Hasan Sözbilir

Tectonic evolution of the Gediz Graben: field evidence for an episodic, two-stage extension in western Turkey

Western Turkey is one of the most spectacular regions of widespread active continental extension in the world. The most prominent structures of this region are E–W-trending grabens (e.g. Gediz and Buyuk Menderes grabens) and intervening horsts, exposing the Menderes Massif. This paper documents the result of a recent field campaign (field geological mapping and structural analysis) along the southern margin of the modern Gediz Graben of Pliocene (~ 5 Ma) age. This work provides field evidence that the presently low-angle ductile-brittle detachment fault is cut and displaced by the high-angle graben-bounding normal faults with total displacement exceeding 2.0 km. The evolution of the N–S extension along the Gediz Graben occurred during two episodes, each characterized by a distinct structural styles: (1) rapid exhumation of Menderes Massif in the footwall of low-angle normal fault (core-complex mode) during the Miocene; (2) late stretching of crust producing E–W grabens along high-angle normal faults (rift mode) during Pliocene–Quaternary times, separated by a short-time gap. The later phase is characterized by the deposition of now nearly horizontal sediments of Pliocene age in the hanging walls of the high-angle normal faults and present-day graben floor sediments. The evolution of extension is at variance with orogenic collapse and/or back-arc extension followed by the combined effect of tectonic escape and subduction rollback processes along the Aegean-Cyprean subduction zone. Consequently, it is misleading to describe the Miocene sediments exhumed on shoulders of the Gediz Graben as simple graben fill.

Geometry and origin of folding in the Neogene sediments of the Gediz Graben, western Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract A close relationship between formation of approximately upright folds with axes normal to the extension direction and ramp/flat extensional geometries is established for well exposed Neogene syn-extensional rocks on the presently low-angle Gediz detachment fault, along the southern margin of the Gediz Graben region of western Anatolia, Turkey. Three unconformity-bounded sedimentary sequences and several metamorphic extensional allochthons were mapped in the upper-plate of the Gediz detachment. The oldest sedimentary sequence consists of deformed and folded strata of sandstones and conglomerates that are regarded as being deposited in a supra-detachment basin during the Miocene-Early Pliocene. This unit rests unconformably on the extensional allochthonous, but directly in fault contact with the lower-plate mylonitic rocks. The younger slightly tilted Late Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentary sequences are post-detachment units that are controlled by EW-trending high-angle normal faults. The youngest a...

Oligo-Miocene extension in the Lycian orogen: evidence from the Lycian molasse basin, SW Turkey

The Lycian molasse basin of SW Turkey is a NE-SW-oriented basin that developed on an imbricated basement, comprising the allochthonous Mesozoic rocks of the Lycian nappes and Palaeocene-Eocene supra-allochthonous sediments. The imbricated basement has resulted from a complex history related to the emplacement of different tectonic units from Late Cretaceous to Late Eocene. Following imbrication, extensional collapse of the Lycian orogen resulted in extensive emergent areas, some of which coincide with present-day mountains. These were surrounded by interconnected depressions, namely, the Kale-Tavas, Çardak-Dazkırı and Denizli subbasins. The Lycian molasse sequence contains a relatively complete record of the tectonic history of the Lycian orogenic collapse from which it was derived. The sequence is characterised by interdependence between tectonism and sedimentation, the latter of which includes fining-and coarsening-upward sedimentary cycles with syn-depositional intrabasinal unconformities. The Denizli subbasin consists of thick, coarse-grained wedges of alluvial fans and fine-grained fan-delta deposits formed in a shallowmarine environment. Some areas of the fan deltas were colonised by corals, red algae and foraminifera, forming patch reefs. The first phase of extensional collapse in the region is marked by the Lycian orogenic collapse, which may have been initiated by the beginning of the Oligocene (Rupelian), following the main Menderes metamorphism. Starting in the latest Early Miocene or in the Middle Miocene, the area of the molasse basin was subject to deformation with the Lycian nappes, and to erosion as well. At that time, the Lycian nappes, with some ophiolitic assemblages, were thrust over the molasse deposits and thus, NE-SW-trending folds were formed. The molasse deposits and thrust-related deformational structures were then unconformably covered by Upper Miocene continental deposits which belong to the neotectonic period of SW Turkey. The second phase of extensional collapse is marked by granitic intrusions and the formation of Miocene detachment-related extensional basins. This phase may have been related to the exhumation of the gneissic core of the Menderes Massif, from which fragments were derived and incorporated into the upper parts of the Denizli subbasin during the Aquitanian.

Evolution of the Large-scale Active Manisa Fault, Southwest Turkey: Implications on Fault Development and Regional Tectonics

This paper aims to illustrate and discuss mechanism(s) responsible for the growth and evolution of large-scale corrugated normal faults in southwest Turkey. We report spectacular exposures of normal fault surfaces as parts of the Manisa Fault - a ?50-km-long northeast-ward arched active fault that defines the northwestern edge of the Manisa graben, which is subsidiary to the Gediz Graben. The fault is a single through-going corrugated fault system with distinct along-strike bends. It follows NW direction for 15 km in the south, then bends into an approximately E-W direction in the northwest. The fault trace occurs at the base of topographic scarps and separates the Quaternary limestone scree and alluvium from the highly strained, massive bed-rock carbonates. The fault is exposed on continuous pristine slip surfaces, up to 60 m high. The observed surfaces are polished and ornamented by well-preserved various brittle structural features, such as slip-parallel striations, gutters and tool tracks, and numerous closely spaced extension fractures with straight or crescentic traces. The rocks both in the footwall and hanging-wall of the fault possess a well-developed fault rock stratigraphy made up, from structurally lowest to the top, of massive undeformed recrystallized limestone, a zone of cemented breccia sheets, corrugated polished slip planes, and first brecciated, then unbrecciated scree. The observed slip surfaces of the Manisa Fault contain two sets of striations that suggest an early phase of sinistral strike-slip and a subsequent normal-slip movements. The first phase is attributed to: (i) approximately E-W-directed compression that commenced during either (?) Early-Middle Pliocene time or (ii) the current extensional tectonics and consequent modern graben formation in southwest Turkey that initiated during the Plio-Quaternary. During this period, the Manisa Fault was reactivated and it became a major segment. Stress inversion of fault slip data suggests that southwest Turkey has been experiencing multidirectional crustal extension, with components of approximately N-S, E-W, NE-SW and NW-SE extension. Following the reactivation, the inherited fault segments were connected to each other through interaction, linkage and amalgamation of previously discontinuous and overlapping smaller stepping adjacent faults. Linkage was via the formation of new connecting (breaching) fault(s) or by curved propagation of fault-tips. The result is a single through-going corrugated fault trace with distinct along-strike bends. The final geometry of the Manisa Fault is thus the combined result of reactivation and continuing interaction between previously discontinuous segmented fault traces.

A palynostratigraphic approach to the SW Anatolian molasse basin: Kale–Tavas molasse and Denizli molasse

Abstract The study, explains stratigraphy of the Oligo-Miocene molasse around the Denizli province (SW Anatolia), based on the palynology which is also supported by the detailed mapping and correlation of the measured sections from the coal-bearing sequences of the molasse deposits. For this purpose, two huge depressions named as the Kale–Tavas molasse and Denizli molasse basins were examined. The Kale–Tavas molasse deposits has a basal unconformity with the underlying pre-Oligocene basement and begins with the Chattian Karadere and Mortuma formations which are covered unconformably by the Aquitanian Yenidere formation. An angular unconformity between the Chattian and the Burdigalian is only observed in the middle part of the basin, around Kale. In the Tavas section, the Aquitanian and the Burdigalian are absent. The Denizli molasse is characterized by Chattian–Aquitanian sequence consisting of distinctive sedimentary facies, alluvial fan and deltaic-shallow marine deposits with carbonate patch reefs. Palynostratigraphic studies, which have given the Chattian age, have been carried out from the coal lenses of alluvial fan and delta plain deposits. In addition to the palynological determinations, coral and foraminiferal content of the carbonate patch reefs which rest conformably on the coal-bearing sequences have yielded the Chattian–Aquitanian age. Two different palynomorph associations have been determined from the molasse deposits. The first palynomorph association which is established in the samples from the Sagdere and Mortuma formations, corresponds to the Chattian age, whilst the second is of the Aquitanian age. The Late Oligocene–Early Miocene which is claimed as the time of N–S-extensional tectonics in western Turkey, is related to the depositional time of the molasse sequences in the study area. Thus, the molasse is older than the basal deposits of the Gediz and Buyuk Menderes grabens.

36Cl exposure dating of paleoearthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean: First results from the western Anatolian Extensional Province, Manisa fault zone, Turkey

Based on historical and instrumental data, societies in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East have survived at least 150 large earthquakes (generally M > 6) during the past 2500 yr. Beyond this time span, an earthquake chronology is mostly unknown, which hampers the production of reliable long-term earthquake models. Since the only remaining evidence of seismic activity is a bedrock scarp, cosmogenic 36 Cl is the only suitable nuclide to be applied in the determination of the seismic history and slip rate of an active limestone fault plane. In this study,

A microgravity model for the city of İzmir (Western Anatolia) and its tectonic implementations

Western Anatolia has an extensional tectonic regime and the characteristics of the deformation in the continental crust observed in Aegean Region have a very complex structure. In our study area, the İzmir city, Turkey, which is located within this active region, the general geological setting is also rather complex. This first microgravity study in İzmir and its surroundings is related to the determination of active fault zones. It was conducted in the south of İzmir, with the aim to investigate this complex structure in detail through microgravity data collected from six profiles throughout the survey area. The variation in Bouguer values was profoundly investigated along Profile P1 in N-S direction that was delineated to intersect all the tectonic elements. For this reason, Profile P1 was modeled in this study as 2D. As a result, the created gravity model was investigated together with geology, earthquake focal depths, and isostasy.

Palaeoseismology of the Havran-Balıkesir Fault Zone: evidence for past earthquakes in the strike-slip-dominated contractional deformation along the southern branches of the North Anatolian fault in northwest Turkey

The Havran-Balıkesir Fault Zone (HBFZ) is one of the major active structures of the Southern Marmara Region, which has been shaped by the southern branch of North Anatolian fault since the Pliocene. HBFZ is a 10–12 km wide, 120 km long, right-lateral strike-slip fault zone that consists of two ENE-striking main faults, namely, the Havran-Balya and Balıkesir faults. The 90-km-long Havran-Balya fault exhibits right-stepping en echelon geometry and is made up of (1) Havran, (2) Osmanlar, (3) Turplu and (4) Ovacık fault segments. On the eastern part, the 70-km-long Balıkesir fault is divided into two fault segments; (1) Gökçeyazı and (2) Kepsut. We estimated the long-term slip rate between 3.59 and 3.78 mm/yr using river offset. The Kepsut, Gökçeyazı and Ovacık fault segments are capable of generating an earthquake with a moment magnitude of up to 7.2. Detailed palaeoseismological studies show that the HBFZ is responsible for some surface faulting earthquakes with an average recurrence interval of 1000–2000 years during the late Holocene. Considering the fact that there was no evidence of a surface-ruptured earthquake for 2000 years, it can be stated that there is a seismic gap on the Gökçeyazı fault segment.

Kinematic analysis and palaeoseismology of the Edremit Fault Zone: evidence for past earthquakes in the southern branch of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, Biga Peninsula, NW Turkey

The Edremit Fault Zone (EFZ) forms one of the southern segments of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) at the northern margin of the Edremit Gulf (Biga Peninsula, South Marmara Region, Turkey). Stratigraphic, structural and kinematic results indicate that basinward younging of the fault zone, in terms of a rolling-hinge mechanism, has resulted in at least three discrete Miocene to Holocene deformational phases: the oldest one (Phase 1) directly related to the inactive Kazdağ Detachment Fault, which was formed under N–S trending pure extension; Phase 2 is characterised by a strike-slip stress condition, probably related to the progression of the NAFZ towards the Edremit area in the Plio–Quaternary; and Phase 3 is represented by the high-angle normal faulting, which is directly interrelated with the last movement of the EFZ. Our palaeoseismic studies on the EFZ revealed the occurrence of three past surface rupture events; the first one occurred before 13178 BC, a penultimate event that may correspond to either the 160 AD or 253 AD historical earthquakes, and the youngest one can be associated with the 6 October 1944 earthquake (Mw = 6.8). These palaeoseismic data indicate that there is no systematic earthquake recurrence period on the EFZ.

Slip distribution and source parameters of the 20 July 2017 Bodrum-Kos earthquake (Mw6.6) from GPS observations

Abstract Greek-Turkish boundary near the cities Kos and Bodrum has been shaken on July 20, 2017 by a Mw6.6 earthquake. The mainshock is located offshore and did not generate an on-land surface rupture. Analyzing pre- and post-earthquake continuous/survey-type static GPS observations, we investigated co-seismic surface displacements at 20 sites to characterize source parameters and slip-distribution of the mainshock. Fault plane solutions as well as co-seismic slip distribution have been acquired through the inversion of co-seismic GPS displacements modeling the event as elastic dislocations in a half space. Fault plane solution shows a southward dipping normal-type fault segment extending a depth down to ~12 km, which remains within the brittle upper crust. Results from the distributed slip inversion show that the mainshock activated a ~65 km fault section, which has three high slip patches, namely western, central and eastern patches, where the coseismic slips reach up to 13, 26, and 5 cm, respectively. This slip pattern indicates that the pre-earthquake coupling, which is storing the slip deficit, occurred on these three patches.