Biostratigraphy of Lower Permian foraminiferal assemblages from platform-slope carbonate blocks within the Mersin Mélange,southern Turkey: Paleogeographical implications

The Mersin Mélange (MM) as a part of the Mersin Ophiolitic Complex in southern Turkey is a sedimentary complex including blocks and tectonic slices within a Late Cretaceous matrix. Two blocks (Keven and Cingeypinari) within the MM originated from the northern branch of Neotethys (Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan Ocean) and have been studied in detail using foraminiferal assemblages to correlate them with coeval successions in the Taurides and to approach the Early Permian evolution of the northern branch of the Neotethys. The Keven block includes mainly slope deposits (poorly-sorted carbonate breccia and fossiliferous calcarenite) and dated as late Asselian-Sakmarian, whereas the Cingeypinari block consists of platform deposits (fossiliferous platform carbonate and quartz sandstone alternation) assigned to the Sakmarian-early Artinskian. These Early Permian Cingeypinari and Keven blocks from the Beysehir-Hoyran Nappes are biostratigraphically well correlated to the northerly originated Hadim nappe and its equivalents in the Tauride Belt. Considering recent studies on the Mersin Mélange, a possible mantle plume existed during the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian time interval along the northern Gondwanan margin. This event led to the opening of the northern Neotethys and deposition of the pelagic “Karincali” sequence with volcanic material in the basinal conditions. The data presented suggest that the Keven block relates to the slope and the Cingeypinari block to platform conditions deposited as a lateral equivalent of the Karincali sequences during the Early Permian.