Stratigraphic and metamorphic inversions in the central Menderes Massif: anew structural model

The Menderes Massif is a large area of dominantly Tertiary metamorphic rock s in western Turkey. It is bordered in the west by the Cycladic Metamorphic Complex with Eocene high-pressure/low-temperature (HP/LT) metamorphism. In the Central Menderes the Aydin mountains are made up of a thrust stack of Eocene age. At the base of the thrust stack, greenschist-facies Paleozoic m etasediments of the Menderes Massif form an inverted stratigraphic sequence . The Barrovian-type metamorphism is also inverted with garnet-bearing meta pelites lying over the lower-grade biotite-bearing metapelites. The P-T con ditions in the garnet zone are estimated as 530 degreesC and 8 kbar. This s chist sequence of the central Menderes Massif is interpreted as the inverte d lower limb of a major southward closing recumbent fold, with the southern Menderes Massif representing a section from the near hinge of this fold. T he Paleozoic metamorphic rocks of the central Menderes Massif are tectonica lly overlain by gneiss klippen possibly originating from the sheared and so uthward translated core of the Menderes fold. Lying also tectonically over the Paleozoic metamorphic rocks is a major thrust sheet belonging to the Cy cladic metamorphic complex. It consists of garnet micaschist, Mesozoic marb le, serpentinite and amphibolitised eclogite. Although it has a highly shea red internal structure, it probably represents an initially coherent sequen ce that has undergone HP/LT metamorphism during the Eocene. The Aydin mount ains are dominated by contractional structures with subordinate extensional structures.