POST-TRIASSIC EVOLUTION OF THE SOUTHERN MARGIN OF THE TURAN PLATE

The post-Eo-Cimmerian (Late Triassic) sedimentation on the Turan conti nental block is of 2-9 km in central Karakum to 17 km in the Kopet Dag . Since Miocene time, the southern Turan margin has been folded in res ponse to the Iran-Turan convergence. The presence of thrust faulting i n fold cores suggests that most folds have been generated by a fault p ropagation mechanism. The amount of N-S shortening is estimated to be 75 km (1.3-1.5 cm year(-1)) which can be resolved into a 70 km pure co mpression and a 35km dextral motion along the Ashgabad fault. (C) Acad emie des sciences/Elsevier, Paris.