The Menderes Massif of western Turkey and the Cycladic Massif in the Aegean - do they really correlate?

Based on lithostratigraphic comparisons the Menderes Massif has been correl ated with the Cycladic Massif, thereby implying that the eastern Mediterran ean consists of a narrow pre-Alpine basement belt which is laterally contin uous over a long distance and which experienced a similar Alpine orogenic h istory. Our work indicates that the architecture, the age of basement and t he pre-Alpine and Alpine tectonometamorphic history of both massifs differ fundamentally from each other. The Menderes Massif consists of remnants of the Cycladic Massif which overly an exotic unit, the Menderes nappes, Both massifs do not represent lateral continuations which has implications for p alaeogeographic reconstructions.