Exhumation Paths of High-Pressure-Low-Temperature Metamorphic Rocks from the Lycian Nappes and the Menderes Massif (SW Turkey): a Multi-Equilibrium Approach

The Menderes Massif and the overlying Lycian Nappes occupy anextensive area of SW Turkey where high-pressure–low-temperaturemetamorphic rocks occur. Precise retrograde P–T pathsreflecting the tectonic mechanisms responsible for the exhumationof these high-pressure–low-temperature rocks can be constrainedwith multi-equilibrium P–T estimates relying on localequilibria. Whereas a simple isothermal decompression is documentedfor the exhumation of high-pressure parageneses from the southernMenderes Massif, various P–T paths are observed in theoverlying Karaova Formation of the Lycian Nappes. In the uppermostlevels of this unit, far from the contact with the MenderesMassif, all P–T estimates depict cooling decompressionpaths. These high-pressure cooling paths are associated withtop-to-the-NNE movements related to the Akçakaya shearzone, located at the top of the Karaova Formation. This zoneof strain localization is a local intra-nappe contact that wasactive in the early stages of exhumation of the high-pressurerocks. In contrast, at the base of the Karaova Formation, alongthe contact with the Menderes Massif, P–T calculationsshow decompressional heating exhumation paths. These paths areassociated with severe deformation characterized by top-to-the-eastshearing related to a major shear zone (the Gerit shear zone)that reflects late exhumation of high-pressure parageneses underwarmer conditions. KEY WORDS: exhumation; high-pressure–low-temperature metamorphism; multi-equilibrium P–T estimates; Lycian Nappes; Menderes Massif     

First evidence of Campanian radiolarians in Turkey and implications for the tectonic setting of the Upper Antalya Nappes

The definition and inventory of the upper units of the Antalya Nappes or “Calcareous Antalya Nappes” (CAN) are still a matter of controversies and often conflicting interpretations. In the Gedeller type locality, we logged a new succession that sheds light on the detailed stratigraphy of the Upper Antalya Nappes. The lower part of the series corresponds to the uppermost part of the Kemer Gorge Nappe and is overthrust by the Ordovician Seydişehir Formation of the Tahtalı Dağ Nappe. The newly described Gedeller Formation belongs to the Kemer Gorge Nappe and is represented by Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Scaglia-type pelagic limestones, which yielded radiolarians of the Amphipyndax pseudoconulus Zone. It is demonstrated that the “Calcareous Antalya Nappes” are composed of three different nappes, the Kemer Gorge, Bakırlı and the Tahtalı Dağ nappes, all of them belonging to the Upper Antalya Nappes system.     

Evolution microtectonique et paléo-champs de contraintes du Bassin de Vienne

Résumé

Une étude des structures cassantes permet de préciser l’évolution tectonique du Bassin de Vienne, généralement considéré comme un bassin de type « pull apart » typique. Le champ de contrainte ottnangien-carpathien (18,5-16, 5 Ma) est caractérisé par une compression NNW-SSE. Pendant le Badénien-Sannanticn (16,5-11 Ma) une zone cisaillante sénestre de direction NE-SW a été formée dans un régime en compression N-S et extension E-W. En liaison avec cette zone décrochante trois types d’extension locale conduisent à une forte subsidence dans les dépression : extension NE-SW parallèle aux accidents sénestres, extension E-W entre les décrochements et extension NW-SE au-dessus des zones décrochantes profondes. Le champ de contrainte vers la fin du Sannaticn est marqué par une compression ENE-WSW, tandis que celui du Pannonicn- récent est similaire á celui du Miocène moyen.

Une rotation de la paléocontrainte maximale horizontale, de NNW-SSE a ENE-SSW est mise en évidence pendant la période Ottnangien-Sannantien (18,5-11 Ma). Cette rotation est parallèle A celle des directions de mise en place des nappes carpathicnnes externes. L’origine des rotation est l’échappement continental des Alpes orientales et des Carpathes septentrionales vers le NE et son blocage graduel d’Ouest en Est au front des nappes carpathiennes. Après ce blocage, l’échappement a continué avec une faible intensité du Pannonien à l’Actuel. Alors que l’échappement a été initié par une compression N-S due á la collision Europe-promontoire Adriatique, le champ de contrainte à l’intérieur des blocs échappés reflète l’effet de leur blocage au front des nappes carpalhiques.     

Oligo-Miocene extension in the Lycian orogen: evidence from the Lycian molasse basin,SW Turkey

The Lycian molasse basin of SW Turkey is a NE-SW-oriented basin that developed on an imbricated basement, comprising the allochthonous Mesozoic rocks of the Lycian nappes and Palaeocene-Eocene supra-allochthonous sediments. The imbricated basement has resulted from a complex history related to the emplacement of different tectonic units from Late Cretaceous to Late Eocene. Following imbrication, extensional collapse of the Lycian orogen resulted in extensive emergent areas, some of which coincide with present-day mountains. These were surrounded by interconnected depressions, namely, the Kale-Tavas, Çardak-Dazk?r? and Denizli subbasins.

The Lycian molasse sequence contains a relatively complete record of the tectonic history of the Lycian orogenic collapse from which it was derived. The sequence is characterised by interdependence between tectonism and sedimentation, the latter of which includes fining-and coarsening-upward sedimentary cycles with syn-depositional intrabasinal unconformities.

The Denizli subbasin consists of thick, coarse-grained wedges of alluvial fans and fine-grained fan-delta deposits formed in a shallowmarine environment. Some areas of the fan deltas were colonised by corals, red algae and foraminifera, forming patch reefs.

The first phase of extensional collapse in the region is marked by the Lycian orogenic collapse, which may have been initiated by the beginning of the Oligocene (Rupelian), following the main Menderes metamorphism. Starting in the latest Early Miocene or in the Middle Miocene, the area of the molasse basin was subject to deformation with the Lycian nappes, and to erosion as well. At that time, the Lycian nappes, with some ophiolitic assemblages, were thrust over the molasse deposits and thus, NE-SW-trending folds were formed. The molasse deposits and thrust-related deformational structures were then unconformably covered by Upper Miocene continental deposits which belong to the neotectonic period of SW Turkey. The second phase of extensional collapse is marked by granitic intrusions and the formation of Miocene detachment-related extensional basins. This phase may have been related to the exhumation of the gneissic core of the Menderes Massif, from which fragments were derived and incorporated into the upper parts of the Denizli subbasin during the Aquitanian.     

Middle and Late Carboniferous extension In the Variscan Belt: structural and petrological evidences from the Vosges massif (Eastern France)

Abstract

In the Moldanubian domain of the Vosges massif (INK France) euperimposition of three distinct crustal units has been attributed to Middle to Late Carboniferous thrusting. Л kinematic analysis of mierostuetures within each unit suggests that extension, following the formation of a Stack of nappes, is actually responsible for the bulk structure of this region. In order to estimate the related exhumation, the temperature and pressure evolution of the lowermost unit is investigated. It is characterised by (i) a prograde evolution within the stability field of kyanite, followed by (ii) a syn-kinematic, 3-4 kbar, near-isothermal decompression before (iii) cooling. Thermal modeling shows that the isothermal decompression may be related to rapid exhumation (> I mm.a^-1), which cannot be accounted for by erosion alone. Therefore, exhumation is best explained by extensional processes, possibly related to gravitational collapse of a thickened crust.     

Les événements de la limite Permien–Trias : derniers survivants et/ou premiers re-colonisateurs parmi les ostracodes du Taurus (Sud-Ouest de la Turquie)The events of the Permian–Trias boundary: last survivors and/or first colonisers among the ostracods of the Taurides (southwestern Turkey)

Very few data on Early Triassic marine ostracods are available. In most of cases, the data concern the upper part of the Early Triassic. The Çürük da? section, located in the Western Taurides (Turkey), well stratigraphically constrained by conodonts and foraminifera, has been re-sampled for ostracod study. A significant fauna has been discovered in the Late Permian and the levels of the Earliest Triassic (Hindeodus parvus and Isarcicella isarcica staeschei zones). The ostracods of the basis of the Kokarkuyu Fm. are the oldest Triassic forms ever discovered. The occurrence of Palaeocopes in the earliest Triassic and similarity between the Permian and Induan assemblages suggest that the Lower Triassic Çürük da? ostracods represent a survival assemblage after the Permo-Triassic mass-extinction. To cite this article: S. Crasquin-Soleau et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 489–495.     

Early Ordovician U–Pb metamorphic ages of the eclogite-bearing Seve Nappes, Northern Scandinavian Caledonides

Eclogite-grade metamorphism of the Seve Nappe Complex (SNC) in Norrbotten, Sweden, records the attempted subduction of the Baltic continental margin during the early Palaeozoic evolution of the Iapetus Ocean. Metamorphic titanite sampled from several calcsilicate gneisses of the SNC in Norrbotten occurs as part of a prograde, eclogite facies metamorphic mineral assemblage and yields concordant to nearly concordant U/Pb ages of 500–475  Ma. Later structural disruption of these rocks occurred during the Siluro-Devonian Scandian phase of the Caledonide orogeny, but the U/Pb systematics show no evidence of a second generation (metamorphic or recrystallized) of titanite, or of post-Early Ordovician disturbance through Pb loss. Hence the U/Pb ages are believed to record the time of prograde mineral growth during eclogite facies metamorphism of the SNC.
These results support earlier Sm/Nd and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar studies indicating an Early Ordovician metamorphic age for the eclogitic Norrbotten SNC, and confirm the Early Ordovician destruction of at least this segment of the Palaeozoic passive margin of Baltica. These results indicate that the SNC in the northern Scandinavian Caledonides was subducted and metamorphosed to high grade some 50–70  Myr prior to the high-grade metamorphism of the SNC in the central Scandinavian Caledonides. This result requires significantly different early Palaeozoic tectonic histories for rocks mapped as SNC in the northern Caledonides and those in the central Caledonides, despite a seemingly similar tectonostratigraphic position and broadly similar high-grade metamorphism.     

Petrology of Late Jurassic allochthonous ultramafic lamprophyres within the Batain Nappes,Northeastern Oman

ABSTRACT

Late Jurassic ultramafic lamprophyre (UML) sills and dikes occur as 3 km-long intrusions within the allochthonous Whara Formation of the Batain nappes, eastern Oman. The sills and dikes comprise macrocrystic phlogopite and spinel-bearing aillikite and damtjernite. Aillikite is a light grey, massive fine-grained tuffaceous rock with euhedral laths of mica, while damtjernite is a dark grey, medium- to coarse-grained rock with abundant pelletal lapilli and globular segregationary textures. Both lithologies are composed of calcite, phlogopite, apatite, magnetite, spinel, diopside, and richterite. Orthoclase occurs only within damtjernite. The rocks are strongly silica undersaturated (17.6–33.7 wt.% SiO₂), with low MgO (4.7–10.2 wt. %) and high Al₂O₃ (3.5–8.6 wt.%). The aillikites are distinguished from the damtjernites by their lower SiO₂, Al₂O₃, and Na₂O abundances, and their higher MgO, CaO, and P₂O₅ contents. The rare earth element (REE) patterns of both rock types are similar and show strong light REE (LREE) enrichment. Both are enriched in Ba, Th, U, Nb, and Ta, with normalized concentrations of up to 1000 times those of primitive mantle. Relative depletions are apparent for high REE (HREE), K, Rb, Pb, Sr, P, Zr, and Hf. The rocks have initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of 0.70435–0.70646, whereas initial ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios vary between 0 · 512603 and 0 · 512716 (εNd_i 2.6–3.2). Pb isotopic ratios are more varied among the aillikites and damtjernites: ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_i = 38.97–39.39 and ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_i = 15.35–15.58, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_i = 18.08–18.96. The abundance of phlogopite, apatite, and rutile and enrichment in LREEs, Ba, Th, U, Nb, and Ta in the Sal UMLs suggest metasomatic enrichment of these rocks following a low degree of partial melting of a depleted source region. Ar–Ar age dating of phlogopite macrocrysts from the aillikites and damtjernites (154 and162 Ma, respectively) correlates with large-scale tectonic events recorded in the proto-Indian Ocean at 140–160 Ma.     

The Oman Exotics: a key to the understanding of the Neotethyan geodynamic evolution

Abstract

The study of the exotic blocks of the Hawasina Nappes (Sultanate of Oman) leads to give apposit data that allow us to propose a new paleogeographic evolution of the Oman margin in time and space. A revised classification of exotic blocks into different paleogeographical units is presented. Two newly introduced stratigraphic groups, the Ramaq Group (Ordovician to Triassic) and the Al Buda’ah Group (upper Permian to Jurassic) are interpreted as tilted blocks related to the Oman continental margin. The Kawr Group (middle Triassic to Cretaceous) is redefined and interpreted as an atoll-type seamount. The paleogeography and paleoenvironments of these units are integrated into a new scheme of the Neotethyan rifting history. Brecciae and olistoliths of the Hawasina series are interpreted to have originated from tectonic movements affecting the Oman margin and the Neotethyan ocean floor. The breccias of late Permian age were generated by the extension processes affecting the margin, and by the creation of the Neotethyan oceanic floor. The breccias of mid-late Triassic age coincide in time with the collision of the Cimmerian continents with Eurasia. In constrast, the breccias of late Jurassic and Cretaceous age are interpreted as resulting to the creation of a new oceanic crust (Semail) off the Oman margin.     

Cretaceous rudist-bearing platform carbonates from the Lycian Nappes (SW Turkey): Rudist associations and depositional setting

Lycian Nappes (in SW Turkey) lie between the Menderes Massif and Bey Dağları carbonates and comprise thrust sheets (nappes piles) of Paleozoic-Cenozoic rocks, ophiolitic and tectonic mélanges and serpentinized peridodites. This study focuses on identification of rudists and their palaeoenvironmental features observed within the Cretaceous low grade metamorphic successions (dominated by recrystallized limestones) from the Tavas and Bodrum nappes. The study is based on fifteen stratigraphic sections measured from Tavas, Fethiye, Köyceğiz, Bodrum, Ören and Bozburun areas. The Lower Cretaceous successions with rudists are very sparse in the Lycian Nappes and a unique locality including a Berriasian epidiceratid-requieniid assemblage is reported so far. A new requieniid-radiolitid assemblage was found within the pre-Turonian (?Albian-?Cenomanian) limestones. Four different Late Cretaceous rudist assemblages were firstly identified as well: 1) Caprinid-Ichthyosarcolitid assemblage (middle-late Cenomanian); 2) Distefanellid assemblage (late Turonian); 3) Hippuritid-Radiolitid assemblage (late Coniacian-Santonian-Campanian); 4) Radiolitid-Hippuritid assemblage (‘middle’-late Maastrichtian). Microfacies data and field observations indicate that the rudists lived in the inner and outer shelves of the Cretaceous carbonate platform(s) in this critical part of the Neotethys Ocean. Rudists formed isolated patchy aggregations in very shallow palaeoenvironments and deposited as shell fragments particularly on the outer shelf environment, which is characterized by higher energy and platform slope characteristics.