Lithos, cilt.482-483, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
The northward subduction of the Paleo-Tethys beneath the southern margin of Laurasia during the Triassic caused the development of an extensional tectonic regime on the northern Gondwana by pull-forces. The Middle Triassic volcanic activity on the passive continental margin of Gondwana can be attributed to this rifting stage. The Afyon Zone represents the deeply buried northern margin of the Anatolide-Tauride Block (ATB), which was rifted from Gondwana in the Triassic by the opening of the southern Neo-Tethys. It is characterized by the existence of widespread Middle Triassic volcanic activity, which unconformably cover deeply eroded pre-Triassic basement. Early Middle Triassic rhyolites and andesites (245.2 ± 2.0 Ma) represent the first stage of the magmatic activity and exhibit a subduction signature, attributed to the former short-lived southward subduction of the Paleo-Tethys beneath northern Gondwana during the Carboniferous. The second stage of magmatic activity is dominated by trachyandesitic volcanic rocks (243.1 ± 1.9–239.2 ± 1.2 Ma) and rhyolites (243.0 ± 2.9–238.2 ± 1.2 Ma), which were generated in a rift setting. The final stage of magmatic activity at the northern margin of the ATB is characterized by extensional anorogenic alkaline rhyolitic volcanism (237.2 ± 2.3–229.4 ± 2.7 Ma), following the earlier stages described. During Middle to Late Triassic, this rifting on the northern Gondwana led to the synchronous opening of the Inner Tauride Ocean in the north and the southern branch of the Neo-Tethys in the south. The generation of these two oceans and the separation of the ATB and Kırşehir blocks from the northern margin of Gondwana should have resulted in the failure of the northern branch of the Neo-Tethys to open as a new oceanic basin.