In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

17 THE GEOLOGY OF THE AREA AROUND THE ANCIENT CITY OF SAGALASSOS Patrick DEGRYSE, Philippe MUCHEZ, Manuel SINTUBIN, Anton CLIJSTERS, Willy VIAENE† , Micky DEDEREN, Pieter SCHROOTEN and Marc WAELKENS resulting in the terrrane assemblage currently recognized in Turkey. On a smaller scale, within the Anatolide-Tauride terrane assemblage, the different terrane components can also be clearly recognized. This is the case in the Isparta-Antalya area. The complex amalgamation history in this area resulted in a particular triangular-shaped configuration, the so-called IspartaAngle (Dilek and Rowland, 1993), where four terranes can be recognized (Figure 2). Rock types and associated structures within the Isparta Angle indicate a progressive evolution from continental rifting and passive margin development to ocean basin formation during Triassic to late Cretaceous time (Dilek and Rowland, 1993). Regional compression began in the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) (~65Ma ago) and led to subduction-accretion.7 The Antalya Nappes were emplaced towards the north onto the Bey Dağları carbonate platform during latest-Cretaceous-Paleocene time (~60Ma ago). In the late Eocene (~35Ma ago) the platform was overthrusted from the northeast by the Sultan Dağ-Beyşehir Nappe Complex. In the late Miocene (~7Ma ago), the Lycean Nappe complex was emplaced onto the Bey Dağları platform from the northwest. Both nappe complexes consist of allochthonous8 carbonate platforms and seamounts, derived from other continental fragments, and ophiolitic9 and flysch10 complexes, originating from the interjacent oceanic basins. During the emplacement of the Lycean nappe complex a foreland basin developed on the autochthonous11 platform, which evolved into theAksu Basin. Crustal extension and strike-slip faulting exploited the Isparta Angle suture zone in the Plio-Quaternary (last 5Ma), with the development of the north-south oriented Kovada graben (Robertson, 1993). The Sagalassos area, of which a geological map is presented, is situated in the frontal area of the Lycean Nappe Complex on the western limb of the Isparta Angle (Figure 2). This western limb is composed of Mesozoic platform carbonates of the Bey Dağları Massif, overlain by the Lycean Nappe Complex, composed of Mesozoic to early Tertiary marine 1. TECTONIC SETTING The eastern Mediterranean is tectonically a very active and complex region (Figure 1). South of Cyprus and the Aegean Sea, active subduction1 takes place of the African oceanic lithosphere2 underneath the Eurasian continental lithosphere. These arcuate subduction zones form the current plate boundary between the African and Eurasian plates. The Aegean Sea area is characterized by a thinned continental lithosphere caused by the gravitational collapse of the Alpine orogen extending from the Balkans into Turkey. This domain currently undergoes active NE-SW oriented extension. For the major part, Turkey acts as one single continental block, the Anatolian plate. This continental block is extruded towards the west (Aegean Sea area) due to the impingement of the Arabian plate into the Eurasian plate. This tectonic escape occurs along the dextral North-Anatolian Fault. The IspartaAntalya area occupies a particular tectonic setting. Not only is it situated in the area between the acruate Hellenic and Cyprus trenches, where the plate boundaries are not well defined, but is also situated at the interface between areas with contrasting tectonic regimes, i.e. the NE-SW extensional regime towards the west (Aegean Sea area) and the compressional regime towards the northeast, resulting in the uplift of the Anatolian Plateau (Glover and Robertson, 1998). The Isparta-Antalya area itself is currently dominated by NE-SW extension, which leads to the development of the Aksu Basin. Prior to the Miocene, the Anatolian Plate did not act as one single continental block. Most of the Mesozoic-Tertiairy history of Turkey is a complex drift and amalgamation history of continental fragments. Currently 6 major terranes3 are recognized. A major suture4 runs across Turkey (the Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan Suture; Okay and Tuysuz, 1999), separating the northern Pontide terrane assemblage, characterized by a Laurussian affinity,5 from the southern Anatolide -Tauride terrane assemblage, showing a Gondwanan affinity.6 Carbonate platforms, seamounts, and small interjacent oceanic basins were all telescoped in a tectonic stack, SAGALASSOS_f3_15-24.indd 17 SAGALASSOS_f3_15-24.indd 17 9/30/2008 2:25:15 PM 9/30/2008 2:25:15 PM 18 Figure 1: The current plate tectonic setting of the Eastern Mediterranean (after Jolivet and Patriat, 1999), with indication of the Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan Suture (IAES) separating the Pontide terrane assemblage (PTA) from the Anatolide-Tauride terrane assemblage (ATTA) (after Okay and Tüyüz, 1999). Figure 2: Simplified map of the Isparta Angle with indication of the...

Share