SOURCE-TO-SINK EVOLUTION OF A SUPRADETACHMENT BASIN UNRAVELED BY DETRITAL APATITE FISSION TRACK ANALYSIS: THE GEDIZ GRABEN (MENDERES MASSIF, WESTERN TURKEY)
Abstract
The Menderes Massif (Western Turkey) is a Tertiary continental metamorphic core complex
exhumed in the upper Oligocene – Miocene time, during the deposition of a series of E-W
trending basins. Several studies addressed the exhumation history of the massif, but the depositional
history of these basins is still poorly defined. Moreover, the full potential of supradetachment
basins in recording major tectonic events is often unexploited. In this work, we
use the Gediz Graben supradetachment basin as a case study to illustrate the benefits of a
comprehensive approach to detrital fission track dating that combines analysis of modern river
sediments, analysis of fossil sedimentary successions, and mineral fertility determinations. This
approach allowed us i) to reconstruct the modern short-term erosion pattern, ii) to constrain
the long-term exhumation history of the margins of the basin highlighting relevant alongstrike
variations and deciphering the spatial relevance of the main exhumation events, iii) to
identify major exhumation event recorded in the sedimentary sequence of the basin and iv)
to constrain the maximum age for the onset of sedimentation in the basin and for the main
sedimentary units. Here we illustrate how to reconcile our detrital apatite fission track dataset
with field evidences in order to build a coherent 4D model for the evolution of this supradetachment
basin, which is eventually discussed within the framework of the Cenozoic evolution
of the Menderes Massif