Palaeomagnetic evolution of the Çankiri Basin (central Anatolia, Turkey): Implications for oroclinal bending due to indentation

Palaeomagnetic data in combination with palaeostress data and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility orientations are utilized to develop a tectonic evolutionary model for the Early Tertiary part of the Ω(omega)-shaped Çankiri Basin (Turkey). The results reveal clockwise rotations in the northeast and anticlockwise rotations in the west and southeastern corner of the basin. The magnetic inclinations indicate a northward drift of the Çankiri Basin and support an indentation model for the Kirşehir Block. It is proposed that the Ω-shape of the Çankiri Basin was the result of indentation of the Kirşehir Block into the Sakarya Continent during northwards migration accompanying closure of Neotethys. It appears that the indentation started prior to Eocene and ended before Middle Miocene times.