Paleomagnetic constraints on the timing and distribution of Cenozoic rotations in Central and Eastern Anatolia
Gürer D., D.J.J. van Hinsbergen, M. Özkaptan, I. Creton, M.R. Koymans, A. Cascella, C.G. Langereis (2017).
Solid Earth Discussion, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2017-66.
Abstract
To quantitatively reconstruct the kinematic evolution of Central and Eastern Anatolia within the framework of 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 known fault zones to argue that the counter-clockwise rotating domain of south-central Turkey 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.