Gültekin Topuz

Jurassic accretionary complex and ophiolite from northeast Turkey: No evidence for the Cimmerian continental ribbon

Permian-Triassic and Late Cretaceous accretionary complexes, ascribed to the consumption of two distinct oceans, the Paleo- and Neo-Tethys, are exposed over extensive areas in the Eastern Mediterranean region. However, a separating continental ribbon, the so-called Cimmeride continent, between the Paleo- and Neo-Tethys during early Mesozoic time cannot be defined. Here we report a previously unknown Early Jurassic metamorphic oceanic accretionary complex and ophiolite from northeast Turkey, bounded by oceanic accretionary complexes of Permian-Triassic and Late Cretaceous age to the north and the south, respectively, without a continental domain in between. This special tectonic position and widespread coexistence of Permian-Triassic and Late Cretaceous accretionary complexes alongside the Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture imply that (1) the southern margin of Laurasia in the eastern Mediterranean region grew by episodic accretionary processes from late Paleozoic to end-Mesozoic time without involvement of a Cimmerian continental ribbon, and (2) the Paleo-Tethys and northern branch of the Neo-Tethys were not distinct oceans in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

An Oligocene ductile strike-slip shear zone: The Uludağ Massif, northwest Turkey—Implications for the westward translation of Anatolia

The Uludag Massif in northwest Turkey represents an exhumed segment of an Oligocene ductile strike-slip shear zone that is over 225 km long and has ~100 km of right-lateral strike-slip displacement. It forms a faultbounded mountain of amphibolite-facies gneiss and intrusive Oligocene granites. A shear-zone origin for the Uludag Massif is indicated by: (1) its location at the tip of the active Eskisehir oblique-slip fault, (2) pervasive subhorizontal mineral lineation in the gneisses with a right-lateral sense of slip, (3) foliation with a consistent strike, (4) the presence of a subvertical synkinematic intrusion, and (5) the alignment of the Eskisehir fault, synkinematic metagranite, and the strike of the foliation and mineral lineation. The shear zone nucleated in amphibolite-facies gneisses at peak pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions of 7.0 kbar and 670 °C, and it preserves Eocene (49 Ma) and Oligocene (36–30 Ma) Rb/Sr muscovite and biotite cooling ages. The shear zone was active during the latest Eocene and Oligocene (38–27 Ma), as shown by the crystallization and cooling ages from synkinematic granite. A 27 Ma postkinematic granite marks the termination of shear-zone activity. The 20–21 Ma apatite fi ssion-track (AFT) ages indicate rapid exhumation during the early Miocene. A 14 Ma AFT age from an Uludag gneiss clast deposited in a neighboring Neogene basin shows that the shear zone was on the surface by the late Miocene. Results of this study indicate that during the Oligocene, crustal-scale right-lateral strikeslip faults were transporting crustal fragments from Anatolia into the north-south– extending Aegean; this implies that the westward translation of Turkey, related to the Hellenic slab suction, started earlier than the Miocene Arabia-Eurasia collision.

Jurassic ophiolite formation and emplacement as backstop to a subduction-accretion complex in northeast Turkey, the Refahıye ophiolite, and relation to the Balkan ophiolites,

The eastern Mediterranean region within the Tethyan realm shows a high concentration of ophiolites with contrasting times of formation and emplacement along the belt: In the Balkans, the ophiolites formed during the early to medial Jurassic, and were obducted during the late Jurassic, whereas in Turkey and farther east, structurally intact Jurassic ophiolites are rare and Jurassic ophiolite obduction is unknown. Here we report a structurally intact, large ophiolite body of early Jurassic age from NE Turkey, the Refahiye ophiolite, located close to the suture zone between the Eastern Pontides and the Menderes-Taurus block. The Refahiye ophiolite forms an outcrop belt, 175 km long and 20 km wide, and is tectonically bound by the late Cretaceous ophiolitic mélange to the south, and by the North Anatolian Transform Fault against the Triassic low-grade metamorphic rocks to the north. Early to medial Jurassic very low- to low-grade metamorphic rocks, interpreted as intraoceanic subduction-accretion complexes, occur either beneath the ophiolite or as thrust slices within it. The ophiolite body within the studied section is made up of mantle peridotite (clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgite and minor dunite) crosscut by up to 20 cm thick veins of clinopyroxenite and later dikes/pods/stocks of gabbro ranging in size from 2 m to several hundreds of meters. The gabbro is represented by two distinct types: (i) cumulate gabbro, and (ii) non-cumulate gabbro with locally well-developed igneous foliation. Within the non-cumulate gabbro or enclosing peridotite, there are up to 5 m and 50 cm-thick veins of trondhjemite and pegmatitic gabbro, respectively. LA-ICP-MS dating on zircons from two trondhjemite samples yielded weighted mean ages of ∼184 ± 4 Ma and 178 ± 4 Ma (2σ), respectively, suggesting formation during early Jurassic time. Formation in a suprasubduction-zone forearc setting is inferred from (i) wide-ranging pyroxene and spinel compositions in the peridotites as documented in most suprasubduction-zone ophiolites, (ii) arc tholeiitic signature of the non-cumulate gabbros, and (iii) association of the ophiolite with the coeval subduction-accretion complexes. Emplacement of a trapped forearc ophiolite above its own subduction-accretion complex as a backstop is proposed based on a series of field relationships such as (i) intimate association of the unsubducted suprasubduction-zone ophiolite with coeval accretionary complexes, (ii) absence of unambiguous relationship to the southern Atlantic-type continental margin, and (iii) absence of any stratigraphic indications for the ophiolite obduction in the southern Atlantic-type continental margin during Jurassic time. This is a clear difference from the Jurassic ophiolites in the Balkans that were obducted over the Atlantic-type continental margin. This difference in mode of emplacement is most probably related to the greater distance of the intra-oceanic subduction zone to the Atlantic-type continental margin than it was in the Balkans, which is commensurate with the greater width of the Tethys in the east during Jurassic time.

Linking the NE Anatolian and Lesser Caucasus ophiolites: evidence for large-scale obduction of oceanic crust and implications for the formation of the Lesser Caucasus-Pontides Arc

In the Lesser Caucasus and NE Anatolia, three domains are distinguished from south to north: (1) Gondwanian-derived continental terranes represented by the South Armenian Block (SAB) and the Tauride–Anatolide Platform (TAP), (2) scattered outcrops of Mesozoic ophiolites, obducted during the Upper Cretaceous times, marking the northern Neotethys suture, and (3) the Eurasian plate, represented by the Eastern Pontides and the Somkheto-Karabagh Arc. At several locations along the northern Neotethyan suture, slivers of preserved unmetamorphozed relics of now-disappeared Northern Neotethys oceanic domain (ophiolite bodies) are obducted over the northern edge of the passive SAB and TAP margins to the south. There is evidence for thrusting of the suture zone ophiolites towards the north; however, we ascribe this to retro-thrusting and accretion onto the active Eurasian margin during the latter stages of obduction. Geodynamic reconstructions of the Lesser Caucasus feature two north dipping subduction zones: (1) one under the Eurasian margin and (2) farther south, an intra-oceanic subduction leading to ophiolite emplacement above the northern margin of SAB. We extend our model for the Lesser Caucasus to NE Anatolia by proposing that the ophiolites of these zones originate from the same oceanic domain, emplaced during a common obduction event. This would correspond to the obduction of non-metamorphic oceanic domain along a lateral distance of more than 500 km and overthrust up to 80 km of passive continental margin. We infer that the missing volcanic arc, formed above the intra-oceanic subduction, was dragged under the obducting ophiolite through scaling by faulting and tectonic erosion. In this scenario part of the blueschists of Stepanavan, the garnet amphibolites of Amasia and the metamorphic arc complex of Erzincan correspond to this missing volcanic arc. Distal outcrops of this exceptional object were preserved from latter collision, concentrated along the suture zones.

Metamorphism and diachronous cooling in a contractional orogen: the Strandja Massif, NW Turkey

The southern part of the Strandja Massif, northern Thrace, Turkey, comprises a basement of various gneisses, micaschists and rare amphibolite, and a cover of metaconglomerate and metasandstone, separated from each other by a pre-metamorphic unconformity. Metamorphic grade decreases from the epidote–amphibolite facies in the south to the albite–epidote–amphibolite/greenschist-facies transition in the north. Estimated P – T conditions are 485–530°C and 0.60–0.80 GPa in the epidote–amphibolite facies domain, and decrease towards the transitional domain between greenschist- and epidote–amphibolite facies. Rb–Sr muscovite ages range from 162.9 ± 1.6 Ma to 149.1 ± 2.1 Ma, and are significantly older (279–296 Ma) in the northernmost part of the study area. The Rb–Sr biotite ages decrease from 153.9 ± 1.5 Ma in the south to 134.4 ± 1.3 Ma in the north. These age values in conjunction with the attained temperatures suggest that the peak metamorphism occurred at around 160 Ma and cooling happened diachronously, and Rb–Sr muscovite ages were not reset during the metamorphism in the northernmost part. Structural features such as (i) consistent S-dipping foliation and SW to SE-plunging stretching lineation, (ii) top-to-the-N shear sense, and (iii) N-vergent ductile shear zones and brittle thrusts suggest a N-vergent compressional deformation coupled with exhumation. We tentatively ascribe this metamorphism and subsequent diachronous cooling to the northward propagation of a thrust slice. The compressional events in the Strandja Massif were most probably related to the coeval N-vergent subduction/collision system in the southerly lying Rhodope Massif.

Diverse tectonic settings of formation of the metaigneous rocks in the Jurassic metamorphic accretionary complexes (Refahiye, NE Turkey) and their geodynamic implications

Two isolated metamorphic accretionary complexes of Jurassic age, the Refahiye and Kurtlutepe metamorphic rocks, crop out as tectonic slices within the coeval suprasubduction-zone ophiolite at the southern margin of the Eastern Pontides (NE Turkey), close to the İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture. The Refahiye metamorphic rocks are made up of greenschist, marble, serpentinite, phyllite and minor garnet amphibolite, garnet micaschist and metachert. The whole unit was metamorphosed under garnet-amphibolite-facies conditions and strongly retrogressed during exhumation. The Kurtlutepe metamorphic rocks consist of subgreenschist-facies metavolcanics, metavolcaniclastics, marble, calc-phyllite, and minor serpentinite and metachert. Metabasites in the Refahiye metamorphic rocks are represented by four distinct geochemical affinities: (i) cumulate “flavor,” (ii) alkaline oceanic island basalt (OIB), (iii) enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt (E-MORB) and (iv) tholeiitic island arc basalt (IAB). On the other hand, the Kurtlutepe metavolcanic rocks display only tholeiitic to calc-alkaline island arc geochemical affinities. The metabasic rocks with OIB affinities were interpreted as parts of the accreted oceanic islands, and those with E-MORB affinities as parts of accreted ridge segments close to oceanic islands and/or plume-distal mid-ocean ridges with a mantle previously metasomatized by plume components. The metabasic rocks with IAB affinities might have been derived from the overlying suprasubduction ophiolite and/or arc domain by a number of tectonic or sedimentary processes including tectonic slicing of accretionary complex and overlying fore-arc ophiolite, juxtaposition of the magmatic arc with subduction zone by strike slip faults, submarine gravity sliding and debris flows or subduction erosion. However, totally recrystallized nature of the metabasic rocks together with field relations does not allow any inference on the processes involved. The Kurtlutepe metavolcanic rocks might represent collided and accreted oceanic island arc with the subduction zone. Attempted subduction of an intraoceanic island arc may also explain the magmatic lull during Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous in the Eastern Pontides.

Origin and geodynamic environments of the metamorphic sole rocks from the İzmir–Ankara–Erzincan suture zone (Tokat, northern Turkey)

ABSTRACT The Late Cretaceous accretionary complex of the İzmir–Ankara–Erzincan suture zone, near Artova, is composed mainly of peridotites (variably serpentinized), amphibolite, garnet-micaschist, calc-schist, marble, basalt, sandstones, neritic limestones. The metamorphic rocks were interpreted as the metamorphic sole rocks occurring at the base of mantle tectonites, because: (i) amphibolites were observed together with the serpentinized peridotites suggesting their occurrences in the oceanic environment; (ii) foliation in amphibolites and serpentinized peridotites run subparallel to each other; (iii) all these metamorphic rocks and serpentinized peridotites are cross-cut by the unmetamorphosed dolerite dikes with island arc tholeiite-like chemistry. Geochemical characteristics of the amphibolites display enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt (E-MORB)- and ocean island basalt (OIB)-like signatures. The dolerite dikes, on the other hand, yield an island arc tholeiite-like composition. Geothermobarometric investigations of the metamorphic sole rocks suggest that the metamorphic temperature was ~650 ± 30°C and the pressure condition was less than 0.5 GPa. Dating of hornblende grains from amphibolite yielded age values ranging from 139 ± 11 to 157 ± 3.6 Ma (2σ). The oldest weighted average age value is regarded as approximating the timing of the intra-oceanic subduction. These cooling ages were interpreted to be the intra-oceanic subduction/thrusting time of the İzmir–Ankara–Erzincan oceanic domain.

East Anatolian plateau constructed over a continental basement: No evidence for the East Anatolian accretionary complex

The East Anatolian plateau (Turkey) is extensively covered by Neogene to Quaternary volcanic-sedimentary rocks, and is characterized by an attenuated lithospheric mantle. Its pre-Neogene basement is commonly considered to consist entirely of Late Cretaceous to Oligocene oceanic accretionary complexes, formed at the junction of several continental blocks. Here we report on three main exposures of the pre-Neogene basement in this region. The exposed areas consist mainly of amphibolite-to granulite-facies metamorphic rocks, including marble, amphibolite, metapelite, metagranite, and metaquartzite. An upper amphibolite-to granulitefacies domain is equilibrated at similar to 0.7 GPa and similar to 800 degrees C at 83 +/- 2 Ma (2 sigma). U-Pb dating of magmatic zircons from the metagranite yielded a Late Ordovician-early Silurian protolith age (444 +/- 9 Ma, 2 sigma). The detrital zircons from one metaquartzite point to a Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic provenance. Ophiolitic rocks tectonically sit on the metamorphic rocks. Both the metamorphic and ophiolitic rocks are in turn unconformably covered by lower Maastrichtian clastic rocks and reefal limestones, suggesting that the whole exhumation process and juxtaposition with the ophiolitic rocks had occurred by the early Maastrichtian. Several lines of evidence, such as (1) the absence of any indication of a former high-pressure metamorphism in the metamorphic rocks, (2) the allochthonous nature of the ophiolitic rocks, (3) the presence of metagranite with a Late Ordovician-early Silurian protolith age, and (4) the Neoproterozoic- early Paleozoic provenance of detrital zircons in the metaquartzite (in contrast to the dominance of late Paleozoic-Mesozoic crystalline rocks in the adjacent continental blocks) indicate a substantial component of continental basement beneath the Neogene to Quaternary cover. Thus, the loss of the lithospheric mantle probably resulted from lithospheric foundering processes beneath the plateau, rather than just slab steepening and break-off.

Blueschist-facies overprint of a Late Triassic Tethyan oceanic crust in a subduction-accretion complex in north-central Anatolia, Turkey

The late Cretaceous accretionary complex along the İzmir–Ankara–Erzincan suture zone, northern Turkey, includes various types of metamorphic rock together with radiolarite, sandstone, mudstone, serpentinite, basalt and limestone. Meta-plagiogranite blocks (up to 5 m in diameter) and a meta-gabbro slice (800 × 500 m) cross-cut by meta-plagiogranite are observed in a matrix of serpentinite, mudstone and radiolarian chert. These meta-gabbros and meta-plagiogranites show subduction-related geochemical characteristics. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry U–Pb dating of zircons from two meta-plagiogranites yielded 222.3 ± 1.5 and 227.2 ± 1.6 Ma crystallization ages. This study shows that the meta-gabbro and meta-plagiogranite from the accretionary complex are remnants of the metamorphosed equivalents of the late Triassic lower crustal rocks of the subducted Tethyan oceanic crust. They are the oldest lower crustal rocks observed in the İzmir–Ankara–Erzincan suture zone. Both the meta-gabbros and meta-plagiogranites have Na–Ca amphiboles, indicating blueschist facies metamorphism. However, phengites from a blueschist facies rock yielded an 40Ar/39Ar age of 104.3 ± 0.7 Ma, indicating that blueschist metamorphism occurred during the Albian. All these data suggest that the oceanic crust formed during the Norian, metamorphosed during the Jurassic to early Cretaceous and then dismembered during accretionary complex formation in the late Cretaceous. Supplementary material: A complete description of the analytical methods (electron microprobe, LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb and 40Ar/39Ar age analyses, pseudo-section modelling and THERMOCALC) are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.6509984 Thematic collection: This article is part of the ‘Tethyan ophiolites and Tethyan seaways collection’ available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/tethyan-ophiolites-and-tethyan-seaways