Sealevel change and tectonic uplift from dated marine terraces along the eastern Mediterranean coast, southeastern Turkey

Tectonic movements among the African, Arabian, Aegean, and Anatolian Plates have deformed the eastern Mediterranean Basin. Since the late Pliocene, these movements caused transtensional opening of the NE-trending Antakya Graben. Tectonic uplift coupled with Quaternary sealevel fluctuations has produced several stacked marine terraces along the Mediterranean coasts on the Antakya Graben. Here, molluscs from terrace deposits that sit on both Graben flanks at elevations between ~ 3 and ~ 175 m were dated using standard electron spin resonance (ESR) dating. For molluscs in situ in the terraces, the ESR ages ranged from ~ 8.3 to ~ 214 ka, but most of the dated terraces contained molluscs reworked from several earlier deposits due to later tectonic movements, sealevel fluctuations, and associated sedimentary processes. By dating in situ fossils, such as Lithophaga, within or just above the basal contacts for the marine terraces, uplift rates were calculated on both sides of the Antakya Graben. North of the Asi River, the regional uplift rate ranges from ~ 0.43 ± 0.11 mm/yr at Samandağ to as high as 2.08 ± 0.70 mm/yr at Mağaracık Dump. South of the Asi River, uplift rates range from 0.81 ± 0.14 mm/yr at the Cliffside terrace to 2.33 ± 0.60 mm/yr at Meydan Dump I. Rather than regional movements, however, local active normal or transtensional faults, such as the Gözene, Altın, and Sinanlı Faults mainly uplifted these deposits.