Tectonic evolution of the Soke Basin: Extension-dominated transtensional basin formation in western part of the Buyuk Menderes Graben, Western Anatolia, Turkey

Integrated study on the stratigraphic and structural features of the Soke Basin on the western end of the Buyuk Menderes Graben, Western Anatolia, has indicated that the tectonic evolution of Soke Basin includes extension-dominated transtension. At its western end, the EW-trending Buyuk Menderes Graben tends to follow a zig-zag path influenced by zones of NE-SW-trending weakness in pre-rift crystalline rocks. The pre-existing fabric trends lie at angles up to 45-70 degrees to the regional extension direction and are followed by extensional faults. The basin fill can be grouped into four major sequences separated by angular unconformities: (1) normal- to strike-slip-faulted Early-Middle Miocene alluvial fan-lacustrine sediments with economic coal beds, (2) folded and normal- to strike-slip-faulted Middle-Late Miocene lacustrine deposits intruded by volcanic rocks, (3) tilted Late Pliocene-Pleistocene alluvial fan-lacustrine carbonate deposits and shallow marine fan-delta deposits, and (4) undeformed Holocene alluvial, fluvial, and coastal sediments