Integrated petrographic and XRD characterization of carboniferous-aged sandstones from the Zonguldak basin (NW Turkey): insights into tectonic provenance and sedimentary processes

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of Mining and Mineral Extraction, Caycuma Vocational School, Zonguldak Bulent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, Türkiye.

10.22059/ijmge.2026.401802.595302

Abstract

This study presents an integrated petrographic and mineralogical evaluation of Carboniferous-aged sandstone units from the Zonguldak Basin, located in northwestern Turkey. A total of four representative samples from the Kozlu, Armutçuk, Üzülmez, and Karadon formations were analyzed through thin-section petrography and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques to investigate their compositional characteristics, provenance signatures, and depositional environments. Petrographic analysis revealed that the majority of the samples fall into Feldspathic Litharenite, Arkose and Lithic Arkose categories, based on Folk’s sandstone classification scheme. The dominance of quartz and feldspar, alongside lithic fragments derived from felsic igneous and high-grade metamorphic sources, suggests deposition under tectonically active conditions with limited chemical weathering and short sediment transport distances. XRD analyses confirmed the presence of quartz, feldspar, clay minerals (illite, muscovite), and minor calcite. The diffraction patterns exhibit sharp peaks for quartz and feldspar, indicating well-crystallized detrital grains, whereas broader peaks for clay minerals imply diagenetic alteration during burial. Grain size assessments indicate a wide spectrum ranging from fine- to coarse-grained textures, which points to fluctuating depositional energies—likely controlled by fluvio-deltaic processes in an actively uplifting basin margin. The presence of angular lithic fragments and feldspar-rich assemblages supports a provenance associated with nearby orogenic highlands. These findings are consistent with previous tectonic reconstructions that associate the Zonguldak Basin with the closure of the Intrapontide Ocean and collisional events during the Paleozoic–Mesozoic transition. Overall, this study provides significant insights into the sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the Zonguldak Basin and contributes to a better understanding of the basin's geodynamic history and sedimentary processes.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1] Gök, M. Ş., 1970. Kuzey Anadolu Taşkömür Havzası (Tektonik Yapısı). Türkiye Jeoloji Bülteni, 13(1), 120-145.
[2] Yalçın, M.N., İnan, S., Gülbin, G., Mann, U., Schaefer, R.G., 2002. "Carboniferous coals of the Zonguldak basin (northwest Turkey): Implications for coalbed methane potential." American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 86(7), 1305-1328.
[3] Aydın, M., Yalçın, M. N., Mann, U., 2011. Carboniferous coal measures of the Zonguldak Basin, NW Turkey: Implications for coalbed methane potential. International Journal of Coal Geology, 85(3), 168-179.
[4] Tuncalı, E., 1996. Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the Carboniferous coal-bearing sequences in the Zonguldak region. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences, 5(2), 89-102.
[5] Göncüoğlu, M.C., Kozlu, H., 2000. "Early Paleozoic evolution of the NW Gondwanaland: Data from southern Turkey and surrounding regions." Gondwana Research, 3, 315-324.
[6] Maden Tetkik ve Arama Genel Müdürlüğü (MTA) 2023. Kozlu Kömür Sahasında (Zonguldak Havzası, KB Türkiye) Açılan İki Derin Araştırma Kuyusunda Geç Karbonifer Yaşlı İstiflerin İncelenmesi. Maden Tetkik ve Arama Dergisi
[7] Dickinson, W.R., 1985, Interpreting provenance relations from detrital modes of sandstones, in Zuffa, G.G., ed., Provenance of Arenites: Dordrecht, Reidel Publishing Company, p. 333-361.
[8 ]Ingersoll, R. V., Bullard, T. F., Ford, R. L., Grimm, J. P., Pickle, J. D., & Sares, S. W. (1984). The effect of grain size on detrital modes: A test of the Gazzi-Dickinson point-counting method. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 54(1), 103-116. https://doi.org/10.1306/212F83B9-2B24-11D7-8648000102C1865D
[9] Folk, R. L., 1974. Petrology of sedimentary rocks. Hemphill Publishing Company.
[10] Dickinson, W. R.,  Suczek, C. A., 1979. Plate tectonics and sandstone compositions. AAPG Bulletin, 63(12), 2164-2182.
[11] Dickinson, W.R., Beard, L.S., Brakenridge, G.R., Erjavec, J.L., Ferguson, R.C., Inman, K.F., Knepp, R.A., Lindberg, F.A., and Ryberg, P.T., 1983, Provenance of North American Phanerozoic sandstones in relation to tectonic setting: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 94, p. 222-235.
[12] Boggs, S., 2009. Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks. Cambridge University Press.
[13] Ingersoll, R.V., and Suczek, C.A., 1979, Petrology and provenance of Neogene sand from Nicobar and Bengal fans, DSDP sites 211 and 218: Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 49, p. 1217-1228.
[14] Johnsson, M.J., Stallard, R.F., Meade, R.H., 1991. First-cycle quartz arenites in the Orinoco River basin, Venezuela and Colombia. Journal of Geology 99, 263-274.
[15] Garzanti, E., 2019. Petrographic classification of sand and sandstone. Earth-Science Reviews 192, 545-563.
[16] Garzanti, E., 2016. From static to dynamic provenance analysis—Sedimentary petrology upgraded. Sedimentary Geology 336, 3-13.
[17] Ingersoll, R.V., 1983, Petrofacies and provenance of late Mesozoic forearc basin, northern and central California: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 67, p. 1125-1142.
[18] Moore, D. M., Reynolds, R. C., 1997. X-Ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals. Oxford University Press.
[19] Worden, R. H., Morad, S., 2003. Clay minerals in sandstones: controls on formation, distribution and evolution. IAS Special Publication, 34, 3–41.
[20] Tucker, M. E., 2001. Sedimentary Petrology: An Introduction to the Origin of Sedimentary Rocks. Wiley-Blackwell.
[21] Ingersoll, R. V., 1988. Tectonics of sedimentary basins. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 100(11), 1704–1719.
[22] Okay, A. I., Tüysüz, O., 1999. Tethyan evolution of Turkey: A plate tectonic approach. Tectonophysics, 271(1-2), 1-27.
[23] Warr, L.N., Ferreiro Mählmann, R., 2015. Recommendations for Kübler Index standardization. Clay Minerals 50, 283-286.
[24] Katz, D.A., Rendon, V.R., Schroeder, L.W., Rettke, R., Schmitt, D.R., 2018. A new collection of clay mineral 'Crystallinity' Index Standards and revised guidelines for the calibration of Kübler and Árkai indices. Clay Minerals 53, 339-350.
[25] Okay, A.I., Şengör, A.M.C., and Görür, N., 1994, Kinematic history of the opening of the Black Sea and its effect on the surrounding regions: Geology, v. 22, p. 267-270.
[26] Kerey, İ.E., Meriç, E., Tunoğlu, C., Kelling, G., Brenner, R.L., and Doğan, A.U., 2004, Black Sea-Marmara Sea Quaternary connections: new data from the Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 204, p. 277-295.
[27] Görür, N., Oktay, F.Y., Seymen, İ., and Şengör, A.M.C., 1997, Paleozoic evolution of the Zonguldak region, in Ağa, Ö.A., Taner, G., and Gürdal, G., eds., Geology of the Black Sea Region: Ankara, MTA General Directorate, p. 3-12.
[28] Yılmaz, Y., Tüysüz, O., Yiğitbaş, E., Genç, Ş.C., and Şengör, A.M.C., 1997, Geology and tectonic evolution of the Pontides, in Robinson, A.G., ed., Regional and Petroleum Geology of the Black Sea and Surrounding Region: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 68, p. 183-226.
[29] Tüysüz, O., 1999, Geology of the Cretaceous sedimentary basins of the Western Pontides: Geological Journal, v. 34, p. 75-93.
[30] Marsaglia, K.M., and Ingersoll, R.V., 1992, Compositional trends in arc-related, deep-marine sand and sandstone: a reassessment of magmatic-arc provenance: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 104, p. 1637-1649.
[31] Garzanti, E., Andò, S., and Vezzoli, G., 2007, Settling equivalence of detrital minerals and grain-size dependence of sediment composition: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 273, p. 138-151.
[32] Topuz, G., Altherr, R., Schwarz, W.H., Siebel, W., Satır, M., and Dokuz, A., 2005, Post-collisional plutonism with adakite-like signatures: the Eocene Saraycık granodiorite (Eastern Pontides, Turkey): Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 150, p. 441-455.
[33] Ustaömer, P.A., and Robertson, A.H.F., 2010, Late Palaeozoic–Early Cenozoic tectonic development of the Eastern Pontides (Artvin area), Turkey: stages of closure of Tethys along the southern margin of Eurasia: Geological Society, London, Special Publications, v. 340, p. 281-327.
[34] Critelli, S., and Ingersoll, R.V., 1994, Sandstone petrology and provenance of the Siwalik Group (northwestern Pakistan and western-southeastern Nepal): Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. A64, p. 815-823.
[35] Akdoğan, R., Hu, X., Okay, A. I., Topuz, G., & Xue, W. (2021). Provenance of the Paleozoic to Mesozoic siliciclastic rocks of the Istanbul Zone constrains the timing of the Rheic Ocean closure in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Tectonics, 40, e2021TC006824. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021TC006824
[36] Şengör, A. M. C., & Yılmaz, Y. (1981). Tethyan evolution of Turkey: A plate tectonic approach. Tectonophysics, 75(3–4), 181–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(81)90275-4
[37] Stampfli, G. M., Borel, G. D., 2002. A plate tectonic model for the Paleozoic and Mesozoic constrained by dynamic plate boundaries and restored synthetic oceanic isochrons. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 196(1-2), 17-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(01)00588-X
[38] Blatt, H., Middleton, G.,  Murray, R., 1980. Origin of sedimentary rocks. Prentice-Hall.
[39] Cawood, P.A., Hawkesworth, C.J., and Dhuime, B., 2012, Detrital zircon record and tectonic setting: Geology, v. 40, p. 875-878.
[40] Dickinson, W.R., and Gehrels, G.E., 2009, Use of U-Pb ages of detrital zircons to infer maximum depositional ages of strata: A test against a Colorado Plateau Mesozoic database: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 288, p. 115-125.
[41] Okay, A.I., Sunal, G., Sherlock, S., Altıner, D., Tüysüz, O., Kylander-Clark, A.R.C., and Aygül, M., 2013, Early Cretaceous sedimentation and orogeny on the active margin of Eurasia: Southern Central Pontides, Turkey: Tectonics, v. 32, p. 1247-1271.
[42] Warr, L.N., 2021. IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols. Mineralogical Magazine 85, 291–320. https://doi.org/10.1180/mgm.2021.43
[43] Scotese, C. R., 2001. Atlas of Earth History, Volume 1, Paleogeography. PALEOMAP Project. Retrieved from https://www.earthbyte.org/paleomap-paleoatlas-for-gplates/
[44] Domeier, M.,  Torsvik, T. H., 2014. Plate tectonics in the late Paleozoic. Geoscience Frontiers, 5(3), 303-350. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2014.01.002
[45] Pollock, J. C., Hibbard, J. P.,  van Staal, C. R., 2009. Early Ordovician rifting of Avalonia and birth of the Rheic Ocean: U–Pb detrital zircon constraints from Newfoundland. Tectonophysics, 479(1-2), 231-248. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2009.08.002
International Journal of Mining and Geo-Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 05 May 2026

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics