JOURNAL OF ASIAN EARTH SCIENCES, vol.23, no.4, pp.555-566, 2004 (SCI-Expanded)
The Simav detachment fault in the northern part of Menderes Core Complex in western Turkey, separates cover sequence rocks with brittle deformation, from high-grade metamorphic (core) rocks and young granitoid intrusions. The timing of shear zone formation and the intrusion of syn-tectonic granitoids is constrained by Ar-40/Ar-39 geochronology on muscovite from mylonitic gneiss, and biotite from the Egrigoz garanitoid. Ar-40/Ar-39 data indicate that mylonitic deformation occurred at 22.86 +/- 0.47 Ma, whilst the cooling age of the granitoid is 20.19 +/- 0.28 Ma. The intrusion and cooling of the Egrigoz granitoid occurred between similar to23-20 Ma. These data demonstrate that extensional deformation in the northern Menderes Core Complex began before Early Miocene times and represents an early stage in the Tertiary extensional tectonics of western Turkey. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.