scholarly journals Propagation of a strike-slip plate boundary within an extensional environment: the westward propagation of the North Anatolian Fault

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (11) ◽  
pp. 1416-1439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Le Pichon ◽  
A.M. Celâl Şengör ◽  
Julia Kende ◽  
Caner İmren ◽  
Pierre Henry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
Sea Of Marmara ◽  
The North ◽  
Gulf Of Corinth ◽  
Northern Border ◽  
North Aegean ◽  
Narrow Plate

We document the establishment of the Aegea–Anatolia/Eurasia plate boundary in Pliocene–Pleistocene time. Before 2 Ma, no localized plate boundary existed north of the Aegean portion of the Anatolia plate and the shear produced by the motion of Anatolia–Aegea with respect to Eurasia was distributed over the whole width of the Aegean – West Anatolian western portion. In 4.5 Ma, a shear zone comparable to the Gulf of Corinth was formed in the present Sea of Marmara. The initial extensional basins were cut by the strike-slip Main Marmara Fault system after 2.5 Ma. Shortly after, the plate boundary migrated west of the Sea of Marmara along the northern border of Aegea from the North Aegean Trough, to the Gulf of Corinth area and to the Kefalonia Fault. There, it finally linked with the northern tip of the Aegean subduction zone, completing the system of plate boundaries delimiting the Anatolia–Aegea plate. We have related the change in the distribution of shear from Miocene to Pliocene to the formation of a relatively undeforming Aegea block in Pliocene that forced the shear to be distributed over a narrow plate boundary to the north of it. We attribute the formation of this block to the northeastward progression of the oceanic Ionian slab. We propose that the slab cuts the overlying lithosphere from asthenospheric sources and induces a shortening environment over it.

Recent and active deformation in the North Evia domain, a diffuse plate boundary between Eurasia and Aegean plates in the Western termination of the North Anatolian Fault. 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Caroir ◽  
Frank Chanier ◽  
Virginie Gaullier ◽  
Julien Bailleul ◽  
Agnès Maillard-Lenoir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
North Anatolian Fault ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Eurasian Plate ◽  
Slip Rates ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
North Aegean

<p>The Anatolia-Aegean microplate is currently extruding toward the South and the South-West. This extrusion is classically attributed to the southward retreat of the Aegean subduction zone together with the northward displacement of the Arabian plate. The displacement of Aegean-Anatolian block relative to Eurasia is accommodated by dextral motion along the North Anatolian Fault (NAF), with current slip rates of about 20 mm/yr. The NAF is propagating westward within the North Aegean domain where it gets separated into two main branches, one of them bordering the North Aegean Trough (NAT). This particular context is responsible for dextral and normal stress regimes between the Aegean plate and the Eurasian plate. South-West of the NAT, there is no identified major faults in the continuity of the NAF major branch and the plate boundary deformation is apparently distributed within a wide domain. This area is characterised by slip rates of 20 to 25 mm/yr relative to Eurasian plate but also by clockwise rotation of about 10° since ca 4 Myr. It constitutes a major extensional area involving three large rift basins: the Corinth Gulf, the Almiros Basin and the Sperchios-North Evia Gulf. The latter develops in the axis of the western termination of the NAT, and is therefore a key area to understand the present-day dynamics and the evolution of deformation within this diffuse plate boundary area.</p><p>Our study is mainly based on new structural data from field analysis and from very high resolution seismic reflexion profiles (Sparker 50-300 Joules) acquired during the WATER survey in July-August 2017 onboard the R/V “Téthys II”, but also on existing data on recent to active tectonics (i.e. earthquakes distribution, focal mechanisms, GPS data, etc.). The results from our new marine data emphasize the structural organisation and the evolution of the deformation within the North Evia region, SW of the NAT.</p><p>The combination of our structural analysis (offshore and onshore data) with available data on active/recent deformation led us to define several structural domains within the North Evia region, at the western termination of the North Anatolian Fault. The North Evia Gulf shows four main fault zones, among them the Central Basin Fault Zone (CBFZ) which is obliquely cross-cutting the rift basin and represents the continuity of the onshore Kamena Vourla - Arkitsa Fault System (KVAFS). Other major fault zones, such as the Aedipsos Politika Fault System (APFS) and the Melouna Fault Zone (MFZ) played an important role in the rift initiation but evolved recently with a left-lateral strike-slip motion. Moreover, our seismic dataset allowed to identify several faults in the Skopelos Basin including a large NW-dipping fault which affects the bathymetry and shows an important total vertical offset (>300m). Finally, we propose an update of the deformation pattern in the North Evia region including two lineaments with dextral motion that extend southwestward the North Anatolian Fault system into the Oreoi Channel and the Skopelos Basin. Moreover, the North Evia Gulf domain is dominated by active N-S extension and sinistral reactivation of former large normal faults.</p>

scholarly journals Active fault segments along the North Anatolian Fault system in the Sea of Marmara: implication for seismic hazard

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Gasperini ◽  
Massimiliano Stucchi ◽  
Vincenzo Cedro ◽  
Mustapha Meghraoui ◽  
Gulsen Ucarkus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
North Anatolian Fault ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Sea Of Marmara ◽  
Seismic Reflection Data ◽  
The North

AbstractA new analysis of high-resolution multibeam and seismic reflection data, collected during several oceanographic expeditions starting from 1999, allowed us to compile an updated morphotectonic map of the North Anatolian Fault below the Sea of Marmara. We reconstructed kinematics and geometries of individual fault segments, active at the time scale of 10 ka, an interval which includes several earthquake cycles, taking as stratigraphic marker the base of the latest marine transgression. Given the high deformation rates relative to sediment supply, most active tectonic structures have a morphological expression at the seafloor, even in presence of composite fault geometries and/or overprinting due to mass-wasting or turbidite deposits. In the frame of the right-lateral strike-slip domain characterizing the North Anatolian fault system, three types of deformation are observed: almost pure strike-slip faults, oriented mainly E–W; NE/SW-aligned axes of transpressive structures; NW/SE-oriented trans-tensional depressions. Fault segmentation occurs at different scales, but main segments develop along three major right-lateral oversteps, which delimit main fault branches, from east to west: (i) the transtensive Cinarcik segment; (ii) the Central (East and West) segments; and (iii) the westernmost Tekirdag segment. A quantitative morphometric analysis of the shallow deformation patterns observed by seafloor morphology maps and high-resolution seismic reflection profiles along the entire basin allowed to determine nature and cumulative lengths of individual fault segments. These data were used as inputs for empirical relationships, to estimate maximum expected Moment Magnitudes, obtaining values in the range of 6.8–7.4 for the Central, and 6.9–7.1 for the Cinarcik and Tekirdag segments, respectively. We discuss these findings considering analyses of historical catalogues and available paleoseismological studies for the Sea of Marmara region to formulate reliable seismic hazard scenarios.

The geometry of the North Anatolian transform fault in the Sea of Marmara and its temporal evolution: implications for the development of intracontinental transform faults

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.M. Celâl Şengör ◽  
Céline Grall ◽  
Caner İmren ◽  
Xavier Le Pichon ◽  
Naci Görür ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
North Anatolian Fault ◽  
Strike Slip Fault ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Transform Fault ◽  
Sea Of Marmara ◽  
The North ◽  
Macro Scale

The North Anatolian Fault is a 1200 km long strike-slip fault system connecting the East Anatolian convergent area with the Hellenic subduction zone and, as such, represents an intracontinental transform fault. It began forming some 13–11 Ma ago within a keirogen, called the North Anatolian Shear Zone, which becomes wider from east to west. Its width is maximum at the latitude of the Sea of Marmara, where it is 100 km. The Marmara Basin is unique in containing part of an active strike-slip fault system in a submarine environment in which there has been active sedimentation in a Paratethyan context where stratigraphic resolution is higher than elsewhere in the Mediterranean. It is also surrounded by a long-civilised rim where historical records reach well into the second half of the first millennium BCE (before common era). In this study, we have used 210 multichannel seismic reflexion profiles, adding up to 6210 km profile length and high-resolution bathymetry and chirp profiles reported in the literature to map all the faults that are younger than the Oligocene. Within these faults, we have distinguished those that cut the surface and those that do not. Among the ones that do not cut the surface, we have further created a timetable of fault generation based on seismic sequence recognition. The results are surprising in that faults of all orientations contain subsets that are active and others that are inactive. This suggests that as the shear zone evolves, faults of all orientations become activated and deactivated in a manner that now seems almost haphazard, but a tendency is noticed to confine the overall movement to a zone that becomes narrower with time since the inception of the shear zone, i.e., the whole keirogen, at its full width. In basins, basin margins move outward with time, whereas highs maintain their faults free of sediment cover, making their dating difficult, but small perched basins on top of them in places make relative dating possible. In addition, these basins permit comparison of geological history of the highs with those of the neighbouring basins. The two westerly deeps within the Sea of Marmara seem inherited structures from the earlier Rhodope–Pontide fragment/Sakarya continent collision, but were much accentuated by the rise of the intervening highs during the shear evolution. When it is assumed that below 10 km depth the faults that now constitute the Marmara fault family might have widths approaching 4 km, the resulting picture resembles a large version of an amphibolite-grade shear zone fabric, an inference in agreement with the scale-independent structure of shear zones. We think that the North Anatolian Fault at depth has such a fabric not only on a meso, but also on a macro scale. Detection of such broad, vertical shear zones in Precambrian terrains may be one way to get a handle on relative plate motion directions during those remote times.

The Septentrional–Oriente strike-slip Fault Zone: polyphase deformation and fault strand switching in the Northern Caribbean plate boundary (Windward Passage)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alana Oliveira de Sa ◽  
Elia d’Acremont ◽  
Sylvie Leroy ◽  
Sara Lafuerza
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Strike Slip Fault ◽  
Caribbean Plate ◽  
Oblique Collision ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Border ◽  
The Caribbean

<p>The northern border of the Caribbean plate is characterized by the oblique collision between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates. Increasing obliquity of the collision between these two plates lead to complex strike-slip fault zones, which successively jump southward to accommodate the eastward escape of the Caribbean plate and the collisional indentation against the Bahama carbonate platform. The present-day Septentrional–Oriente Fault zone (SOFZ) defines the northern limit of the Caribbean plate, accommodating much of the obliquity of the convergence. Since its inception, at the end of the Oligocene, the current active style of the strike-slip boundary evolves over time. We focus our study on the Windward Passage area between the south-east of Cuba and the north-west of Haiti coast. Currently crossed by the SOFZ, the tectono-sedimentary framework of this large strait displays critical evidences to constrain the Neogene evolution of the northern boundary of the Caribbean plate. Based on seismic reflection and swath-bathymetric dataset we shed light on the structure and tectonic pattern of the Windward Passage. Our study provides structural and stratigraphic insights into relative timing of deformation along the Windward Passage and new elements to constrain the southeastward shift of the north Caribbean plate boundary until its present-day position. Contrasts in patterns of deformation on the Windward Passage area reveal a polyphase tectonic history of dominant strike-slip faulting impacted by the rate and obliquity variations of the convergence. Deformation phases recorded by the offshore sedimentary cover in the Windward Passage correlate well with the major paleogeographic reorganization episodes described onland (Late Eocene, Late Oligocene, Middle Miocene and Late Pliocene). A left-lateral shift of at least ~80 km is demonstrated by the restoration of the offset of the seismic units, estimating a Pliocene age for the onset of the SOFZ segments activity in this area.</p>

scholarly journals Geochronology of the Wrangell Arc: Spatial-temporal evolution of slab-edge magmatism along a flat-slab, subduction-transform transition, Alaska-Yukon

Geosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Trop ◽  
Jeff A. Benowitz ◽  
Carl S. Kirby ◽  
Matthew E. Brueseke
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Evolution ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Suture Zone ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Arc Magmatism ◽  
Flat Slab ◽  
The North ◽  
Flat Slab Subduction ◽  
The Impact

The Wrangell Arc in Alaska (USA) and adjacent volcanic fields in the Yukon provide a long-term record of interrelations between flat-slab subduction of the Yakutat microplate, strike-slip translation along the Denali–Totschunda–Duke River fault system, and magmatism focused within and proximal to a Cretaceous suture zone. Detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb (n = 2640) and volcanic lithic (DARL) 40Ar/39Ar dates (n = 2771) from 30 modern river sediment samples document the spatial-temporal evolution of Wrangell Arc magmatism, which includes construction of some of the largest Quaternary volcanoes on Earth. Mismatches in DZ and DARL date distributions highlight the impact of variables such as mineral fertility and downstream mixing/dilution on resulting provenance signatures. Geochronologic data document the initiation of Wrangell Arc magmatism at ca. 30–17 Ma along both sides of the Totschunda fault on the north flank of the Wrangell–St. Elias Mountains in Alaska, followed by southeastward progression of magmatism at ca. 17–10 Ma along the Duke River fault in the Yukon. This spatial-temporal evolution is attributable to dextral translation along intra-arc, strike-slip faults and a change in the geometry of the subducting slab (slab curling/steepening). Magmatism then progressed generally westward outboard of the Totschunda and Duke River faults at ca. 13–6 Ma along the southern flank of the Wrangell–St. Elias Mountains in Alaska and then northwestward from ca. 6 Ma to present in the western Wrangell Mountains. The 13 Ma to present spatial-temporal evolution is consistent with dextral translation along intra-arc, strike-slip faults and previously documented changes in plate boundary conditions, which include an increase in plate convergence rate and angle at ca. 6 Ma. Voluminous magmatism is attributed to shallow subduction-related flux melting and slab edge melting that is driven by asthenospheric upwelling along the lateral edge of the Yakutat flat slab. Magmatism was persistently focused within or adjacent to a remnant suture zone, which indicates that upper plate crustal heterogeneities influenced arc magmatism. Rivers sampled also yield subordinate Paleozoic–Mesozoic DZ and DARL age populations that reflect earlier episodes of magmatism within underlying accreted terranes and match magmatic flare-ups documented along the Cordilleran margin.

Is the North Altyn fault part of a strike-slip duplex along the Altyn Tagh fault system?

Geology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Cowgill ◽  
An Yin ◽  
Wang Xiao Feng ◽  
Zhang Qing
Keyword(s):  
Strike Slip ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Altyn Tagh Fault ◽  
The North ◽  
Altyn Tagh

Inversion of regional surface-wave spectra for source parameters of aftershocks from the 1992 Petrolia earthquake sequence

1995 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 705-715
Author(s):  
Mark Andrew Tinker ◽  
Susan L. Beck
Keyword(s):  
Surface Wave ◽  
Focal Mechanism ◽  
Source Parameters ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Earthquake Sequence ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Accretionary Wedge ◽  
Wave Spectra ◽  
The North ◽  
Gorda Plate

Abstract Regional distance surface waves are used to study the source parameters for moderate-size aftershocks of the 25 April 1992 Petrolia earthquake sequence. The Cascadia subduction zone had been relatively seismically inactive until the onset of the mainshock (Ms = 7.1). This underthrusting event establishes that the southern end of the North America-Gorda plate boundary is seismogenic. It was followed by two separate and distinct large aftershocks (Ms = 6.6 for both) occurring at 07:41 and 11:41 on 26 April, as well as thousands of other small aftershocks. Many of the aftershocks following the second large aftershock had magnitudes in the range of 4.0 to 5.5. Using intermediate-period surface-wave spectra, we estimate focal mechanisms and depths for one foreshock and six of the larger aftershocks (Md = 4.0 to 5.5). These seven events can be separated into two groups based on temporal, spatial, and principal stress orientation characteristics. Within two days of the mainshock, four aftershocks (Md = 4 to 5) occurred within 4 hr of each other that were located offshore and along the Mendocino fault. These four aftershocks comprise one group. They are shallow, thrust events with northeast-trending P axes. We interpret these aftershocks to represent internal compression within the North American accretionary prism as a result of Gorda plate subduction. The other three events compose the second group. The shallow, strike-slip mechanism determined for the 8 March foreshock (Md = 5.3) may reflect the right-lateral strike-slip motion associated with the interaction between the northern terminus of the San Andreas fault system and the eastern terminus of the Mendocino fault. The 10 May aftershock (Md = 4.1), located on the coast and north of the Mendocino triple junction, has a thrust fault focal mechanism. This event is shallow and probably occurred within the accretionary wedge on an imbricate thrust. A normal fault focal mechanism is obtained for the 5 June aftershock (Md = 4.8), located offshore and just north of the Mendocino fault. This event exhibits a large component of normal motion, representing internal failure within a rebounding accretionary wedge. These two aftershocks and the foreshock have dissimilar locations in space and time, but they do share a north-northwest oriented P axis.

scholarly journals THE 2014 MW 6.9 NORTH AEGEAN TROUGH (NAT) EARTHQUAKE: SEISMOLOGICAL AND GEODETIC EVIDENCE

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 1583
Author(s):  
V. Saltogianni ◽  
M. Gianniou ◽  
T. Taymaz ◽  
S. Yolsal-Çevikbilen ◽  
S. Stiros
Keyword(s):  
Broad Band ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Fault Geometry ◽  
Coseismic Slip ◽  
The North ◽  
Finite Fault Inversion ◽  
Seismological Data ◽  
Finite Fault ◽  
Slip History ◽  
North Aegean

A strong earthquake (Mw 6.9) on 24 May 2014 ruptured the North Aegean Trough (NAT) in Greece, west of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). In order to provide unbiased constrains of the rupture process and fault geometry of the earthquake, seismological and geodetic data were analyzed independently. First, based on teleseismic long-period P- and SH- waveforms a point-source solution yielded dominantly right-lateral strike-slip faulting mechanism. Furthermore, finite fault inversion of broad-band data revealed the slip history of the earthquake. Second, GPS slip vectors derived from 11 permanent GPS stations uniformly distributed around the meizoseismal area of the earthquake indicated significant horizontal coseismic slip. Inversion of GPS-derived displacements on the basis of Okada model and using the new TOPological INVersion (TOPINV) algorithm permitted to model a vertical strike slip fault, consistent with that derived from seismological data. Obtained results are consistent with the NAT structure and constrain well the fault geometry and the dynamics of the 2014 earthquake. The latter seems to fill a gap in seismicity along the NAT in the last 50 years, but seems not to have a direct relationship with the sequence of recent faulting farther east, along the NAFZ.

scholarly journals Structural cross sections through the Corinth-Patras detachment fault-system in Northern Peloponnesus (Aegean Arc, Greece)

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. FLOTTÉ ◽  
D. SOREL
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Detachment Fault ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Structural Mapping ◽  
The North ◽  
Gulf Of Corinth ◽  
Aegean Arc

Structural mapping in northern Peloponnesus reveals the emergence of an E-W striking, more than 70km long, low angle detachment fault dipping to the north beneath the Gulf of Corinth. This paper describes four north-south structural cross-sections in northern Peloponnesus. Structural and sedimentological field observations show that in the studied area the normal faults of northern Peloponnesus branch at depth on this major low angle north-dipping brittle detachment. The southern part of the detachment and the related normal faults are now inactive. To the north, the active Helike and Aigion normal faults are connected at depth with the seismically active northern part of the detachment beneath the Gulf of Corinth.

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