Geochemical Study of Post-Collisional Basaltic Volcanism in Central Anatolia and Its Spatio-Temporal Evolution

Abstract

This thesis revealed the petrological and geochemical characterization of post-collisional Quaternary basalts of Central Anatolia (Erciyes and Hasandağ stratovolcanoes, and dispersed volcanisms of Obruk-Zengen and Karapınar), focusing on the spatiotemporal evolution of the magmatism in Cappadocia (Turkey). K-Ar geochronology indicated the coexistence of alkaline and calc-alkaline basalts from the same location and age. Moreover, the results also show that these basalts may be very young (a few thousand years). The mineralogy of Quaternary basalts from the Cappadocia is as follows: plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and oxides (magnetite, ilmenite). Orthopyroxene is observed only in basalts of Erciyes, while it is lacking in Hasandağ and dispersed volcanisms of Obruk-Zengen and Karapınar. The plagioclase phenocrysts often exhibit disequilibrium features attributed to magma mixing process: complex zoning (normal, inverse, oscillatory), concentric zones rich in melt inclusions, resorption features.