New Data on the Upper Age of the Intra-Pontide Ocean From North of Şarköy (Thrace)

Abstract

Upper Eocene elastics in the southern part of the Thrace Basin north of Şarköy contain large number of olistoliths. The olistoliths are largely derived from the ophiolitic melange that forms the basement of the Eocene sedimentary sequence in this region. They comprise serpantinite, metadiabase, radiolarian chert and pelagic limestone. Some of the pelagic limestone blocks contain abundant Late Cretaceous and Middle Paleocene foraminifera. The presence of the Middle Paleocene pelagic limestone blocks derived from the ophiolitic melange indicate that the Intra-Pontide ocean was in existence at least until the Middle Paleocene.