Morphology, displacement, and slip rates along the North Anatolian Fault, Turkey

Abstract

Geological and geomorphological offsets at different scales are used to constrain the localization of deformation, total displacement, and slip rates over various timescales along the central and eastern North Anatolian Fault (NAF) in Turkey. The NAF total displacement is reevaluated using large rivers valleys (80 ± 15 km) and structural markers (Pontide Suture, 85 ± 25 km; Tosya‐Vezirköprü basins, 80 ± 10 km). These suggest a Neogene slip rate of 6.5 mm/yr over 13 Myr. The river network morphology shows offsets at a range of scales (20 m to 14 km) across the main fault trace and is also used to estimate the degree to which deformation is localized. At a smaller scale the morphology associated with small rivers is offset by 200 m along the NAF. The age of these features can be correlated with the Holocene deglaciation and a slip rate of 18 ± 3.5 mm/yr is determined. This is consistent with a rate of 18 ± 5 mm/yr deduced independently from the 14 C dating of stream terrace offsets. Over the short term, GPS data gives a similar rate of 22 ± 3 mm/yr. All our results tend to show that most of the deformation between the Anatolian and Eurasian lithospheric plates has been accommodated along, or very close to, the active trace of the NAF. The difference between the Neogene and the Holocene slip rate may be due to the recent establishment of the current plate geometry after the creation of the NAF.