The tauride ophiolites of Anatolia (Turkey): A review

Abstract

The Tauride ophiolites lie on the northern and southern flanks of an E-W-trending Tauride carbonate platform. They mainly consist of three tectonic units namely in ascending order, ophiolitic mélange, sub-ophiolitic metamorphic sole and oceanic lithospheric remnants. They were generated above intra-oceanic subduction zones and emplaced over the Tauride carbonate platform from different Neotethyan oceanic basins in the Late Cretaceous. Tauride ophiolites from west to east are described and reviewed. All are underlain by well-preserved dynamothermal metamorphic soles of varied structural thicknesses up to 500 m that have a constant structural position between ophiolitic mélange below and harzburgitic mantle tectonites above and display typical inverted metamorphic sequences from amphibolite facies above to greenschist facies below. The metamorphic soles are shown to have evolved during the initiation of subduction and emplacement processes. In the Pozantı-Karsantı area the contact between the metamorphic sole and the overlying serpentinized harzburgites is characterized by a 1.5-2-m-thick zone of sheared serpentinized harzburgitic mantle intercalated with amphibolites and cut by thick mafic dykes (7-8 m) which postdate intraoceanic metamorphism and high-temperature ductile deformation. This contact is interpreted as an intra-oceanic decoupling surface along which volcanics from the upper levels of the down-going plate were metamorphosed to amphibolite facies and accreted to the base of the hanging wall plate. The metamorphic soles and overlying ophiolitic rocks were intruded by numerous isolated post-metamorphic diabase dykes filled by island arc tholeiitic magma. Subduction initiation and roll-back processes best explain the structural and petrological relationships of Late Cretaceous ophiolite genesis, metamorphic sole formation and subsequent dyke emplacement of the Tauride ophiolites. KEY WORDS: ophiolite, metamorphic sole, dyke emplacement, roll-back, subduction initiation. INTRODUCTIONThe Tauride orogenic belts of Turkey are interpreted as representing a continental fragment that rifted from Gondwana (North Africa) during the Triassic, followed by reamalgamation and continental collision during the OligoMiocene (Karaoğlan et al., 2016) or Miocene (Okay et al., 2010). The Taurides are traditionally divided into three contiguous parts; the western, central and eastern Taurides (Özgül, 1976).Ophiolites along the Tauride belt start with the Lycian nappes to the west and end with the Divriği ophiolite to the east (Fig. 1). These ophiolites (the Lycian nappes, Antalya, Beyşehir-Hoyran nappes, Mersin, Alihoca, Pozantı-Karsantı, Pınarbaşı and Divriği) are situated either on the northern or on the southern flank of an approximately E-W trending Tauride carbonate platform axis (Juteau, 1980 (Juteau, 1980). The plutonic sections and the metamorphic soles of the Tauride ophiolites are cut by numerous isolated microgabbro-diabase and minor pyroxenite dykes at different structural levels (Robertson et al

Geochemical characteristics of ophiolitic rocks from the southern margin of the Sivas basin and their implications for the Inner Tauride Ocean, Central-Eastern Turkey

“…The petrology of isolated dykes along the Tauride belt suggests that they originated from depleted or enriched mantle sources as a result of either (a) ridge-subduction (Lytwyn & Casey, 1995;Polat et al, 1996), or (b) slab break-off (Çelik, 2007;Parlak et al, 2006), or (c) multiple intra-oceanic thrusting and emplacement in small oceanic basins (Çelik, 2007;Çelik & Chiaradia, 2008) and (d) asymmetrical ridge collapse (Dilek et al, 1999). Parlak (2016) suggested that subduction initiation and roll-back processes (Stern & Bloomer, 1992) could best explain the structural and petrological relationships of the ophiolite genesis, metamorphic sole formation and subsequent dyke emplacement along the Tauride mountain range. During subduction initiation, mainly OIB-like alkaline and MORB-type tholeiitic basalts were accreted to the base of the overriding oceanic plate and metamorphosed under amphibolite facies conditions between about 96-90 Ma ago, based on 40 Ar ages.…”

Reconstructing Plate Boundaries in the Jurassic Neo‐Tethys From the East and West Vardar Ophiolites (Greece and Serbia)

“…Crustal ages are scattered but cluster around 185–180 Ma (Dilek & Thy, ; Robertson et al, ; Uysal et al, ; Topuz et al, ), and associated metamorphic soles have slightly younger 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages of 177.1 ± 1.0 and 166.9 ± 1.1 Ma (Çelik et al, , ; Çörtük et al, ). South of the Izmir‐Ankara suture, Upper Cretaceous ophiolites occur scattered above the Anatolide‐Tauride belt (e.g., Maffione et al, ; Parlak, ; Robertson, ; Robertson et al, ) (Figure ). No Jurassic ophiolites have been found underlying the Cretaceous ophiolites in Turkey and were thus not obducted onto Greater Adria prior to the Cretaceous.…”

Postmagmatic Tectonic Evolution of the Outer Izu‐Bonin Forearc Revealed by Sediment Basin Structure and Vein Microstructure Analysis: Implications for a 15 Ma Hiatus Between Pacific Plate Subduction Initiation and Forearc Extension

“…The overall IBM forearc architecture as inferred from this study matches distinct structural features in ophiolites worldwide, especially those formed in a SSZ setting. SSZ ophiolites include the Tethyan ophiolites of the Alpine-Mediterranean region (Beccaluva et al, 2004;Parlak, 2016;Robertson et al, 2002), the Cordilleran and western Pacific ophiolite complexes (Hopson et al, 2008;Robertson, 1989;Shervais et al, 2004;Snow & Shervais, 2015), and the Ordovician Appalachian-Caledonian ophiolites (e.g., Bedard et al, 1998;Cawood & Suhr, 1992;Dewey & Casey, 2011;Jenner et al, 1991).…”