Evolution of an early Eocene pull-apart basin in Central Pontides (Northern Turkey): new insights into the origin of the North Anatolian Shear Zone.

Although the North Anatolian Shear Zone is one of the main lithospheric-scale strike-slip deformation zone in the world, playing a prominent role in the complex geodynamic interaction among the Eurasian, Anatolian and Arabian plates, the onset time of its activity remains highly controversial. Here, we tackle this issue by utilizing nannofossil biostratigraphy on deposits from the Tascilar basin, a pull-apart basin that we have identified inside the North Anatolian Shear Zone overprinting the Intra-Pontide suture zone. The syn-tectonic sedimentary succession of the Tascilar basin developed completely during the early Eocene (Ypresian; CNE4–CNE5 Zones). The strike-slip faulting related to the initial onset of the North Anatolian Shear Zone can likely be constrained within the Ypresian, suggesting that the westward escape of the Anatolian plate along the North Anatolian Shear Zone started in the early Eocene.