The Middle Pleistocene uplift of the Central Anatolian Plateau (CAP) southern margin: New evidence from the Mut Basin (South Turkey)

The Central Anatolian Plateau (CAP) has played a dynamic role in the Africa-Eurasia convergence system since the mid-Mesozoic. It has been influenced by various geological processes, including lithospheric delamination, slab segmentation (specifically the Cyprus and Antalya slabs), tilting, and slab break-off. The southern margin of the CAP, marked by the Central Taurides, is unconformably overlain by Neogene marine sedimentary deposits from the Mut and Antalya basins. To better understand the mechanisms driving the Middle Pleistocene uplift, we present new evidence from a marine succession (Tol-1 section) of the Mut Basin, located at 1171 m a.s.l. Tol-1 section is approximately 71 m thick and consists of marls, clayey marls, and occasional calcarenite layers, indicating a shallowing-upward sequence. The calcareous nannofossil analysis revealed two key bioevents: the Last Occurrence (LO) of Pseudoemiliania lacunosa (0.46 Ma), in the midsection, and the First Occurrence (FO) of Emiliania huxleyi (0.26 Ma), near the top. Although the abundant reworked specimens, these taxa provide reliable chronological markers. The FO of E. huxleyi and the estimated sedimentation rate for the top of the Tol-1 section point to an age of ca. 0.21 Ma (Marine Isotope Stage, MIS 7) for the youngest marine deposits of the Mut Basin. Ostracod taphonomy suggests paleobathymetric conditions ranging from littoral to upper epibathyal environments (depths not exceeding 400 m). Paleomagnetic analysis confirms Brunhes' normal polarity, supporting a late Middle Pleistocene age for the Tol-1 section. So far, this section is identified as the youngest marine deposits reported at this elevation along the southern margin of the CAP. By combining our age constraints, the paleobathymetry of the top section (50 m b.s.l.), and the eustatic sea level during the late Middle Pleistocene (~-18.5 m), we estimate an uplift rate of ~5.9 m/kyr for the southern margin of the CAP. This uplift may be induced by the upwelling of low-density asthenospheric mantle following slab break-off as suggested in previous studies (Faccenna et al., 2006; Keskin, 2003; Cosentino et al., 2012; Schildgen et al., 2014; Öğretmen et al., 2018; Racano et al., 2020; 2021).