The Beyşehir-Hoyran Nappes,one of the tectonostratigraphic units of the Taurides,are thought to be originated from the Izmir-Ankara Ocean(northern branch of Neotethys).In this study,Late Paleozoic rock units from the blocks of Beyşehir-Hoyran Nappes were studied in detail using foraminiferal assemblages in two different locations from the southwest of Karaman City(southern Turkey).In both places,blocks/slices and pebbles of various origins are embedded within a highly sheared matrix of Late Cretaceous Age,and the whole unit can be regarded as a sedimentary mélange.The ages of the blocks from the southwest of Karaman City range from the Late Serpukhovian(Late Mississippian)to Late Capitanian(Middle Permian)with some depositional breaks(e.g.,Bashkirian,Kasimovian).Combined with the previous data from the Mersin Mélange,which also include the remnants of the Beyşehir-Hoyran Nappes,our new findings suggest that a shallowing-upward sequence,characterized by a shallow water environment with foraminifera-bearing limestones,was deposited over the Tournaisian pelagic sequence in the Beyşehir-Hoyran Nappes till the Early Moscovian(Early Middle Pennsylvanian).This shallowing-upward sequence in the Beyşehir-Hoyran Nappes could be related to the Late Paleozoic Glaciation on the Gondwana supercontinent(Glacial Ⅱ),which resulted in a sea-level drop and deposition of platform carbonates during the Viséan–Early Moscovian(Middle Mississippian to Early Middle Pennsylvanian)time interval.The absence of the main part of the Middle-Upper Pennsylvanian deposits(continental phase during the Middle Moscovian–Middle Gzhelian)in the Beyşehir-Hoyran Nappes can be mainly attributed to the occurrence of a mantle plume and partially to the effect of Late Paleozoic Gondwanan Glaciation(Glacial Ⅲ).Progressive uplifting by the buoyant mantle plume material has resulted in rifting at the center of the basin where the Beyşehir-Hoyran Nappes have deposited.The rifting process led to tectonic destabilization of the platform in the b
Nan'an Basin is a giant hydrocarbon basin,but its tectonic division scheme and associated fault systems has not been well understood.Based on newly acquired seismic data from the southwestern margin of the South China Sea,this study analyzed the structural units,tectonic feature and geodynamics of the sedimentary basin.The new data suggests that the Nan0 an Basin is a rift basin oriented in the NE-SW direction,rather than a pull-apart basin induced by strike-slip faults along the western margin.The basin is a continuation of the rifts in the southwest South China Sea since the late Cretaceous.It continued rifting until the middle Miocene,even though oceanic crust occurred in the Southwest Subbasin.However,it had no transfer surface at the end of spreading,where it was characterized by a late middle Miocene unconformity(reflector T3).The Nan'an Basin can be divided into eight structural units by a series of NE-striking faults.This study provides evidences to confirm the relative importance and interplay between regional strike-slips and orthogonal displacement during basin development and deformation.The NE-SW-striking dominant rift basin indicates that the geodynamic drivers of tectonic evolution in the western margin of the South China Sea did not have a large strike-slip mechanism.Therefore,we conclude that a large strike-slip fault system did not exist in the western margin of the South China Sea.
The Merguechoum fluorite-barite mineralization,located in the Eastern Meseta of Morocco,is hosted in the Late Hercynian granite.The ore consists of fine crystals of fluorite 1,massive barite 1,euhedral crystals of fluorite 2,and barite 2 with calcite and minor quartz and sulfides.The Merguechoum ore deposits have never been investigated.This study was the first contribution that studied the genesis of fluorite and barite.The ore occurs as dissemination within granite intrusion and also fills the NE-SWtrending meter-sized fractures and faults.The values of the total Rare Earth Elements and Yttrium(REY)and the ratios of LREY/HREY,Y/Ho,Tb/Ca,and Tb/La indicate that the Merguechoum fluorite precipitated from hydrothermal fluids,likely basinal brines,which interacted with the Hercynian granite.The REY data indicate that the ore-forming fluids of the early stage have intensely interacted with the Hercynian granite compared to those of the late ore stage.The gradual decrease in the europium(Eu/Eu^(*)),yttrium(Y/Y^(*)),and cerium(Ce/Ce^(*))anomalies and a low concentration ofΣREY observed in the second ore stage compared to the first ore stage suggest an increase in p H and fO_(2)and by inference a decrease in temperature during the evolution of the hydrothermal system.This evolution could be explained by fluid mixing between the ascending basinal hydrothermal fluids and the diluted sulfate-rich meteoric water barite separates from selected samples reveal that the dissolved sulfates(SO_(4)^(2-))were derived from Permian–Triassic sulfates and/or coeval poreseawater sulfates.The proposed fluid mixing triggered the precipitation of an early-stage F-Ba assemblage followed by the second-stage F-Ba mineralization.Geologic fieldwork,REY inventories,and isotope data point to the ore genesis during the Permian–Triassic extensional tectonic activity concerning the Pangea rifting.This extensional tectonic environment is likely the driving force that mobilized a large amount of the ore-forming basinal brines along the available
Mohammed CheraiLarbi RddadFouad TalbiBenjamin F.Walter
Many geophysical and geological data have been used to interpret the tectonic evolution of the south-eastern part of the Tunisian margin and to analyze the dominant structures in the area.The Menzel Habib Plain(MHP)and surroundings,targeted by this study,exhibits thick siliciclastic and carbonate formations attributed to the Early Cretaceous period.Integration of seismic and gravimetric data coupled with analysis of the syndepositional faults affecting these formations prove that the Tunisian margin is dominated,during this period,by N-S to NE-SW extensional directions.The geodynamic evolution of the MHP is mainly due to the irregular normal movement of the N-S faults,which represents the southernmost branch of the N-S Axis(NSA)and of the NW-SE faults,which constitutes the SE segment of the South Atlasic fault corridor(SAFC).In addition,the NE-SW and E-W oriented faults contributed to this evolution.Over extensive periods,this network of faults determines horst and grabens basin geometry or tilted blocks inducing formation of several distinct areas with different subsidence rates.Simultaneously,the normal activity of the major faults promotes the vertical mobilization of the Triassic salt resulting in the individualization of several diapiric bodies,some of which pierced their sedimentary cover.These dynamics reflect echoes of the sinistral drifting of Africa with respect to Europe,integrated in a long Tethyan rifting cycle,and the beginning of opening of the Mesogean Sea,respectively.
Upper Triassic sedimentary systems of both the Arabian Plate and the Germanic Basin reveal climate- and plate tectonic-forced effects through certain time-intervals experienced by architectural elements, lithofacies types, unconformities, flash flood deposits, maximum flooding surfaces/sequence boundary (MFS/SB), mineralogy, and isotope anomalies. Further, Moon recession and changes of Earth’s rotation velocity (core/mantle boundary) are associated with multiple impacting and large igneous provinces/Mid Oceanic Ridge Basalt, LIP/MORB-rifting/degassing. While acidification (by degassing, sturz-rain) does influence tectosilicates and carbonates, montmorillonite represents a key mineral as transformation of volcanic/impact glass (Tephra) to be found as co-components in and in certain pelite units as “boundary clay-suspicions” (mixture of eolian paleoloess, pelite, paleosol, and tephra → tuffite). Obviously, unconformities and sequence boundaries of both study areas separate and dislocate interrupted ∂13C and 87Sr/86Sr-data groups along the isotope curves. Both Proto-Arctic Ocean rifting/degassing comprising kimberlitic pyroclastic eruptions and Neotethys rifting/degassing as well as multiple impacting played the most important role during the Norian, followed by the incipient Central Atlantic Magmatic Provinces rifting since the Rhaetian. The following associations are encountered and dealt with in this study: Sequence boundaries-∂13C, maximum flooding surfaces-(FUCs)-∂13C, unconformities-plate motion, tephra-pelite-tuffite-montmorillonite. Norian: maximum flooding surfaces (MFSs)-“paleosol”/boundary clay?-rifting-volcanism, Moon/Earth data change. So the Norian (~221 - 206 Ma) hosts anomalous “amalgamated maximum flooding surfaces (MFSs)”, amalgamated paleosol (Jordanian Platform), multiple impacting (~219 - 214 Ma), the maximum opening of the Proto-Arctic Ocean (PAO) (~230 - 200 Ma), Neo-Tethys (NT)-subvolcanic (sills, dikes) in the NE D
