Late Cretaceous-Eocene Geological Evolution of the Pontides Based on New Stratigraphic and Palaeontologic Data Between the Black Sea Coast and Bursa (NW Turkey)

Abstract

The Late Cretaceous-Eocene geological evolution of northwest Turkey between the Black Sea and Bursa was studied through detailed biostratigraphic characterization of eleven stratigraphic sections. The Upper Cretaceous sequence in the region starts with a major marine transgression and lies unconformably on a basement of Palaeozoic and Triassic rocks in the north (Istanbul-type basement) and on metamorphic rocks and Jurassic sedimentary rocks in the south (Sakarya-type basement). Four megasequences have been differentiated in the Late Cretaceous-Eocene interval. The first one, of Turonian to Late Campanian age, is represented by volcanic and volcanoclastic rocks in the north along the Black Sea coast, and by siliciclastic turbidites and intercalated calcarenites in the south, corresponding to magmatic arc basin and fore-arc basin, respectively. A major ridge along the present southern margin of the Kocaeli Peninsula separated these two realms. In the Late Campanian, volcanism and clastic sedimentation gave way to the widespread deposition of the pelagic limestone and marl of the Akveren Formation; only in the extreme south near Bursa are the pelagic micrites of the Akveren Formation replaced by calciturbidites and siliciclastic turbidites. The age of the Akveren Formation ranges from Late Campanian to Late Palaeocene. The third megasequence is a thick flysch wedge of Early Eocene age, which extends from north of Bursa to the Black Sea coast. The base of the Lower Eocene flysch is marked by a major unconformity. The flysch wedge marks the collision between the Pontides and the Anatolide-Tauride Block. The fourth megasequence is a thick volcanic and volcaniclastic series of late Early to Middle Eocene age, which extends from north of Bursa to the northern margin of the Armutlu Peninsula. The coherent Upper Cretaceous-Eocene stratigraphy, the laterally traceable facies belts, absence of ophiolitic slices and high pressure metamorphic rocks in the Upper Cretaceous-Tertiary series in the region between the Black Sea and Bursa indicate pre-Santonian juxtaposition of the Istanbul and Sakarya zones.