Wenlock (Silurian) graptolitic shales from the Kocaeli Peninsula (Derince-Izmit), NW Turkey

Alternating dark grey to black thin-bedded limestones and yellowish-grey calcareous shales in a recently discovered section in Izmit (Derince), eastern Kocaeli Peninsula, yielded graptolites of the middle part of the Wenlock-Cyrtograptus lundgreni Zone and possibly Upper Cy. rigidus-Cy. perneri Zone. This is the first record of graptolitic shale facies rocks in the Kocaeli Peninsula. The succession described is more akin to the Silurian of the Zonguldak Terrane than the shallow-marine carbonate facies of the Istanbul Terrane. It is therefore suggested that the contact between the Istanbul and Zonguldak terranes should be located to the west of Izmit (Derince).