Ophiolitic fragments scattered over a wide area of Central Anatolia exhibit varying degrees of metamorphism, from unmetamorphosed to upper amphibolite facies, although geochemical similarities suggest they are all part of the Central Anatolian Ophiolite (CAO). Magmatic crystallization of oceanic crust in the CAO at ~ 91 Ma coincided with high-grade metamorphism of rocks that underlie the southern, highest grade part of the CAO, raising questions about the tectonic relationship of the ophiolite to underlying metasedimentary and plutonic rocks. New geochronology results show that the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar hornblende age of amphibolite-facies metagabbro in the high-grade metamorphic part of the CAO is ~ 87 Ma, similar to hornblende ages from amphibolite in the underlying Niğde metamorphic/plutonic massif. Biotite in a deformed quartzofeldspathic rock associated with high-grade meta-ophiolitic rocks yielded an ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar age of ~ 78 Ma, similar to biotite ages from the Niğde Massif. Hornblende in gabbro from unmetamorphosed CAO yielded an older ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of ~ 90 Ma, similar to the previously determined crystallization age of the ophiolite. These data indicate that the southern part of the ophiolite was incorporated into and therefore metamorphosed and deformed with the orogenic mid-crust now exposed in the Niğde metamorphic–plutonic complex, whereas the northern, unmetamorphosed part of the ophiolite was obducted onto the continent. This distinct difference in different parts of the ophiolite may indicate oblique collision or irregularities in the continental margin, resulting in part of the ophiolite being incorporated into the orogenic crust and subsequently exhumed and cooled with it, and another part being obducted.

分散在安纳托利亚中部大面积上的蛇绿岩碎片表现出不同程度的变质作用，从未变质到上部的角闪石相，尽管地球化学相似性表明它们都是安那托利亚中部蛇绿岩的一部分。CAO中约91 Ma处洋壳的岩浆结晶与位于CAO南部，最高品位部分下面的岩石的高级变质相吻合，这引发了对蛇绿岩与潜在的准沉积和深成岩构造关系的质疑。新的年代学结果显示⁴⁰ Ar / ³⁹CAO的高级变质部分中角闪石相变质的Ar角闪石年龄为〜87 Ma，与下层Niğde变质/岩体断层中闪石的角闪石年龄相似。在变形的石英长石质岩石中的黑云母与高级变质蛇纹岩相关，其⁴⁰ Ar– ³⁹ Ar年龄约为〜78 Ma，类似于NiğdeMassif的黑云母年龄。来自未变形的CAO的辉长岩中的Hornblende产生了较旧的⁴⁰ Ar / ³⁹Ar年龄为〜90 Ma，类似于先前确定的蛇绿岩的结晶年龄。这些数据表明，蛇绿岩的南部被并入变质和变形，并与现在暴露在Niğde变质-深部复合体中的造山带中地壳形成了对比，而蛇绿岩的北部，未变质的部分被带到了大陆上。蛇绿岩不同部分的这种明显差异可能表明大陆边缘倾斜碰撞或不规则，导致一部分蛇绿岩被整合到造山壳中，随后被掘出并冷却，而另一部分被阻塞。