Paleomagnetic constraints on the timing and distribution of Cenozoic rotations in Central and Eastern Anatolia
Solid Earth, no.47, pp.1-47, 2017 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Discussion
- Publication Date: 2017
- Doi Number: 10.5194/se-2017-66
- Journal Name: Solid Earth
- Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
- Page Numbers: pp.1-47
- Karadeniz Technical University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
To quantitatively reconstruct the kinematic evolution of Central and Eastern Anatolia within the framework of
10 Neotethyan subduction accommodating Africa-Eurasia convergence, we paleomagnetically assess timing and amount of
vertical axis rotations across the Ulukışla and Sivas regions. We show paleomagnetic results from ~30 localities identifying a
coherent rotation of a block - comprising the southern Kırşehir Block, the Ulukışla basin, the Central and Eastern Taurides,
and the southern part of the Sivas basin. This block experienced a ~30° counter-clockwise vertical axis rotation since
Oligocene time. Sediments in the northern Sivas region show clockwise rotations. We use the rotation patterns together with
15 known fault zones to argue that the counter-clockwise rotating domain of south-central Anatolia was bounded by the Savcılı
Thrust Zone and Deliler-Tecer Fault Zone in the north and by the African-Arabian trench in the south, the western boundary
of which is poorly constrained and requires future study. Our new paleomagnetic constraints provide a key ingredient for
future kinematic restorations of the Anatolian tectonic collage.