Permian-Triassic and Late Cretaceous accretionary complexes, ascribed to the consumption of two distinct oceans, the Paleo-and Neo-Tethys, are exposed over extensive areas in the Eastern Mediterranean region. However, a separating continental ribbon, the so-called Cimmeride continent, between the Paleo-and Neo-Tethys during early Mesozoic time cannot be defi ned. Here we report a previously unknown Early Jurassic metamorphic oceanic accretionary complex and ophiolite from northeast Turkey, bounded by oceanic accretionary complexes of Permian-Triassic and Late Cretaceous age to the north and the south, respectively, without a continental domain in between. This special tectonic position and widespread coexistence of Permian-Triassic and Late Cretaceous accretionary complexes alongside the Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture imply that (1) the southern margin of Laurasia in the eastern Mediterranean region grew by episodic accretionary processes from late Paleozoic to end-Mesozoic time without involvement of a Cimmerian continental ribbon, and (2) the Paleo-Tethys and northern branch of the Neo-Tethys were not distinct oceans in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
The obliteration of the Neo-Tethyan Ocean and collision of the microplates along the northern part of Turkey led to the development of the İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture zone (IAESZ). After the collision of Pontides with the Central-Anatolian Crystalline Complex (CACC) in the Paleocene, a new phase of extension and volcanism concomitantly developed along the northern (Almus; Pontides) and southern (Yıldızeli; CACC) sides and along the IAESZ during the Middle Eocene time interval. The first products of the Middle Eocene volcanism in these areas are represented by calc-alkaline to alkaline (basic-intermediate) volcanic and volcanoclastic units together with late-stage trachytic dikes, plugs, and stocks. The mantle source area of both volcanic units displays a metasomatized character, which was dominantly fluxed by sediment-sourced melts. The partial melting of the metasomatized source area gave rise to first-stage basic-intermediate volcanism in the crustal levels. Simultaneously with the generation of the first-stage volcanism, basaltic trachyandesitic shallow-seated magma mushes were also developed. The reactivation of these shallow-seated mushes by latestage extensional tectonics gave rise to the development of trachytic volcanism in both regions, which have a high-K to shoshonitic character. Almus trachytic lavas are phenocryst-poor and have differentiated Mg# numbers (avg. 26). On the other hand, Yıldızeli trachytic lavas have a broad compositional range (benmoreite to latite); they are phenocryst-rich and show more basic character (Mg# avg. 40). Trachytic volcanism in both areas is largely controlled by fractional crystallization of similar basaltic trachyandesitic parental magma with minor assimilation of the upper crustal lithologies. 40 Ar-39 Ar ages from sanidine phenocrysts from both areas also confirm that trachytic volcanism in both regions developed nearly coevally in different tectonic blocks (~41-40 Ma). Generation of similar volcanism on the different tectonic blocks during the postcollisional stage was probably governed by a regional-scale delamination and/ or lithospheric removal-related tectonomagmatic processes.
Two isolated metamorphic accretionary complexes of Jurassic age, the Refahiye and Kurtlutepe metamorphic rocks, crop out as tectonic slices within the coeval suprasubduction-zone ophiolite at the southern margin of the Eastern Pontides (NE Turkey), close to the İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture. The Refahiye metamorphic rocks are made up of greenschist, marble, serpentinite, phyllite and minor garnet amphibolite, garnet micaschist and metachert. The whole unit was metamorphosed under garnet-amphibolite-facies conditions and strongly retrogressed during exhumation. The Kurtlutepe metamorphic rocks consist of subgreenschist-facies metavolcanics, metavolcaniclastics, marble, calc-phyllite, and minor serpentinite and metachert. Metabasites in the Refahiye metamorphic rocks are represented by four distinct geochemical affinities: (i) cumulate "flavor," (ii) alkaline oceanic island basalt (OIB), (iii) enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt (E-MORB) and (iv) tholeiitic island arc basalt (IAB). On the other hand, the Kurtlutepe metavolcanic rocks display only tholeiitic to calc-alkaline island arc geochemical affinities. The metabasic rocks with OIB affinities were interpreted as parts of the accreted oceanic islands, and those with E-MORB affinities as parts of accreted ridge segments close to oceanic islands and/or plume-distal mid-ocean ridges with a mantle previously metasomatized by plume components. The metabasic rocks with IAB affinities might have been derived from the overlying suprasubduction ophiolite and/or arc domain by a number of tectonic or sedimentary processes including tectonic slicing of accretionary complex and overlying fore-arc ophiolite, juxtaposition of the magmatic arc with subduction zone by strike slip faults, submarine gravity sliding and debris flows or subduction erosion. However, totally recrystallized nature of the metabasic rocks together with field relations does not allow any inference on the processes involved. The Kurtlutepe metavolcanic rocks might represent collided and accreted oceanic island arc with the subduction zone. Attempted subduction of an intraoceanic island arc may also explain the magmatic lull during Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous in the Eastern Pontides.
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