Karsli, Orhan; Sengün, Firat; Dokuz, Abdurrahman; Aydin, Faruk; Kandemir, Raif; Kristoffersen, Magnus; Santos, Jose Francisco; Hofmann, Mandy; Duygu, Levent

Cadomian realms have recently received much attention in the Alpine-Mediterranean orogenic belts, with discontinuous outcrops extending from the Alps to the Istanbul Zone, Menderes Massif, Taurides in Turkey and Iran as well. However, they have not been identified in the Sakarya Zone, northern Turkey to date. Here, we present, for the first time, zircon U-Pb geochronology, zircon Hf-isotopes and trace elements as well as whole-rock geochemistry and Nd-isotopes from the Karamese metagranitoid in the Yusufeli (Artvin) area, NE Turkey. The zircon U-Pb age data demonstrate that the Karamese metagranitoid intruded into the Precambrian basement units in the Early Cambrian (ca. 534-530 Ma). Zircon overgrowths in the Karamese metagranitoid interpreted as a result of metamorphic overprint yielded ages of 328 Ma. This age indicates that the Sakarya Zone experienced the Variscan metamorphic events at 328 Ma. The Early Cambrian metagranitoid shows that some rocks in the basement of the Sakarya Zone date back to Precambrian in age. The Karamese metagranitoid is an S-type granite, with high modal content of muscovite (similar to 10%). The samples show highly peraluminous [A/CNK = molar Al2O3/(CaO + K2O + Na2O) = 1.34-1.58] and medium-K calc-alkaline geochemical affinities. The Karamese metagranitoid displays low REE concentrations and a slight positive Eu anomaly and show slightly light REEs and LILEs enrichments, and HFSEs depletions. The samples have negative epsilon(Nd)(t) of -4.76 to -2.90 and epsilon(Hf) (t) of -4.75 to -1.08 values. These geochemical-isotopic characteristics reveal that the Karamase metagranitoid originated through fluid-absent muscovite dehydration melting of heterogeneous metasedimentary source rocks (mostly greywacke), with a minor input of juvenile mafic melt. We argue that the Early Paleozoic metagranitoids along the eastern Sakarya Zone is an expression of crustal thinning in the Cadomian orogenic belt in northern Gondwana, with the tectonic turnover from convergent margin to crustal extension possibly induced by break-off of Tornquist oceanic lithosphere which is a branch of Iapetus Ocean during Early Cambrian.

Karsli, Orhan; İlhan, Mehdi; Kandemir, Raif; Dokuz, Abdurrahman; Aydin, Faruk; Uysal, İbrahim; Duygu, Levent

Late Mesozoic evolution of the Neotethys Ocean is critical and still remains unclear along the entire Sakarya Zone (SZ), Turkey, because previous interpretations of the Middle to Late Jurassic rifting of the SZ have not been consensually accepted. We identified, for the first time, the Early Cretaceous dykes intruded into the Late Jurassic and Late Carboniferous bodies in the Çamlıkaya (Erzurum) area in the SZ. Here, we present a data set of new field observations, 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, whole-rock geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopes to find out the tectonic setting of previously undated basic to intermediate igneous rocks. 40Ar/39Ar technique on the groundmass separations yielded the plateau ages of 128.78 ± 1.02 to 122.89 ± 0.82 Ma. The investigated dykes are compositionally divided into two sub-groups: calc-alkaline lamprophyres (CAL) and high-Nb alkaline basalts (HNB). They show enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (LILE: e.g., Rb, Ba, K) and depletion in high field strength elements (HFSE: Nb and Ti) as well as moderate fractionation of light rare earth elements relative to heavy rare earth elements. The HNB have high Mg# (47–66), and relatively unradiogenic Sr [87Sr/86Sr(t) = 0.70385 to 0.70510] and Nd [εNd(t) = +0.5 to +5.3] isotopic composition, whereas the CAL possess moderate to high Mg# (32–72), and relatively high Sr [87Sr/86Sr(t) = 0.70586 to 0.71379] and Nd [εNd(t) = +1.5 to −9.9] isotopic composition. Early Cretaceous high-angle subduction triggered upwelling of the asthenosphere at 126 Ma, which likely generated a heat anomaly. This anomaly has probably induced melting of the oceanic slab and the metasomatized mantle to form the CAL and HNB. The HNB were generated by low degrees of melting of mantle domain that was previously reacted by oceanic slab-related adakitic melts at the depths of the garnet stability field (≥70 km). However, the CAL were probably formed at shallower mantle levels within the garnet-amphibole field by a relatively higher degree of melting of the mantle, also modified by subducted slab sediments. A new field, age, and petrochemical data from the Early Cretaceous dykes, combined with the presence of Aptian deep-water sediments to the north and the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous platform carbonates deposited in the passive margin setting along the entire SZ, imply the initiation of active-margin magmatism in the SZ. We suggest that the coexistence of the Early Cretaceous CAL and HNB points to the formation of an Andean-type active margin above a north-dipping Neotethyan oceanic slab. Their emplacement ages are associated with the inception of the magmatic arc structure and refer to a significant geodynamic turnover from passive-margin to active-margin tectonics along the SZ.