Systematic, stratigraphy, biofacies and palaeoecology of miocene coral reefs of the Mut basin (South Turkey)

The Dağpazarı reef complex, developed within Mut Basin, is located in the Central Taurus Belt and it is part of a large carbonate platform which formed in relation to the Miocene marine transgression. Its age has been defined as Langhian based on coral fauna, 87Sr/86Sr isotope analysis and previous studies of the stratigraphic correlation. In this study the reef building scleractinian coral fauna has been described, with a total of 15 genera and 26 species belonging to the Pocilloporidae, Siderastreidae, Poritidae, Mussidae, Lobophylliidae, Montastraeidae, Diploastreidae and Merulinidae families. At the end of the detailed field and laboratory works total 10 facies have been identified in the Dagpazarı reef. The co-existance of this facies associations with z-coral dominant fauna, Halimeda, coralline red algae and seagrasses colonizations show us a stable position of Dağpazarı platform in euphotic zone thanks to paleotopographic relief. The coral fauna of the Dağpazarı reef complex has been compared to coeval coral assemblages from France, Italy, Spain, Iran, Egypt, North Africa coasts and Austria-Hungary. The comparison with Red Sea, western Mediterranean and Paratethys coral faunas shows relatively close similarities, as concerning genera (Stylophora, Porites, Caulastraea, Favia, Favites, Montastraea, Tarbellastraea, Thegioastraea, Mussismilia etc.) and species (Porites maigensis, Porites collegniana, Favites neglecta, Montastraea mellahica, Montastraea schweinfurthi, Montastraea tchihatcheffi, Tarbellastraea ellisiana, Tarbellastraea reussiana, Solenastrea desmoulinsi etc.). These results clearly confirm the existence of seaway connections between Mediterranean and Atlantic, Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Paratethys during Langhian time.