Elsevier

Tectonophysics

Volume 608, 26 November 2013, Pages 713-727
Tectonophysics

Superimposed basin formation during Neogene–Quaternary extensional tectonics in SW-Anatolia (Turkey): Insights from the kinematics of the Dinar Fault Zone

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2013.08.008Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The seismogenic DFZ has controlled the formation of superimposed basins in W Turkey.

  • DFZ was initially strike/oblique-slip transfer fault accompanying NE-trending basins.

  • Later reactivated as normal fault providing accommodation for NW-trending basin.

  • DFZ channeled fluids and magmas for hydrothermal circulation and volcanic eruptions.

  • DFZ accommodates extensional orogenic collapse and back-ark extensions respectively.

Abstract

In the extensional province of SW-Anatolia, the cross-cutting relationship between the NW- and NE-oriented Neogene and Quaternary basins is an ongoing debate in the understanding of the tectonic evolution of this area. In order to contribute to this issue, we carried out a structural and kinematic study along the seismogenic NW-trending Dinar Fault Zone (DFZ). This structure was initially controlled by the sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the NE-oriented Neogene Baklan, Acıgöl and Burdur basins and, later, by the NW-oriented Quaternary Dinar Basin.

On the basis of > 1000 structural and kinematic data, in conjunction with basin stratigraphy, the DFZ can be divided into three almost parallel and continuous bands, that are: (a) the Hangingwall where Quaternary sediments are deformed by normal faults with mechanical striations; (b) the Inner Zone, corresponding to the present Dinar fault scarp, where NW-trending normal faults with mechanical striations are dominant, and (c) the Outer Zone, located in the footwall of the structure comprising the area between the fault scarp and undeformed bedrock, where faults exhibit variable orientation and kinematics, from strike-slip to normal dip-slip. These kinematics are mainly indicated by calcite shear veins and superimposed mechanical striations, respectively. This suggests that the DFZ changed kinematics over time, i.e., the DFZ initiated as dominant dextral strike-slip to oblique-slip fault system and continued with a dominant normal movement. Therefore, we hypothesize that the NW-trending DFZ was initially a transfer zone during the late Miocene–Pliocene, coeval to the sedimentary and structural evolution of the NE-trending Baklan, Acigöl and Burdur basins. During the Quaternary the DFZ, representing an already weakened crustal sector, played the role of a normal fault system providing the accommodation space for the Quaternary Dinar Basin. Hydrothermal circulation and volcanism at NE-/NW-trending faults intersection implies structurally-driven conduits channeling fluids from depth to surface.

Introduction

The closure of the Neotethys Ocean in the Eastern Mediterranean gave rise to the Tauride Orogeny during Late Cretaceous to Eocene times, and built the Lycian Orogenic belt (i.e. Lycian Taurides) in SW Anatolia (Robertson and Dixon, 1984, Şengör and Yılmaz, 1981, Şengör et al., 1985). After a micro-continental collision, the Lycian Orogen was affected by extensional tectonics since the latest Oligocene (Bozkurt, 2001, Bozkurt, 2003, Yılmaz et al., 2000). The new deformational context derived from the favorable interplay between two different geodynamic processes (Fig. 1A): orogenic collapse and back-arc extension, the latter resulting from a combined effect of slab-pull along the Aegean–Cyprian trench system and the westward escape of the Anatolian microplate (Bozkurt and Mittwede, 2005), (Fig. 1A).

Although there is no general consensus on the age and number of extensional tectonic events in western Anatolia, most authors describe two distinct and superimposed extensional styles. The first one (latest Oligocene–middle Miocene) is characterized by exhumed and uplifted low-angle normal faults, with associated core complex structures and supradetachment basins. By contrast, the second extensional event is typified by high-angle normal faults, cross-cutting all previous structures and producing late Miocene–Quaternary tectonic depressions with different structural trends (Bozkurt, 2001, Bozkurt, 2003, Koçyiğit et al., 1999, Purvis and Robertson, 2004, ten Veen et al., 2009, Yılmaz et al., 2000). From late Miocene to Pliocene, a broad array of NE-trending tectonic depressions (e.g., Çameli, Eşen, Çal, Baklan, Acıgöl, and Burdur basins) (Fig. 1B) developed influencing the palaeogeographic and sedimentary evolution of the area (Alçiçek, 2007, Alçiçek and ten Veen, 2008, Alçiçek et al., 2005, ten Veen, 2004, ten Veen et al., 2009). During Quaternary, in addition to the NE-trending structural depressions, new NW-trending basins, partially superimposed to the previous ones, developed in response to the activation of the NW-trending normal faults (e.g., Dinar, Denizli, Gediz, Küçük Menderes and Büyük Menderes basins). Both the NE- and NW-trending fault systems are considered active today, as indicated by the location of earthquake epicenters (Ambraseys and Jackson, 1998, Angelier et al., 1981, Barka and Kandinsky-Cade, 1988), hydrothermal circulation, geomorphological features, and travertine deposition (Kele et al., 2011, Maddy et al., 2012, Wiersberg et al., 2011). The causes for the coexistence of differently oriented fault systems are related to the interaction between the progressive Anatolian plate escape, subsequent anti-clockwise rotation and back-arc extension (Fig. 1A) due to the African subduction beneath the Crete and Cyprus arcs (Agostini et al., 2010, Faccenna et al., 2013, Şengör et al., 1985, van Hinsbergen et al., 2010), (Fig. 1A).

In this framework and in order to explain the orthogonal relationships between the NE- and NW-trending faults, Şengör (1987) proposed a general model for SW-Anatolia where the NE-trending normal faults are interpreted as effects of differential extension in the hangingwall of the NW-trending normal faults system (Temiz et al.1997), the latter playing the role of ‘breakaway faults’. Contrastingly, several authors account for multiple rifting events as a consequence of variations in the regional stress field (Alçiçek et al., 2005, Boulton and Robertson, 2007, Glover and Robertson, 1998a, Gürboğa et al., 2013, Özkaymak et al., 2013, Price and Scott, 1994, Purvis and Robertson, 2004, ten Veen et al., 2009), possibly leading to biaxial extension (Verhaert et al., 2006, Kaymakçı, 2006, Alçiçek et al., 2006), during late Miocene–Quaternary. Furthermore, the few studies on kinematic analyses on late Miocene–Quaternary NE- and NW-trending faults indicate reactivation of fault planes according to movements from strike-slip to normal or vice-versa (Glover and Robertson, 1998b, van Noten et al., 2013). This evidence highlights how the NE- and NW-trending faults played different roles during their evolution and suggests the necessity to investigate the kinematics of the NW-trending faults, being considered the key-structures (i.e., the breakaway faults) in the framework of the Neogene extensional tectonics.

The study area is located in the Dinar zone (Fig. 1B), where the orthogonal relationships between the NE-trending faults, delimiting the Baklan, Acigöl, and Burdur basins, and the active NW-trending Dinar Fault Zone (DFZ) investigated by several authors (e.g. Altunel et al., 1999, Eyidoğan and Barka, 1996, Gürbüz et al., 2010, Koçyiğit, 1984, Koçyiğit and Deveci, 2007, Koral, 2000, Öncel et al., 1998, Pınar, 1998, Temiz et al., 1997 with references therein) who, although with differences, agree with the interpretation of the Dinar fault as a breakaway fault (Fig. 1).

This paper aims to contribute a greater understanding of the cross-cutting relationships between late Miocene–Pliocene and Quaternary basins of western Anatolia. To achieve this goal, we undertook a detailed structural and kinematic study in the Dinar area. The results indicate that the DFZ played the role of a transfer zone during the Neogene, and of a normal fault during the Quaternary, reasonably accommodating the regional uplift that has been taking place since Pliocene (Westaway et al., 2004).

Section snippets

Geological framework

The geological evolution of western Anatolia is characterized by crustal and lithospheric thickening as a result of convergence and collision between the Tauride and Sakarya terranes of Arabia and Eurasia, respectively, during the Alpine orogeny (Cretaceous–Oligocene). During this orogeny the intervening Lycian Ocean, a gulf of the wider Neotethys Ocean, and the Tauride terrane were subducted northwards (Michard et al., 1984, Okay et al., 2001, Robertson and Dixon, 1984, Şengör and Yılmaz, 1981

Stratigraphic outline of the basins

The NE-trending Baklan, Acigöl, and Burdur basins (Fig. 2) are characterized by NW-dipping master faults with basinal younging directions toward the SE (Price, 1989). The late Miocene–Pliocene synchronous terrestrial sedimentary evolution is typified by tripartite alluvial-fan to fluvial, and to lacustrine environments, indicating progressive deepening and final shrinking of the lacustrine environments (Fig. 3).

The Baklan Basin, about 60 km long and 15 km wide, resides on the Palaeozoic

The Dinar Fault Zone

The DFZ is a regional structure about 100 km long, and with a fault zone up to 8 km wide (Fig. 2) that strikes NW–SE and dips to the SW defining the eastern margin of the Quaternary Dinar Basin influencing the local drainage system (Fig. 4). The DFZ delimits the late Miocene–Pliocene Baklan, Acıgöl, and Burdur basins and cross-cuts the NE-trending faults bounding the three basins (Fig. 2, Fig. 5). For most of its length, the DFZ juxtaposes Quaternary sediments filling the structural depression

Discussion

The interpretation of the DFZ should take in account its regional extent and the kinematic information from the coeval NE-trending faults delimiting the surroundings basins. Verhaert et al. (2006) indicate that the southeastern fault zone delimiting the Burdur Basin is characterized by a damage zone revealing two main different kinematic regimes: calcite shear veins related to normal faulting are superposed by kinematic indicators associated with a later faulting event with dominant

Conclusions

The structural and kinematic study carried out along the DFZ allows us to reach the following conclusions: (a) the DFZ continues to SE and to NW, therefore it is not confined to the Dinar Basin area; (b) the DFZ played the role of a transfer zone during late Miocene–Pliocene, accompanying the sedimentary and structural evolution of the NE-trending basins; (c) during the Quaternary, in the framework of the regional uplift of SW-Turkey, the DFZ representing an already weakened crustal sector, was

Acknowledgments

We benefited from TUBITAK-105Y280. MCA received a grant TUBA-GEBIP (Outstanding Young Scientist Award by the Turkish Academy of Sciences). We are grateful to S. Boulton, R. Novellino, E. Kırman and M. Ciacci for their contributions. L. W. van den Hoek-Ostende and G. Sarac have preliminarily determined the micro-mammal fauna. Comments and suggestions from the editor (L. Jolivet) and two anonymous referees helped us to improve the original manuscript.

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