Geodynamics, Paleotectonic Recontractions and Tectonic Correlation of the Black Sea – Caspian Sea and Central Middle East Region

The lithosphere structure and geological evolution of the Caucasus and adjacent areas is determined by its position in the continental collision zone between the Eurasian and Africa-Arabian lithosphere plates, where convergence is still on-going at average rate of movement 10-30 mm/per year.

The main essence of the presentation is to highlight the pecularities of geodynamic evolution of continental collision zones of the lithosphere plates on the example of Caucasus and adjacent areas, paleotectonic reconstractions and correlation of main tectonic units of the region.

The Region located in the central part of the collision zone  represents the lithosphere fragments collage of the Tethys Ocean and its continental margins. Within this area the system of island arcs, intra-and back arc bsins existed during Neoproterozoic-Early Cenozoic. Supra-subduction, midocean ridges and withinplate magmatic activity took place during Paleozoic-Early Cenozoic. In Late Cenozoic closure of the oceanic and backarc basins took place followed by the continent-continent collision, topography inversion and formation of modern structures in the region (Adamia et al., 1981, 2017; Dercourt et al., 1986).

During the pre-colllision stage there were not two, but three Tethys branches. The third of them is Van-Khoi oceanic branch.

Number of paleo-subduction zones (two or three?) is still debatable within the academic community.  One research group (e.g.: Barrier et al., 2018; Sosson et al., 2010) admits existence of two subduction zones: Peri-Arabian and Ankara-Erzincan-Sevan-Zangezur zones, whilst another group including the abstract authors refer to the presence of three subduction zones and aside from abovementioned zones consider the presence of the Khoy Ocean and third subduction zone related to one of the Neotethys branches (Adamia et al., 1981, 2017; Dercour et al., 1986; Stampfli Atlas, 2001).

According to Adamia et al., 1981, 2017; Dercourt et al., 1986, Daralogöz- South Armenian block and Nakhchevan (SAB) in the Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic-Early Cenozoic represent the part of the Iranian but not the Anatolian Microcontinent.

References:

Adamia, SH., et al. 1981. Tectonics of the Caucasus and adjoining regions: implications for the evolution of the Tethys ocean. Journal of Structural Geology 3, 437–447

Adamia, Sh., et al. 2017. Tethyan evolution and continental collision in Georgia. In: Sorkhabi, R. (Ed.), Tectonic Evolution, Collision, and Seismicity of Southwest Asia: In Honor of Manuel Berberian’s Forty-Five Years of Research Contributions. Geol. Soc. Amer. Spec. Papers 525. pp. 501–535.

Barrier E., et al. 2018.- Paleotectonic Reconstruction of the Central Tethyan Realm. Tectonono-Sedimentary-Palinspastic maps from Late Permian to Pliocene. CCGM/CGMW, Paris, http://www.ccgm.org. Atlas of 20 maps (scale: 1/15 000 000).

Dercourt, J., et al. 1986. Geological evolution of the Tethys belt from the Atlantic to the Pamir since the Lias. Tectonophysics 123, 241–315.

Sosson M., et al. 2010. Sedimentary basin tectonics from the Black Sea and Caucasus to the Arabian Platform: Introduction, in Sosson, M., Kaymakci, N., Stephenson, R.A., Bergerat, F., and Starostenko, V., eds., Sedimentary Basin Tectonics from the Black Sea and Caucasus to the Arabian Platform: Geological Society, London, Special Publication 340, p. 1–10, doi:10.1144/SP340.1

Srampfli G. 2001. Palaeotectonic and palaeogeographic evolution of the western Tethys and PeriTethyan domain (IGCP Project 369).