Early Miocene palaeoflora and palaeoecology of the Soma Basin, Western Turkey
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Early Miocene palaeoflora and palaeoecology of the Soma Basin, Western Turkey Mehmet Serkan Akkiraz 1 Volker Mosbrugger 3
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Torsten Utescher 2 & Angela A. Bruch 3
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Volker Wilde 3 & Sariye Duygu Durak 1
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Received: 13 November 2019 / Revised: 27 February 2020 / Accepted: 29 April 2020 # Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract In this study comprehensive palaeofloristic data of lower Miocene deposits from the Soma Basin, western Anatolia is presented considering the stratigraphical concept. The sediments of the basin, derived from outcrop sections, were deposited in the terrestrial environment. The basin includes three different successions: lower and middle lignite successions of the Soma Formation and upper lignite succession of the Deniş Formation. In this paper, we address the early Miocene palaeoecology via pollen and leaf assemblages from the Soma Basin, dated precisely using radiometric data. High percentages of Cupressaceae in the lower lignite succession of the Soma Formation, and minor quantities of elements such as Carya, Nyssa, Myrica, Ulmus and Salix reflect a local riparian and swamp vegetation. Marls overlying the lower lignite succession represent an environment close to the source area, with a variety of flora. During the deposition of middle lignite succession wet conditions played an essential role in the swamp forest fostering some distance transport of pollen which reflect the mesophytic forest vegetation as well as higher altitudes in the hinterland. The high percentages of lacustrine plankton Botryococcus and presence of Spirogyra in the upper lignite succession of the Deniş Formation imply a shallow water environment with less rainfall surrounded by evergreen and deciduous mixed forest. Keywords Miocene . Western Turkey . Soma Basin . Palaeoenvironment . Palaeoclimate
Introduction Western Anatolia is part of the Aegean Province, which is a region of extensional deformation driven by the complicated convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. In response to crustal extension, southwest Anatolia is dominated by numerous graben structures that are mostly filled with Miocene to Recent continental clastic rocks including volcanic material and some carbonates (e.g. Şengör and Yılmaz 1981; Seyitoğlu and Scott 1994; Seyitoğlu 1997; Görür and Tüysüz 2001; Gürer and Yılmaz 2002; Purvis and Robertson 2005). Relevant
* Mehmet Serkan Akkiraz [email protected] 1
Department of Geological Engineering, Kütahya Dumlupınar University, 43100 Kütahya, Turkey
2
Institut für Geologie, Nussalle 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany
3
Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural Museum, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
basins are either ~E–W-oriented or ~ N–S-oriented which is usually referred to as cross-grabens of Şengör (1987). During the early–middle Miocene lignite-bearing volcanoclastic deposits were accumulated in NE–SW trending basins such as Kütahya (Seyitömer and Tunçbilek subbasins), Çan (
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