The seaway connection between the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean: Tectonic development of the Dardanelles

Abstract

A basin consisting of alluvial-fan, fluvial clastics, and lacustrine sediments dating from the late middle Miocene was developed in the southern part of the Thrace Basin, Gelibolu Peninsula, and the northwestern part of the Biga Peninsula. This basin was controlled by a southeastern fault that lies parallel to the northwestern rim of the Biga Peninsula. Shallow-marine sediments that occur widely in the upper parts of the sedimentary sequence in the basin indicate an initial connection between the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean during the middle to late Pannonian, extending from southern Thrace to west of the Biga Peninsula.