Abstract
The CentralAnatolianCrystallineComplex(CACC)exposesmetamorphic,ophioliticandigneousrocks
that wereformedanddeformedduringclosureoftheNeotethyanocean.TheCACCislocatedincentral
Turkey,betweenthePontidesinthenorthandtheTauridesinthesouth,separatedbymajorfault
zones.Compositeplutonsintrudedthemeta-sedimentaryandophioliticunitsbetween 95 and75Ma,
and formlinearmagmaticbelts( 100 kmlong)alongthewesternandnorthernmarginsoftheCACC.
ExhumationofthemetamorphicandigneouscomplexwasfinalizedbythePaleocenetime.Inthis
study,wepaleomagneticallystudyfifteenplutonsspanningtheentirenon-deformedupperCretaceous
granitoidbelttotestwhethertheinitialconfigurationoftheCACCwasmodifiedbyverticalaxis
rotationsafteritsexhumation.Ourresultsshowthreeinternallycoherentdomainswithsignificantly
differentvertical-axisrotations:(1)inthenorth-east,theAkda˘g–Yozgatblock(AYB)records 151
clockwiserotation,(2)inthenorth-west,theKırs-ehir–Kırıkkaleblock(KKB)shows 6–91 counter-
clockwiserotationand(3)inthesouth-west,theA˘gac- ¨oren–Avanosblock(AAB)shows28–351
counterclockwiserotation.Weproposethattheserotationswereaccommodatedbytwotranspres-
sionalfaultzones:inthesouth,theexistingSavcılıThrustZonebetweentheAYBandKKBandinthe
north,thenewlyintroducedDelice–KozaklıFaultZonebetweentheKKBandAAB.Therestored
configurationoftheCACCsuggeststhatthethreeblockswerelargelyalignedina NNEorientationat
an earlystageoftheirhistory.Consequently,sincethelateCretaceoustheshapeoftheCACCwas
affectedbylargescaledeformation,resultinginitsmoderntriangulargeometry.Thisdeformation
phase isbestexplainedasaresultofcollisionoftheCACCwiththePontides.