Rapid late Miocene surface uplift of the Central Anatolian Plateau margin

In the rain shadow of the Tauride Mts. we observe a gradual 3.9‰ decrease of δ18O values of lacustrine carbonate between ∼11 and 5 Ma that we interpret to originate from a similar change in δ18O values of precipitation owing to the late Miocene development of an orographic barrier. Our stable isotope paleoaltimetry data show that by 5 Ma the southern CAP margin had reached similar-to-present elevations of ∼2 km. Surface uplift was coeval with ignimbritic magmatism, forearc shortening and distributed compression. We suggest that the removal of lithospheric mantle below Anatolia led to surface uplift of the CAP interior, which was followed by surface uplift of the southern CAP margin due to crustal thickening as a result of northward subduction of the African plate below central Anatolia.