Geological Development of Anatolia and the Easternmost Mediterranean Region
This special edition presents a comprehensive collection of 22 papers on the development of the Anatolian region from the Late Palaeozoic to the present day. The papers represent a wide range of areas encompassing the whole region and cover an array of topics with a distinct structural and tectonic bias. The volume is organised in an approximate chronological order for the casual reader, however an annotated map in the introduction helpfully locates the area covered by each subsequent paper allowing the reader to jump to particular sections of interest.
Notable contributions include Robertson et al. extensive multi-disciplinary paper on East Tauride tectonics which includes a selection of structural, chemical and palaeontological analyses to give a well reasoned account of the tectonic history. Hardenberg & Robertson’s submission on sinistral strike slip motions in Syria, an in-depth paper by Duman & Emre on segmentation of the East Anatolian Fault and a very accessible study by Harrison et al. on the uplift history of Cyprus using carbon dating and luminescence data in conjunction with structural mapping. The volume contains a large number of illustrations and micrographs throughout which complement the detailed text.
There are also two excellent submissions by Parlak et al. on the Ispendere Ophiolite and other ophiolites in northeast Anatolia. Both papers include detailed maps and sections and some delightful colour micrographs alongside detailed geochemical analysis. Again, it is this multi-disciplinary element which sets apart the papers within this publication.
The text is let down somewhat by patchy proofreading with mistakes evident in titles, authors' names and diagrams, which is disappointing for a Special Publication. Additionally, some diagrams, for example several figures presenting structural information in Kinnard and Robertson, are reproduced in greyscale and/or otherwise in dimensions such as to render them largely unintelligible.
At almost 650 pages this is certainly one of the longer special publications (and I suspect could have been much longer still) but justifiably so given the complexity of the region. All things considered, the collection is an enjoyable and deeply informative read for postgraduates, academics or professionals with an interest in the tectonics of Anatolia.
Reviewed by Amy Clare Ellis
GEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ANATOLIA AND THE EASTERNMOST MEDITERRANEAN REGION. Robertson, A H F, Parlak, O & Ünlügenç, U C (eds) 2013 Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 372.