Foraminifera, Radiolaria and Conodont assemblages from the Early Mississipian (late Tournaisian)/Early Pennsylvanian (early Bashkirian) blocks within the Mersin Melange, southern Turkey: Biochronological and paleogeographical implications

The Mersin Melange, a sedimentary complex in southern Turkey, includes blocks of various origins within a Late Cretaceous matrix. Two blocks in the Mersin Melange are herein recognized to be of Carboniferous age. One block (the Kozan Block) is composed of alternating chert and mudstone, and includes radiolarian and conodont assemblages revealing a late Tournaisian (Early Mississippian) age. The other (Keven-West Block) consists of platform carbonate containing abundant foraminifera indicating Bashkirian (Early Pennsylvanian) age. These dates are so far the oldest obtained from the blocks within the Mersin Melange. A correlation of the lithostratigraphies of blocks in the Mersin Melange with the coeval Tauride sequences indicates that they correspond to the successions in the Beysehir-Hoyran Nappes. In these nappes, the late Tournaisian is characterized by radiolarian rich chert and mudstone of an open marine environment, whereas the Bashkirian succession represents a shallow water environment with Foraminifera-bearing limestone. The Tournaisian deepening can be ascribed to the opening of a deep marginal basin to the north of the Tauride Platform and uplifting of the northern Tauride-Anatolide Platform margin during the Late Mississippian and Early Pennsylvanian.