The Intra-Pontide suture zone in the Tosya-Kastamonu area, Northern Turkey: geological map at 1:50,000 scale

The Intra-Pontide suture zone is the northernmost ophiolite-bearing suture zone of Turkey, stretching with an east–west trend more than 400 km from Northwest to Central Turkey. It testifies to the presence of an oceanic basin, the Intra-Pontide Oceanic basin, located between the Istanbul-Zonguldak terrane and the Sakarya composite terrane from the Middle Triassic to the Late Paleocene. The convergence processes that led the closure of the Intra-Pontide Oceanic basin started in the Middle Jurassic and continued until the complete closure of the oceanic domain in the Late Paleocene with the building of the nappe stack. We present the first detailed geological map of the tectonic units documented in the easternmost branch of the Intra-Pontide suture zone in the Tosya-Kastamonu area (Northern Turkey). The Main Map is at 1:50.000 scale and covers an area of about 350 km2. It derived from 1:25.000 scale classic field mapping and represents a detailed overview of the complexities documented in the Intra-Pontide suture zone zone, a tectonic nappe stack originating from the closure of the Intra-Pontide Oceanic basin and the subsequent collision between the Istanbul-Zonguldak terrane and the Sakarya composite terrane. The map shows the orientations of superposed foliations, fold axes and mineral lineations on the basis of geometric cross-cutting relationships documented within the five tectonic units of the Intra-Pontide suture zone and provides information on its present-day architecture resulting from activity of the North Anatolian Fault.