Extensional neotectonic regime in West-southwest Konya, Central Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract

In the Central Anatolia, the style of neotectonic regime governing the region has been a controversial issue. A tectonic study was carried out in order to contribute to this issue and better understand the neotectonic stress distribution and style of deformation in the west-southwest of the Konya region. From Middle Miocene to Recent time, Konya region was part of the Central Anatolia extensional province. The present-day topography in the west-southwestern part of Konya is characterized by alternating elongate grabens and horsts trending E-W and NW-SE. The grabens were developed upon low-grade metamorphic rocks of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic ages and ophiolite slabs of possibly Late Cretaceous age. The evolutionary history of grabens is episodic as evidenced by two graben infills; older and younger graben infills separated by an angular unconformity. The older infill consists of fluviolacustrine sequence intercalated with calc-alkaline lavas and pyroclastic rocks. This infill is folded; thrust faulted and Middle Miocene-Early Pliocene in age. The younger and undeformed basin fill comprises mainly of Plio-Quaternary conglomerates, sandstone-mudstone alternations of alluvial fan and recent basin floor deposits. Three major tectonic phases were differentiated based on the detailed mapping, morphological features and kinematic analysis. Approximately N-S trending extension began in the Middle Miocene-Early Pliocene in the region with the formation of E-W and NW-SE-trending grabens. Following NE-SW-directed compression which deformed the older basin fill deposits by folding and thrusting, a second period of ENE-WSW-trending extension began in the late Pliocene and continued to the present. The west-southwestern margin of the Konya depression is bounded by the Konya Fault Zone. It is an oblique-slip normal fault with a minor dextral strike-slip component and exhibits well-preserved fault slickensides and slickenlines. Recent seismicity and fault-related morphological features reveal that the Konya Fault Zone is an active neotectonic structure.