Geology of Tunceli-Bingöl Region of Eastern Turkey

This region is located in the Taurus orogenic belt of the highland district of Eastern Turkey. Lower Permian metasediments and Upper Permian suberystalline limestone are the oldest exposed formations of this region. Lower Cretaceous flysch overlies partly eroded Upper Permian limestone discordantly. The enormous thickness of flysch, tuffs, basaltic - andesitic flows, and limestones constitute deposits of Lower Cretaceous, Upper Cretaceous, and Lower Eocene; the deposits of each of these periods are separated from the others by an unconformity. Middle Eocene limestone is overlain discordantly by Lower Miocene marine limestone which grades upward into lignite-bearing marls of Middle Miocene and red beds of Upper Miocene. After Upper Miocene time, this region has been subjected to erosion and widespread extrusive igneous activities. During Permian this region was part of Tethys geosyncline; in Triassic-Jurassic times it was subjected to orogenesis, uplift and erosion, and from Lower Cretaceous until Middle Eocene it was part of an eugeosyncline. It was affected by Variscan, pre-Gosauan, Laramide, Pyrenean, and Attian orogenies. The entire sedimentary section above the basement complex is intensely folded, faulted, subjected to igneous intrusion, and during five orogenic episodes has been exposed and eroded