The North Makran domain (southeast Iran) is part of the Makran accretionary wedge and consists of an imbricate stack of continental and Neo-Tethyan oceanic tectonic units. Among these, the Band-e-Zeyarat ophiolite consists of (from bottom to top): ultramafic cumulates, layered gabbros, isotropic gabbros, a sheeted dyke complex, and a volcanic sequence. Sheeted dykes and volcanic rocks are mainly represented by basalts and minor andesites and rhyolites showing either normal-type (N) or enriched-type (E) mid-ocean ridge basalt affinities (MORB). These conclusions are also supported by mineral chemistry data. In addition, E-MORBs can be subdivided in distinct subtypes based on slightly different but significant light rare earth elements, Th, Nb, TiO₂, and Ta contents. These chemical differences point out for different partial melting conditions of their mantle sources, in terms of source composition, partial melting degrees, and melting depths. U-Pb geochronological data on zircons from intrusive rocks gave ages ranging from 122 to 129 Ma. We suggest that the Band-e-Zeyarat ophiolite represents an Early Cretaceous chemical composite oceanic crust formed in a mid-ocean ridge setting by partial melting of a depleted suboceanic mantle variably metasomatized by plume-type components. This ophiolite records, therefore, an Early Cretaceous plume–ridge interaction in the Makran Neo-Tethys.

We present the first detailed geological map of the tectonic units documented in the easternmost branch of the Intra-Pontide suture (IPS) zone in the Tosya-Kastamonu area (Northern Turkey). The Main Map is at 1:50,000 scale and covers an area of about 350 km². It derived from 1:25,000 scale classic field mapping and represents a detailed overview of the complexities documented in the IPS zone, a tectonic nappe stack originating from the closure of the Intra-Pontide Oceanic basin and the subsequent collision between the Istanbul-Zonguldak terrane and the Sakarya composite terrane. The map shows the orientations of superposed foliations, fold axes and mineral lineations on the basis of geometric cross-cutting relationships documented within the five tectonic units of the IPS zone and provides information on its present-day architecture resulting from activity of the North Anatolian Fault.

Trench basins related to an almost entirely subducted oceanic lithosphere are filled by deposits sourced from either the passive continental margin or the accretionary wedge. They also include large-scale submarine landslides often triggered by the inherited rough topography of the subducting plate. This mechanism provides the deposition of material by mass-transport processes from the wedge to the trench, resulting in highly heterogeneous trench sedimentation. The role of the mass-transport deposits in the accretion mechanisms, as well as their influence on seismic behaviour at the plate interface is difficult to assess in the active trenches, because of their limited accessibility. This study reports on a well-preserved fossil trench-fill sequence exposed in the Northern Apennines. A multidisciplinary survey including fieldwork, stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, geochemistry, and zircon provenance, allows reconstructing the anatomy of these deposits. The heterogeneities derived by distinct sediment packages made of mass-transport deposits and deep-sea turbidites reflect a setting with two feeding source areas: the accretionary wedge and the continental margin, respectively. Alongside the roughness of the subducting plate, this deposits association favours coherent underplating processes developed at depth. Such accretion mechanisms, linked to thrust faults at the base of the wedge, can generate both major earthquakes and new mass movements, reinforcing the complex role of trench-fill processes in subduction dynamics.