Late Permian Foraminiferal Biofacies Belts in Turkey: Palaeogeographic and Tectonic Implications

Abstract

Upper Permian marine carbonates are distinguished in two contrasting biofacies belts in Turkey. The Southern Biofacies Belt, represented by low-energy inner platform deposits of the Tauride Belt and the Arabian Platform, is rich in algae and smaller foraminifera but poor in fusulines. The Kubergandian and Murgabian stages are missing, although the rest of the Upper Permian consists of monotonous, shallow-marine carbonate deposits. The extremely tectonised and fragmented Northern Biofacies Belt includes the Upper Permian of the Karakaya Orogen and outer platform or platform margin deposits of the Tauride Belt. These deposits are rich in parachomata-bearing fusulines comprising Cancellina, Verbeekina, Afghanella, Sumatrina, Neoschwagerina and Yabeina. The reconstructed biostratigraphic scheme indicates that all Upper Permian stages (Kubergandian-Dorashamian) are present.The lateral continuity of the two biofacies belts is detected by the presence of tongues of he Northern Biofacies Belt pinching out in the Southern Biofacies Belt. Upper Permian blocks in the Karakaya Orogen display similar palaeontologic and biofacies characteristics, with the outer platform or platform margin deposits of the Taurides constituting the northernmost extension of the carbonate platform. This platform was probably facing a basin or a trough to the north. The lack of any transgressive Upper Permian deposits resting unconformably on the pre-Permian basement of the Sakarya Continent strongly suggests that such a basin was located between the Late Permian carbonate platform in the south and the basement rocks of the future Sakarya Continent in the north.

Early Triassic potassic volcanism in the Afyon Zone of the Anatolides/Turkey: implications for the rifting of the Neo-Tethys

“…The Taurides extend from western to eastern Anatolia more than 1,000 km. It is accepted that they were deposited on the northern passive continental margin of the Gondwana and remained as a single platform, minimum 1,000 km in width, until the end of Scythian (Ö zgül 1984Altıner et al 2000). As a consequence of the Triassic opening (Göncüoglu et al 2003;Okay et al 2006) and Cretaceous-Early Tertiary closure (Okay et al 2001;Ş engör, and Yılmaz 1981) histories of the northern and southern branches of the NeoTethys, this platform was evolved to Taurides and their metamorphic equivalents, Anatolides.…”

“…They are characterized by continuous clastic and carbonate depositions with local breaks in sedimentation from Infracambrian/Cambrian to Early Permian (Demirtaşlı 1983). The basin placed on the northern margin of the Gondwana was tectonically disturbed and deep erosion occurred during pre-late Permian (Kubergandian) time (Ö zgül 1984(Ö zgül , 1997(Ö zgül , Altıner 1983Altıner et al 2000). The Late Permian regional transgression is of a special importance in the Paleozoic sequence (Altıner 1983;Ö zgül 1997 (Okay et al 1996;Dean et al 1997;Okay and Tüysüz 1999;Görür et al 1997), which are placed to the southward-facing passive continental margin of Laurasia points to the existence of large non-depositional areas during the Late Permian time on the northern margin of the PaleoTethys.…”

“…Upper Permian (Kubergandian to Dorashamian) units are characterized by the platform-type homogenous thick carbonates. They crop out over large areas and cover unconformably different lithologies of almost all units of the Taurides (Ö zgül 1984;Altıner et al 2000). Whereas, the clear absence of such carbonates in the northern tectonic zones of Turkey, Sakarya Zone, and İstanbul Zone…”

The Ankara Mélange: an indicator of Tethyan evolution of Anatolia

“…10A). Before rifting of the Neotethys, the northern part of Gondwana should have been represented by a single carbonate platform, because the THE ANKARA MÉLANGE -AN INDICATOR OF TETHYAN EVOLUTION OF ANATOLIA GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA, 2016, 67, 4, 403 -414 GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA, 2016, 67, 4, 403 -414 Permian carbonate blocks in the Karakaya Formation have similar palaeontological and biofacies characteristics as various Upper Permian platform margin deposits of the Taurides (Altıner et al 2000).…”

Recognition of southern Gondwanan palynomorphs at Gondwana's northern margin—and biostratigraphic correlation of Permian strata from SE Turkey and Australia

“…Map A is modified from Yilmaz (1993). Maps in B are modified from Lindström and McLoughlin (2007), Altiner et al (2000), and Ziegler et al (1997;global overview). This figure is available in colour online at www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/gj confirmed the earlier palaeobotanical statements of Wagner (1959Wagner ( , 1962, namely that mixed floras of Cathaysian and Gondwanan affinity occur in the Hazro area.…”