www.MantlePlumes.org © MantlePlumes.org Domal uplift and volcanism in a collision zone without a mantle plume: Evidence from Eastern Anatolia

The Eastern Anatolia region is one of the best examples of a continental collision zone in the world. It also comprises one of the high plateaus of the Alpine-Himalaya mountain belt with an average elevation of ~2 km above sea level (Fig. 1). It displays shallow and diffuse seismicity (Fig. 2), indicating that the lithosphere is still being actively deformed as a result of diffuse north-south shortening. This implies that the collision is still in progress. Previous studies have shown that the Arabian plate made its initial contact with the Eurasian plate during the Late Eocene. The region underwent compressional tectonic evolution subsequently, but most of it lay beneath sea level during a period between the Late Eocene (~50 Ma) and Serravalian (~13 Ma). At about 13 Ma, the region was subjected to abrupt block uplift and consequently elevated above sea level. Uplift was followed by subaerial volcanic activity. Volcanism intensifi ed and had became widespread all over the region by about 7-8 Ma, while the region gradually acquired a regional domal shape comparable to that of the Ethiopian High Plateau. However, the dome structure in Eastern Anatolia has a north-south shortened asymmetrical shape, due to the compressional tectonic regime created by collision, in contrast to that of the Ethiopian High Plateau. At present, it is diffi cult to recognis