The role of oroclinal bending in the structural evolution of the Central Anatolian Plateau: evidence of a regional changeover from shortening to extension

Abstract

The role of oroclinal bending in the structural evolution of the Central Anatolian Plateau: evidence of a regional changeover from shortening to extensionThe NW-SE striking extensional Inönü-Eskişehir Fault System is one of the most important active shear zones in Central Anatolia. This shear zone is comprised of semi-independent fault segments that constitute an integral array of crustal-scale faults that transverse the interior of the Anatolian plateau region. The WNW striking Eskişehir Fault Zone constitutes the western to central part of the system. Toward the southeast, this system splays into three fault zones. The NW striking Ilıca Fault Zone defines the northern branch of this splay. The middle and southern branches are the Yeniceoba and Cihanbeyli Fault Zones, which also constitute the western boundary of the tectonically active extensional Tuzgölü Basin. The Sultanhanı Fault Zone is the southeastern part of the system and also controls the southewestern margin of the Tuzgölü Basin. Structural observations and kinematic analysis of mesoscale faults in the Yeniceoba and Cihanbeyli Fault Zones clearly indicate a two-stage deformation history and kinematic changeover from contraction to extension. N-S compression was responsible for the development of the dextral Yeniceoba Fault Zone. Activity along this structure was superseded by normal faulting driven by NNE-SSW oriented tension that was accompanied by the reactivation of the Yeniceoba Fault Zone and the formation of the Cihanbeyli Fault Zone. The branching of the Inönü-Eskişehir Fault System into three fault zones (aligned with the apex of the Isparta Angle) and the formation of graben and halfgraben in the southeastern part of this system suggest ongoing asymmetric extension in the Anatolian Plateau. This extension is compatible with a clockwise rotation of the area, which may be associated with the eastern sector of the Isparta Angle, an oroclinal structure in the western central part of the plateau. As the initiation of extension in the central to southeastern part of the Inönü-Eskişehir Fault System has similarities with structures associated with the Isparta Angle, there may be a possible relationship between the active deformation and bending of the orocline and adjacent areas.