Paleoenvironmental evolution of the late Pliocene–early Pleistocene fluvio-deltaic sequence of the Denizli Basin (SW Turkey).

The late Pliocene–early Pleistocene Tosunlar succession (Denizli Basin, southwestern Turkey) represents fluvial-dominated delta environments at the margins of a brackish long-lived lake. Two main facies associations are documented: (i) a delta front facies association, with a distal (DF1) and proximal (DF2) deposits; and (ii) a delta plain facies association that contains distributary channel (DP1) and interdistributary swamp (DP2) deposits. The stable isotopic analysis of the mollusc faunas exhibit a narrow range of values (–4.68 < δ 18 O < + 0.21‰ and + 0.43 < δ 13 C < + 3.27‰, respectively) and the very poor δ 18 O–δ 13 C correlation (r = − 0.16) may indicate hydrologically open lake and significant diagenetic alteration. The mollusc faunas and their stable isotope ratios show a biogeographically isolated brackish lake system under semiarid climatic conditions. Under special environmental conditions the endemic faunal composition remained constant which is very unusual for a (semi-) isolated long-lived lake setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]