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New results on the lithostratigraphy of the Kazdağ Massif in northwest Turkey

2004; Volume: 13; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

1303-619X

Mehmet Emin Duru, Şükrü Pehlivan, Yalçin Şentürk,

earthquake and tectonic studies

The high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Kazdag mountain range, termed the Kazdag Group, crop out as a tectonic window under the Karakaya Complex in northwestern Turkey. The Kazdag Group forms a doubly plunging, NE-SW-trending anticliniorium. During our regional geological mapping of the Kazdag Group, we have subdivided the metamorphic rocks into four formations. The lowermost unit is the Findikli formation, which comprises amphibole-gneiss, marble and minor amphibolite. It crops out mainly in the southern part of the Kazdag Massif. The marble horizons within the Findikli formation have been named the Altinoluk and Babadag marble members. The overlying unit, comprising metadunite and orthoamphibolite, is the Tozlu formation, which in turn is overlain by the Sarikiz marble. The uppermost unit, which crops out in the northern parts of Kazdag Massif, is the Sutuven formation that comprises sillimanite-gneiss, migmatite and minor marble, amphibolite and granitic gneiss. All these formations underwent a common metamorphism and share a mutual foliation. The metamorphic rocks of the Kazdag Group are in tectonic contact with the surrounding Permian to Miocene rocks and are intruded by the Oligo-Miocene granodiorites. The oldest rocks, which stratigraphically overlie the Kazdag Group, are Pliocene and younger in age. There is no data on the chronostratigraphy of the Kazdag Group, but the isotopic age of the latest metamorphism affecting the Kazdag Group is Oligo-Miocene. The Kazdag Group has attained its present tectonic position as a metamorphic core complex by domal uplift through post-Miocene detachment faults.