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).

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Quantifying the amount of stretching in extensional basin systems is often challenging in the absence of seismic profiles or boreholes. However, when fault spacing and orientation as well as vertical axis rotation patterns are known, map-view restoration may provide a good estimate of total extension. This integrated structural and paleomagnetic approach provides a relatively straightforward tool in extensional basin restoration and fault zone kinematic analysis. Here we provide results of an extensive paleomagnetic survey of the Neogene Central Tauride intramontane basins (SW Turkey), where previous work revealed a complex array of basin-bounding normal faults and relay ramps. In total, 437 oriented cores were sampled at 43 sites distributed within Miocene-Pliocene continental sedimentary rocks from the Ilgın, Altınapa, Yalvaç, and Beyşehir basins. Despite the more or less coherent overall strike of the mountain belt and basins, rotations vary from~42°clockwise (Yalvaç) to~10°(Beyşehir),~21°(Ilgın), and 30°(Altınapa) counterclockwise. We show that the rotation pattern is related to normal faults and lateral variations in fault displacement superimposed on regional rotation patterns. We restore these to estimate a minimum NE-SW horizontal extension of~30-35 km across the basin system. As a consequence of our reconstruction, it appears that the Sultandağları range that exposes low-grade metamorphic Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks of the Geyikdağı and Bolkardağ nappes of the Taurides represents a Miocene extensional core complex.

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