Sedimentary development of the Oligocene Karsanti Basin, southern Turkey, in its regional tectonic setting

Following Late Cretaceous ophiolite and melange emplacement within the Tauride belt several Neogene sedimentary basins of variable size were formed along the southern flank of the Taurus continent in southern Turkey. These include the Pozanti and Karsanti Basins and the regional scale Çukurova Basin Complex, extending southwestwards into the Cilicia-Kyrenia Basin. The Karsanti Basin is bounded by the regional scale sinistral Ecemiş Fault Zone to the west, the East Anatolian Fault Zone to the southeast and the Negoene Adana Basin to the south. Deformed Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rock units that display an irregular palaeotopography form the basement of the Karsanti Basin. These units are overlain by an allochthonous Kizildağ melange and by thrust slices of basic/ultrabasic ophiolitic rocks (Faraşa ophiolites) that were emplaced in this region during the Late Maastrichtian. The Karsanti Basin was formed during the Oligocene above the thrust sheets. The Karsanti Basin disconformably overlies the ophiolitic nappes and is interpreted as a N-S trending half graben which was probably most active following the deposition of lacustrine sediments during the late Oligocene. The main Karsanti Basin infill is represented by four lithological units: 1. Alluvial fan deposits (A1), 2. shallow-marine deposits (A2), 3. lacustrine deposits (A3), and 4. fluvial deposits (A4). These sediments were deposited during the Oligocene, prior to the initiation of the main Adana Basin, which formed in a separate intermontane setting. The Karsanti Basin fill is unconformably overlain by early Miocene sediments of the Neogene Adana basin. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd