The Tauride Ophiolites of Anatolia (Turkey): A Review

Key words: 
• ophiolite /
• metamorphic sole /
• dyke emplacement /
• roll-back /
• subduction initiation

Abstract: The Tauride ophiolites lie on the northern and southern flanks of an E-W-trendingTauride carbonate platform. They mainly consist of three tectonic units namely in ascending order,ophiolitic mélange, sub-ophiolitic metamorphic sole and oceanic lithospheric remnants. They weregenerated above intra-oceanic subduction zones and emplaced over the Tauride carbonate platformfrom different Neotethyan oceanic basins in the Late Cretaceous. Tauride ophiolites from west to eastare described and reviewed. All are underlain by well-preserved dynamothermal metamorphic soles ofvaried structural thicknesses up to 500 m that have a constant structural position between ophioliticmélange below and harzburgitic mantle tectonites above and display typical inverted metamorphicsequences from amphibolite facies above to greenschist facies below. The metamorphic soles areshown to have evolved during the initiation of subduction and emplacement processes. In the Pozant?-Karsant? area the contact between the metamorphic sole and the overlying serpentinized harzburgitesis characterized by a 1.5–2-m-thick zone of sheared serpentinized harzburgitic mantle intercalatedwith amphibolites and cut by thick mafic dykes (7–8 m) which postdate intraoceanic metamorphismand high-temperature ductile deformation. This contact is interpreted as an intra-oceanic decouplingsurface along which volcanics from the upper levels of the down-going plate were metamorphosed toamphibolite facies and accreted to the base of the hanging wall plate. The metamorphic soles andoverlying ophiolitic rocks were intruded by numerous isolated post-metamorphic diabase dykes filledby island arc tholeiitic magma. Subduction initiation and roll-back processes best explain thestructural and petrological relationships of Late Cretaceous ophiolite genesis, metamorphic soleformation and subsequent dyke emplacement of the Tauride ophiolites.