Bivergent extension in orogenic belts: The Menderes massif (southwestern Turkey)

Kinematic reconstructions and magmatic evolution illuminating crustal and mantle dynamics of the eastern Mediterranean region since the late Cretaceous

“…In the southern Menderes massif, coeval top-to-the S extensional shear has also been recognized and volcanoclastic rocks were unconformably deposited in the early Miocene (figure 4) [Bozkurt and Satır, 2000;Gessner et al, 2001aGessner et al, , 2001b. From the middle Miocene to the late Miocene-Pliocene, exhumation was localized in the central Menderes massif along the top-to-the NE Alaşehir and the top-to-the S Büyük ductile-brittle detachments (figure 7) [Hetzel et al, 1995b;Gessner et al, 2001b;Lips et al, 2001;Thomson & Ring, 2006;van Hinsbergen et al, 2010b]. Additional syn-tectonic sedimentary basins were emplaced in the hanging walls of these structures [Sen and Seyitoglu, 2009].…”

“…Surface exposure of the metamorphic rocks then occurred in the late Miocene (figure 11) [Sánchez-Gómez et al, 2002]. Further east, displacement along the Simav detachment continued until ~8 Ma [Bozkurt et al, 2011] and was contemporaneous with the exhumation of the central part of the Menderes massif below the top-to-the NE Alaşehir and the top-to-the S Büyük detachments, which occurred up to the end of the Miocene (figures 10 and 11) [Hetzel et al, 1995a[Hetzel et al, , 1995b; M A N U S C R I P T…”

Exhumation with a twist: Paleomagnetic constraints on the evolution of the Menderes metamorphic core complex, western Turkey

“…For the purpose of this paper, however, it is most important to note that the deformation associated with MMM is widespread and leads to a regionally very consistent structural grain defined by north to northeast trending stretching lineations with a persistent top-to-thenorth and in the south locally top-to-the-south sense of shear [Sengör and Yilmaz, 1981;Akkök, 1983;Sengör et al, 1984;Verge, 1993;Hetzel et al, 1998;Bozkurt and Park, 1999;Ring et al, 1999a;Lips et al, 2001;Whitney and Bozkurt, 2002] (Figure 3). The MMM is postdated by greenschist facies metamorphism associated with a series of extensional detachments that exhumed the Menderes Massif since the late Oligocene [Seyitoglu et al, 1992;Verge, 1993;Bozkurt and Park, 1994, 1997a, 1997bHetzel et al, 1995aHetzel et al, , 1995bHetzel et al, , 1998Bozkurt and Satir, 2000;Bozkurt, 2001b;Bozkurt and Oberhänsli, 2001;Gessner et al, 2001aGessner et al, , 2001bGökten et al, 2001;Isik and Tekeli, 2001;Lips et al, 2001;Isik et al, 2003Isik et al, , 2004Bozkurt and Mittwede, 2005]. This occurred in two stages: geochronologic evidence suggests that the northern and southern Menderes massifs (NMM and SMM) exhumed between ∼25 and ∼15 Ma, followed by the exhumation of the central Menderes Massif (CMM) since ∼15 Ma [Gessner et al, 2001b;Ring et al, 2003a].…”

The geodynamics of the Aegean and Anatolia: introduction

“…The papers in this book shed some light on various aspects of this extensional tectonics of the Aegean region, but there are still many contentious issues concerning the origin, timing and evolution of Neogene crustal extension in this broad zone of convergence between Africa and Eurasia (see Taymaz The Aegean region is also characterized by widespread post-collisional magmatism expressed by extensive volcanic sequences, hypabyssal intrusions and granitoid bodies (Fytikas et al 1976(Fytikas et al , 1984Altherr et al 1982;Bingöl et al 1982;Innocenti et al 1984Innocenti et al , 2005Güleç 1991;Seyitoǧlu et al 1992Seyitoǧlu et al , 1997Hetzel et al 1995a This introduction is aimed at presenting a synoptic overview of the regional geology and geophysics based on the existing literature, as well as outlining the results of recent literature on existing controversies about the tectonic and geodynamic evolution of the Aegean region. The geology of this region has been reviewed in a series of recent special publications, providing in-depth coverage of the extant data and models, and readers are referred to these publications for additional information (Robinson 1997;Gourgaud 1998;Bozkurt & Rowbotham 1999a, b;Durand et al 1999;Bozkurt et al 2000;Bozkurt & Mittwede 2001Aksu et al 2002Aksu et al , 2005 …”