The Nil&uuml / fer Unit of the Karakaya Complex at the pre-Liassic basement of the Sakarya Composite Terrane is composed mainly of metabasaltic lithologies with limestones, and minor cherts and mudstones. These metabasic assemblages show OIB- and E-MORB-type geochemical signatures with variable enrichment in the most incompatible elements relative to N-MORB. The Eymir Unit consists of variably deformed metaclastics, and constitutes the matrix in which the Nil&uuml / fer-type blocks are embedded. In the Ankara region, the Eymir Unit is intruded by metadiabase dikes that display intra-oceanic SSZ-type signatures with a marked negative Nb anomaly combined with a slightly depleted HFSE budget relative to N-MORB. The wide range in trace element ratios displayed by the Nil&uuml / fer metabasic rocks can be explained by melt-mixing processes that has taken place within the spinel-garnet transition zone. Pb-Nd-Hf radiogenic isotope systematics reveal that the Nil&uuml / fer samples has been derived from enriched mantle sources, and a multi-component source mixing is required to explain their genesis. The Eymir metadiabases, however, require contribution from a sediment component that mixes with a depleted mantle source. The geochemical data when combined with the geological and petrographical observations suggest that the Nil&uuml / fer metabasic rocks represent ancient oceanic islands that were created by a heterogeneous mantle plume rising beneath the Palaeotethyan oceanic lithosphere. During the latest Triassic, these oceanic islands were incorporated into a subduction/accretion prism, where they mixed with the continental-derived assemblages of diverse origin, creating the Karakaya Complex. The intrusion of the SSZ-type metadiabases postdates the formation and deformation of the Complex.

This study aims to reveal the geochemical signatures of the basic igneous rocks with well-determined age within the Karakaya Complex in Central and NW Anatolia and also exhibit the relationships between the studied units in terms of geological and petrographical features. The Karakaya Complex comprise a number of tectono-stratigraphic units in the studied regions (the Olukman Melange, the Bah&ccedil / ecik Formation, the Ortaoba Unit and the informally named pillow basalt-limestone association) and the pre-Karakaya basement unit (the Eymir Complex). The basic igneous rocks have been all intensely affected by hydrothermal metamorphism as reflected by the secondary products strongly overprinting the primary mineral phases and most of them exhibit vesicular structures which are filled by mainly calcite. The primary mineral assemblage dominating the basaltic rocks is clino-pyroxene, plagioclase and olivine, whereas secondary phases are characterized by actinolite, pistacite, zoisite/clinozoisite group and chlorite. Kaersutite, as a late stage magmatic mineral, is distinctive for Ti-augite bearing imrahor basalts / on the other hand, the diabase dykes include hornblende as an essential primary phase. The basic rocks are represented by three groups / sub-alkaline, alkaline and transitional. The alkaline samples from imrahor, Hasanoglan, Kadirler and Ortaoba are of Anisian age and akin to oceanic-island basalts (OIB). The sub-alkaline and transitional samples from imrahor and Ortaoba reflect P-MORB features and are younger than the first group. The diabase dykes cross-cutting the Eymir Complex, on the other hand, are too dissimilar, indicating back-arc basin signatures. Based on the data obtained from this study, the Karakaya Complex is characterized by a number of tectonic components (seamount, plume-related mid ocean ridge and back-arc basin) with different ages and origins, which were later amalgamated during the Cimmerian orogeny.