Evidence for two episodes of volcanism in the Bigadic borate basin and tectonic implications for western Turkey

Western Turkey has been dominated by N-S extension since the Early Miocene. The timing and cause of this N-S extension and related basin formation have been the subject of much debate, but new data from the Bigadic borate basin provide insights that may solve this controversy. The basin is located in the Bornova Flysch Zone, which is thought to have formed as a major NE-trending transform zone during Late Cretaceous-Palaeocene collisional Tethyan orogenesis and later reactivated as a transfer zone of weakness, and which separates two orogenic domains having different structural evolutions. Volcanism in the Bigadic area is characterized by two rock units that are separated by an angular unconformity. These are: (1) the Kocaiskan volcanites that gives K/Ar ages of 23 Ma, and (2) the Bigadic volcano-sedimentary succession that yields ages of 20.6 to 17.8 Ma. Both units are unconformably overlain by Upper Miocene-Pliocene continental deposits. The Kocaiskan volcanites are related to the first episode of volcanic activity and comprise thick volcanogenic sedimentary rocks derived from subaerial andesitic intrusions, domes, lava flows and pyroclastic rocks. The second episode of volcanic activity, represented by basaltic to rhyolitic lavas and pyroclastic rocks, accompanied lacustrine-evaporitic sedimentation. Dacitic to rhyolitic volcanic rocks, called the Sindirgi volcanites, comprise NE-trending intrusions producing lava flows, ignimbrites, ash-fall deposits and associated volcanogenic sedimentary rocks. Other NE-trending olivine basaltic (Golcuk basalt) and trachyandesitic (Kayirlar volcanites) intrusions and lava flows were synchronously emplaced into the lacustrine sediments. The intrusions typically display peperitic rocks along their contacts with the sedimentary rocks. It is important to note that the Golcuk basalt described here is the first recorded Early Miocene alkali basalt in western Turkey. The oldest volcanic episode occurred in the NE-trending zone when the region was still experiencing N-S compression. The angular unconformity between the two volcanic episodes marks an abrupt transition from N-S collision-related convergence to N-S extension related to retreat of the Aegean subduction zone to the south along an extensional detachment. Thrust faults with top-to-the-north sense of shear and a series of anticlines and synclines with subvertical NE-striking axial planes observed in the Bigadic volcano-sedimentary succession suggest that NW-SE compression was reactivated following sedimentation. Geochemical data from the Bigadic area also support the validity of the extensional regime, which was characterized by a bimodal volcanism related to extrusion of coeval alkaline and calc-alkaline volcanic rocks during the second volcanic episode. The formation of alkaline volcanic rocks dated as 19.7 +/- 0.4 Ma can be related directly to the onset of the N-S extensional regime in western Turkey. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.