Late Ordovician glaciation in southern Turkey

Abstract : We present a new survey of several Palaeozoic sections in both the Taurus range and the Border Folds that documents typical glacial features including a glacial pavement and striated dropstones (Halevikdere Formation) and demonstrates the former presence of an ice sheet in southern and south-eastern Turkey. Evidence for the late Ashgill (Hirnantian) age of this episode is provided by macro- and microfossils found within the glacial formation. The extension of ice-related deposits into the northernmost part of the Arabian Platform (Mardin region) implies a much wider distribution of the Ordovician ice sheet than was previously believed, and strongly suggests that southern Turkey lay close to Egypt during the Lower Palaeozoic.