Mineralization Events in a Collision-Related Setting: The Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex,Turkey

Examination of mineral deposits in the Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex provides broad new insights regarding their genesis. Collision and postcollision-related magmatic processes during closure of the northern branch of the Neotethyan Ocean, caused by northward subduction of the oceanic crust beneath the Sakarya Microcontinent in the Late Cretaceous-Eocene, led to the formation of several types of mineral deposits. These include: (1) skarn-type deposits (Pb-Zn, Fe, and Fe-W skarns); (2) vein-type deposits (molybdenum, fluo-rite, stibnite-cinnabar, and stibnite-cinnabar-scheelite vein deposits); (3) sedimentary diatomite, kaolinite, salt, and uranium deposits; and (4) volcanogenic perlite, pumice, and sulfur deposits. Considering their regional distribution and relationship to the geologic evolution of the region, the skarn and vein deposits constitute an important part of the metallogeny of the Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex.