Cretaceous Carbonate Deposits of Neotethys Ocean in the Northwest of Iran

Cretaceous carbonate deposits are considerably extensively distributed in the northwest of Iran and form most of the paleohighs of the region and different Cenozoic sedimentary units have deposited over these units with angular unconformity. Cretaceous stratigraphic units of northwestern Iran can be divided into three main categories： clastic, shallow carbonate and pelagic. Clastic facies include conglomerate, breccia and fine-grained clastic groups and carbonate facies are composed of series of microfacies of open sea（A）, bar（B）, lagoon（C）, and tidal flat. Relatively deep carbonate deposits with different trace fossils are also indications of deeper parts of the Cretaceous sedimentary environments in the northwest of Iran. With reference to the expansion of narrow Neotethys Ocean（Khoy-Zanjan）, shelf margin sedimentary environments of Neotethys Ocean can be assumed for the Azarshahr-Tabriz region, where flysch and clastics facies in the coasts of Varaghan deposited towards the northern parts with increase of depth. Investigation on the expansion of narrow Neotethys Ocean by using different sedimentary facies during the present study is considered as an important step to complete paleogeographic data of Cretaceous time in the northwestern region of Iran and Middle East.

The Intra-Pontide ophiolites in Northern Turkey revisited:From birth to death of a Neotethyan oceanic domain

The Anatolian peninsula is a key location to study the central portion of the Neotethys Ocean(s)and to understand how its western and eastern branches were connected.One of the lesser known branches of the Mesozoic ocean(s)is preserved in the northern ophiolite suture zone exposed in Turkey,namely,the Intra-Pontide suture zone.It is located between the Sakarya terrane and the Eurasian margin(i.e.,Istanbul-Zonguldak terrane)and consists of several metamorphic and non-metamorphic units containing ophiolites produced in supra-subduction settings from the Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous.Ophiolites preserved in the metamorphic units recorded pervasive deformations and peak metamorphic conditions ranging from blueschist to eclogite facies.In the nonmetamorphic units,the complete oceanic crust sequence is preserved in tectonic units or as olistoliths in sedimentary melanges.Geochemical,structural,metamorphic and geochronological investigations performed on ophiolite-bearing units allowed the formulation of a new geodynamic model of the entire"life"of the IntraPontide oceanic basin(s).The reconstruction starts with the opening of the Intra-Pontide oceanic basins during the Late Triassic between the Sakarya and Istanbul-Zonguldak continental microplates and ends with its closure caused by two different subductions events that occurred during the upper Early Jurassic and Middle Jurassic.The continental collision between the Sakarya continental microplate and the Eurasian margin developed from the upper Early Cretaceous to the Palaeocene.The presented reconstruction is an alternative model to explain the complex and articulate geodynamic evolution that characterizes the southern margin of Eurasia during the Mesozoic era.