Neogene restoration of geometry of the Neotethyan suture zone in Central Anatolia (Turkey)

Abstract

We have restored the geometries of suture zones that involved various continental blocks in central Anatolia during the Neogene, using palaeomagnetic data. Previously, the Kırşehir Block was proposed to be an NNE-SSW striking tectonic block broken into three fragments that they underwent clockwise rotations in the north and counter-clockwise rotations in the south during the Palaeogene, due to collision and N-S shortening of the Kırşehir Block between Tauride-Menderes Block in the south and the Pontides in the north. Our new results point out five distinct Neogene tectonic domains with distinct rotation patterns that indicate the rotational deformation of Central Anatolia is far more complex than generally presumed. Among these, 1) Kırıkkale-Bala Domain is rotated ~18° clockwise, 2) the Tuz Gölü Domain underwent ~14° counter-clockwise rotation, 3) the Alcı-Orhaniye Domain rotated ~35° counter-clockwise sense, 4) the Northern Haymana Domain underwent ~12° counter-clockwise rotation while 5) the Southern Haymana Domain underwent very small (~5° clockwise) net rotation since the early Miocene. The results also indicated that pre-Neogene configuration of the Izmir-Ankara Suture Zone was striking almost E-W while Inner-Tauride and Ankara-Erzincan suture zones were almost N-S in the study area. In addition, the fault zones that define the these domains extend from the Kırşehir Block into the over-riding blocks (Pontides) continuously without any deflection indicating that they were active during the Neogene and fragmented and dislocated the suture zones in the region.