Middle Triassic back-arc basalts from the blocks in the Mersin Mélange, southern Turkey: Implications for the geodynamic evolution of the Northern Neotethys

The Mersin Mélange is a tectonostratigraphic unit within the allochthonous Mersin Ophiolitic Complex in the Taurides, southern Turkey. This chaotic structure consists of blocks and tectonic slices of diverse origins and ages set in a clastic matrix of Upper Cretaceous age. In this study, we examine two blocks at two different sections characterized by basaltic lava flows alternating with radiolarian-bearing pelagic sediments. The radiolarian...