The eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region during the Cretaceous: New evidence to constrain its tectonic evolution

Marc Sosson; Randell Stephenson; Yevgeniya Sheremet; Yann Rolland; Shota Adamia; Rafael Melkonian; Talat Kangarli; Tamara Yegorova; Ara Avagyan; Ghazar Galoyan; Taniel Danelian; Marc Hassig; Maud Meijers; Carla Mueller; Lilit Sahakyan; Nino Sadradze; Victor Alania; Onice Enukidze; Jon Mosar

doi:10.1016/j.crte.2015.11.002

The eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region during the Cretaceous: New evidence to constrain its tectonic evolution

Marc Sosson^*, Randell Stephenson, Yevgeniya Sheremet, Yann Rolland, Shota Adamia, Rafael Melkonian, Talat Kangarli, Tamara Yegorova, Ara Avagyan, Ghazar Galoyan, Taniel Danelian, Marc Hassig, Maud Meijers, Carla Mueller, Lilit Sahakyan, Nino Sadradze, Victor Alania, Onice Enukidze, Jon Mosar

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geology and Geophysics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

76 Citations (Scopus)

9 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We report new observations in the eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region that allow reconstructing the evolution of the Neotethys in the Cretaceous. At that time, the Neotethys oceanic plate was subducting northward below the continental Eurasia plate. Based on the analysis of the obducted ophiolites that crop out throughout Lesser Caucasus and East Anatolides, we show that a spreading center (AESA basin) existed within the Neotethys, between Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Later, the spreading center was carried into the subduction with the Neotethys plate. We argue that the subduction of the spreading center opened a slab window that allowed asthenospheric material to move upward, in effect thermally and mechanically weakening the otherwise strong Eurasia upper plate. The local weakness zone favored the opening of the Black Sea back-arc basins. Later, in the Late Cretaceous, the AESA basin obducted onto the Taurides–Anatolides–South Armenia Microplate (TASAM), which then collided with Eurasia along a single suture zone (AESA suture).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	23-32
Number of pages	10
Journal	Comptes Rendus. Ge´oscience
Volume	348
Issue number	1
Early online date	18 Dec 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2015.11.002
Publication status	Published - Jan 2016

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgments
This paper has been written in tribute to my colleague and friend Jean-François Stéphan, who much motivated this work and followed it step by step. Speaking personally as the primary author, Jean-François supported and enriched my scientific work over my whole career. We spent years as office neighbors in Geoazur, and I thus had the great privilege to discuss science with Jean-François almost every day. I will never forget the great colleague and the even greater friend he was for me.

These works were supported by the “Groupement De Recherche International” Géosciences Sud Caucase of the CNRS\INSU and also by the MEBE and DARIUS Programs.

The authors would like to thank the two reviewers of this paper, Invited Associate Editor Bernard Mercier de Lépinay, and Associate Editor Isabelle Manighetti, who significantly improved the synopsis and the English writing of the paper.

Keywords

Black Sea
Caucasus
Ophiolites
Cretaceous
Neotethys
Paleotectonic reconstruction

Access to Document

10.1016/j.crte.2015.11.002Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

The eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region during the Cretaceous: New evidence to constrain its tectonic evolution
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Final published version, 2.58 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

Sosson, M., Stephenson, R., Sheremet, Y., Rolland, Y., Adamia, S., Melkonian, R., Kangarli, T., Yegorova, T., Avagyan, A., Galoyan, G., Danelian, T., Hassig, M., Meijers, M., Mueller, C., Sahakyan, L., Sadradze, N., Alania, V., Enukidze, O., & Mosar, J. (2016). The eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region during the Cretaceous: New evidence to constrain its tectonic evolution. Comptes Rendus. Ge´oscience, 348(1), 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2015.11.002

Sosson, M, Stephenson, R, Sheremet, Y, Rolland, Y, Adamia, S, Melkonian, R, Kangarli, T, Yegorova, T, Avagyan, A, Galoyan, G, Danelian, T, Hassig, M, Meijers, M, Mueller, C, Sahakyan, L, Sadradze, N, Alania, V, Enukidze, O & Mosar, J 2016, 'The eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region during the Cretaceous: New evidence to constrain its tectonic evolution', Comptes Rendus. Ge´oscience, vol. 348, no. 1, pp. 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2015.11.002

@article{13a5465325574178a1345fa2b4e1065b,

title = "The eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region during the Cretaceous: New evidence to constrain its tectonic evolution",

abstract = "We report new observations in the eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region that allow reconstructing the evolution of the Neotethys in the Cretaceous. At that time, the Neotethys oceanic plate was subducting northward below the continental Eurasia plate. Based on the analysis of the obducted ophiolites that crop out throughout Lesser Caucasus and East Anatolides, we show that a spreading center (AESA basin) existed within the Neotethys, between Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Later, the spreading center was carried into the subduction with the Neotethys plate. We argue that the subduction of the spreading center opened a slab window that allowed asthenospheric material to move upward, in effect thermally and mechanically weakening the otherwise strong Eurasia upper plate. The local weakness zone favored the opening of the Black Sea back-arc basins. Later, in the Late Cretaceous, the AESA basin obducted onto the Taurides–Anatolides–South Armenia Microplate (TASAM), which then collided with Eurasia along a single suture zone (AESA suture).",

keywords = "Black Sea, Caucasus, Ophiolites, Cretaceous, Neotethys, Paleotectonic reconstruction",

author = "Marc Sosson and Randell Stephenson and Yevgeniya Sheremet and Yann Rolland and Shota Adamia and Rafael Melkonian and Talat Kangarli and Tamara Yegorova and Ara Avagyan and Ghazar Galoyan and Taniel Danelian and Marc Hassig and Maud Meijers and Carla Mueller and Lilit Sahakyan and Nino Sadradze and Victor Alania and Onice Enukidze and Jon Mosar",

note = "Acknowledgments This paper has been written in tribute to my colleague and friend Jean-Fran{\c c}ois St{\'e}phan, who much motivated this work and followed it step by step. Speaking personally as the primary author, Jean-Fran{\c c}ois supported and enriched my scientific work over my whole career. We spent years as office neighbors in Geoazur, and I thus had the great privilege to discuss science with Jean-Fran{\c c}ois almost every day. I will never forget the great colleague and the even greater friend he was for me. These works were supported by the “Groupement De Recherche International” G{\'e}osciences Sud Caucase of the CNRS\INSU and also by the MEBE and DARIUS Programs. The authors would like to thank the two reviewers of this paper, Invited Associate Editor Bernard Mercier de L{\'e}pinay, and Associate Editor Isabelle Manighetti, who significantly improved the synopsis and the English writing of the paper.",

year = "2016",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1016/j.crte.2015.11.002",

language = "English",

volume = "348",

pages = "23--32",

journal = "Comptes Rendus. Ge´oscience",

issn = "1631-0713",

publisher = "ELSEVIER FRANCE-EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region during the Cretaceous

T2 - New evidence to constrain its tectonic evolution

AU - Sosson, Marc

AU - Stephenson, Randell

AU - Sheremet, Yevgeniya

AU - Rolland, Yann

AU - Adamia, Shota

AU - Melkonian, Rafael

AU - Kangarli, Talat

AU - Yegorova, Tamara

AU - Avagyan, Ara

AU - Galoyan, Ghazar

AU - Danelian, Taniel

AU - Hassig, Marc

AU - Meijers, Maud

AU - Mueller, Carla

AU - Sahakyan, Lilit

AU - Sadradze, Nino

AU - Alania, Victor

AU - Enukidze, Onice

AU - Mosar, Jon

N1 - Acknowledgments This paper has been written in tribute to my colleague and friend Jean-François Stéphan, who much motivated this work and followed it step by step. Speaking personally as the primary author, Jean-François supported and enriched my scientific work over my whole career. We spent years as office neighbors in Geoazur, and I thus had the great privilege to discuss science with Jean-François almost every day. I will never forget the great colleague and the even greater friend he was for me. These works were supported by the “Groupement De Recherche International” Géosciences Sud Caucase of the CNRS\INSU and also by the MEBE and DARIUS Programs. The authors would like to thank the two reviewers of this paper, Invited Associate Editor Bernard Mercier de Lépinay, and Associate Editor Isabelle Manighetti, who significantly improved the synopsis and the English writing of the paper.

PY - 2016/1

Y1 - 2016/1

N2 - We report new observations in the eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region that allow reconstructing the evolution of the Neotethys in the Cretaceous. At that time, the Neotethys oceanic plate was subducting northward below the continental Eurasia plate. Based on the analysis of the obducted ophiolites that crop out throughout Lesser Caucasus and East Anatolides, we show that a spreading center (AESA basin) existed within the Neotethys, between Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Later, the spreading center was carried into the subduction with the Neotethys plate. We argue that the subduction of the spreading center opened a slab window that allowed asthenospheric material to move upward, in effect thermally and mechanically weakening the otherwise strong Eurasia upper plate. The local weakness zone favored the opening of the Black Sea back-arc basins. Later, in the Late Cretaceous, the AESA basin obducted onto the Taurides–Anatolides–South Armenia Microplate (TASAM), which then collided with Eurasia along a single suture zone (AESA suture).

AB - We report new observations in the eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region that allow reconstructing the evolution of the Neotethys in the Cretaceous. At that time, the Neotethys oceanic plate was subducting northward below the continental Eurasia plate. Based on the analysis of the obducted ophiolites that crop out throughout Lesser Caucasus and East Anatolides, we show that a spreading center (AESA basin) existed within the Neotethys, between Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Later, the spreading center was carried into the subduction with the Neotethys plate. We argue that the subduction of the spreading center opened a slab window that allowed asthenospheric material to move upward, in effect thermally and mechanically weakening the otherwise strong Eurasia upper plate. The local weakness zone favored the opening of the Black Sea back-arc basins. Later, in the Late Cretaceous, the AESA basin obducted onto the Taurides–Anatolides–South Armenia Microplate (TASAM), which then collided with Eurasia along a single suture zone (AESA suture).

KW - Black Sea

KW - Caucasus

KW - Ophiolites

KW - Cretaceous

KW - Neotethys

KW - Paleotectonic reconstruction

U2 - 10.1016/j.crte.2015.11.002

DO - 10.1016/j.crte.2015.11.002

M3 - Article

SN - 1631-0713

VL - 348

SP - 23

EP - 32

JO - Comptes Rendus. Ge´oscience

JF - Comptes Rendus. Ge´oscience

IS - 1

ER -

The eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region during the Cretaceous: New evidence to constrain its tectonic evolution

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this