Fluvial stacking due to plate collision and uplift during the Early Pleistocene in Cyprus

Abstract

Southern Cyprus is situated within a mosaic terrane that has been fragmented between the northward drifting African and Arabian plates and the Eurasian plate. Enormous uplift of the earth mantle in the Tróodos Mountains is explained by two models. The subduction model explains subduction along the Cyprean arc to be the driving force for uplift whereas after the restraining bend model westward squeezing of Cyprus along strike-slip faulting is responsible for the enormous uplift at restraining bends. Since its emergence as an island in early Miocene times, landscape formation on Cyprus has been strongly controlled by this uplift. Until the Plio-Pleistocene, a strait belt separated the southern unroofed ophiolitic core region-the Tróodos Mountainsfrom the folded Kyrenia range to the north. This former sea basin, nowadays the Mesaoría Basin, is linked with the Tróodos Mountains by a dissected glacis with a thick cover of river deposits. The highest and oldest river deposits (Apalós Formation) were studied in the Vlokkariá hill southwest of Lefkosía. The 45.5 m thick Apalós Formation of Early Pleistocene age exhibits 24 sedimentary units (Fluviatile Series). Their magnetostratigraphical characters align with the Matuyama chron including the Olduvai and Jaramillo subchrons thus comprising about 1.15 Ma within the Early Pleistocene. This fluvial stack indicates a very flat and deeply lying river environment flowing from a slowly uplifting Tróodos hinterland. It happened during the end of Early Pleistocene when the enhanced Tróodos uplift started the dissection of the stacked river plain.

Timing of uplift of the Troodos Massif (Cyprus) constrained by sedimentary and magnetic polarity evidence

“…This unit forms the highest topography in the Mesaoria Basin. Recently, Schirmer et al (2010) published a magnetostratigraphy for the Apalos Formation at Vlokkariá hill. They identified a reverse-normal-reverse-normal polarity pattern which they correlated with the Matuyama chron and the Olduvai and Jaramillo subchrons.…”

“…This is consistent with deposition of the Apalos Formation during the Matuyama chron. The study of Schirmer et al (2010) was restricted to one site (Vlokkariá hill), whereas we provide data for the the Apalos Formation from two additional sites, at Deftera quarry and the new roadcut between Tseri and Nicosia (Lefkosia).…”

“…Corresponding uplift of the Kyrenia Range and its periphery increased the area of coastal carbonate sand genesis (Athalassa Member/Formation) in the northern part of the Mesaoria Basin. With continuing uplift, nonmarine deltaic facies accumulated (Apalos Formation), mainly in the southern part of the Mesaoria Basin (McCallum & Robertson 1995b;Weber et al 2006;Schirmer et al 2010). The Nicosia Formation is overlain by argillaceous and calcareous sediments (including caliche), which mark the emergence of the Mesaoria Basin, prior to the deposition of the non-marine deltaic clastic sediments of the Apalos Formation (McCallum & Robertson 1995a).…”

Quantitative dating of Pleistocene deposits of the Kyrenia Range, northern Cyprus: implications for timing, rates of uplift and driving mechanisms

“…The presence of non-marine, fluvial deposits (Apalos Formation) around the periphery of the Troodos Massif indicates that this area was above sea level by the Late Pliocene (McCallum & Robertson 1995a;Schirmer et al 2010;Kinnaird et al 2011;Weber et al 2011). Throughout the Mesaoria (Mesarya) Basin, the mudstone and marl facies of the Nicosia (Lefkosa) Formation pass transitionally upwards into bioclastic calcarenites of the Athalassa (Gürpınar) Formation.…”

From ocean depths to mountain tops: Uplift of the Troodos ophiolite (Cyprus) constrained by low‐temperature thermochronology and geomorphic analysis

“…Small and localized fan deltas also accumulated at the same time in the Pissouri basin [ Kinnaird et al ., ; Stow et al ., ]. These were subsequently followed by an early Pleistocene (2.14–1.77 Ma) transition to nonmarine, deltaic, clastic sediments of the Apalos Formation in the southern part of the Mesaoria basin [ Kinnaird et al ., ; Schirmer et al ., ]. Focused erosion of the main Troodos massif was suggested to continue into the Pleistocene based on radial deposition of coarse fluvial fans (Fanglomerates Group) around the massif [ McCallum and Robertson , ; Poole and Robertson , ; Robertson , ].…”