Tectonic setting and evolution of the sivas basin, central anatolia, turkey

Abstract

The Sivas Basin is one of several Central Anatolian basins. It developed mainly after the closure of the northern branch of Neotethys. Its location between the Kirsehir Massif and the Taurides implies that it should not be confused with the Inner Tauride ocean located south of the Eastern Taurides. The basement of the Sivas Basin consists of ophiolitic nappes and melanges that were thrust toward the margins of the continental blocks present in this area—the Pontide belt to the north and the Anatolide-Tauride platform to the south. The basin was initiated by tectonic subsidence at the end of the Cretaceous, and it can be compared to a foreland basin during Paleocene and early to middle Eocene time. It was emergent during late Eocene and Oligocene time, although it continued to subside. A transgression in some parts of the basin occurred during the Oligocene and early Miocene (maximum flooding). During the Pliocene, it was affected by regional compression directed toward the NNW, which resulted from convergence of the Arabian and Eurasian plates. This basin may have developed as an intracontinental basin within the Tauride platform and probably never had an oceanic basement. As a result of this work, the general paleogeographic organization of Central Anatolia and Northern Tethys during the Mesozoic should to be revised. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.