Late Ordovician glaciation in southern Turkey

• Published in: Terra Nova
• Main Authors: Monod, Olivier, Kozlu, H., Ghienne, J.-F., T. Dean, W., Günay, Y., Le Hérissé, Alain, Paris, Florentin, Robardet, M.
• Other Authors: Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans (ISTO), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), TPAO, TPAO, Exploration Group, Ecole et Observatoire des sciences de la terre (EOST), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Louis Pasteur - Strasbourg I-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Geology, National Museum, Domaines Océaniques (LDO), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers-Institut d'écologie et environnement-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géosciences Rennes (GR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre Armoricain de Recherches en Environnement-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2003
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.AG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Applied geology; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/hal-00069434; https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3121.2003.00495.x

We present a new survey of several Palaeozoic sections in both the Taurus range and the Border Folds that documents typical glacial features including a glacial pavement and striated dropstones (Halevikdere Formation) and demonstrates the former presence of an ice sheet in southern and south-eastern Turkey. Evidence for the late Ashgill (Hirnantian) age of this episode is provided by macro- and microfossils found within the glacial formation. The extension of ice-related deposits into the northernmost part of the Arabian Platform (Mardin region) implies a much wider distribution of the Ordovician ice sheet than was previously believed, and strongly suggests that southern Turkey lay close to Egypt during the Lower Palaeozoic.