Tectonic Evolution of the Tethyan Region

NATO ASI Series Advanced Science Institutes Series

A Series presenting the results of activities sponsored by the NA TO Science Committee, which aims at the dissemination of advanced scientific and technological knowledge, with a view to strengthening links between scientific communities.

The Series is published by an international board of publishers in conjunction with the NATO Scientific Affairs Division

A Life Sciences B Physics

C Mathematical and Physical Sciences

D Behavioural and Social Sciences E Applied Sciences

F Computer and Systems Sciences G Ecological Sciences H Cell Biology

Plenum Publishing Corporation London and New York

Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht, Boston and London

Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, London, Paris and Tokyo

Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences - Vol. 259

Tectonic Evolution of the Tethyan Region edited by

A.M.C.$engor Department of Geology, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

with assistance from

Y. Yllmaz, A. I. Okay, and N. Gorur

Kluwer Academic Publishers

Dordrecht / Boston / London

Published in cooperation with NATO Scientific Affairs Division

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Tectonic Evolution of the Tethyan Region The Faculty of Mines, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey 23 September - 2 October 1985 in honour of Prof. Dr. rer.nat. ihsan Ketin

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data NATO Advanced Study InstItute on the "Tectonic Evolution of Tethyan

Region" (1986 Istanbul Technical University. Faculty of Mines) Tectonic evolution of the Tethyan Region: proceedings of the NATO

Advanced Study Institute on the "Tectonic Evolution of Tethyan Region" held in the Faculty of Mines, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, 23rd September-2nd October 1986 in honour of Prof. Dr. rer. nat. lhsan Ketin / edited by A.M.C. ~engor with assistance from Y. Yllmaz, A.I. Okay, and N. Gor~r.

p. cm. -- (NATO ASI series. Series C, Mathematical and physical sciences; no. 259)

Inc 1 udes index. ISBN 0-7923-0067-X 1. Geology--Asia--Congresses. 2. Tethys (Paleography)-

-Congresses. 3. Ketin, lhsan--Congresses. I. ~engor, A. M. Celal. II. Ketin, lhsan. Ill. Title. IV. Series. OE289.N38 1986 551.7' . 0095--dc 19 88-31485

ISBN-13: 978-94-010-7509-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-2253-2 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-2253-2

Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Kluwer Academic Publishers incorpor~te.s the publishing programmes of D. Reidel, Martinus Nijhoff, Dr W. Junk,a(ld MTP Press.

Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 101 Philip Drive, Norwell, MA 02061, U.S.A.

In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

All Rights Reserved © 1989 by Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Softcover reprint of the reprint of the 1 st edition 1989

No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface List of Participants List of Contributors Professor ihsan Ketin: An Appreciation

The Tethyside Orogenic System: An Introduction A.M.C. ~engor

One Some Key Features of the Evolution of the Western Alps J. Debelmas

The Geometry of Crustal Shortening in the Western Alps

ni xi

xxvii xxxi

23

R.W.H. Butler 43 Triassic and Jurassic Oceanic/Paraoceanic Belts in the Carpathian-Pannonian Region and its Surroundings

M. Kazmer and S. Kovacs 77 Major Events of the Tectono-Sedimentary Evolution of the North Hungarian Paleo-Mesozoic: History of the Northwestern Termination of the Late Paleozoic -Early Mesozoic Tethys

S. Kovacs 93 Tectonic Units and Sutures in the Pontides, Northern Turkey

A.I. Okay 109 An Example for the Tectonic Evolution of the Arabian Platform Margin (SE Anatolia) During Mesozoic and Some Criticisms of the Previously Suggested Models

D. Alt1ner 117 Timing of Opening of the Black Sea: Sedimentological Evidence from the Rhodope-Pontide Fragment

N. Gorur 131 Paleomagnetic Study of the Neogene Formations of the Aegean Area

C. Kissel, C. Laj, A. Mazaud, A. Poisson, Y. Savascin, K. Simeakis, C. Fraissinet, J.L. Mercier 137

An Approach to the Origin of Young Volcanic Rocks of Western Turkey

Y. Y1lmaz 159 Tectonic Evolution of Paleotethys in the Caucasus Sector of the Mediterranean Belt: Basic Problems

A.A. Belov 191

VI

Palaeomagnetism of Upper Cretaceous Rocks from the Caucasus and its Implications for Tectonics

M.L. Bazhenov and V.S. Burtman 217 Tethys Evolution in the Afghanistan-Pamir-Pakistan Region

J. Stocklin 241 Tectonogenesis and Evolution of a Segment of the Cimmerides: The Volcano-Sedimentary Triassic of Aghdarband (Kopet-Dagh, North-East Iran)

A. Baud and G.M. Stampfli 265 Geology of the Baluchistan (Pakistan) Portion of the Southern Margin of the Tethys Sea

G.R.McCormick 277 The Himalayan Orogenic Segment

P. Le Fort 289 Crustal Scale Thrusting and Continental Subduction During Himalayan Collision Tectonics on the NW Indian Plate

R.W.H. Butler and M.P. Coward 387 The Tectonic Evolution of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: A Review

Chang Chen-Fa, Pan Yu-Sheng and Sun Yi-Ying 415 The Neo-Cimmerian Ophiolite Belt in Afghanistan and Tibet: Comparison and Evolution

J. Girardeau, J. Marcoux and C. Montenat 477 The Western End of the Tibetan Plateau

A. Baud 505 Thrusting on the Tibetan flateau Within the Last 5 Ma

K. Burke and L. Lucas 507 Tectonic Evolution of the Yangtze Tectonic Regime

Zhang Qinwen, Qu Jingchuan and Chen Bingwei 513 Mesozoic Suturing in the Huanan Alps and the Tectonic Assembly of South China

K.J. Hsu, Sun Shu and Li Jiliang The Shan Plateau and Western Burma: Mesozoic-Cenozoic Plate Boundaries and Correlations with Tibet

A.H.G. Mitchell The Palaeo-Tethyan Realm and Indosinian Orogenic System of Southeast Asia

C.S. Hutchison The Contribution of Vertebrate Palaeontology to the Geodynamic History of South East Asia

E. Buffetaut Convergent-Plate Tectonics Viewed from the Indonesian Region

W. Hamilton

551

567

585

645

655

PREFACE

The ihsan Ketin NATO Advanced Study Institute on the Tectonic Evolution of the Tethyan Region was conceived in 1982 in Veszprem, Hungary, when three of the organizers (B.C.B., L.H.R. and A.M.C.9.) had come together for a meeting on the tectonics of the Pannonian basin. All three of us had experience in the Tethyan belt and all three of us had been for some time deploring the lack of communication among workers of this immense orogenic belt. Much new work had been completed in such previously little-known areas as Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, the People's Republic of China, the entire Himalayan region, as well as new work in the European parts of the chain. Also, ironically, parts of the belt had just been closed to field work for political reasons, so it seemed as if the time was right to sit back and consider what had been done so far. Because the Istanbul group had had an interest in the whole of the Tethyan belt and because that ancient city was more centrally locElted with excellent opportunities to see both Palaeo- and Neo-Tethyan rocks in a weekend excursion, we thought that Istanbul was a natural place for such a meeting, not mentioning its own considerable attractions for the would-be contributors.

A happy coincidence was that Prof.ihsan Ketin, one of the foremost leaders in the tectonics of the central Tethyan regions and the dean of Turkish geologists, was to retire from active teaching in 1983. We decided to seize the opportunity of gathering to honour Ketin to assemble the Tethyan workers. One of us (B.C.B.) thought that perhaps a NATO ASI was the best medium, but the necessity of involving numerous non-NATO participants and contributors made it imperative that other sources of finance be found. The Istanbul Technical University and its Faculty of Mines immediately declared themselves at our disposal to host the meeting and Dr.Remzi Akkok of Ak§an Engineering and Consulting Co. in Istanbul (a former pupil of Ketin, and a faculty member at the iTO) agreed to organize the logistics in Istanbul and also for the excursion. We also asked Dr.Yticel Yllmaz (then of the University of Istanbul), the noted Tethyan worker and an associate of Ketin whether he would join us as the fourth organizer. Yllmaz enthusiastically accepted and we applied to NATO foran ASI grant, which was swiftly given. To finance the non-NATO workers we were generously supported by the following oil companies: Arco Int., Chevron Overseas Petroleum Inc., Gulf Research and Development Co., Exxon Production and Research Company, Texaco Inc., and Esso Exploration Inc. For the local logistics in Istanbul and for the preparation of the meeting folders we are also grateful to Fruko-Tamek Meyva Sularl Sanayii A.$., istanbul.

vii

viii

The meeting in Istanbul was a success; most of the contributors invi ted had responded .posi ti vely and all of those showed up. The meeting format was an unusual one, with prinicipal contributors designated for 13 segments of the orogenic belts to be supplanted by "commentators". This format worked well h r the meeting, but was a failure for the published proceedings. Four of the principal contributors failed to procude written accounts that considerably disturbed the original plan. Also some of the contributors have provided excellent papers that were more than just "comments" as originally intended. As a result, the original plan had to be given up and a more conventional book with a series of papers of equal standing was accepted.

The publication of the proceedings took an unusually long time for a NATO ASI for two principal reasons. One was the slow inflow of manuscripts that had been asked to be delivered at the meeting in September 1985. The last manuscript was received in late 1987 and the book had to be closed in early 1988 owing to pressure of time (and t~1e publisher), despite that one major paper was still pending. The second reason was the requirement that the book had to be author-prepared for copy-printing. This requires high quality typewriters and acceptable English. Many of the contributors seemingly had little experience in preparing author-prepared manuscripts and consequently many had to be retyped in Istanbul, for which some currency exchange problem prevented NATO to supply the funds. Also a large number of the papers had to be thoroughly edited for improving the English, which, in places deteriorated to unintelligibility. Most of the figures had to be reshot for reduction.

Having been reduced to a copy-editor and page designer with no funds, I was compelled to ask for help from a few friends to have the papers typed and figures reshot. Done on a charity basis, we simply had to await the gaps in the heavy schedules of the companies who deci.ded to assist us. Yticel Yllmaz, Naci Gortir, Aral Okay and Remzi Akkok all shared bits of the editorial responsibilty and Remzi kindly delegated to us office space in which the book could be assembled away from the daily turbulance of the university. I must thank all of these people and the Ajans-Tek for the numerous photographic reproductions and the Stirat Daktilo Company for typing many of the papers despite their heavy schedules. Yticel Yllmaz did much to expediate the editing while I was busy with other things.

The resulting book is a heterogeneous one, both physically and in terms of the contents of the contributions. Only two papers submitted had to be rejected owing to low scientific standards. A few others for which one reviewer recommended rejection were accepted on the basis of two considerations: either the paper represented a common view in a given region and we felt that this had to be known, even if we disaggreed with it for good reasons, or the paper represented a band-wagon approach to a certain problem, for which this approach was not the most appropriate. This last category was given a place so that the reader of this book will know what is being done by a large number of workers.

ix

The book as a whole is somewhat skewed towards Asia. This was desirable, as Asia is the place from where the flow of information is most irregular. But as a whole we hope it provides a good basis for general Tethyan reading. More important, it is our hope that such Tethyan meetings and Tethyan compendia of papers will become more frequent in the future. This meeting taught us what the problems might be in organizing such endeavours and we now know how to tackle them. But most important of all we know how willing the Tethyan workers are to come together and argue about their problems. That this meeting united people from Europe, Asia, North America·, Austraila, and Africa shows that there really are no barriers that cannot be broken from one end of the Tethysides to the other. This sincere "internationalism" is the spirit of the sponsors of this meeting, it is the spirit of the man in whose honour we all came together, and is the spirit of the founders of the Technical University, whose hospitality we all enjoyed. Before I close this preface, I need to thank Prof.Dr.Kemal Kafall, the energetic Rector Magnificus of the iTtl, and ProLDr .Erdogan Ytizer, the equally enthusiastic Dean of the Faculty of Mines of the iTti. We also thank Kevin Burke who substituted for Clark Burchfiel as Institute Director while Clark was hammering at Tethyside outcrops at Ulu Muztagh!

A. Mo C. Sengor

for the Organizers: B. C. Burchfiel L. H. Royden A. M. C. Seng~r Y. Yllmaz

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Dr.Remzi Akkok AK$AN A.$., Investigation, Consulting and Engineering Bliylikdere Caddesi 73/11 Mecidiyekoy, Istanbul Telefon: 172 35 04 - 172 35 05 TURKEY

Dr.Demir Altlner Ortadogu Teknik Vniversitesi Mlihendislik Fakliltesi Jeoloji Bollimti Ankara, TURKEY 237100/2692 or 2682

Mustafa Aydln Tlirkiye Petrolleri A.$. Arama Grubu Mtidafaa Caddesi 22, P.K.209 Jakanllklar, Ankara TURKEY

Ozer Balka$ Tlirkiye Petrolleri A.$. Arama Grubu Mtidafaa Caddesi 22, P.K. 209 Bakanllklar, Ankara TURKEY

Muawia Barazangi Institute for the Study of the Continents Snee Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 USA (607) 256-6411 Telex: 937478

Aymon Baud Geological Institute Palais de Rumine CH-1005 Lausanne SWITZERLAND

xi

xii

Dr.A.A.Belov Geological Institute Academy of Sciences pzyhewsky 7 109017 Moscow USSR

Dr.Ziad R.Beydoun Marathon International Petroleum (G.B.) Ltd. Marathon House, 174 Marylebone Road London, NMI SAT. Tel. 0l-486 0222 Telex 297183 ENGLAND

Jean-Pierre Brun Labo Tectoniquew VER Sciences Physique de la Terre Tour 25 ler Et. 2 Pl. Jussieu 75230 Paris, FRANCE 633-07-29

Dr.Eric Buffetaut University of Paris 6 Lab. of Vertebrate Paleontology 4 Place Jussieu 75230 Paris Cedex 05 FRANCE

Dr.Jean-Pierre Burg Department of Geology University of Melbourne Parkville, Victoria 3052 AUSTRALIA 3416740 - AA35185

Dr.Kevin Burke Lunar and Planetary Institute 3303 NASA Road Houston, TX 77058 (713) 486- 2180

Robert W.H.Butler Dept. of Geolog. Sciences The University South Road Durham DHI 3LE United Kingdom 0385-64971 (ext 432)

Dr.Chang Chen fa Academia Sinica Institute of Geology P.O. Box 634 Beijing, China

Tristan M.M. Clube. Department of Geophysics University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, SCOTLAND 031-667-1081 ext. 2944 Telex: 727442

Dana Quentin Coffield Earth Sciences and Resources Inst. University of So. Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 USA (803) 777-6484 Telex 805038

Dr.Millard Fillmore Coffin Bureau of Mineral Resources GPO Box 378 Canberra A.C.T. 2601 AUSTRALIA

Dr.Michel Colchen Universite de Poitiers Laboratoire de Geologie Stratigraphique 40 Av. de Recteur Pineau 86022 Poitiers Cedex FRANCE

J.Calvin Cooper Dept. of Geology Rice University Houston, TX 77251 USA (713) 525-8101 ext 3337

Michael Peter Coward Dept. of Geology Imperial College London SW7 2BP ENGLAND 01-589-5111 x5504 Telex: 261503

xiii

xiv

Kenneth M.Creer Department of Geophysics University of Edinburgh James Clerk Maxwell Building Mayfield Road Edinburgh, EH9 3J2 SCOTLAND (031) 667 1081 ext. 2952 Telex: 727442 Unived G.

Dr.John Gordon Dennis Department of Geological Sciences California State University Long Beach, CA. 90840 USA (213) 430-6903 (home) (213) 498-4404 (office)

Mr.Aksoy Ercan Flrat Universitesi Mtihendislik Faktiltesi Jeoloji Boltimti Ara~tlrma Gorevlisi Elazlg, TURKEY

Prof.Dr.Kazlm Ergin iTti Maden Faktiltesi Te~vikiye, istanbul TURKEY

Dr.Ayhan Erler Ortadogu Teknik Universitesi Mtihendislik Faktiltesi Jeoloji Boltimti Ankara, TURKEY

Phillip Bruce Gans Dept. of Geology, Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305 (415) 497-2537 or 497-1149

Dr.David Gee Geological Survey of Sweden Box 670 751 28 Uppsala SWEDEN

Klaus H.A. Gohrbandt Chevron Overseas Petroleum Inc. 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, California Mail P.O. Box 5046, San Ramon, CA 94583-0946 Tel. (415)842-3708 Telex: ITT 470074 CHEV UI(International) USA

Dr.Naci Gortir iTO Maden Faktiltesi Jeoloji Mtihendisligi Boltimti Genel Jeoloji Anabilim Dall Te~vikiye, Istanbul TURKEY

Dr.Warren Hamilton U.S.Geological Survey Mail Stop 964 Box 25046 Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 USA

Samir S.Hanna Earth Resources Institute Department of Geology University College of Swansea SA2 8PP United Kingdom (0792) 295140 Telex: 48358 ULSWAN G

Dr.Mark R.Hempton Shell Dev. Co. P.O.Box 481 Houston, TX 77001 Tel.: (713) 663-2120

Dr.Ken Hsu Geologisches Institut E.T.H.-Zentrum Sonneggstrasse 5 CH-8092 Zurich SWITZERLAND

Mary Hubbard MIT 54-1020 Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

xv

xvi

Dr.C.Hutchison University of Malaya Department of Geology Kuala Lumpur 2211 MALAYSIA

Cemal Kaplangl Tlirkiye Petrolleri A.$. Arama Grubu Mlidafaa Caddesi 22, P.K. 209 Bakanllklar, Ankara TURKEY

Daniel Edmund Karig Department of Geological Sciences Cornell University Ithaca,N.Y. 14853 USA (607) 256-369

Miklos Kazmer Dept. of Paleontology Eotvos University Kun Bela ter 2 Budapest H-1083 HUNGARY

Ilyas Erdal Kerey Flrat Vniversitesi Mlihendislik Fakliltesi Jeoloji Mlihendisligi Bollimli Elazlg, Turkey

Prof.Dr.lhsan Ketin ITO Maden Fakliltesi Jeoloji Mlihendisligi Bollimli Genel Jeoloji Anabilim Dall Te~vikiye, Istanbul TURKEY

Catherine Kissel Centre des Faibles Radioactivites BP no.l Avenue de la Terrasse 91190 Gif s/Yvette FRANCE 3311-(6) 907-78-28 ext 791 691.137 F

Carlo E.G. Laj Centre des Faib1es Radioactivites BP No.1 Avenue de 1a Terrasse 91190 Gif s/Yvette FRANCE 3311-(6) 907-78-28 ext 791 691.137 F

Patrick LeFort Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et Geochimiques B.P.20 Vanoeuvre-1es-Nancy F-54501 FRANCE (8) 351-2213 Telex: 960431 adnancy

William S.Leith Lamont-Doherty Geo1. Observatory Palisades, NY 10964 USA (914) 359-2900 Telex: 710-576-2653

Dr.Jean Marcoux Universite de Paris VII Laboratoire de tectoniquede 1a Terre Sciences physiques de 1a Terre Tour 25-24 10 etagedex 2 Place Jussieu 75230 Paris Cedex 05 FRANCE

Mr.Ron Marr Conoco, Inc. P.O. Box 4800 The Woodlands, TX 77380 Tel.: (713) 367-3305 Telex: 775347

George Robert McCormick Department of Geology University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 52242 USA (313) 353-4318 or (313)353-4105

Metin Me§hur Ttirkiye Petro11eri A.$. Arama Grubu Mtidafaa Caddesi 22, P.K. 209 Bakan11k1ar, Ankara TURKEY

xvii

xviii

Elizabeth L.Mi11er Dept. of Geology Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305 (415)497-2537 or 497-1149

Andrew H.G.Mitche11 C/o UNDP P.O. Box 7285 ADC M.I.A. Road Pasay City M. Manila Philippines

Shankar Mitra Arco Resources Technology 2300 W.P1ano Parkway (PAC 3063) Plano, TX 75075 (214) 422-6219

John Nabe1ek MIT, E34-406 Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

Jay Namson 3054 ARCO Resources Technology 2300 Plano Parkway Plano TX 75075 USA

Dr.Rudo1f Oberhauser Geological Survey of Austria 23 Rasumofskygasse A-103l Vienna Austria 76 56 74/42 Telex: 13297 GEOBA-A

Dr.Aral Okay iTO Maden Fakti1tesi Jeoloji Mtihendisligi Bo1timti Gene1 Jeoloji Anabi1irn Da11 Te~vikiye, Istanbul TURKEY

Dr.Necdet Ozgti1 iTO Maden Fakti1tesi Jeoloji Mtihendisligi Boltirnti Gene1 Jeo1oji Anabilirn Dall Te~vikiye, Istanbul TURKEY

Laurence Page MIT 54-611 Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

Dr.Dimitrios Papaniko1aou Department of Geology University of Athens Panepistimiopo1is Zografou Athens 15771 Greece

Prof.Dr.Niko1a Pantic Geo1osko-Pa1eonto1oski Zavod Univerzite Beogradu Kamenicka 6 11000 Beograd JUGOSLOWIA

Malcolm G.Parsons Esso Exploration Turkey, S.A. P.O.Box 16 Ankara, TURKEY

T.L.Patton Amoco Turkey Petroleum Co. Re§it Ga1ip Caddesi ';'60 Gaziosmanpa§a Ankara, TURKEY

Dr.Dogan Perin~ek Ttirkiye Petro11eri A.~. Arama Grubu Mtidafaa Caddesi 22, P.K. 209 Bakan11k1ar, Ankara TURKEY

Dr.Zhang Qinwen Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences Baiwanzhuang Road 26 West City, Beijing People's Republic of China

Dr.A1ison C.Ries University College of Swansea Singleton Park Swansea SA2 8PP Tel.: 0792-295496 Telex: 48358 ULSWAN G(attn. ERI) UNITED KINGDOM

xix

xx

Dr.John Rodgers Department of Geology and Geophysics Box 6666 Yale University New Haven, CT. 06511 USA (203) 436-0616

Dr.Leigh H.Royden Department of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA

Dr.Branch J.Russell Marathon Research Center P.O. Box 269 Littleton, CO 80160 Tel.: (303) 794-2601

Dr.Mircea Sandulescu Institut de Geologie et Geophysique 1, rue Caransebes Bucarest, ROMANIA

Mustafa Sarlbudak iTO Maden Faktiltesi Jeoloji Boltimti Te~vikiye, istanbul TURKEY

Elizabeth Schermer MIT 54-1024 Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

Michael Paul Searle Department of Geology University of Leicester Leicester LEI 7RH United Kingdom 0533-554455 ext 107 Telex: UNIVLIB LESTER 341198

SUMMER ADDRESS 10 Lagoon Close Lilliput Poole Dorset UNITED KING DOOM

Dr.Celal ~engor iTO Maden Fakliltesi Jeoloji Bollimli Te§vikiye, istanbul TURKEY

Dr.Sigmund Snelson Shell Development Corporation P.O. Box 481 Houston, TX. 77001 (713) 663-2622 Telex: 76-2248

Dr.Freddie Yiying Sun Institute of Geology Academia Sinica P.o.Box 134 Beijing, China

Mr.Ozan Sungurlu Tlirkiye Petrolleri A.~. Arama Grubu Ba§kan1 Mlidafaa Cad. 22, P.K. 209 Bakan11klar, Ankara TURKEY

Neptune Srimal Dept. of Geological Sciences University of Rochester Rochester, NY 14627 (716) 275-2409

Dr.J.Stocklin Erbduhlstr 4 8472 Seuzach Zurich, SWITZERLAND

Tarquin Teale Dept. of Geology Imperial College Prince Consort Road London SW7 2BP U.K. 01-589 5111 x5537 Telex: 261503

Dr.Cestmir Tomek Geofyzika Brno P.O. Box 62, Brno 61246 CZECHOSLOVAKIA Telephone: 05 57464 Telex: 625 12

xxi

xxii

James W.Tucker ARCO International Oil and Gas Company 444 South Flower Street Los Angeles, California 90017 Tel.: 213486 2735 Telex: 19-4154 USA

Timur Ustaomer ITO Maden Faktiltesi Jeoloji boltimti Te~vikiye, Istanbul TURKEY

Lester Craig Ward 10, Walpole Road Colliers Wood London SW19 2B2 GREAT BRITAIN 01-542-9649

Dr.Brian Windley Department of Geology The University Leicester LEI 7RH England (0533) 554455 Ext. 107 Telex: UNIVLIB LESTER 341198

Mr.Barry G.Wood Marathon Int. Petroleum (GB) Ltd. 174 Marylebone Road London, NW15AT ENGLAND 01-486-0222 Telex: 297183

Dr.Yticel Yllmaz Istanbul Dniversitesi Mtihendislik Faktiltesi Jeoloji Boltimti Vezneciler, Istanbul TURKEY

Dr.Plnar Yllmaz c/o Dr.Kevin T.Biddle Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited Biwater House Portsmouth Road Esner Surrey KTlO 9SJ ENGLAND

Dr.Ken Hsti Geologisches Institut E.T.H.-Zentrum Sonneggstrasse 5 CH-8092 Zurich SWITZERLAND

Dr.C.Hutchison University of Malaya Department of Geology Kuala Lumpur 2211 MALAYSIA

Li Jiliang Institute of Geology Academia Sinica P.O.Box Beijing PRC

Qu Jingchuan The Institute of Geology Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences Baiwanzhuang Road 26 Fuchenmengwai, Beijing PRC

Miklos Kazmer Dept. of Paleontology Eotvos University Kun Bela ter 2 Budapest H-l083 HUNGARY

Catherine Kissel Centre des Faibles Radioactivites BP no.l Avenue de la Terrasse 91190 Gif s/Yvette FRANCE 3311-(6) 907-78-28 ext 791 691.137 F

S.Kovacs Hungarian Geological Institute H-1442 Budapest P.O.Box 106 HUNGARY

XXlll

xxiv

Carlo E.G. Laj Centre des Faib1es Radioactivites BP No.1 Avenue de 1a Terdioactivites BP No.1 Avenue de 1a Terrasse 91190 Gif s/Yvette FRANCE 3311-(6) 907-78-28 ext 791 691.137 F

Pa trick LeFort Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et Geochimiques B.P.20 Vanoeuvre-1es-Nancy F-54501 FRANCE (8) 351-2213 Telex: 960431 adnancy

L.Lucas Lunar and Planetary Institute 3303 Nasa Road 1 Houstan, TX 77058 and Department of Geosciences University of Houston, University Park, Houston, Texas 77004 USA

Dr.Jean Marcoux Universite de Paris VII Laboratoire de tectoniquede 1a Terre Sciences physiques de 1a Terre Tour 25-24 10 etagedex 2 Place Jussieu 75230 Paris Cedex 05 FRANCE

George Robert McCormick Department of Geology Universite of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 52242 USA (313) 353-4318 or (313) 353-4105

Andrew H.G.Mitche11 C/o UNDP P.O. Box 7285 ADC M.I.A. Road Pasay City M. Manila Philippines

Dr.C.Montenat Laboratoire de Geologie Institut Geologique Albert-de-Lapparent, 21 rue d'Assas 75270 Paris cedex 06 FRANCE

Dr .Aral LOkay iTD Maden Faktiltesi Jeoloji Mtihendisligi Boltimti Genel Jeoloji Anabilim Dall Te~vikiye, Istanbul TURKEY

xxv

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Dr.Demir Altlner Ortadogu Teknik Vniversitesi Mtihendislik Faktiltesi Jeoloji Boltimti Ankara, TURKEY 237100/2692 or 2682

Aymon Baud Geological Institute Palais de Rumine CH-1005 Lausanne SWITZERLAND

M.L.Bazhenov Geological Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR Pyzhevsky per., 7 109017 Moscow USSR

Dr.A.A.Belov Geological Institute Academy of Sciences pzyhewsky 7 109017 Moscow USSR

Cheng Bingwei The Institute of Geology Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences Baiwanzhuang Road 26 Fuchengmenwai, Beijing PRC.

V.S.Burtman Geological Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR Pyzhersky per., 7 109017 Moscow USSR

xxvii

xxviii

Dr.Eric Buffetaut University of Paris 6 Lab. of Vertebrate Paleontology 4 Place Jussieu 75230 Paris Cedex 05 FRANCE

Dr.Kevin Burke Lunar and Planetary Institute 3303 NASA Road Houston, TX 77058 (713) 486-2180

Robert W.H.Butler Dept. of Geolog. Sciences The University South Road Durham DHI 3LE United Kingdom 0385-64971 (ext 432)

Dr .Chang Chenfa Academia Sinica Institute of Geology P.O. Box 634 Beijing, China

Michael Peter Coward Dept. of Geology Imperial College London SW7 2BP ENGLAND 01-589-5111 x5504 Telex: 261503

Prof.Jacques Debelmas Geology Dept. , University, F3803l Grenoble FRANCE

Dr.J.Girardeau Laboratoire de Petrologie Physique, Universite Paris VlIet Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris Cedex OS, FRANCE

Dr. Naci Gortir iTti Maden Faktiltesi Jeoloji Mtihendisligi Boltimti Genel Jeoloji Anabilim Dall Te~vikiye, Istanbul TURKEY

Dr.Warren Hamilton U.S.Geological Survey Mail Stop 964 Box 25046 Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 USA

Dr.Zhang Qinwen Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences Baiwanzhuang Road 26 West City, Beijing People's Republic of China

Sun Shu Institute of Geology Academia Sinica P.O.Box Beijing PRC

Dr.A.M.Celal $engor iTti Maden Fakultesi Jeoloji BOlumu Te§vikiye, istanbul TURKEY

Dr.Freddie Yiying Sun Institute of Geology Academia Sinica P.o.Box 134 Beijing, China

Dr.J. Stocklin Erbduhlstr 4 8472 Seuzach Zurich, SWITZERLAND

Dr .yucel Yllmaz istanbul tiniversitesi Muhendislik Fakultesi Jeoloji Bolumu Vezneciler, istanbul TURKEY

Pan Yu-Sheng Institute of Geology, Academia Sinica P.O.Box 634 Beijing CHINA

xxix

r-) ~ -_.=::::r'-, :::::0> •

PROFESSOR iHSAN KETiN: AN APPRECIATION

The organizers and participants of the NATO Advanced Study Insti tute "Tectonic Evolution of the Tethyan Region" wish to dedicate this Institute and its published proceedings to Dr.rer.nat. Ihsan Ketin, emeritus professor of geology in the Istanbul Technical University in grateful recognition of his important contributions to our understanding of the geological structure and evolution of the central part of the Alpine-Himalayan mountain ranges. In doing so we also wish to underline that the influence of Ketin' s work has long overflowed the boundaries of the Alpine-Himalayan system and made a conspicuous impact on theoretical tectonics in general. His discovery in 1948 of the North Anatolian strike-slip fault and with it the 'west-drift' of a rigid Anatolian block with respect to its surroun4ings not only was an important step in the recognition of the widespread occurrence of large strike-slip faults in the world, but it also constitutes one of the earliest papers in which the tectonics of a large area was interpreted in terms of relative horizontal motion of a few internally rigid blocks along narrow zones of displacement. His discovery in 1956 of the late Cretaceous-early Cainozoic age of the central Anatolian crystalline axis disposed of Kober's theory of symmetric orogens with ancient median masses along the axis of symmetry in one of its type localities: Instead, Ketin showed in 1959 that Asia Minor as a whole was an asymmetric south-vergent orogen whose construction lasted through several episodes of mountain-building from the late Palaeozoic to the present. This view formed the main basis for most plate tectonic interpretations of Turkey in the last two decades.

Ihsan Ketin was born on 10th of April in the ancient central Anatolian town of Kayseri (Caesarea), located at the foot of the mighty volcano of Erciyes (Mt.Aergus) as a subject of Sultan Mehmed V. in that eventful year of 1914. The family, of which Ketin was the second child, was of modest means. His father, Ali Efendi, was compelled to spend much of the time during which Ketin grew up as a child, fighting for his country: first through World War I and then, until 1922, in Mustafa Kemal's War of Liberation. During this time Ketin came under two powerful influences that eventually determined the course of his life: The first was that of his maternal grandmother Hatice Hanlm, a strong-willed Anatolian woman who instilled in Ketin the desire to do something worthwhile. The second source of influence was mute, but possibly more powerful: the towering Mt.Erciyes awakened in Ketin a love of nature, especially of her mineral kingdom that eventually became the child's life-long occupation.

Before Ketin completed the first decade of his life the Ottoman Empire had become history and the new Republic of Turkey had been declared with Mustafa Kemal as its first president. This extraordinary

xxxi

xxxii

man was determined to transform the old Ottoman society into a new Turkish nation and was aware that education was his most effective weapon. He sent hordes of young men to various western European countries to receive a university education with the instruction to come back "to raise Turkey to the highest level of contemporary civilisation."

When Ketin boarded the train to go to Berlin in 1932 his heart was filled with the inspiration that radiated from Mustafa Kemal to learn the science of the west and to bring it back to his homeland, where, Ketin hoped, it could take root and flourish. But the Berlin Ketin arrived at was the troubled capital of the Weimar Republic, the artificial child of the Versailles Treaty, which was about to expire in the bloody hands of the architect of the infamous Third Reich, Adolf Hitler. The raging inflation, cancerous unemployment, rampant terrorism and the resulting misery induced the quiet natured Anatolian youth after his first semester in the university to move away from Berlin, where he had been exposed to the ideas of Hans Stille at his lectures.

From the Prussian capital Ketin moved to the sphere of influence of another giant of tectonics in Bonn. Hans Cloos, the holder of the chair of geology in Bonn and at the same time the influential editor-in-chief of the Geologische Rundschau became not only Ketin' s teacher and eventual doctoral advisor, but also his close, almost fatherly friend. Between 1935 and 1938 Ketin remained under Closs' tutelage that imparted on him a zeal for careful field observation, especially geologic mapping, and a large reservoir of knowledge along wi th a humanism that contrasted sharply with the prevailing racism of the Nazi Germany, but that found a warm echo in Ketin's upbringing that had taken place in the heartland of the Ottoman Empire, in which numerous ethnic groups had peacefully coexisted for centuries. Ketin ended his studies with a doctoral dissertation on the tectonics and volcanism of the region around Bad Bertrich, which was published in 1940.

Following the completion of his formal studies in Germany, Ketin returned to Turkey in the Autumn of 1938 and was appointed assistant professor at the Institute of Geology of the University of Istanbul, where, during World War I, the noted German geomorphologist and structural geologist Walther Penck had been the head of the Institute. When Ketin arrived in Istanbul, he found himself the third Turkish citizen with a Ph D in geology! The first, a certain Anastase Georgiades from Istanbul had obtained his doctorate from Zurich in 1918, but evidently had not returned to Turkey. The second, Dr.Ahmet Can Okay was an immigrant from the Soviet Central Asia and had come to Turkey after he had completed his studies in Germany. Thus Ketin was the first native of Turkey to work in his country with a Ph D in geology.

When Ketin joined the Faculty of the Institute of Geology in Istanbul Professor Hamit Nafiz Pamir, the one-time assistant and interpreter to Walther Pecnk was the head of the Institute. A graduate of the Uni versi ty of Geneva, Pamir had had to interrupt his doctoral studies owing to World War I. Since then he had been compelled to spend

XXXlll

more time organizing the earth sciences in the newly-founded Republic of Turkey than doing research. Therefore, when Ketin returned to his country he found that no research tradition existed in geology. One had to be created and it is perhaps Ketin's greatest achievement that during the course of his professional life his work became in Turkey the

cornerstone of a research tradition in geology.

Ketin's initial activity in Turkey was split between research and teaching. His first research projects naturally reflected the strong influence of Cloos and Ketin plunged energetically into mapping granites and brittle structures.

A year after Ketin' s arrival in Istanbul, a long-dormant zone of earthquakes in northern Turkey, the structure that Ketin was to make popular throughout the world under the designation of the North Anatolian Fault resumed its activity with the disastrous Erzincan quake of 29th December, 1939 that took the lives of more than 30,000 inhabitants. Between 1940 and 1948 Ketin devoted a number of mainly descriptive papers to the earthquakes that progressed westwards from Erzincan.

Finally, in 1948 Ketin published his classic paper "tiber die tektonisch-mechanischen Folgerungen aus den grossen anatolischen Erd beben des letzten Dezennium" (On the tectonic-mechanic implications of the great Anatolian earthquakes of the last decade). In this paper he documented that the earthquakes in northern Turkey had all occurred along an east-west fault zone that had the character of a right-lateral strike-slip fault. Ketin noticed that with one exception, all of the recent earthquakes had taken place along this fault zone, while vast areas of the Anatolian highland remained aseismic. Ketin deduced from this that an "Anatolian Block", composed of the aseismic areas was "drifting westwards" with respect to the areas to the north.

Ketin also noted that one earthquake had occurred near Kozan near the northeastern corner of the Eastern Mediterranean. This, he speculated, may be the expression of another fault that perhaps delimits the "Anatolian Block" against the Arabian platform. This prediction was vindicated only 23 years later when the Bingeil earthquake of 22nd May, 1971 took place on what was to be called the East Anatolian Fault, the left-lateral conjugate pair of the North Anatolian Fault.

Ketin's 1948 paper was the second, after W.Q.Kennedy's 1946 paper on the Great Glen Fault, of a series of papers that led to the recognition of the widespread presence and importance of large, in many places orogen-parallel, strike-slip faults, a recognition for which plate tectonics was to supply the rationale nearly a quarter of a century later.

In the meantime Ketin also spent all his summers mapping in diverse parts of his previously only sparsely mapped country. Although he initially had to map on a scale of 1:100.000, his maps were immaculate: I remember going to the field in Bursa with Ketin in 1984, with his 1946 manuscript map in our hands. We were in an ophiolitic melange terrain

xxxiv

and nearly 40 years ago Ketin had carefully mapped the larger blocks ~ The result of one of these summer1y mapping exercises served as his "Habilitation Thesis" and Ketin was promoted to associate professorship in 1945, three years after he had married a young teacher of geography. Miss Bedia A1plin.

In 1953 Ketin moved to the then newly founded Faculty of Mines of the old Istanbul Technical University. Here Ketin continued his studies both on the neo- and palaeotectonics of Turkey. In the interval 1953-1956 he was particularly concerned with testing the hypothesis of Sir Edward Bailey and J.W.McCallien, then of the University of Ankara. Bailey and McCa11ien had discovered an extensive outcrop of an ophiolitic melange to the immediate southeast of Ankara and assumed that it underlay the Klr~ehir Massif, interpreted as a giant klippe of northerly origin. Ketin's mapping showed that this was not the case and the Massif in reality underlay the ophiolites. He showed further that the Massif itself had formed only in the late Cretaceous, contrary to the prevailing view of a much older (Palaeozoic or even Precambrian) age. Ketin thus demonstrated that the northern marginal ranges of Turkey, called Pontides after the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea), were older than the Klr~ehir Massif, whereas the southern marginal chains, the Taurides (after the Taurus of the classical geographers), in which sedimentary successions reach from the Cambrian to the Eocene (in places even Miocene) without a major angular unconformity, were clearly younger. This implied that Turkey had grown from north to south during much of the Phanerozoic, a recognition that clashed with the then-fashionable two-sided orogen model of Kober and Stille, according to which the Ponti des represented the north-vergent north flank, while the Taurides were the south-vergent south flank of a symmetric Anatolian orogen with the crystalline massifs of Menderes and Klr~ehir formeing the axial Zwischengebirge. When Ketin presented some of his conclusions in 1955 at the "Geotectonics Symposium" held in honour of Stille in Hannover, the old and dogmatic German master told Ketin that he found this story hard to believe. Although Ketin had submitted a manuscript intended for the proceedings of the symposium, his paper was somehow left out of the final Festschrift. He later published different versions in Turkey and in Austria and those papers formed the basis of our modern views of the palaeotectonic evolution of Turkey.

In 1959 Ketin published his first palaeotectonic synthesis of Turkey. This paper represents a clear break from the Kober-Stille model and a kind of return to Suess' original view of 1909, that portrayed Turkey as a south-vergent outer arc of his Asiatic structure (Asiatischer Bau). Here Ketin showed that orogenic deformation during the Phanerozoic generally migrated from north to south in Turkey. On the basis of the age of the final orogeny and the palaeogeographic development, Ketin distinguished four major tectono-stratigraphic zones three of which extended west to east along the entire length of the country. Only the fourth, the southernmost unit, was confined to the southeastern extremity of the country, being located on the Arabian Platform. Ketin's zones were the following, from north to south:

1- Ponti des (Palaeozoic and Mesozoic orogenic deformation) 2- Anato1ides (Mesozoic and Cainozoic orogenic deformation) 3- Taurides (early Cainozoic orogenic deformation) 4- Border Folds (late Cainozoic orogenic deformation)

xxxv

In 1961 and 1966 Ketin further refined this classification, which for many years, until the advent of the theory of plate tectonics, served as the basis for all palaeotectonic studies in Turkey. When ;;engor (1979) and ;;engor and Yl1maz (1981) synthesized the tectonic evolution of Turkey from the viewpoint of plate tectonics, all they had to do was to give dif ferent names to the same units that Ketin had distinguished more than two decades earlier. Thus, the Pontides became the Pontide island arc (to be split into a Rhodope-Pontide arc and a Sakarya arc in 1981), the Anato1ides and the Taurides were united into an Anato1ide/Tauride platform (from which ;;engor et a1., 1982, separated a Klrgehir block as an independent unit), and the Border Folds remained the same (in 1979 Ozan Sungur1u suggested to rename them as the Assyrides to maintain para1e11ism with the other three units' names).

Since the publication of these landmark papers Ketin maintained his activity both in pa1aeo- and in neotectonics. His fieldwork largely was the basis for the concept of the East Anatolian Accretionary Complex (perhaps the most fundamental modification introduced into his 1966 classification), for the discovery of the Palaeo-Tethyan suture in Turkey, and for the classification of the neotectonic uinits of Turkey.

In addition to his research activity in Turkey, Ketin also stands out as an earth-science teacher and an organizer of the earth sciences in the country. As a teacher he not only instructed myriads of students, but also is the author of the most widely used text-books of physical geology, structural geology and the geology of Turkey in this country. His lecture notes on such diverse topics as the recent developments in the earth sciences and the tectonics of Africa are monuments to conciseness and clarity. Ketin is an enthusiastic field geologist and his enthusiasm is contagious. To this day he delights in introducing students into their first mapping area, in acquanting them "with the language of the rocks" as he is fond of saying, in demonstrating for them how to record their observations in minute detail and showing them how to sketch outcrops and panoramas! Ketin was the one who established the 1.T.U. tradition that every post-graduate geology student has to prepare at least one detailed geological map as a part of his or her thesis work. In addition to his formal teaching duties, Ketin has been also the foremost popularizer of the earth sciences in Turkey. Amidst his multifarious duties he has found time always to write popular articles for the general education of the public.

Ketin's organizational skills are best displayed by his ability to form and direct research groups. Today his group is the most active and internationally best-known in this country. As a department head, Ketin has always made sure that even the youngest member of his team became an independent researcher. He has repeatedly stressed throughout his career that he expected his students and associates to improve what had

xxxvi

been done earlier. More than once he exclaimed: "Don't come to me to tell me that I was right. Come to me if you found that I had been wrong!"

Ketin was once the president of the Geological Society of Turkey and twice the Dean of the Faculty of Mines of the I.T.U. For many years he was a panel member of the Turkish National Research Council for Research and Technology. He also represented Turkey on many international scientific committees and was the Turkish contributor of the International Tectonic Map of Europe.

Ketin's activity as a scientist, university teacher, and scientific organizer found the highest recognition both in Turkey and abroad. In 1981 he became the first recipient of the Hamit-Nafiz-Pamir Medal of the Geological Society of Turkey. In the same year the Turkish National Research Council for Science and Technology (Ttibitak) gave him the Science Award for the totality of his works, the highest recognition for a scientist in Turkey. Ketin was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1984 and of the Geological Society of America in 1988. Also in 1988 he received the prestigious Gustav-Steinmann-Medai11e of the Geo10gische Vereinigung in the Federal Repbulic of Germany for his "far-sighted geotectonic work, contributions to the geology of Turkey and to international co-operation in the earth sciences".

I here speak in the name of the organizers, the contributors, and the participants of the Ihsan Ketin Nato Advanced Study Institute on the Tectonic Evolution of the Tethyan Region in wishing Professor Ketin a long, healthy, and productive life.

A.M.C.:?engor