Insights into biaxial extensional tectonics:: an example from the Sandikli Graben, West Anatolia, Turkey

West Anatolia, together with the Aegean Sea and the easternmost part of Europe, is one of the best examples of continental extensional tectonics. It is a complex area bounded by the Aegean-Cyprus Arc to the south and the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) to the north. Within this complex and enigmatic framework, the Sandikli Graben (10 km wide, 30 km long) has formed at the eastern continuation of the Western Anatolian extensional province at the north-northwestward edge of the Isparta Angle. Recent studies have suggested that the horst-graben structures in West Anatolia formed in two distinct extensional phases. According to this model the first phase of extension commenced in the Early-Middle Miocene and the last, which is accepted as the onset of neotectonic regime, in Early Pliocene. However, it is controversial whether two-phase extension was separated by a short period of erosion or compression during Late Miocene-Early Pliocene. Both field observations and kinematic analysis imply that the Sandikli Graben has existed since the Late Pliocene, with biaxial extension on its margins which does not necessarily indicate rotation of regional stress distribution in time. Although the graben formed later in the neotectonic period, the commencement of extension in the area could be Early Pliocene (c. 5 Ma) following a severe but short time of erosion at the end of Late Miocene. The onset of the extensional regime might be due to the initiation of westward motion of Anatolian Platelet along the NAFZ that could be triggered by the higher rate of subduction at the east Aegean-Cyprus Arc in the south of the Aegean Sea. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.