Palaeozoic-Recent geological development and uplift of the Amanos Mountains (S Turkey) in the critically located northwesternmost corner of the Arabian continent

Abstract

We have carried out a several-year-long study of the Amanos Mountains, on the basis of which we present new sedimentary and structural evidence, which we combine with existing data, to produce the first comprehensive synthesis in the regional geological setting. The ca. N-Strending Amanos Mountains are located at the northwesternmost edge of the Arabian plate, near the intersection of the African and Eurasian plates. Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments accumulated on the north-Gondwana margin during the Palaeozoic. Triassic rift-related sedimentation was followed by platform carbonate deposition during Jurassic-Cretaceous. Late Cretaceous was characterised by platform collapse and southward emplacement of melanges and a supra-subduction zone ophiolite. Latest Cretaceous transgressive shallow-water carbonates gave way to deeper-water deposits during Palaeocene-Eocene. Eocene southward compression, reflecting initial collision, resulted in open folding, reverse faulting and duplexing. Fluvial, lagoonal and shallow-marine carbonates accumulated during Late Oligocene(?)-Early Miocene, associated with basaltic magmatism. Intensifying collision during Mid-Miocene initiated a foreland basin that then infilled with deep-water siliciclastic gravity flows. Late Miocene-Early Pliocene compression created mountain-sized folds and thrusts, verging E in the north but SE in the south. The resulting surface uplift triggered deposition of huge alluvial outwash fans in the west. Smaller alluvial fans formed along both mountain flanks during the Pleistocene after major surface uplift ended. Pliocene-Pleistocene alluvium was tilted towards the mountain front in the west. Strike-slip/transtension along the East Anatolian Transform Fault and localised sub-horizontal Quaternary basaltic volcanism in the region reflect regional transtension during Late Pliocene-Pleistocene (<4 Ma).

U–Pb detrital zircon ages used to infer provenance and tectonic setting of Late Triassic–Miocene sandstones related to the Tethyan development of Cyprus

“…Occasional Turonian-Coniacian (86-94 Ma) zircon grains are present, with Th/U ratios (>0.1) and typical zoning structures of igneous rocks (Rubatto 2002;Corfu et al 2003;Teipel et al 2004). These sandstones contain abundant, well-mixed detritus that, taken together, includes (Boulton & Robertson 2007;Karaoğlan et al 2012Karaoğlan et al , 2013a, the Amanos ophiolite (Duman et al 2017) and the Koç ali ophiolite , which are located in southern Turkey or northernmost Syria (Fig. 2).…”

“…2). Miocene volcanics of the Amanos Mountain to the northeast are unlikely to have been a source because these are mainly basic to intermediate-composition lava flows rather than tuffs (Robertson et al 2006;Duman et al 2017) (Fig. 2).…”

“…The Taurides were affected by regional-scale southward thrusting during Early-Middle Eocene time, driven by suturing of the İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan ocean farther north (Şengör & Yılmaz 1981;Özgül 1984;Okay et al 2001;Mackintosh & Robertson 2013). In addition, the Arabian platform was also deformed to the northeast of Cyprus, notably in the Amanos Mountains (Duman et al 2017).…”

Pliocene–Pleistocene sedimentary and geomorphologic development of the Vasilikos river catchment, S Cyprus, in relation to uplift of the Troodos ophiolite and climate-related changes

“…The processes and timing of orogenic uplift in relation to clastic sedimentation and slope development are topics of fundamental geological importance (Blum & Törnqvist, 2000;Allen, 2008;Whittaker, 2012;Jamieson & Beaumont, 2013;D'Arcy & Whitaker, 2014;Jia et al 2015). The Eastern Mediterranean region is very well suited for such studies (Macklin et al 2002) because major uplift has taken place during the last 3 Ma, notably within and around Anatolia (Glover & Robertson, 1998;Maddy et al 2008;Seyrek et al 2008;Cosentino et al 2012;Schildgen et al 2012Schildgen et al , 2014Duman et al 2017;Fig. 1).…”

Human mobility at Tell Atchana (Alalakh) during the 2nd millennium BC: integration of isotopic and genomic evidence

“…The southwestern areas of the Amanus range, however, in the area of the Hatay Graben, are composed mainly of carbonates with 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values measured in the range of 0.7088-0.7090[126]. Further north in the Amanus range, the clastic and carbonate formations are generally older (dating from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras)[127] and can therefore be expected to yield higher Sr/86 Sr values compared to similar formations on the Arabian Platform to the south.A strontium isotopes pilot study was conducted by D. Meiggs[128] at Tell Atchana which focused mainly on archaeological faunal and modern environmental samples, although three human samples were also included. The modern environmental samples included both snail shells (six samples) and plants (six samples) collected from various locations around the valley, including one snail shell directly from Tell Atchana (sample AK01), and several of the unanalyzed shells collected during this project were used in the current study in order to compare the two sets of results (for further details, see S2 Text).…”