposition within the Bornova Flysch Zone in western Turkey

Abstract

Abstract The Bornova Flysch Zone (BFZ) in NW Anatolia comprises several olistoliths or tectonic slivers, representing various parts of the Izmir-Ankara ocean. Radiolarian assemblages extracted from one of the olistoliths of the BFZ, cropping out along the Sögütlü section, to the NE Manisa city, were studied in detail. The lowermost part of the section contains latest Bajocian – early Callovian radiolarian taxa, followed by radiolarian assemblages indicating Late Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) ages. Previous studies reveal that the Izmir-Ankara oceanic basin was initially opened during late Ladinian – early Carnian. The new radiolarian data obtained from this olistolith reveals that relatively condensed, and possibly more or less continuous, pelagic sedimentation took place during the late Middle Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous in a non-volcanic oceanic basin closer to the Tauride-Anatolide platform margin.