Cambrian-Eocene pre-rift, pulsed rift, passive margin and emplacement processes along the northern margin of the Southern Neotethys:evidence from the Antalya Complex in the Alanya Window (S Turkey)

• Published in: Journal of Asian Earth Sciences: X
• Main Authors: Robertson, Alastair H.F., Parlak, Osman, Kinnaird, Tim C., Taslı, Kemal, Dumitrica, Paulian
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Antalya Complex; Alanya Window; Rifting; E Mediterranean; S Turkey; S Neotethys; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/cambrianeocene-prerift-pulsed-rift-passive-margin-and-emplacement-processes-along-the-northern-margin-of-the-southern-neotethys(03ff7701-89be-42c8-a4a7-01f9ca5beaa0).html; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaesx.2020.100026; https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/19880/1/Robertson_2020_JAESX_Cambrian_Eocene_CC.pdf

Sedimentary rocks in the Alanya Window document pulsed Permian-Triassic rifting in a proximal basin setting, adjacent to the Tauride continental unit (Geyik Dağ). Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician clastic sediments accumulated along the north margin of Gondwana on a variable shallow-marine shelf. Above an unconformity related to rift-shoulder uplift, Late Permian facies document shallow-marine to evaporitic environments during regional tectonic subsidence (first main rift pulse). Above a second unconformity (both extension and sea-level controlled), Early Triassic carbonates and mudrocks accumulated on an unstable, gently subsiding shelf. Mudrocks, sandstones and lithoclastic debris-flows, derived from the underlying succession, accumulated during the Middle Triassic (Anisian-early Ladinian), implying strong tectonic subsidence and flank uplift (second main rift pulse). Radiolarian mudstones accumulated during late Middle Triassic-early Late Triassic in a well-oxidised, organically productive, but relatively quiescent, deep-water basin above the carbonate compensation depth (CCD). Thick (100s m) lithoclastic sandstone turbidites (commonly plant-rich) and localised debris-flows accumulated during the Late Triassic (Carnian), together with detached blocks of underlying lithologies (third main rift pulse, with regional uplift). Alkaline basaltic sills were intruded locally. Final continental break-up to create the Southern Neotethys took place regionally during the Late Triassic (Carnian). Latest Triassic-Late Cretaceous deposition records passive margin subsidence. Variable low-grade metamorphism and two-stage tectonic emplacement (southwards(?) then northwards) took place during latest Cretaceous and Eocene, respectively. The tectonic-sedimentary development of the Antalya Complex provides insights into rift/continental break-up processes that differ from the recently well-documented Alpine-North Atlantic region.