Paleomagnetic reconstruction of the Cenozoic evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean

A total of 113 paleomagnetic sites were sampled along an Anatolian S-N transect from the Arabian platform, the Hatay region, the Eastern Taurides, the Kirsehir block, the Sivas basin and the Eastern Pontides. Reliable characteristic remanent paleomagnetic directions were retrieved from 37 of these sites, spanning in time from Paleocene to Miocene. In a general way, declinations are westerly deviated and inclinations are shallower than the geocentered dipole value at the present latitudes. When combined with previously published results, these data indicate that a large-scale counterclockwise rotation of Anatolia of some 25degrees has occurred since the Miocene. Assuming that the pole of rotation of Anatolia with respect to Europe has remained constant in time at the location given by MacClusky et al. [J. Geophys. Res. 105 (2000) 56951 on the basis of the geodetic data, this rotation implies that a large westward displacement (500 kin at the average latitude of 40degrees) has taken place. Assuming that the rotation was initiated by the Arabia/Europe collision about 12 Ma ago, this corresponds to an average displacement of about 40 mm/year.