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Crustal structure of the northern Menderes Massif, western Turkey, imaged by joint gravity and magnetic inversion

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Abstract

In western Anatolia, the Anatolide domain of the Tethyan orogen is exposed in one of the Earth’s largest metamorphic core complexes, the Menderes Massif. The Menderes Massif experienced a two-stage exhumation: tectonic denudation in the footwall of a north-directed Miocene extensional detachment, followed by fragmentation by E–W and NW–SE-trending graben systems. Along the northern boundary of the core complex, the tectonic units of the Vardar–Izmir–Ankara suture zone overly the stage one footwall of the core complex, the northern Menderes Massif. In this study, we explore the structure of the upper crust in the northern Menderes Massif with cross-gradient joint inversion of gravity and aeromagnetic data along a series of 10-km-deep profiles. Our inversions, which are based on gravity and aeromagnetic measurements and require no geological and petrophysical constraints, reveal the salient features of the Earth’s upper crust. We image the northern Menderes Massif as a relatively homogenous domain of low magnetization and medium to high density, with local anomalies related to the effect of interspersed igneous bodies and shallow basins. In contrast, both the northern and western boundaries of the northern Menderes Massif stand out as domains where dense mafic, metasedimentary and ultramafic domains with a weak magnetic signature alternate with low-density igneous complexes with high magnetization. With our technique, we are able to delineate Miocene basins and igneous complexes, and map the boundary between intermediate to mafic-dominated subduction–accretion units of the suture zone and the underlying felsic crust of the Menderes Massif. We demonstrate that joint gravity and magnetic inversion are not only capable of imaging local and regional changes in crustal composition, but can also be used to map discontinuities of geodynamic significance such as the Vardar–Izmir–Ankara suture and the West Anatolia Transfer Zone.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge financial support by Ariana Resources plc. Vanessa Markwitz is thanked for comments of an earlier version; reviews by Nuri Dolmaz and an anonymous reviewer helped to improve the manuscript. Klaus Gessner, now with the Geological Survey of Western Australia, publishes in the role of Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Exploration Targeting, University of Western Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Exploration Targeting, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, 6009, Australia

    Klaus Gessner

  2. Earth Science Division, CICESE, Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana No. 3918, CP 22860, Ensenada, Mexico

    Luis A. Gallardo

  3. Ariana Resources Plc, Bridge House, London Bridge, London, SE1 9QR, UK

    Francis Wedin & Kerim Sener

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  1. Klaus Gessner
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  2. Luis A. Gallardo
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Correspondence to Klaus Gessner.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplement 1

Combined PDF file of anomaly curves, geospectral profiles, and magnetization and density distribution profiles for all profiles WTA–WTM (PDF 34721 kb)

Supplement 2

Tabulation of residual mean square (RMS) misfit between actual gravity and magnetic data and best-fit model responses of sections WTA–WTM (DOCX 39 kb)

Supplement 3

Image file of ‘cross plots’ showing the range of magnetization and density values associated with the colour scale used in all geospectral images (PDF 23315 kb)

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Gessner, K., Gallardo, L.A., Wedin, F. et al. Crustal structure of the northern Menderes Massif, western Turkey, imaged by joint gravity and magnetic inversion. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 105, 2133–2148 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-016-1324-1

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