Age and kinematics of the Burdur Basin: Inferences for the existence of the Fethiye Burdur Fault Zone in SW Anatolia (Turkey)

The Burdur Basin is a late Miocene to Pliocene fluvio-lacustrine basin in SW Anatolia. It is developed within the postulated Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone, which was argued to be a sinistral strike-slip fault zone developed in response to propagation of the Pliny-Strabo STEP fault into SW Anatolia (Turkey). In order to assess the presence and tectonic characteristics of the fault zone, we conducted a paleomagnetic study in the Burdur basin that involved rock magnetic experiments, Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) measurements and developing a magnetostratigraphy for dating purposes. The obtained age model constrains most part of the tectonic evolution of the basin. The well exposed (similar to 270 m thick) Burdur section revealed 3 normal and 2 reverse polarity magnetozones. We propose that the Burdur Formation spans most of the Gauss Chron (similar to 3.4-2.5 Ma) which implies a sedimentation rate of > 18 cm/kyr. The AMS results in the section indicate NW-SE directed extension.