Microfacies and stable isotope analyses (delta C-13 and delta O-18) of the upper Serpukhovian-Moscovian carbonates in the Hadim Nappe, southern Turkey: an approach to document the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA)

Abstract

The Late Paleozoic ice age (LPIA) span from latest Devonian to Late Permian (Lopingian) and was one of the three major Phanerozoic glaciations. Large continental ice sheets covered wide parts of Gondwana at high latitudes of the southern hemisphere during the Pennsylvanian and Cisuralian/Early Permian. Many paleoclimate reconstructions have been based on direct evidence of glacial deposits or indirect evidence (far-field effects) of stable isotope proxies and facies analysis of carbonate successions. In this study, we present for the first time Late Mississippian to Middle Pennsylvanian lithostratigraphy, microfacies analysis and stable isotope analyses (delta C-13 and delta O-18) of the stratigraphic units in the Hadim Nappe sections in the Taurides of southern Turkey. Based on detailed sedimentological studies, 12 microfacies and 9 sub-microfacies were defined for this stratigraphic interval. The main microfacies types indicate restricted to open marine, shoal and lagoon or peritidal zones. Evidence from the microfacies and sedimentology, as well as isotope data (delta C-13) recovered from the stratigraphic units (Yassipinar, Golbelen and Bademli sections) indicate that upper Serpukhovian-Moscovian successions of the Hadim Nappe were indirectly affected by Gondwana glaciation and during the Glacial Period II-III and C3 and C4 of the Australian glacial periods. Late Paleozoic global paleoclimatic changes are recorded in the stable isotope (delta C-13 and delta O-18) record of the studied succession in Tauride Platform in Hadim area and correlate with Russian and Chinese Platforms.