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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2006; v. 260; p. 613-634;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.260.01.26
© 2006 Geological Society of London

Tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the Cenozoic Hatay Graben, Southern Turkey: a two-phase model for graben formation

Sarah J. Boulton1, Alastair H. F. Robertson1 & Ulvi C. Ünlügenç2

1 School of GeoSciences, Grant Institute, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK sarah.boulton{at}glg.ed.ac.uk
2 Department of Geological Engineering, Çukurova University, Balcali, 01330 Adana, Turkey

New structural and sedimentary studies form the basis of a new interpretation for the Neogene Hatay Graben. Fault analysis reveals three contemporaneous trends of fault orientation (000°–180°, 045°–225° and 150°–350°) suggesting that the graben is transtensional in nature. Sedimentary studies show that, following shallow-marine deposition from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene, a hiatus ensued until Early Miocene fluvial sedimentation. After a Mid-Miocene marine transgression, water depths increased until the Messinian salinity crisis, followed by a regression from the Pliocene to the present day. The basin initially developed as the distal margin of a foreland basin of the Tauride allochthon to the north, developing a classic sedimentary sequence during Mid-Late Miocene. Stresses caused by loading of the crust created a flexural forebulge to the south that supplied sediment mainly northwards. During the Plio-Quaternary, transtensional graben development took place, primarily influenced by the westward tectonic escape of Anatolia along the East Anatolia Fault Zone and left-lateral offset along the northward extension of the Dead Sea Transform Fault. This area is, thus, an excellent example of a foreland basin reactivated in a strike-slip setting. Our new two-phase model: foreland basin, then transtensional basin for the Hatay Graben, is in contrast to previous models, in which it was generally assumed that the Plio-Quaternary Hatay Graben represents a direct extension of the Dead Sea Fault Zone or the East Anatolian Fault Zone.





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[Abstract] [PDF]