scholarly journals The importance of lithology and throw rate on bedrock river behaviour and evolution in the Gediz (Alaşehir) Graben, Turkey.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Boulton ◽  
Alexander Whittaker ◽  
Emiko Kent ◽  
M. Cihat Alcicek ◽  
Derek Fabel
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Slip Rate ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Stream Power ◽  
Western Turkey ◽  
Local Maxima ◽  
Denudation Rates ◽  
Tectonically Active

<p>The Gediz (Alaşehir) Graben is located in the highly tectonically active and seismogenic region of Western Turkey, which has been experiencing high-angle normal faulting since ~ 2 Ma.  Rivers upstream of the normal fault-bounded graben each contain a lithologic knickpoint related to the change in bedrock geology (from soft sediments to hard metamorphic rocks) and a non-lithologic knickpoint, caused by an increase in fault slip rate at ~ 0.8 Ma.  Therefore, this system represents an ideal natural laboratory to investigate the relative roles of bedrock lithology / rock strength and rates of faulting on the behaviour and evolution of bedrock river systems. Our results show that metamorphic rocks in the catchments are 2-3 times harder than the sedimentary rocks. Stream power increases downstream reaching local maxima upstream of the fault within the metamorphic bedrock but declines rapidly once softer sedimentary rocks are encountered. We also demonstrate a positive correlation between throw rate and stream power in the metamorphic rocks characteristic of rivers obeying a detachment-limited model of erosion. In sedimentary rocks stream powers are invariant with throw rate but do scale with the river’s sediment transport capacity. We also present new Be<sup>10</sup> denudation rates that show correlations with calculated stream power and fault throw rates. This study demonstrates that the strength of underlying bedrock is a major influence on river evolution and that the nature of the underlying lithology profoundly influences the way in which the river behaves.</p>

scholarly journals Quantifying the competing influences of lithology and throw rate on bedrock river incision

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Kent ◽  
A.C. Whittaker ◽  
S.J. Boulton ◽  
M.C. Alçiçek
Keyword(s):  
Rock Type ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Stream Power ◽  
Western Turkey ◽  
River Incision ◽  
Bedrock River Incision

River incision in upland areas is controlled by prevailing climatic and tectonic regimes, which are increasingly well described, and the nature of the bedrock lithology, which is still poorly constrained. Here, we calculated downstream variations in stream power and bedrock strength for six rivers crossing a normal fault in western Turkey, to derive new constraints on bedrock erodibility as function of rock type. These rivers were selected because they exhibit knick zones representing a transient response to an increase in throw rate, driven by fault linkage. Field measures of rock mass strength showed that the metamorphic units (gneisses and schists) in the catchments are ∼2 times harder than the sedimentary lithologies. Stream power increases downstream in all rivers, reaching a maxima upstream of the fault within the metamorphic bedrock but declining markedly where softer sedimentary rocks are encountered. We demonstrate a positive correlation between throw rate and stream power in the metamorphic rocks, characteristic of rivers obeying a detachment-limited model of erosion. We estimated bedrock erodibility in the metamorphic rocks as kb = 2.2−6.3 × 10−14 ms2 kg−1; in contrast, bedrock erodibility values were 5−30 times larger in the sedimentary units, with kb = 1.2−15 × 10−13 ms2 kg−1. However, in the sedimentary units, stream power does not scale predictably with fault throw rate, and we evaluated the extent to which the friable nature of the outcropping clastic bedrock alters the long-term erosional dynamics of the rivers. This study places new constraints on bedrock erodibilities upstream of active faults and demonstrates that the strength and characteristics of underlying bedrock exert a fundamental influence on river behavior.

scholarly journals Seismic Activity of the Manisa Fault Zone in Western Turkey Constrained by Cosmogenic 36Cl Dating

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 451
Author(s):  
Nasim Mozafari ◽  
Çağlar Özkaymak ◽  
Dmitry Tikhomirov ◽  
Susan Ivy-Ochs ◽  
Vasily Alfimov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Vertical Displacement ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Western Turkey ◽  
Slip Rates ◽  
Vertical Displacements ◽  
Surface Ruptures ◽  
Fault Scarps ◽  
Calculated Average

This study reports on the cosmogenic 36Cl dating of two normal fault scarps in western Turkey, that of the Manastır and Mugırtepe faults, beyond existing historical records. These faults are elements of the western Manisa Fault Zone (MFZ) in the seismically active Gediz Graben. Our modeling revealed that the Manastır fault underwent at least two surface ruptures at 3.5 ± 0.9 ka and 2.0 ± 0.5 ka, with vertical displacements of 3.3 ± 0.5 m and 3.6 ± 0.5 m, respectively. An event at 6.5 ± 1.6 ka with a vertical displacement of 2.7 ± 0.4 m was reconstructed on the Mugırtepe fault. We attribute these earthquakes to the recurring MFZ ruptures, when also the investigated faults slipped. We calculated average slip rates of 1.9 and 0.3 mm yr−1 for the Manastır and Mugırtepe faults, respectively.

scholarly journals New constraints on the exhumation history of the western Tauern Window (European Alps) from thermochronology, thermokinematic modeling, and topographic analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Wolff ◽  
Ralf Hetzel ◽  
István Dunkl ◽  
Aneta A. Anczkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Thermal Relaxation ◽  
Slip Rate ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Valley Bottom ◽  
Topographic Analysis ◽  
Tauern Window ◽  
History Of ◽  
Exhumation History

AbstractThe Brenner normal fault bounds the Tauern Window to the west and accommodated a significant portion of the orogen-parallel extension in the Eastern Alps. Here, we use zircon (U–Th)/He, apatite fission track, and apatite (U–Th)/He dating, thermokinematic modeling, and a topographic analysis to constrain the exhumation history of the western Tauern Window in the footwall of the Brenner fault. ZHe ages from an E–W profile (parallel to the slip direction of the fault) decrease westwards from ~ 11 to ~ 8 Ma and suggest a fault-slip rate of 3.9 ± 0.9 km/Myr, whereas AFT and AHe ages show no spatial trends. ZHe and AFT ages from an elevation profile indicate apparent exhumation rates of 1.1 ± 0.7 and 1.0 ± 1.3 km/Myr, respectively, whereas the AHe ages are again spatially invariant. Most of the thermochronological ages are well predicted by a thermokinematic model with a normal fault that slips at a rate of 4.2 km/Myr between ~ 19 and ~ 9 Ma and produces 35 ± 10 km of extension. The modeling reveals that the spatially invariant AHe ages are caused by heat advection due to faulting and posttectonic thermal relaxation. The enigmatic increase of K–Ar phengite and biotite ages towards the Brenner fault is caused by heat conduction from the hot footwall to the cooler hanging wall. Topographic profiles across an N–S valley in the fault footwall indicate 1000 ± 300 m of erosion after faulting ceased, which agrees with the results of our thermokinematic model. Valley incision explains why the Brenner fault is located on the western valley shoulder and not at the valley bottom. We conclude that the ability of thermokinematic models to quantify heat transfer by rock advection and conduction is crucial for interpreting cooling ages from extensional fault systems.

scholarly journals Hillslope denudation and morphologic response to a rock uplift gradient

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Godard ◽  
Jean-Claude Hippolyte ◽  
Edward Cushing ◽  
Nicolas Espurt ◽  
Jules Fleury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Strong Dependence ◽  
Digital Terrain Model ◽  
Slip Rate ◽  
Joint Analysis ◽  
Deformation Model ◽  
Base Level ◽  
Denudation Rates ◽  
Blind Thrust ◽  
Thrust System

Abstract. Documenting the spatial variability of tectonic processes from topography is routinely undertaken through the analysis of river profiles, since a direct relationship between fluvial gradient and rock uplift has been identified by incision models. Similarly, theoretical formulations of hillslope profiles predict a strong dependence on their base-level lowering rate, which in most situations is set by channel incision. However, the reduced sensitivity of near-threshold hillslopes and the limited availability of high-resolution topographic data has often been a major limitation for their use to investigate tectonic gradients. Here we combined high-resolution analysis of hillslope morphology and cosmogenic-nuclide-derived denudation rates to unravel the distribution of rock uplift across a blind thrust system at the southwestern Alpine front in France. Our study is located in the Mio-Pliocene Valensole molassic basin, where a series of folds and thrusts has deformed a plateau surface. We focused on a series of catchments aligned perpendicular to the main structures. Using a 1 m lidar digital terrain model, we extracted hillslope topographic properties such as hilltop curvature CHT and nondimensional erosion rates E∗. We observed systematic variation of these metrics coincident with the location of a major underlying thrust system identified by seismic surveys. Using a simple deformation model, the inversion of the E∗ pattern allows us to propose a location and dip for a blind thrust, which are consistent with available geological and geophysical data. We also sampled clasts from eroding conglomerates at several hilltop locations for 10Be and 26Al concentration measurements. Calculated hilltop denudation rates range from 40 to 120 mm kyr−1. These denudation rates appear to be correlated with E∗ and CHT that were extracted from the morphological analysis, and these rates are used to derive absolute estimates for the fault slip rate. This high-resolution hillslope analysis allows us to resolve short-wavelength variations in rock uplift that would not be possible to unravel using commonly used channel-profile-based methods. Our joint analysis of topography and geochronological data supports the interpretation of active thrusting at the southwestern Alpine front, and such approaches may bring crucial complementary constraints to morphotectonic analysis for the study of slowly slipping faults.

Evolution of the south-central segment of the Archean Abitibi Belt, Quebec. Part II: Tectonic evolution and geomechanical model

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 1355-1373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erich Dimroth ◽  
Lazlo Imreh ◽  
Normand Goulet ◽  
Michel Rocheleau
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Anisotropic Plate ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Geomechanical Model ◽  
Southwestern Part ◽  
South Central ◽  
Central Segment ◽  
Volcanic Terrain

In this paper, we describe the relations between the paleogeographic and tectonic evolution of the southwestern part of the Archean Abitibi and Bellecombe belts. Volcanism in the Abitibi Belt created a very thick, anisotropic plate composed of competent volcanic rocks and broken by the Duparquet–Destor break. The depocenters of the upper division of diverse volcanic rocks subsided about 10 km relative to their surroundings, and some central volcanic complexes within this division were consolidated by synvolcanic plutons and their thermal metamorphic aureole. The Cadillac break, a normal fault, separated the Abitibi and Bellecombe belts. The latter consisted of comparatively incompetent sedimentary rocks on top of a basement composed of ultramafic–mafic flows.North–south compression of the volcanic terrain during the Kenoran Orogeny produced a set of flexure folds, F1, that curve around the consolidated cores of central volcanic complexes generally in an easterly direction. Synclinoria nucleated at the deeply subsident depocenters of the upper diverse division. Further north–south flattening and subvertical stretching produced the east-trending F2 folds, their axial-plane schistosity S2, and local superposed schistosities S3 and S4. Southward verging recumbent folds suggest that the Bellecombe Belt simultaneously was pulled northward below the Abitibi Belt. During the orogeny, the Duparquet–Destor and Cadillac breaks were transformed to thrust faults; the Duparquet–Destor break also shows minor (< 3 km) right-lateral strike slip. Diapiric rise of late- to post-kinematic plutons locally distorted earlier schistosities.

scholarly journals Millennial-scale denudation rates in the Himalaya of Far Western Nepal

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lujendra Ojha ◽  
Ken L. Ferrier ◽  
Tank Ojha
Keyword(s):  
Stream Power ◽  
Denudation Rate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cosmogenic Nuclide ◽  
Northern India ◽  
Denudation Rates ◽  
Cosmogenic 10Be ◽  
Channel Steepness ◽  
The Himalaya ◽  
Millennial Scale

Abstract. Over the past two decades, rates and patterns of Himalayan denudation have been documented through numerous cosmogenic nuclide measurements in central and eastern Nepal, Bhutan, and northern India. To date, however, few denudation rates have been measured in Far Western Nepal – a ~ 300-km-wide region near the center of the Himalayan arc – which presents a significant gap in our understanding of Himalayan denudation. Here we report new catchment-averaged millennial-scale denudation rates inferred from cosmogenic 10Be in fluvial quartz at seven sites in Far Western Nepal. The inferred denudation rates range from 385 ± 31 t km−2 yr−1 (0.15 ± 0.01 mm yr −1) to 8737 ± 2908 t km−2 yr−1 (3.3 ± 1.1 mm yr−1), and, in combination with our analyses of channel topography, are broadly consistent with previously published relationships between catchment-averaged denudation rates and normalized channel steepness across the Himalaya. These data show a weak correlation with catchment-averaged specific stream power, consistent with a Himalaya-wide compilation of previously published stream power values. Together, these observations are consistent with a dependence of denudation rate on both tectonic and climatic forcings, and represent a first step toward filling an important gap in denudation rate measurements in Far Western Nepal.

scholarly journals River profile response to normal fault growth and linkage: An example from the Hellenic forearc of south-central Crete, Greece

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean F. Gallen ◽  
Karl W. Wegmann
Keyword(s):  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Profile Analysis ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Drainage Area ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Stream Power ◽  
River Incision ◽  
South Central ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fault Growth

Abstract. Topography is a reflection of the tectonic and geodynamic processes that act to uplift the Earth's surface and the erosional processes that work to return it to base level. Numerous studies have shown that topography is a sensitive recorder or tectonic signals. A quasi-physical understanding of the relationship between river incision and rock uplift has made the analysis of fluvial topography a popular technique for deciphering relative, and some argue absolute, histories of rock uplift. Here we present results from a study of the fluvial topography from south-central Crete demonstrating that river longitudinal profiles indeed record the relative history of uplift, but several other processes make it difficult to recover quantitative uplift histories. Prior research demonstrates that the south-central coastline of Crete is bound by a large (~100 km long) E-W striking composite normal fault system. Marine terraces reveal that it is uplifting between 0.1–1.0 mm yr−1. These studies suggest that two normal fault systems, the offshore Ptolemy and onshore South-Central Crete faults linked together in the recent geologic past (Ca. 0.4–1 Myrs bp). Fault mechanics predicts that when adjacent faults link into a single fault the uplift rate in the linkage zone will increase rapidly. Using river profile analysis we show that rivers in south-central Crete record the relative uplift history of fault growth and linkage, as theory predicts that they should. Calibration of the commonly used stream power incision model shows that the slope exponent, n, is ~ 0.5, contrary to most studies that find n ≥ 1. Analysis of fluvial knickpoints shows that migration distances are not proportional to upstream contributing drainage area, as predicted by the stream power incision model. Maps of the transformed stream distance variable, χ, indicate that drainage basin instability, drainage divide migration and river capture events complicate river profile analysis in south-central Crete. Waterfalls are observed in southern Crete and appear to operate under less efficient and different incision mechanics than assumed by the stream power incision model. Drainage area exchange and waterfall formation are argued to obscure linkages between empirically derived metrics and quasi-physical descriptions of river incision, making is difficult to quantitatively interpret rock uplift histories from river profiles in this setting. Karst hydrology, break down of assumed drainage area-discharge scaling and chemical weathering might also contribute to the failure of the stream power incision model to adequately predict the behavior of the fluvial system in south-central Crete.

Locking Behavior of Main Marmara Fault in Western Turkey During Interseismic Period

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeynep Yılmaz ◽  
Ali Özgün Konca ◽  
Semih Ergintav
Keyword(s):  
3D Structure ◽  
Slip Rate ◽  
Fault Slip ◽  
North Anatolian Fault ◽  
Gps Data ◽  
Strain Accumulation ◽  
Sea Of Marmara ◽  
Western Turkey ◽  
The North ◽  
Fault Slip Rate

&lt;p&gt;The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) produced multiple earthquakes of M&gt;7 throughout the 20th century, while the part of NAF beneath Sea of Marmara did not rupture during this period. Analysis of the Main Marmara Fault's interseismic behavior, the most active branch of the North Anatolian Fault in this region, in terms of locking depth and fault slip rate is critical for evaluating the region's seismic risk with a population of more than 20 million, as it provides information about the seismic moment deficit that may release in a potential future earthquake.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this study, we modeled the Main Marmara Fault's interseismic locking with realistic geometry and 3D structure including sedimentary basins, by implementing a 3D finite element approach and using interseismic GPS velocities. We have optimized the fits with GPS data by evaluating cases where each fault segment is constrained by a fault slip rate below a predefined locking depth ranging from 0 to 20 km. Preliminary models reveal that a difference in locking depth is required between the Western Marmara and the eastern end of the Ganos Segment entering the Sea of Marmara. This result, which is consistent with seismicity studies and other previous studies using 1D profiles shows that the strain accumulation under Western Marmara is less and that the locking depths or couplings are not similar in these two segments. For the Princes' Islands Segment, further analysis is required due to complexity in the GPS data. Recent earthquakes along Silivri also indicate that the strain accumulation is complex with most mechanisms showing significant thrust component. We have also calculated various possible strain accumulation patterns and compared the strain rate field around the Main Marmara Fault. Our results show that in most cases the change in the seismicity of each segment is consistent with the interseismic behavior associated with its fault locking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(This research has been supported by Bo&amp;#287;azi&amp;#231;i University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit. Project Number: 15022, 2019)&lt;/p&gt;

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