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Manganese deposits in Turkey:

Distribution, types and tectonic setting
ARTICLE in ORE GEOLOGY REVIEWS DECEMBER 1997
Impact Factor: 3.56 DOI: 10.1016/S0169-1368(97)00005-X

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Ore Geology Reviews 12 1997. 187203

Manganese deposits in Turkey: Distribution, types and tectonic

setting

Huseyin
Ozturk

Department of Geology, Istanbul Uniersity, Aclar Campus, 34850 Istanbul, Turkey

Received 10 October 1996; accepted 28 April 1997

Abstract
Manganese deposits in Turkey are divided into four main groups on the basis of their age, host rocks and processes of
formation. The first is hydrothermalhydrogenetic and rarely diagenetic-type manganese deposits which are chiefly
associated with radiolarian chert series. These deposits occur as lenses and small ore beds within ophiolitic melanges zones
of Paleo-Tethyan, Karakaya and Neo-Tethyan North Anatolian and South Anatolian. suture belts. The second is black
shale-hosted manganese deposits that is found in black shale, calcareous shale and calciturbiditic limestone horizons of the
passive margin sediments of Late Cretaceous age in the western Taurides. These deposits generally are metamorphosed to
greenschist facies and include Mn carbonatesilicate and oxide minerals. The third is volcanic arc-hosted ores along the
Black Sea margin which occur in different types of metasomatic, hydrothermal and stratabound settings. Rock associations
include Upper Cretaceous dacitic tuff, reddish limestone, marl and hemipelagic claystone. The fourth is Oligocene-hosted
ores in the Thrace Basin. These deposits are similar to those of the Paratethyan Oligocene belt which occur on the eastern
and northern margin of Black Sea and includes the Chiatura Georgia., Nikopol Ukraine. and Varna Bulgaria.,
respectively. The Oligocene Mn deposits of the Thrace Basin were formed by diagenetic replacement processes during a
marine regression. q 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.
Keywords: manganese deposits; metalliferous sediments; Paleo-Tethyan and Neo-Tethyan ocean; Turkey

1. Introduction
Present-day oceanic and paleo-environmental
study especially in the last half of this century, has
contributed much to the understanding of the nature
of the formation of manganese deposits Rona, 1984;
Frakes and Bolton, 1992.. The close relationship
between the evolution of atmosphere, hydrosphere,
biosphere and lithosphere and the formation of manganese giants Frakes and Bolton, 1992. and between
sedimentary environments and the processes of manganese deposition have been reviewed by Roy 1992.
in the light of the new findings.

Turkey is located between the Alpine and Himalaya mountain ranges, and provides a section
across a Tethyan ocean basin from the African plate
to the Eurasian continent. This orogenic belt contains
a large number of interesting manganese or ferromanganese deposits which lie in eastwest- to northeastsouthwest-trending belts. Their occurrence and
distribution patterns are closely associated with the
evoluation of the Tethyan Ocean, and therefore the
metallogenic provinces of manganese of Turkey are
overprinted with its major tectonostratigraphic units.
Manganese deposits in Turkey are also important in
regard to the correlation of marine polymetallic ox-

0169-1368r97r$17.00 q 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PII S 0 1 6 9 - 1 3 6 8 9 7 . 0 0 0 0 5 - X

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H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

ides of the Alpine belt which were described by

several workers Bernoulli and Jenkyns, 1974;
Jenkyns, 1985; Polgari et al., 1991..
Comparison of these ferromanganese deposits with
those found in the modern ocean contributes to the
global correlation to the paleo-oceanographic events
as well as the separation of the paleotectonic units of
the Tethyan region. This paper reviews the occurrence and distribution of manganese deposits in
Turkey and classifies them in relation to tectonic
setting, host rock lithologies and processes of formation. General outlines of the geology of Turkey are
discussed by several authors Ketin, 1966; S engor

and Ylmaz, 1981; Robertson and Dixon, 1984. and

is not reviewed again in this paper.
The manganese deposits of Turkey can be divided
into four main types concerning their tectonic setting
and the formation processes Fig. 1.. The representative manganese deposit of each type is identified in
this paper. The location of these deposits are shown
in Fig. 1. The geochemical and mineralogical data
reported in this paper have been taken from earlier
studies by the author and other published or unpublished sources. The chemical analyses of the ores
were made by flame atomic-absorption spectroscopy,

except the Oligocene ores, which were determined

by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry ICP-AES..

2. Radiolarian chert-hosted manganese deposits

Radiolarian chert-hosted manganese deposits are
small and widely scattered. They occur in a belt that
spans the entire country from east to west and two
other parallel belts that span half of country. These
three belts, from north to south are known as PaleoTethyan, Karakaya, and two branches of NeoTethyan oceans, respectively. The Paleo-Tethyan
chert-hosted noneconomic manganese mineralization
occurs in a very restricted area at the northernmost
part of Turkey. Neo-Tethyan sutures and associated
manganese deposits are divided into the North Anatolian IzmirAnkaraErzincan. suture deposits and
South Anatolian BitlisZagros. suture deposits
1993a.. These eastwest-trending radiolarOzturk,
ian chert-belts do not include economically important manganese deposits, therefore their detailed investigations are not available with the exceptions of
C ayrl, Kocali and C evretepe.

Fig. 1. Distributions and types of manganese deposits in Turkey.


H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

2.1. Paleo-Tethyan ocean-related manganese deposits

These deposits are located in the northernmost
part of Turkey and have undergone metamorphism
of greenschistamphibolite facies. The PaleoTethyan ocean has been closed in the Early Jurassic
period and subsequently the Karakaya marginal basin
was opened during the late stage subduction of the
Paleo-Tethyan oceanic crust beneath the Pontide plate
S engor
and Ylmaz, 1981.. Rock associations of the
manganese deposits generally are meta-chert, spilite
and shales, but both host rocks and age relations of
these deposits are not obvious due to Hercinian and
Alpine deformations. Chief manganese minerals of
the deposits are braunite, rhodonite, tephroite, hausmannite, pyrolusite. No detailed investigations of
these deposits have yet been carried out.
2.2. Karakaya ocean-related manganese deposits
These deposits are located at the northwestern
part of Anatolia along an eastwest-trending belt.
The Karakaya Formation defined in Biga Peninsula
Bingol
et al., 1973. consists of a olistostromal volcano-sedimentary succession of Triassic age. Basal
part of the Karakaya complex includes olistolithes of
Permian limestone, spilitic basalts and andesites in a
detritial matrix of Triassic age. Manganese deposits
are associated with shale, hemipelagic chert, radiolarian cherts of the epiophiolitic sediments of the
Karakaya complex.
The deposits are generally small being 20005000
tons of metal ore reserve and have a low Mn 25%.
and high Si 30%. content. Sometimes they become
richer at the upper parts due to secondary enrichment. The grade of the deposits is commonly less
than 40% Mn. These deposits are mostly associated
with metamorphosed spilitic rocks and pyroclastics
of Late PaleozoicEarly Mesozoic age. The main
manganese minerals of these deposits are: rhodonite,
braunite, tephroite, rhodochrosite, kutnahorite, hausmannite, pyrolusite and psilomelane.
2.3. Neo-Tethyan-related manganese deposits
2.3.1. North Anatolian suture deposits
This suture begins at the Aegean Sea coast and
stretches to the Armenian border in the east. Rock

189

associations of the suture zone are composed of

ultrabasicbasic rocks and Mn silicate and oxidebearing epiophiolitic sediments. Manganese deposits
are generally concentrated in the AnkaraC ankr
and Erzincan regions in middle and eastern Anatolia,
respectively MTA, 1972.. Manganese deposits of
the epiophiolitic sediments are associated with radiolarite, radiolarian chert, silicious shale, brown claystone and a spilitic basalt succession. Mn occurrences generally exhibit similar mineralogical and
chemical characteristics, with high contents of Mn
and variable Si and low Al contents. The Fe contents
of the umber-hosted ferromanganese deposits are
higher than Mn e.g. C evretepe ferromanganese deposit.. Chemical compositions of three representative
manganese deposits of the radiolarian chert-hosted
type are shown in Table 1.
The most representative chert-hosted deposit of
the IzmirAnkaraErzincan suture zone is the C ayrl
Mn deposit recently studied by Oygur
1990.. The
C ayrl manganese deposit is one of the largest deposits and occurs within radiolarian chert-radiolarites
of the olistostromal melange formations of Cretaceous age. The sediments of this suture zone represent the remnant product of the northern branch of
the Neo-Tethyan ocean which was developed between Eurasia and Gondwana.
The rock associations of the C ayrl region are
composed of, from bottom to top, metamorphosed
ophiolitic melange formations of Triassic age, transgressive passive margin sediments of the Early
Jurassic and the Late Cenomanian ophiolitic melange,
granophyre of the Oligocene, andesitic volcanics of
the OligoceneMiocene and lacustrine limestone of
the Pliocene. The metamorphosed ophiolitic melange
series consist of graywacke, sandstone and shale
olistoliths at the base, and limestone at the top
Batman, 1978; Oygur,
1990.. This formation correTable 1
Chemical compositions of three chert-hosted type manganese ores
Elements %.
Mn Fe Si
C ayrl deposit 22
49
Ilic deposit
Hafik deposit 49
n.a.s Not analyzed.

Al

Cu

Co

Ni

Ti

Ba

1.3 29 0.8 0.02 0.007 0.02 0.02 0.1

0.8 27 n.a. n.a. 0.23 0.24 n.a. n.a.
0.5 4.1 0.3 0.33 0.11 0.02 n.a. n.a.

190

H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

lates in rock associations and with rocks of the

Karakaya Complex. The Early Jurassic sediments
consist of conglomerate, limestone, marl alternations
and they represent passive margin sediments associated with opening of the Neo-Tethyan Ocean. Ophiolitic melange formations unconformably overlay that
of the Jurassic sediments and consisted of spilites,
peridodites, Triassic limestone, graywacke, radiolarite olistoliths in a sandy and serpentinite matrix.
Reddish and rarely greenish colored radiolarites alternate with shale and ferruginous shale-ochres. Ac
cording to Unalan
et al. 1976. and Batman 1978.
the olistosthromal melange series was possibly deposited during the Cenomanian. Both the age of the
olistoliths and stratigraphic position of the olistostromal melange formation indicate that the melange
was formed in the Late CretaceousLate Cenomanian period Oygur,
1990..
The C ayrl manganese deposit occurs within radiolariteradiolarian chert olistoliths of the ophiolitic
melange Fig. 2.. The eastwest-trending and lensshaped main ore body continues for 200 m on the
surface. The thin Mn ore seams are found at the
upper part of the main ore horizon. The Mn mineralization is in concordance with thick-bedded reddishbrown radiolaritesradiolarian cherts and siliceous

shale alternations. Light brown silicified shale bands

are very common within the ore horizon and occur
as parallel laminations. The manganese ore body and
associated sediments have undergone strong postsedimentary deformation. The ore body has been folded
during northsouth directed Alpine deformation.
The ores mainly consist of pyrolusite that occurs
as disseminated and microscopicsubmicroscopic
grains. Stockwork-type secondary ores are common
in the deposit and these consist of relatively coarse
pyrolusites and minor psilomelane minerals. Chalcedony is found as lens-shaped nodules up to 5 cm
size and quartz veins are up to 5 cm in thickness.
Transition heavy metals such as Ni, Cu, Co are
moderately concentrated in the ore and MnrFe ratios
are high. Ore chemistry and wall rock relations of
the deposit indicate that mineralization was formed
by circulating hydrothermal solutions at or near a sea
floor-spreading center Fig. 3a and b. with minimal
hydrogenetic input according to Oygur
1990.. However, no indications of any hydrothermal feeder system at the area have been discovered.
2.3.2. South Anatolian suture-related Mn deposits
These deposits are concentrated at the eastern part
of the province within the Kocali Complex at the

Fig. 2. Geological map of the C ayrli manganese deposit from Oygur,

1990..


H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

191

Fig. 3. a. Plots of C ayrl manganese ore at the Si versus Al graph after Crerar et al., 1982.. b. Ternary diagram of FeMn Cu q Co q
Ni. = 10 Bonatti et al., 1972. showing the position of the C ayrl manganese ore.

southeast and Misis Complex at the southwest. The

southwest Anatolian suture zone also includes massive sulphides such as the Ergani and Madenkoy

copper deposits. This suture zone is possibly connected with ophiolitic rocks of the Troodos ophiolites, Cyprus and Antalya ophiolitic nappes of the
southern Taurides. Mn deposits of this suture belt
represent metalliferous sediments of the southern
branch of the Neo-Tethyan ocean which opened in

the Jurassic and completely closed during the Middle

Miocene S engor
and Ylmaz, 1981..
Ferromanganese deposits within this accretionary
complex were formed in the Cretaceous period and
had undergone reworking processes especially during the Oligocene and Miocene Schiettecatte, 1971..
The most important of these deposits are the C evretepe Narlk. and Dokuztekne iron-rich ferromanganese deposits which are situated at eastern

Fig. 4. Stratigraphic columnar section of the C evretepe ferromanganese deposit.

192

H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

Fig. 5. Geological map of C evretepe ferromanganese deposit and surrounding area.

Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Although these small

deposits ore production still continues and open pit
mining operations allow detailed field observations
of the ore body which occurs in a tectonic slide
andror olistolites of Cretaceous age within the Misis
Complex of the Oligo-Miocene. The ferromanganese
mineralization is very closely related to andesitic
basaltic volcanics and reddish iron oxidehydroxide
ochres. laminations which are located at the bottom
of the ore Fig. 4.. Brown, dark gray cherts and
laminated shales overlie the ore body. Volcanic rocks
forming the olistoliths in the Isali Formation possess
a back arc geochemical signature Kelling et al.,
1987.. However, volcanic material could be derived
from different tectonic units so geochemical interpretation should be applied with care to the understanding of the ore genesis.
The C evretepe and Dokuztekne ferromanganese
deposits are found in the Isali Formation and occur
along a northeastsouthwest trend Fig. 5.. The base
of the ore-bearing olistolithes is bordered by a tectonic contact. The average thickness of the C evretepe
ore is 5 m and the maximum length is 2000 m.
Annually 30,000 tons of ore are produced from the

deposits for the Iskenderun iron and steel factory.

The main ore minerals of these deposits are hematite,
braunite, bixbyite, psilomelane, kutnahorite and minor manganite. Gangue minerals are calcite, Mncalcite, quartz, chlorite and zeolite.

Fig. 6. Ternary diagram of FeMn CuqCoqNi.=10 Bonatti

et al., 1972. showing hydrogenous character of the C evretepe
ferromanganese ore.


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Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

The C evretepe Mn ore contains high Fe and SiO 2

and low Mn and Al values Table 2.. Transition
heavy metals such as Co, Ni, Cu are moderately high
in the ore. The average FerMn ratio in the ore is
1.8, the SirAl ratio is 5.1 and the CorZn ratio is
3.72 Erdemoglu
and Yaman, 1992.. Relatively high
minor metal content such As and Pb, and little
fractionation between Fe and Mn indicates that the
deposits were formed by a combination of hydrothermal and hydrogenetic processes in a marine environment Fig. 6..
The Dokuztekne ferromanganese deposit is located between Yapalak and Dokuztekne east of Ceyhan. Annual ore production is nearly 10 000 tons.
Rock associations and ore chemistry of the
Dokuztekne deposit are very similar to that of the

193

C evretepe deposit. Laminated brown shales of the

Dokuztekne ferromanganese deposit include Mn micronodules below the ore horizon. Manganese micronodules are parallel to the bedding plane of the
laminated brown siliceous shale and are up to 2 mm
in size.
Polymetallic oxide deposits of this suture belt
locally contain Mn micronodules which occur in the
radiolarian brown claystone, and dolostone of the
epiophiolitic sediment. Best examples of these rocks
occur in the Konak Formation of Kocali Complex of
Upper JurassicEarly Cretaceous in age, and micronodules there had been formed by diagenetic
1993b. emphasized that the reprocesses. Ozturk
placement of silisic tests by Mn and other transition
heavy metals, such as Cu, Ni, Ba, is the main

Table 2
Chemical compositions of the C evretepe ferromanganese ores according to Erdemoglu
and Yaman 1992. and Demircioglu
Mining
Company analyses
Erdemoglu
and Yaman (1992) analyses
SiO 2

Al 2 O 3

Fe

Mn

CaO

MgO

K 2O

Na 2 O

TiO 2

21.18
19.48
25.79
22.33
21.79

3.20
2.88
3.43
3.02
2.76

22.1
22.84
22.08
24.06
25.33

15.87
16.10
12.77
13.71
13.75

11.38
11.13
10.96
10.27
10.22

0.80
0.83
0.88
0.43
0.68

0.02
0.09
0.12
0.02
0.04

0.08
0.09
0.06
0.06
0.07

0.12
0.12
0.16
t
0.11

Cu

As

Zn

Pb

0.03
t
t
0.01

0.39
0.43
0.45
0.4

0.15
0.15
0.08
0.02

0.08
0.13
0.11
0.06

0.07
0.07
0.08
0.8

0.02
0.03
t
t

Demircioglu
Mining Company analyses
Mn

Fe

SiO 2

Al

Ni

Co

Cu

Zn

13.77
14.84
13.76
15.95

31.68
27.27
20.98
32.07

11.83
15.94
19.27
13.02

0.15
0.19
0.31
3.18

0.07
0.06
0.03
0.06

0.09
0.10
0.09
0.11

0.13
0.11
0.16
0.11

0.02
0.02
0.03
0.03

FerMn

SirAl

Co q Cu q Ni.

CorZn

2.3
1.84
1.52
2.10

37
39.01
28.51
43.55

2991
2924
2925
2934

4.73
5.13
3.18
3.52

t s trace.

194

H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

mechanism of nodule development. Electron microprobe analysis results, as an average of four manganese micro nodules, in: Mn 59.5%, Mg 3.0%, Ba
1.2%, Ca 0.8%, Al 8.2%, and Si 2.9%.
3. Black shale series-hosted manganese deposits
The black shale series-hosted manganese deposits
of Turkey occur in the western Tauride region, include the economically important manganese deposits located in the Ulukent, Gokceovack
and C al
dag regions. These are large sedimentary manganese
deposits, especially concentrated at the Ulukent region, having reserves in excess of 30 million tons.
Early exploration studies on these manganese mineralization were carried out by the Mineral Research
and Exploration Institute of Turkey Dogan
and
Turkmen,
1983..

The regional geology of this metallogenic province

consists of imbricated allochthonous and autochthonous basement rocks Graciansky, 1968.. Autochthonous carbonates, located at the southern area
of the region Beydaglar
Autochthonous. are com
posed of a bauxite-bearing carbonate succession
which forms a continuous sediment pile from the
Cretaceous to the Early Miocene. Allochthonous units
consist of volcano-sediments of Permian age, basal
conglomerate of Triassic age, limestone of
JurassicCretaceous age, serpantinised ultrabasics
and olistostrome of EoceneMiocene age Fig. 7..
The M n deposits are found betw een
argillaceous siliceous shale horizons of allochthonous pelagic passive margin carbonates of
Upper Cretaceous, possibly Cenomanian or Turonian
et al., 1995.. However, earlier investigaage Ozturk
tors, e.g. Kuscu and Gedikoglu
1989., suggested

Fig. 7. Regional stratigraphical correlation between Ulukent Mn deposit modified from Kuscu and Gedikoglu,
1989. and Gokceovack

manganese deposit modified from Graciansky, 1968..


H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

that manganese deposits of the Ulukent region are

Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous in age.
The two most important deposits of the province
are the Ulukent and Gokc
eovack Mn deposits which
are located near the northern and southern margin of
the province, respectively. The Ulukent Mn deposit
is rich in organic matter, dark greyblack in color
and in very tiny foliated black and cherty shales.
Cherty shale contains very dense and coarse idiomorphic pyrites up to 2 cm in size Fig. 8.. This
horizon also includes well developed flakes of stilpnomelane and lepidolite, which occurs in veins up to
10 cm in width. Black and cherty shales also comprise dolomite, kutnahorite, epidote, stilpnomelane
and lepidolite, as disseminated minerals.
The ores of the Ulukent manganese deposit are
divided into two major petrographic types. The first
is a conglomeraticpisolitic-nodular textured, silicatecarbonateoxide ore at the bottom and a mas-

195

sive oxide and oxidized ore, at the top. Ore minerals

of the pisolitic-nodular textured manganese horizon
are tephroite, bustamite, kutnahorite, hausmannite,
bixbyite, rhodochrosite, jacopsite, crytomelane, manganite, pyrolusite, hematite, rhodonite, braunite, pyrosmalite and spessartine. Gangue minerals include
diaspore, stilpnomelane, Mn epidote, dolomite, zeolite stilbite., calcite and quartz. Mineral paragenesis
and host rock lithologies of the Ulukent Mn deposit
are very similar to the Wafangzi and other Mn
carbonate deposits of China which are also hosted in
black shale series Delian et al., 1992.. Silicate
oxidecarbonate crystallization is very characteristic
and represented by mineral assemblages such as
tephroitebustamitepyrosmalite, hausmannite
jacopsite and kutnahoriterhodochrosite, which are
easily recognized under the microscope. Oxidesilicate and carbonate ore shows very strong magnetism
and X-ray diffraction studies indicated that the main

Fig. 8. Stratigraphic columnar section of the Ulukent manganese deposit.


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Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

196

magnetic mineral is hausmannite which occurs as

idiomorphic grains and include jacobsite and tetravalent Mn oxides as pyrolusite. High grade ore consists
of cryptomelane, hausmannite, rancieite, pyrolusite
and manganite minerals. Silicate and oxide minerals
of manganese and other ferromagnesian silicates indicate that Ulukent manganese deposit has undergone greenschist metamorphism with a relatively
and Hein, in press..
high pressure gradient Ozturk
The average chemical composition of the silicateoxidecarbonate ore is 30% Mn, 9% Si, 12% Ca,
1.4% Al, 1% Mg, and 0.8% Fe. High-grade oxidized
ore include 40% Mn, 3% Fe, 1% Si, 0.4% Mg and
0.5% Al. Amounts of trace elements, as Co, Cu, Ni,
are very low in both oxidized and silicateoxide
carbonate ore Table 3..
The Gokc
eovack and C aldag ore beds are also
part of these metalogenic province approximately
200 km south of the Ulukent deposit. They occur as
stratiform beds in the siliceous shale, calcareous
shale and intramicrite horizon of cherty limestone, of
Late Cretaceous age Fig. 9.. Host rock relations and
regional stratigraphic features indicate that they are
possibly lateral equivalents of the Ulukent Mn deposit. The regional geology of the Gokceovack
Mn

deposits is very similar to that of the Ulukent region

and relationships between allochthon and autochthon

units are easily seen. The Gokceovack

manganese

mineralization consists of two layers with a combined thickness of about 1 m. Bands of siliceous
ferruginous ochres occur both at the top and the
bottom of the Mn ore horizon.
Chief ore minerals of the Gokceovack
Mn de
posit are braunite and its alteration product, pyrolusite. Minor lepidocrocite is also identified. Massive
braunite ore includes well preserved algal structures
and the overlying calciturbite contains pelagic gastropoda, pelecepoda and also benthic fauna of Late
Cretaceous age, such as Globotruncana lapperenti
Brotsen., Globotruncanita sp.; Globotruncana cf.
bulloides, Rugoglo bigerina sp., Globotruncana sp.
et al., 1995.. Calciturbidites also includes
Ozturk
volcanogenic fragments but is mostly composed of
micritic oolites and reworked micritic clasts, which
may be related to the bottom morphology of the
basin. The presence of volcanogenic fragments in the
rock associations of the ore is important in the
explanation of the source of Mn and the mechanism
of its formation. Interruption of limestone deposition
and change to siliceous shale-iron and manganese
oxidehydroxide precipitation followed by carbonate
deposition could be related to either sea level change
or volcanic activity. Si, Mn and Fe might be concentrated in the sea water and mineralization could have

Table 3
Major oxide and trace element values of the Ulukent manganese ore deposit from Kuscu and Gedikoglu,
1989.
wt%.
SiO 2

Al 2 O 3

Fe 2 O 3

MnO

CaO

MgO

Na 2 O

K 2O

P2 O5

TiO 2

8.77
10.20
7.44
8.04
8.95
22.34
30.11

2.12
2.69
2.14
2.37
1.76
2.34
4.04

2.09
3.37
1.53
1.76
1.25
6.10
9.92

75.0
64.1
78.6
66.2
75.4
52.9
34.3

1.33
9.26
3.74
10.1
0.17
1.43
2.32

2.73
3.23
1.27
1.34
0.73
2.63
2.05

0.36
0.04
0.14
0.03
0.72
0.02
0.35

0.02
0.02
0.02
0.03
0.01
0.13
0.17

0.12
0.19
0.18
0.23
0.09
0.31
0.16

0.04
0.06
0.04
0.10
0.01
0.12
0.34

Cu

Ni

Co

Pb

Zn

Ba

Sr

Rb

Sb

As

49
47
54
51
59
43
98

5
3
4
6
3
4
15

9
8
10
10
12
3
26

20
79
37
48
60
62
126

31
25
22
52
22
43
80

339
55
2234
92
106
223
687

249
303
168
234
29
41
65

-1
-1
-1
-1
2
11
39

-1
2
1
1
2
1
3

1
2
1
1
3
-1
-1

223
239
767
307
392
682
205

ppm.


H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

197

Fig. 9. Stratigraphic columnar section of the Gokceovack

manganese deposit.

been formed without volcanism during the early

stage of marine regression Frakes and Bolton, 1984.
or during peak of the marine transgression Cannon
and Force, 1983; Force and Cannon, 1988.. Alternatively, volcanic activity may have been supplied the
metals and hindered the carbonate deposition. Volcanic activity which marked by volcanoclastic input
to the basin coeval with ore deposition is a main
field evidence for the connection between volcanogenic activity and the ore formation.
A genetic formation model for the black shalehosted manganese deposit was proposed by Okita et
al. 1988. based on the stable isotope studies. According to these authors carbonate ores which forms
at the early diagenetic stage by reaction of Mn2q
with isotopically light HCOy
3 or CO 2 . Such actual
Mn carbonate formation has been reported by Manheim 1982. in anoxic conditions, in the Baltic Sea.
Stratigraphic and petrographic evidence suggests that
volcanic activity occurred very close to the Ulukent
and Gokceovack
region during the mineralization

event and Mn and Si may have been supplied to the

sea water from this source. In this context, volcanogenic hydrothermal activity could have played
an important role in the formation of the primary
sedimentary manganese silicatecarbonate deposits.
Alternation of black shale and Mn oxide
carbonatesilicate at the Ulukent could be explained
by short term bottom current activity, which resulted
in ventilation of basin water and formation of
pisolitic-nodular textured Mn accumulations in the
Ulukent and ooliticintramicritic limestone in the
Gokc
eovack deposit. The Gokc
eovack and C aldag
manganese deposits which are located along the
southern margin of the province were not been effected by metamorphism in contrast to the Ulukent
manganese deposit, which was close to an orogenic
belt and hence, associated with nappe tectonism.

4. Volcanic arc-hosted manganese deposits

These Mn deposits occur within volcano-sedimentary rocks of Upper Cretaceous age along the Black

198

H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

Sea coast. This volcano-sedimentary rock sequence

was formed by the subduction of the Neo-Tethyan
oceanic crust beneath the Pontide plate. Volcanic arc
rifted during that time with bimodal volcanism and
the related Mn deposits formed as metasomatic, hydrothermal and stratabound types. This volcanic terrane includes the Kuroko-type massive sulphide deposits along the eastern Black Sea coast. Rock associations of the Mn deposits include dacitic tuff,
reddish limestone and hemipelagic-claystone, marl
and shale Fig. 10..
Manganese minerals of the deposits generally
consist of braunite, bixbyite, pyrolusite, psilomelane,
hausmannite, asbolan, rhodochrosite, Mn-calcite.
Gangue minerals of the deposits are barite, quartz,
chalcedony, montmorillonite, illite and kaolinite.
Distinctive deposits of the province are the Eregli

and Topkirazlar deposits in the west and the Ocakli

deposit in the east. The Topkirazlar and Eregli
ore
deposits are the largest deposits in the area which
occur in a volcano-sedimentary succession of Upper
Cretaceous age. The ore reserve is estimated to be
200,000 tons, but near-surface sections of the deposits are generally exhausted. Many of the fine-

Table 4
Chemical composition of the Ocakl manganese ore from
Gedikoglu
et al., 1985.

Fig. 10. Types of the manganese deposits in the volcanosedimentary succession of the Pontide belt of the Upper Cretaceous from
Gedikoglu
et al., 1985..

Fig. 11. Plots of Ocakl manganese ore at the CoqNi versus

AsqCuqMoqPbqVqZn discrimination diagram Nicholson,
1990. fall into hydrothermal field.

wt.%.
Mn 54.62
Si 3.37
Fe 0.29
Ca 2.41
P
0.04

44.15
10.33
1.10
3.34
0.02

50.26
0.77
2.13
6.40
0.17

53.21
4.16
1.38
2.83
0.06

53.55
3.41
0.42
2.46
0.06

46.36
2.90
0.26
10.03
0.34

50.43
7.67
1.68
0.85
0.01

53.25
5.77
0.37
1.84
0.03

ppm.
Ba 1160
As 2488
Sb 602
Cu 56
Zn 27
Pb 21
Co 27
Ni 11

3600
2012
408
218
60
63
19
13

700
1254
437
36
22
25
21
8

2340
1165
423
179
53
28
18
17

3390
3535
587
97
41
18
37
7

5535
2598
318
19
15
25
10
91

985
2431
177
16
15
2
16
11

923
923
294
29
12
2
6
24

grained oxides contain some K, Na, Ba, As, Sb and

P, but generally these elements do not affect the
quality of ore MTA, 1972.. The Ocakl manganese
deposit, and similar deposits of the region, lately
studied by Gedikoglu
et al. 1985. are believed to
have been formed by hydrothermal replacement and
infilling processes. The ore chemistry is characterized by high Mn and low Fe content. The hydrothermal origin of some of the deposits is reflected in
high As, Sb and Pb contents Table 4. and the Mn
ores clearly fall into the hydrothermal field on the
Nicholson 1990. diagram Fig. 11.. Gedikoglu
et al.
1985. emphasized that volcanogenic hydrothermal
ore solutions were emplaced at very shallow depths,


H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

199

so the ore body forms lens-like dimensions. Silicification is a common host rock alteration. Local Co
enrichment in these deposits is characterized by asbolan formation which reflects the basin margin
shallow marine environment andror highly oxidative
conditions of formation Cronan, 1975; Halbach et
al., 1982; Hein et al., 1992..

5. Oligocene-hosted manganese deposits

Manganese deposits of Oligocene age occur along
the northern rim of the Thrace Basin, at C atalca,
Binklc, Sefaalan and C akll. These deposits are
similar to those of the Oligocene belt that occurs
along the west and north coast of Black Sea. These
include the Chiatura, Nikopol and Varna deposits.
The Chiatura Mn deposit was recently studied by
Bolton and Frakes 1985., and they suggested based
on petrographical and textural evidence i.e. inversely graded pisolith accumulations, etc... that the
ores were formed directly from sea water during a
transgressiveregressive cycle.
The average ore thickness of the Thrace basin
deposits varies between 0.4 and 1 m. Binklc Mn
deposit is the largest one first studied by Bora 1969..
and Frakes 1994,
Recently it was studied by Ozturk
1995.. Basement rocks of the region consist of high
grade metamorphic core rocks of possible Precambrian age and epimetamorphic cover units of the

umezsoy,
Mesozoic Oztunal
and Us
1979.. Domi
nant lithologies of the metamorphic massif are metagranite, gneiss, marble, amphibole schist, quartz
micaschist, slate which generally include Mn silicate

Fig. 12. Simplified cross section showing the stratigraphic relations and positions of the manganese deposits of the Thrace basin
and Frakes, 1995..
simplified from Ozturk

minerals. Basement units of the metamorphic massif

also includes a ferromanganese deposit at the
Kestanepnar locality which indicates a high manganese background in the Stranjha massif.
The Eocene sequence unconformably overlie the
crystalline basement and is represented by sandy
clastics at the bottom and bioclastic limestone at the
top Fig. 12.. The Oligocene is represented by congerian limestone and fish beds consisting of green
dark green silty claystone which deposited during the
sea regression. Manganese deposits are found be-

Table 5
and Frakes, 1995. wt%.
Chemical compositions of the Binklc manganese ore from Ozturk
SiO 2

Al 2 O 3

CaO

MgO

K 2O

Na 2 O

MnO

Fe 2 O 3

BaO

SrO

P2 O5

TiO 2

12.1
13.2
7.7
7.6
2.7
11.1
4.3
12.2
2.5

3.0
3.5
1.1
2.1
1.0
2.2
0.9
3.0
0.6

6.6
6.2
0.9
20.3
1.1
1.6
20.0
21.9
16.8

1.1
2.4
1.1
1.3
1.3
1.1
1.3
1.4
0.4

0.6
0.6
0.4
0.9
0.3
0.7
0.1
0.8
0.1

0.4
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.6
0.6
0.1
0.5
0.1

51.2
46.3
69.2
32.2
67.9
57.8
32.7
29.7
37.9

1.2
2.5

2.0
1.8
1.0
0.4
1.4
12.7

0.12
2.09
1.02
1.84
1.58
1.95
0.08
1.44
0.03

0.12
0.81
0.39
0.82
0.51
0.81
0.03
0.67
0.02

0.22
0.27
0.25
0.44
0.40
0.34
0.25
0.35
0.18

0.14
0.16
0.03
0.08
0.06
0.09
0.04
0.11
0.06

200

H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

tween the congerian limestone and the fish beds. The

deposition of the claystone fit with the isolation of
the Thrace basin or other subbasins from the
and Frakes, 1995.. This isolation
Paratethys Ozturk
has resulted in faunal extinction in the Thrace and
the other subbasin of the Paratethys marked by shark
teeth and fish beds-bearing organic matter-rich claystone deposition. The association of the faunal extinction and manganese accumulations is a general
phenomena in the Paratethys basins and their relationship has not yet been explained. Coal depositbearing fluvial sandstone, claystone and conglomerate represent unconformably overlying Miocene sediments. The main ore minerals of the Thrace basin
deposits are psilomelane, pyrolusite, manganite, kutnahorite and Mn-rich rhodochrosite. Gangue miner-

als of the deposits are calcite, Mg-calcite, gypsum,

quartz, chalcedony, feldspar mostly albite., montmorillonite, sericite and chlorite. The Binklc Mn
ores can be divided into disseminated manganese,
concretionary ores, pisoliticoolitic ores, broken
concretions, broken pisoliths and mancrete on the
basis of structural and petrological features. Concretionary ores are very characteristic, and these occur
at the top of the main ore horizon and alternate with
claystone. Low grade soft ore includes high gradehard ore parts or strata mancrete. and petrographic
studies indicated that the original rock of the high
grade-hard ore is spiculite which consists of calcitic
and Frakes,
monoaxon sponge spicules Ozturk
1995.. This petrographic-textural evidence reveals
that Thrace basin manganese deposits of the

Fig. 13. Paleotectonic sections showing the evolution of Tethyan ocean in Turkey, and formation of the manganese deposits in different
tectonic setting.


H. Ozturkr
Ore Geology Reiews 12 (1997) 187203

Oligocene were not been formed as a consequence of

redox controlled depositional processes directly from
sea water. Instead manganese ions have been carried
by laterally moving or descending solutions supergene solutions. which flowed through permeable
congerian limestone and were deposited as a result
of late diagenetic replacement processes. Main source
of the manganese is possibly rocks of the Stranjha
Massif or coeval sediments of the fish beds including
claystone which were originally marsh sediments.
High grade, hard ores of the Binklc deposit contain
up to 70% MnO and less than 2% FeO Table 5..
MnO contents is generally less than 40% in the
and
concretionary and low grade ore typesOzturk
Frakes, 1995..

6. Summary and conclusion

The formation history of the different types of
manganese deposits of Turkey are shown in Fig. 13,
which has been depicted on the base on the evolution
of the Tethyan ocean in Turkey according to S engor

and Ylmaz 1981.. Paleo- and Neo-Tethyan ocean

related manganese and ferromanganese deposits of
Turkey mainly occur within radiolarian chert section
of the ophiolitic melange formations. Correlation of
these ophiolitic melange rocks and associated manganiferous sediments occurring in the Alpine
Himalaya belt spreading from western Europe to
southeastern Asia which is expected to yield valuable information towards understanding of the
physicochemical conditions of the Paleo-Tethyan and
Neo-Tethyan ocean in the Jurassic and Cretaceous
period. Manganese micronodule-bearing ferromanganese beds within the brown shale-chert-radiolarite
horizons of the pelagic sediments has been deposited
below the CCD level. Despite wide distribution the
radiolarian chert series-hosted ferromanganese deposits of Turkey are small sized and therefore economically unimportant.
Black shale series-hosted manganese deposits of
Cretaceous age, are economically the most important
deposits of Turkey. Their formation was closely
related to increasing tectonism and paleo-ecological
change during the CenomanianTuronian period
which were marked by abrupt deposition of the

201

lateritic soil profile, that occur at the base of the ore

section. These deposits display some similarities with
the black shale-hosted manganese deposits of Hungary Urkut. and China Wafangzi. in terms of host
rock lithologies, ore textures, mineralogies, and ore
chemistries.
Arc volcanism-related manganese deposits of
Turkey occur within the Upper Cretaceous at the
coast of Black Sea. These deposits display all of the
characteristic features of a hydrothermal formation.
These volcanic arc-related manganese deposits within
the volcano-sedimentary series that extend throughout the AlpineHimalaya orogenic belt.
The Oligocene manganese deposits of Turkey occur in the Thrace basin. This basin is a sub basin of
the Paratethys which contain the deposits at Varna
Bulgaria., Nikopol Ukraine. and Chiatura Georgia.. Thrace basin manganese deposits has been
formed by early and late diagenetic replacement
processes of the calcitic material by Mn-bearing
solutions when the basin was under the anoxic condition.

Acknowledgements
The author thanks G.P. Glasby, J.R. Hein, S.
Dasgupta and N.J. Beukes for their valuable critics
during the IGCP 318 Turkey field workshop on the
marine polymetallic oxides and also L.A. Frakes for
his help during this cooperative study, especially on
the Oligocene deposits. Finally he thanks T. Boyd
for improving the English text.

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