Early Miocene adakite-like volcanism in the Balkuyumcu region, central Anatolia, Turkey: Petrology and geochemistry

The Balkuyumcu region, located in the southwestern part of Ankara in the Izmir-Ankara suture zone (central Anatolia, Turkey), consists of basic andesitic, andesitic, dacitic and rhyolitic rocks extruded during the Early Miocene (20–22 Ma) as a result of post-collisional volcanism. Balkuyumcu volcanic rocks can be divided into two groups on the basis of their mineralogy and composition: The basic andesitic (BA) and andesitic, dacitic and rhyolitic (ADR) groups. The ADR and BA group of rocks have adakite-like and calc-alkaline characteristics, respectively. The ADR group has higher SiO₂ content, Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios and low MgO, Mg#, Y and Yb contents than the BA group. Both groups have nearly the same Sr, Nd isotopic compositions and display similar normalized multi-element patterns with enrichments in LILE and LREE, depletions in Nb, Ti, Zr, P and a lack of Eu anomalies. Major, trace element and Sr, Nd isotopic data indicate that both groups of rocks were derived from the same source but affected by different magmatic processes during ascent. The adakite-like rocks may have been produced by partial melting of thickened lower continental crust. Fractional crystallization also played a major role in their formation. However, the BA group rocks were derived from partial melting of lower continental crust that was probably delaminated. These rocks appear to have had limited interaction with mantle peridodite during ascent to the surface.     

Hydrogeochemistry and reservoir characterization of the Konya geothermal fields,Central Anatolia/Turkey

A conceptual model with water samples from ten geothermal fields (?smil, Ilg?n (Çavu?cugöl), Tuzlukçu-Ak?ehir, Seydi?ehir and Kavakköy, Hüyük, Ere?li-Akhüyük, Kad?nhan?, Cihanbeyli, Karap?nar and Bey?ehir) in the province of Konya defined the geothermal system. Carbonates, quartzite and marbles of Paleozoic metamorphics are the reservoir rocks and the heating sources are igneous rock intrusions and geothermal gradient. The variable thermal water (CaMgHCO₃, CaSO₄, NaSO₄, CaHCO₃, CaNaHCO₃, NaCl and CaNaClHCO₃) had EC and temperature between 177.8 and 56,100 μS/cm and between 18.3 and 44 °C, respectively. Ca²⁺ in geothermal fluids are associated with marble and carbonate rocks and the high chloride shows direct connection with deep geothermal system, and prolonged contact with evaporite rocks. Sulphate originates from dissolution of and oxidation of sulphate and sulphur-bearing minerals. The high As, B, F and Mn concentration in some thermal water samples were determined as 85 μg/l, 148.56 mg/l, 3.01 mg/l and 208.13 mg/l, respectively. Reservoir temperatures computed by Na/K geothermometers were between 85.37–158.89 °C for Ak?ehir thermal waters and 58.78–90.45 °C for Ere?li thermal waters. The maximum reservoir temperature of other geothermal waters was 75 °C by the silica geothermometers.     

Recent photoelectric photometry of the newly discovered eclipsing system BD + 13o4708

Two-colour photoelectric photometry of the eclipsing binary BD + 13^o4708 was carried out. Several features such as asymmetry in the branches, light difference between the maxima, an eccentric orbit, a dip around phase 0.2 are distinctive. The new light elements of the system were computed using also the previous times of primary minima given by Walker (1988).     

The occurrence and significance of beekite in Palaeocene alluvial-fan deposits in central Anatolia,Turkey

The Palaeocene alluvial-fan succession in central Anatolia, Turkey, contains three isolated zones of beekite-encrusted clasts. Each zone is 3–5 m thick and c. 1 km long. Beekite is developed as thin (1–5 mm), concentric silica rings formed by replacement and encrustation of carbonate clasts. The formation of beekites requires a relatively long time, with non-deposition and fluctuating arid/semiarid conditions. The significance of beekite is thus analogous to that of silcrete. The presence of beekite encrustation within the Palaeocene alluvial-fan succession indicates considerable breaks in sedimentation in the eastern part of the basin, and this inference is supported by the lower thickness of the alluvium in the east.     

A New Natural Secondary Reference Material for Garnet U-Pb Dating by TIMS and LA-ICP-MS

Gem quality andradite-rich garnet (IUC-1), obtained from the Miocene trachyte dome near Ankara city (Turkey), has been identified as a potential natural secondary reference material for U-Pb dating. In this study, U-Pb dating was performed in five different laboratories using isotope dilution TIMS and laser ablation ICP-MS to determine the homogeneity of euhedral garnet crystals. The U-Pb ID-TIMS data for IUC-1 yielded ²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U and ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of 20.9 ± 0.4 and 20.6 ± 0.8 Ma respectively, and these values are consistent with U-Pb LA-ICP-MS analyses, in which different garnet crystals yielded ages of 20.8 ± 0.1, 20.7 ± 0.1, 20.7 ± 0.2 and 20.2 ± 0.1 Ma. An andradite (IUC-2) from the Serçeören wollastonite skarn (Turkey) can be used as a secondary reference material provided detailed imaging of the crystals is undertaken. ID-TIMS data yielded ²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U and ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of 20.4 ± 0.4 and 20.9 ± 1.0 Ma respectively, and yielded U-Pb ages on different grains of 20.5 ± 0.1, 20.7 ± 1.0, 20.8 ± 1.7 and 20.9 ± 1.6 Ma. The assigned weighted mean age of IUC-1 (20.4 ± 0.5 Ma, 2s) is proposed as a 2023 reference value. IUC-1 garnet is expected to contribute significantly to rapidly developing garnet geochronology in the near future.     

The facies properties and depositional environments of nodular limestones and red marly limestones (Ammonitico Rosso) in the Ankara Jurassic sequence, central Turkey

The nodular limestones and red marls of the Ankara region, deposited during the early to middle Jurassic, show similar palaeontological and sedimentological characteristics to those of the red nodular limestones form the Northern Alps (Adnet limestones) and from the Southern Alps (Ammonitico Rosso).
The nodular limestones appear to be hardground breccias drowned into the red marly limestones due to the instability of the bottom. The association of sponge spicules, crinoid fragments, small ostracods, benthic foraminifers, shell debris and common micrite matrix suggests a subtidal environment. The subsequent formation of red marly limestones consists of the partial dissolution of the shells; this suggests that a low sedimentation rate and/or sedimentological breaks took place during the precipitation of the ammonite-bearing marls.
The nodular limestones (hardground breccias) and the Ammonitico Rosso-type facies of the Ankara Jurassic succession were formed in a deeper subtidal environment and/or deeper shelf extending into the basin. The hardground layers drowned into the Ammonitico rosso were likely formed on a local carbonate shelf, that deepened increasingly through the early to middle Jurassic. Development of a local submarine clastic fan within the carbonate succession of the Ankara Jurassic basin indicates an irregular bottom topography induced by the syn-sedimentary faults.     

Microbiological risk assessment and sanitary inspection survey of Tefenni (Burdur/Turkey) region

The aim of the study was to examine microbiological risk of public water system of Tefenni (Burdur) region, which is located in southwest of Turkey. The important pollutants of the study area are cattle breeding, use of animal manure for agricultural activities and unsanitary water supply system and water tank. The microbiological condition was assessed using total coliform bacteria in water samples, which was collected from springs, wells and water supply system of Tefenni county and villages during the period January 2009 and December 2009. Microbiological analyses indicate that failure rate (positive samples) was 43% for sampling period. There was greater consistency among failures of total coliform indicator standards during spring and winter than during autumn and summer. This observation was explained partially by a significant positive correlation with the rainfall amount (r _Pearson = 0.70, P = 0.01). In addition, the microbiological risk assessment was made using modified sanitary inspection forms and prepared final score map. Compared with final score and microbial pollutant maps of the study area, it has been shown that water resources having high risk score were directly proportional with pollutants related to land use.     

Light changes of the close binary system CN Andromedae

The photoelectricB andV colour observations of the Lyrae-type eclipsing binary CN And were made on four nights at the Ege University Observatory. The new light elements, which were calculated by adding new times of minima obtained during the observations to the previous ones, were given. The light curve of the system varies cycle by cycle and the variation is discussed in some extent.     

Late Eocene-early Miocene palaeogeographic evolution of central eastern Anatolian basins,the closure of the Neo-Tethys ocean and continental collision

In central eastern Anatolia which is located between Eurasia and Africa, the study of basin developments between late Eocene and early Miocene is of great importance for understanding the process of the closure of the Neo-Tethys Ocean and the formation of strike-slip faults and regional uplift. To study these, three basins were selected: the Sivas-Erzincan, Gürün-Akkisla-Divrigi (GAD), and Malatya basins. The study proposes that the opening of the GAD basin played a key role in the formation of the Ecemis fault, which started developing at the end of early Miocene, and in mountain uplift. All these basins are situated on continental blocks and oceanic crust, arranged from north to south as the Sakarya continent, the Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan ocean (Northern Neo-Tethys), the Kirsehir continent, the inner Tauride ocean, the Munzur-Binboga block, the Maden (=Berit) ocean, the Bitlis-Pütürge block, the Çüngüs ocean and the Arabian continent.The findings indicate that late Eocene-early Miocene successions in these basins were not deposited in foreland basins formed in front of the thrust faults associated with the closure of the ocean, as stated in previous studies. Rather, they were deposited in forearc and backarc basins related to the subduction which was effective until the end of early Miocene. The Sivas-Erzincan and Malatya basins, located on the inner Tauride and Maden (=Berit) oceans, were forearc basins, while the GAD basin situated on the Munzur-Binboga block was a backarc basin. These basins have parallel developments up to the end of early Miocene. While marine sediments were deposited in the Malatya and Sivas-Erzincan basins between late Eocene and early Miocene, terrestrial units began to settle in the GAD basin from the late Eocene and the deposition there is continuous until the end of the early Miocene.Collision of the Arabian and the Anatolian plates at the end of early Miocene (16-18 Ma) produced the left-strike slip Ecemis fault zone, which caused the lateral slip of sedimentary units in the Sivas-Erzincan and GAD basins over hundreds of kilometers. This event produced the first westward tectonic escape of the Anatolian plate prior to the north Anatolian fault (NAF) and the east Anatolian fault (EAF). The Gürün region located in the GAD basin was exhumed in late Miocene and this basin was broken. The Gürün region, which remains on the rising part of the Munzur-Binboga block, is not a different basin as stated earlier, but it is a part of the GAD basin, representing the central part of the GAD basin lake, as indicated by the fine grained deposits (limestones and clay) that occur in the Gürün area.