Late Cretaceous to Recent kinematics of SE Anatolia (Turkey)

Abstract

Five different deformation phases have been recognized in the SE Anatolian orogen and the Arabian Platform based on palaeostress inversion studies using fault-slip data sets. The timing and duration of these phases are determined using various criteria including the age of the affected strata, syndepositional structures, cross-cutting structures and overprinting slickensides. The oldest deformation phase is characterized generally by NE-SW-directed extension. The extension is thought to have resulted from slab-roll back processes during the Maastrichtian to Middle Eocene interval (c. 60 Ma to 40-35 Ma). The second deformation phase is characterized by east-west to NW-SE-directed compression and thought to result from cessation of roll-back processes possibly due to subduction of younger oceanic crust or increase in the convergence rate between Africa and Eurasia during the post-Middle Eocene to Late Oligocene interval (c. 40-35 Ma to 25 Ma). The third deformation phase is characterized by east-west to NW-SE-directed extension possibly due to slab detachment that initiated in Iran and migrated westwards during the latest Oligocene to Middle Miocene period (25-11 Ma). The fourth deformation phase is characterized by approximately north-south-directed compression due to collision and further northwards indentation of Arabian Plate by the end of Middle Miocene (11-3.5 Ma). The fifth and present deformation phase is characterized by NE-SW compression which might result from tectonic re-organization in the region since the Middle Pliocene (c. 3.5 Ma to recent).