Origın of ophiolites in Karadag (Narman-Erzurum) and surrounding region

In the study area, the magmatic rocks belonging to the Karadağ ophiolite and Tertiary units unconformably covering the ophiolitic units are present.The ophiolitic rocks in Karadağ (Narman-Erzurum) region are represented by highly-serpentinized ultramafic tectonites at the bottom and in turn tectonically overlain by cumulate and isotropic gabbros. At the top, the sheeted dikes cutting the gabbros, plagiogranites and volcanics are present. The ultramafic rocks of the ophiolite body display intense liswaenite occurences along the tectonic lines. We can conclude that the ophiolitic rocks may represent a normal ophiolite pseudostratigraphy based on the field and petrographic studies. Geochemical studies suggest that the rocks from the Karadağ ophiolite were derived from a tholeiitic magma and formed in a suprasubduction zone setting as a result of north deeping intraoceanic subduction zone in the northern branch of Neotethys since late Cretaceous.