A number of intra-continental alkaline volcanic sequences in NW Turkey were emplaced along localized extensional gaps within dextral strike-slip fault zones prior to the initiation of the North Anatolian Fault Zone. This study presents new palaeomagnetic and 40Ar–39Ar geochronological results from the lava flows of NW Turkey as a contribution towards understanding the Neogene–Quaternary tectonic evolution of the region and possible roles of block rotations in the kinematic history of the region. 40Ar–39Ar analyses of basalt groundmass indicate that the major volume of alkaline lavas of NW Turkey spans about 4 million years of episodic volcanic activity. Palaeomagnetic results reveal clockwise rotations as high as 73° in Thrace and 33° anticlockwise rotations in the Biga Peninsula. Movement of some of the faults delimiting the areas of lava flows and the timing of volcanic eruptions are both older than the initiation age of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, implying that the region experienced transcurrent tectonics during Late Miocene to Pliocene times and that some of the presently active faults in the region are reactivated pre-existing structures.

A number of sedimentary basins formed within the Tauride–Anatolide Platform of Anatolia during the Late Cretaceous–Tertiary period. Previous studies have proposed different tectonic and evolutionary models for each basin. Geological characteristics of the basins, however, suggest that all these basins are of the same origin and that they followed a similar evolutionary model to one another. Basin development within the Tauride–Anatolide Platform took place in a post-collisional environment following the northward subduction of the northern Neotethys ocean beneath the Pontides. The closure of the northern Neotethys ocean ended with collision of the Tauride–Anatolide Platform with the Pontide volcanic arc and resulted in large bodies of oceanic remnants thrust over the Tauride–Anatolide Platform as ophiolite nappes. Formation of the sedimentary basins followed the emplacement of the ophiolite nappes as they formed as piggy-back basins on top of the underlying thrust ophiolite basement.

In addition to a new configuration of the previously reported multistable carbon-phosphorus pair, we report on two new multiconfìgurational defects in electron irradiated silicon doped, with arsenic and antimony. These defects are also identified as interstitial carbon-substitutional group V pairs, (). We identified two different types of metastability for . Type I is similar to the bistable carbon-carbon pair defect for which a bond switching mechanism has been reported [1]. Type II is similar to donor-acceptor pairs in silicon which show electrostatically driven metastability [2,3]. The three pairs have many similar features, but also show surprising donor related differences. In this paper we will discuss the general features of these defects.