Geophysical investigation of the Antalya Magnetic Anomaly representing the westernmost link of a buried magmatic arc in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

There is a large magnetic anomaly in the Gulf of Antalya (GoA), in southern Turkey which is the westernmost link of a magnetic anomaly chain in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a buried magmatic arc originating from the subduction in the Eastern Mediterranean region after Eocene. Because this is the first study on the chain, investigation of the anomaly in the GoA will stimulate many multidisciplinary studies on the other causative intrusions in this arc. The main purpose of this study is to provide a methodology for the search of each link while investigating the properties of the causative body in the GoA. Potential field techniques (such as power spectrum analysis, Reduction to Pole-RTP, pseudogravity transformation and 3D modelling) were applied to the GoA anomaly and their maps were constructed. The causative body has a conical shape with two peaks. The top depth of the structure was calculated as 2.6 km while the basement depth was approximately 12 km. The correlation between the marine seismic section crossing this anomaly and magnetic data analysis provides a good consistency. Therefore, this investigation provides valuable insights into the deep structure of the Gulf of Antalya because the relationship between the igneous emplacements and magnetic responses indicates good correlations in the Eastern Mediterranean region.