Middle Triassic back-arc basalts from the blocks in the Mersin Mélange, southern Turkey: Implications for the geodynamic evolution of the Northern Neotethys
First geochemical results from the Anisian lavas within the Mersin Mélange. The studied extrusives are dominantly characterized by sub-alkaline basalts. They have been generated at an intra-oceanic back-arc setting. These lavas may represent the oldest Neotethyan subduction zone found thus far. Oceanization of the northern Neotethys may have occurred before Middle Triassic.