REWORKED MARINE INVERTEBRATE FAUNA (GASTROPODA AND CORAL) FROM THE EOCENE UZUNÇARŞIDERE FORMATION OF CENTRAL ANATOLIA (TURKEY)

The fluviolacustrine Uzunçarşıdere Formation outcrops near the village of Orhaniye in central Anatolia. The age of this rock unit is thought to be middle Eocene on the basis of its stratigraphic relationships and preliminary biostratigraphic and geochronological data. The lithology of the Uzunçarşıdere Formation varies through its section, ranging from conglomerate at its base to sandstones, siltstones and mudstones that are developed into paleosols to finer-grained lacustrine mudstones at the top. Fossil vertebrates, including remains of fishes, reptiles and mammals, have been reported from the mudstone-dominated part of the section.

The total thickness of this rock unit ranges from 100-180 m, and this total is variable from place to place. Reworked marine invertebrates from the Uzunçarşıdere Formation include the ampullinid gastropod Globularia (Globularia) vapincana.

This taxon is known from older rock units in central Anatolia, and it may provide useful paleogeographic data because the species was widely distributed around the Tethyan region during the early Paleogene. A solitary coral species closely resembling Balanophyllia irrorata has also been recovered from the Uzunçarşıdere Formation. This is the first report of reworked marine invertebrates in the Uzunçarşıdere Formation.