Tectonics of the Southeast Anatolian Orogenic Belt

Abstract

The tectonic development of the Southeast Anatolian Orogenic Belt (SAOB) is closely related to the demise of the NeoTethys Ocean, which was located between the Arabian and Eurasian plates from the late Cretaceous to Late Miocene. The ocean contained several continental slivers and intra-oceanic magmatic arcs. The continental slivers represent narrow tectonic belts rifted off and drifted away from the Arabian Plate while the NeoTethyan Ocean and the back-arc basins were opened. Later they collided with one another during the branches of the oceans were eliminated. In these periods, the continental slivers were involved in the subduction zone and turned into metamorphic massifs. During the Late Cretaceous, the first collision occurred when an accretionary complex was thrust over the Arabian Plate's leading edge. Despite the collision, the ocean survived in the North and Its northward subduction generated a new intra oceanic arc, which collided later with the northerly located continental slivers. In this period, the metamorphic massifs and the intra-oceanic arc front migrated to the South. The new magmatic arc collided with the southerly transported nappe package during the Late Eocene. The amalgamated nappe pile eventually obducted onto the Arabian Plate during the Late Miocene. The collision produced escape structures during the Neotectonic period.

Low-Temperature Thermochronology Records the Convergence between the Anatolide–Tauride Block and the Arabian Platform along the Southeast Anatolian Orogenic Belt

“…The Bitlis, Pütürge, and Engizek metamorphics (BPE) formed the lower metamorphic units. They were located between the Arabian platform to the south and the Anatolide-Tauride platform to the north during the late Cretaceous [4,11,38].…”

“…In this picture, three different major tectonic units are defined for the SAOB, namely the Malatya-Keban-Binbo ga metamorphics (MKB) to the north, the Bitlis-Pütürge-Engizek (BPE) metamorphics in the middle, and the Arabian platform to the south, which once formed the northern margin of the Gondwana (Figure 1) [4,[11][12][13]. The Berit Ocean was located in the north, separating the MKB and BTE, whereas the southern branch of the Neotethyan Ocean was located in the south, separating the Arabian platform and the BTE.…”

Preliminary Findings of Fe-Skarn Mineralization in Southeast Anatolian Orogenic Belt (Pertek, Tunceli)

“…The Anatolian orogeny formed in response to the subduction of the Paleo-Tethys and Neo-Tethys oceanic crusts [5]. The Southeastern Anatolian Orogenic Belt (SAOB) is the southernmost segment of the Anatolian orogeny that extends eastward to the Zagros Mountains of Iran [5].…”