Multistage lithospheric drips control active basin formation within an uplifting orogenic plateau


Andersen A. J., Göğüş O. H., Pysklywec R. N., ŞENGÜL ULUOCAK E., Santimano T.

Nature Communications, vol.15, no.1, 2024 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 15 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2024
  • Doi Number: 10.1038/s41467-024-52126-7
  • Journal Name: Nature Communications
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Core, Geobase, INSPEC, MEDLINE, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

According to GNSS/INSAR measurements, the Konya Basin in Central Anatolia is undergoing rapid subsidence within an uplifting orogenic plateau. Further, geophysical studies reveal thickened crust under the basin and a fast seismic wave speed anomaly in the underlying mantle, in addition to a localised depression in calculated residual topography (down to 280 m) over the Konya Basin, based on gravity-topography considerations. Using scaled laboratory (analogue) experiments we show that the active formation of the Konya Basin may be accounted for by the descent of a mantle lithospheric drip causing local circular-shaped surface subsidence. We interpret that the Konya Basin is developing through a secondary drip pulse that is contemporaneous with broad plateau uplift caused by a larger-scale lithospheric drip since the Miocene. The research reveals that basin evolution and plateau uplift may be linked in a multistage process of lithospheric removal during episodic development of orogenic systems.