Neotectonic and volcanic characteristics of the Karasu fault zone (Anatolia,Turkey): The transition zone between the Dead Sea transform and the East Anatolian fault zone

The Karasu Rift (Antakya province, SE Turkey) has developed between east-dipping, NNE-striking faults of the Karasu fault zone, which define the western margin of the rift and west-dipping, N–S to N20°–30°E-striking faults of Dead Sea Transform fault zone (DST) in the central part and eastern margin of the rift. The strand of the Karasu fault zone that bounds the basin from west forms a linkage zone between the DST and the East Anatolian fault zone (EAFZ). The greater vertical offset on the western margin faults relative to the eastern ones indicates asymmetrical evolution of the rift as implied by the higher escarpments and accumulation of extensive, thick alluvial fans on the western margins of the rift. The thickness of the Quaternary sedimentary fill is more than 465 m, with clastic sediments intercalated with basaltic lavas. The Quaternary alkali basaltic volcanism accompanied fluvial to lacustrine sedimentation between 1.57 ± 0.08 and 0.05 ± 0.03 Ma. The faults are left-lateral oblique-slip faults as indicated by left-stepping faulting patterns, slip-lineation data and left-laterally offset lava flows and stream channels along the Karasu fault zone. At Hacılar village, an offset lava flow, dated to 0.08 ± 0.06 Ma, indicates a rate of left-lateral oblique slip of approximately 4.1 mm·year^–1. Overall, the Karasu Rift is an asymmetrical transtensional basin, which has developed between seismically active splays of the left-lateral DST and the left-lateral oblique-slip Karasu fault zone during the neotectonic period.     

Neotectonic deformation in the transition zone between the Dead Sea Transform and the East Anatolian Fault Zone, Southern Turkey: a palaeomagnetic study of the Karasu Rift Volcanism

In southern Turkey ongoing differential impingement of Arabia into the weak Anatolian collisional collage resulting from subduction of the Neotethyan Ocean has produced one of the most complex crustal interactions along the Alpine–Himalayan Orogen. Several major transforms with disputed motions, including the northward extension of the Dead Sea Fault Zone (DSFZ), meet in this region. To evaluate neotectonic motion on the Amanos and East Hatay fault zones considered to be northward extensions of the DSFZ, the palaeomagnetism of volcanic fields in the Karasu Rift between these faults has been studied. Remanence carriers are low-Ti magnetites and all except 5 of 51 basalt lavas have normal polarity. Morphological, polarity and K–Ar evidence show that rift formation occurred largely during the Brunhes chron with volcanism concentrated at 0.66–0.35 Ma and a subsidiary episode at 0.25–0.05. Forty-four units of normal polarity yield a mean of D/I=8.8°/54.7° with inclination identical to the present-day field and declination rotated clockwise by 8.8±4.0°. Within the 15-km-wide Hassa sector of the Karasu Rift, the volcanic activity is concentrated between the Amanos and East Hatay faults, both with left lateral motions, which have rotated blocks bounded by NW–SE cross faults in a clockwise sense as the Arabian Block has moved northwestwards. An average lava age of 0.5 Ma yields a minimum cumulative slip rate on the system bounding faults of 0.46 cm/year according with the rate deduced from the Africa–Arabia Euler vector and reduced rates of slip on the southern extension of the DSFZ during Plio-Quaternary times. Estimates deduced from offsets of dated lavas flows and morphological features on the Amanos Fault Zone [Tectonophysics 344 (2002) 207] are lower (0.09–0.18 cm/year) probably because they are limited to surface fault breaks and do not embrace the seismogenic crust.Results of this study suggest that most strike slip on the DSFZ is taken up by the Amanos–East Hatay–Afrin fault array in southern Turkey. Comparable estimates of Quaternary slip rate are identified on other faults meeting at an unstable FFF junction (DSFZ, East Anatolian Fault Zone, Karatas Fault Zone). A deceleration in slip rate across the DSFZ and its northward continuation during Plio-Quaternary times correlates with reorganization of the tectonic regime during the last 1–3 Ma including tectonic escape within Anatolia, establishment of the North and East Anatolian Fault Zones bounding the Anatolian collage in mid–late Pliocene times, a contemporaneous transition from transpression to transtension and concentration of all basaltic magmatism in this region within the last 1 Ma.     

Rate of strike-slip motion on the Amanos Fault (Karasu Valley, southern Turkey) constrained by K–Ar dating and geochemical analysis of Quaternary basalts

The left-lateral Amanos Fault follows a 200-km-long and up to 2-km-high escarpment that bounds the eastern margin of the Amanos mountain range and the western margin of the Karasu Valley in southern Turkey, just east of the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea. Regional kinematic models have reached diverse conclusions as to the role of this fault in accommodating relative motion between either the African and Arabian, Turkish and African, or Turkish and Arabian plates. Local studies have tried to estimate its slip rate by K–Ar dating Quaternary basalts that erupted within the Amanos Mountains, flowed across it into the Karasu Valley, and have since become offset. However, these studies have yielded a wide range of results, ranging from 0.3 to 15 mm a⁻¹, which do not allow the overall role and significance of this fault in accommodating crustal deformation to be determined. We have used the Cassignol K–Ar method to date nine Quaternary basalt samples from the vicinity of the southern part of the Amanos Fault. These basalts exhibit a diverse chemistry, which we interpret as a consequence varying degrees of partial melting of their source combined with variable crustal contamination. This dating allows us to constrain the Quaternary slip rate on the Amanos fault to 1.0 to 1.6 mm a⁻¹. The dramatic discrepancies between past estimates of this slip rate are partly due to technical difficulties in K–Ar dating of young basalts by isotope dilution. In addition, previous studies at the key locality of Hacılar have unwittingly dated different, chemically distinct, flow units of different ages that are juxtaposed. This low slip rate indicates that, at present, the Amanos Fault takes up a small proportion of the relative motion between the African and Arabian plates, which is transferred southward to the Dead Sea Fault Zone. It also provides strong evidence against the long-standing view that its slip continues offshore to the southwest along a hypothetical left-lateral fault zone located south of Cyprus.     

The seismic hazard assessment of the Dead Sea rift, Jordan

The Dead Sea fault system and its branching faults represent one of the most tectonically active regions in the Middle East. The aim of this study is to highlight the degree of hazards related to the earthquake activities associated with the Dead Sea rift, in terms of speculating the possible future earthquakes. The present investigation mainly is based on available data and vertical crustal modeling of Jordan and the Dead Sea model for the Dead Sea basin with particular emphasis of the recent earthquake activities, which occurred on December 31st, 2003 (Mc = 3.7), February 11th, 2004 (strongest Mc = 4.9 R), and March 15th, 2004 (Mc = 4). The present research examines the location of the strong events and correlates them with the various tectonic elements in the area. The source mechanism of the main shock and the aftershock events is also examined. The analyses were based on the available short period seismogram data, which was recorded at the Natural Resources Authority of Jordan, Seismological Observatory. The seismic energy appears to have migrated from the south to the north during the period from December 31st up to March 12th, where the released seismic energy showed a migration character to the southern block of the eastern side of the Dead Sea, which led the seismic event to occur on March 15th.     

Recognition of earthquake-related damage in archaeological sites: Examples from the Dead Sea fault zone

Archaeological structures that exhibit seismogenic damage expand our knowledge of temporal and spatial distribution of earthquakes, afford independent examination of historical accounts, provide information on local earthquake intensities and enable the delineation of macroseismic zones. They also illustrate what might happen in future earthquakes. In order to recover this information, we should be able to distinguish earthquake damage from anthropogenic damage and from other natural processes of wear and tear. The present paper reviews several types of damage that can be attributed with high certainty to earthquakes and discusses associated caveats. In the rare cases, where faults intersect with archaeological sites, offset structures enable precise determination of sense and size of slip, and constrain its time. Among the characteristic off-fault damage types, I consider horizontal shifting of large building blocks, downward sliding of one or several blocks from masonry arches, collapse of heavy, stably-built walls, chipping of corners of building blocks, and aligned falling of walls and columns. Other damage features are less conclusive and require additional evidence, e.g., fractures that cut across several structures, leaning walls and columns, warps and bulges in walls. Circumstantial evidence for catastrophic earthquake-related destruction includes contemporaneous damage in many sites in the same area, absence of weapons or other anthropogenic damage, stratigraphic data on collapse of walls and ceilings onto floors and other living horizons and burial of valuable artifacts, as well as associated geological palaeoseismic phenomena such as liquefaction, land- and rock-slides, and fault ruptures. Additional support may be found in reliable historical accounts. Special care must be taken in order to avoid circular reasoning by maintaining the independence of data acquisition methods.     

The Manyas fault zone (southern Marmara region,NW Turkey): active tectonics and paleoseismology

The Manyas fault zone (MFZ) is a splay fault of the Yenice Gönen Fault, which is located on the southern branch of the North Anatolian Fault System. The MFZ is a 38 km long, WNW–ESE-trending and normal fault zone comprised of three en-echelon segments. On 6 October 1964, an earthquake (Ms = 6.9) occurred on the Salur segment. In this study, paleoseismic trench studies were performed along the Salur segment. Based on these paleoseismic trench studies, at least three earthquakes resulting in a surface rupture within the last 4000 years, including the 1964 earthquake have been identified and dated. The penultimate event can be correlated with the AD 1323 earthquake. There is no archaeological and/or historical record that can be associated with the oldest earthquake dated between BP 3800 ± 600 and BP 2300 ± 200 years. Additionally, the trench study performed to the north of the Salur segment demonstrates paleoliquefaction structures crossing each other. The surface deformation that occurred during the 1964 earthquake is determined primarily to be the consequence of liquefaction. According to the fault plane slip data, the MFZ is a purely normal fault demonstrating a listric geometry with a dip of 64°–74° to the NNE.     

Temporal variation in the geometry of a strike–slip fault zone: Examples from the Dead Sea Transform

The location of the active fault strands along the Dead Sea Transform fault zone (DST) changed through time. In the western margins of Dead Sea basin, the early activity began a few kilometers west of the preset shores and moved toward the center of the basin in four stages. Similar centerward migration of faulting is apparent in the Hula Valley north of the Sea of Galilee as well as in the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula. In the Arava Valley, seismic surveys reveal a series of buried inactive basins whereas the current active strand is on their eastern margins. In the central Arava the centerward migration of activity was followed by outward migration with Pleistocene faulting along NNE-trending faults nearly 50 km west of the center. Largely the faulting along the DST, which began in the early–middle Miocene over a wide zone of up to 50 km, became localized by the end of the Miocene. The subsidence of fault-controlled basins, which were active in the early stage, stopped at the end of the Miocene. Later during the Plio-Pleistocene new faults were formed in the Negev west of the main transform. They indicate that another cycle has begun with the widening of the fault zone. It is suggested that the localization of faulting goes on as long as there is no change in the stress field. The stresses change because the geometry of the plates must change as they move, and consequently the localization stage ends. The fault zone is rearranged, becomes wide, and a new localization stage begins as slip accumulates. It is hypothesized that alternating periods of widening and narrowing correlate to changes of the plate boundaries, manifest in different Euler poles.     

U/Th dating of fissure ridge travertines from the Kirsehir region (Central Anatolia Turkey): structural relations and implications for the Neotectonic development of the Anatolian block

Travertines exposed in several locations in Central Anatolia are the important lithological product for the interpretation of local neotectonics. The fissure-type travertines provide significant information about stress orientation during deposition. Two travertine masses cropping out in the Kirsehir region have been studied and dated by the U-series method to obtain new chronological constraints, determine dilation rates and contribute to studies on the recent tectonic evolution of the area. The Kusdili and Kayabasi travertine masses are located on the hanging wall of the Kirsehir Fault, similar to numerous fissure ridge banded travertine deposits which are inactive today in the region. While individual fissures of the Kusdili travertine mass (Late Pleistocene-Holocene) have been dilated at rates of between 0.303 and 0.386 mm yr–1 during deposition, the Kayabasi travertine mass (Late Pleistocene) produced measured dilation rates of between 0.136 and 0.187 mm yr–1. The central fissures, filled by banded travertine, roughly follow the ridge crests. While the ridge crest has a NNE-SSW trend in the Kayabasi travertine mass, the ridge crest of the Kusdili travertine mass shows a NE-SW trend. This difference may be related to the clockwise rotation of the stress tensors from Late Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene-Holocene in the region.     

The lamprophyres of Afyon stratovolcano,western Anatolia,Turkey: description and genesis

The Afyon stratovolcano exhibits lamprophyric rocks, emplaced as hydrovolcanic products, aphanitic lava flows and dyke intrusions, during the final stages of volcanic activity. Most of the Afyon volcanics belong to the silica-saturated alkaline suite, as potassic trachyandesites and trachytes, while the products of the latest activity are lamproitic lamprophyres (jumillite, orendite, verite, fitztroyite) and alkaline lamprophyres (campto-sannaite, sannaite, hyalo-monchiquite, analcime–monchiquite). Afyon lamprophyres exhibit LILE and Zr enrichments, related to mantle metasomatism.     

Syn-collisional transform faulting of the Tan-Lu fault zone,East China

Origin of the continental-scale Tan-Lu fault zone (TLFZ), East China, remains controversial. About 550 km sinistral offset of the Dabie orogenic belt (DOB) and Sulu orogenic belt (SOB) is shown along the NE-NNE-striking TLFZ. Syn-collisional, sinistral ductile shear belts in the TLFZ have been identified. Thirteen phengite bulk separates from the mylonites were dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method. They gave cooling ages of the 198–181 Ma for the shear belts along the eastern margin of the DOB and 221–210 Ma from the western margin of the SOB. Distribution of the foreland basin deposits suggests that sinistral offset of the DOB and SOB by the TLFZ took place prior to deposition of the Upper Triassic strata. The marginal structures around the DOB and SOB support syn-collisional faulting, and indicate anticlockwise rotation of the DOB during the displacement. The folding and thrust faulting related to crustal subduction, coeval with the Tan-Lu faulting, is older than the foreland basin deposition related to the orogenic exhumation. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that the TLFZ was developed as a syn-collisional transform fault during latest Middle to earliest Late Triassic time when the DOB and SOB experienced crustal subduction of the South China Block (SCB). Eastward increase of the crustal subduction rates is believed to be responsible for the sinistral transform faulting.     

Late Neogene rift valley fill sediments preserved in caves of the Dead Sea Fault Escarpment (Israel): palaeogeographic and morphotectonic implications

Evaporitic‐lagoonal marl and dolomite laminar fill sediments are preserved in relict dry caves of the Dead Sea Fault Escarpment (Israel) which has been tectonically active since the Late Neogene. The hosting caves are located within Turonian massive carbonate bedrock and at higher altitudes than previously documented fill sediments of the Dead Sea depression. Based on the relative altitudes of the cave sediments, the ‘reversed stratigraphy’ of the Dead Sea depression fill sediments, possible partial correlation of the cave sediments with other fill sedimentary units of the depression, and sedimentary, geochemical and mineralogical characteristics, it is concluded that: (i) the cave sediments are among the oldest of the depression fill; and (ii) the deposition of the cave sediments took place in hypersaline dolomite‐precipitating water bodies of Late Neogene age, during the initial morphotectonic stages of the depression formation. Variable and relatively low Sr/Ca and δ³⁴S ratios of the cave sediments (assuming precipitation from sea water) suggest variable fresh water input into the depositional brine. The present altitudes of the cave sediments reflect Late Neogene levels of water bodies in the depression, modified by vertical post‐Late Neogene tectonic movements within the still active fault escarpment. According to these altitudes, a 50 to 250 m uplift of the western margins of the depression since the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene is inferred.     

Petrological and source region characteristics of ophiolitic hornblende gabbros from the Aksaray and Kayseri regions, central Anatolian crystalline complex, Turkey

Many Neo-Tethyan ophiolitic bodies are well exposed as thrust-slices in Central Anatolia and are predominantly represented by massive hornblende gabbros, most of which are cut by Supra Subduction Zone (SSZ) plagiogranites. The allochthonous gabbros are distinct from their autochthonous counterparts, with their mineralogy including both igneous hornblende, relict diopside rimmed by replacement hornblende and their chemical composition corresponding mostly to gabbro rather than diorite.The results of major and trace element analyses of forty-two samples, and REE analyses of nine samples, indicate that the hornblende gabbros are SSZ-type and formed from a wet magma by high-degree partial melting of peridotite possibly coupled with contamination by predominantly neighbouring-slab derived fluids within an intra-oceanic back-arc basin. The mafic magmas then underwent high-level fractional crystallization involving titaniferous magnetite, diopside, tschermakite and possibly olivine. Emplacement was followed by extensive ocean–floor metamorphism, which has induced crystallization (or recrystallization) of chlorite, biotite, amphiboles and mobilisation of most of the major elements such as alkali and alkali earth elements, and some LREE.     

Petrology and geochemistry of Tertiary volcanic rocks from the İkizce (Ordu) area, NE Turkey: Implications for the evolution of the eastern Pontide paleo-magmatic arc

Tertiary volcanism in the İkizce region at the western edge of the eastern Pontides paleo-magmatic arc is represented by basaltic and andesitic rocks associated with sediments deposited in a shallow basin environment. The basaltic rocks contain plagioclase (An_58–80), olivine (Fo_82–84), clinopyroxene (Wo_44–48En_35–42Fs_7–17), hornblende (Mg# = 0.68–0.76) phenocrysts, and magnetite microcrysts, whereas the andesitic rocks include plagioclase (An_25–61), clinopyroxene (Wo_46–49En_38–43Fs_11–13), hornblende (Mg# = 0.48–0.81), biotite (Mg# = 0.48–0.60) phenocrysts, titanomagnetite, apatite, and zircon microcrysts.Geochemical data indicate magmatic evolution from tholeiitic-alkaline transitional to calc-alkaline characteristics with medium-K contents. The geochemical variation in the rocks can be explained by fractionation of common mineral phases such as clinopyroxene, olivine, hornblende, plagioclase, magnetite, and apatite. The trace elements’ distributions of the volcanic rocks show similarities to those of E-Type MORB, have a shape that is typical of rocks from subduction-related tectonic setting with enrichment in LILE and to a lesser extent in LREE, but depletion in HFSE. The rocks evolved from a parental magma derived from an enriched source formed by subduction induced metasomatism of basaltic rocks, the latter formed through clinopyroxene ± olivine controlled fractionation in a high level magma chamber. The andesitic rocks developed through hornblende ± plagioclase controlled fractionation in shallow level magma chamber(s).     

Seismic behaviour of the North Anatolian Fault beneath the Sea of Marmara (NW Turkey): implications for earthquake recurrence times and future seismic hazard

Possible long-term seismic behaviour of the Northern strand of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, between western extreme of the 1999 İzmit rupture and the Aegean Sea, after 400 AD is studied by examining the historical seismicity, the submarine fault mapping and the paleoseismological studies of the recent scientific efforts. The long-term seismic behaviour is discussed through two possible seismicity models devised from M _S ≥ 7.0 historical earthquakes. The estimated return period of years of the fault segments for M1 and M2 seismic models along with their standard deviations are as follows: F4 segment 255 ± 60 and 258 ± 12; F5 segment 258 ± 60 and 258 ± 53; F6 segment 258 ± 60 and 258 ± 53; F7 segment 286 ± 103 and 286 ± 90; F8 segment 286 ± 90 and 286 ± 36. As the latest ruptures on the submarine segments have been reported to be during the 1754–1766 earthquake sequence, and the 1912 mainshock rupture has been evidenced to extend almost all over the western part of the Sea of Marmara, our results imply imminent seismic hazard and, considering the mean recurrence time, a large earthquake to strike the eastern part of the Sea of Marmara in the next two decades.     

Groundwater vulnerability assessment and evaluation of human activity impact (HAI) within the Dead Sea groundwater basin,Jordan

Groundwater vulnerability to contamination was determined within the Dead Sea groundwater basin, Jordan, using the DRASTIC model and evaluation of human activity impact (HAI). DRASTIC is an index model composed of several hydrogeological parameters and, in this study, the recharge parameter component was calculated as a function of rainfall, soil permeability, slope percentage, fault system, and the intersection locations between the fault system and the drainage system, based on the hydrogeologic characteristics of hard-rock terrain in an arid region. To evaluate the HAI index, a land use/cover map was produced using an ASTER VNIR image, acquired for September 2004, and combined with the resultant DRASTIC model. By comparing the DRASTIC and HAI indices, it is found that human activity is affecting the groundwater quality and increasing its pollution risk. The land use/cover map was verified using the average nitrate concentrations in groundwater associated with land in each class. A sensitivity analysis was carried out in order to study the model sensitivity. The analyses showed that the depth to water table and hydraulic conductivity parameters have no significant impact on the model, whereas the impact of vadose zone, aquifer media, and recharge parameters have a significant impact on the DRASTIC model.     

Late Quaternary environmental and human events at En Gedi, reflected by the geology and archaeology of the Moringa Cave (Dead Sea area, Israel)

The Moringa Cave within Pleistocene sediments in the En Gedi area of the Dead Sea Fault Escarpment contains a sequence of various Pleistocene lacustrine deposits associated with higher-than-today lake levels at the Dead Sea basin. In addition it contains Chalcolithic remains and 5th century BC burials attributed to the Persian period, cemented and covered by Late Holocene travertine flowstone. These deposits represent a chain of Late Pleistocene and Holocene interconnected environmental and human events, echoing broader scale regional and global climate events. A major shift between depositional environments is associated with the rapid fall of Lake Lisan level during the latest Pleistocene. This exposed the sediments, providing for cave formation processes sometime between the latest Pleistocene (ca. 15 ka) and the Middle Holocene (ca. 4500 BC), eventually leading to human use of the cave. The Chalcolithic use of the cave can be related to a relatively moist desert environment, probably related to a shift in the location of the northern boundary of the Saharo-Arabian desert belt. The travertine layer was U-Th dated 2.46 ± 0.10 to 2.10 ± 0.04 ka, in agreement with the archaeological finds from the Persian period. Together with the inner consistency of the dating results, this strongly supports the reliability of the radiometric ages. The 2.46-2.10 ka travertine deposition within the presently dry cave suggests a higher recharge of the Judean Desert aquifer, correlative to a rising Dead Sea towards the end of the 1st millennium BC. This suggests a relatively moist local and regional climate facilitating human habitation of the desert.     

The Bekten Fault: the palaeoseismic behaviour and kinematic characteristics of an intervening segment of the North Anatolian Fault Zone,Southern Marmara Region,Turkey

The Bekten Fault is 20-km long N55°E trending and oblique-slip fault in the dextral strike-slip fault zone. The fault is extending sub-parallel between Yenice-Gönen and Sar?köy faults, which forms the southern branch of North Anatolian Fault Zone in Southern Marmara Region. Tectonomorphological structures indicative of the recent fault displacements such as elongated ridges and offset creeks observed along the fault. In this study, we investigated palaeoseismic activities of the Bekten Fault by trenching surveys, which were carried out over a topographic saddle. The trench exposed the fault and the trench stratigraphy revealed repeated earthquake surface rupture events which resulted in displacements of late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits. According to radiocarbon ages obtained from samples taken from the event horizons in the stratigraphy, it was determined that at least three earthquakes resulting in surface rupture generated from the Bekten Fault within last ~1300 years. Based on the palaeoseismological data, the Bekten Fault displays non-characteristic earthquake behaviour and has not produced any earthquake associated with surface rupture for about the last 400 years. Additionally, the data will provide information for the role of small fault segments play except for the major structures in strike-slip fault systems.     

The identification of an active fault by a multidisciplinary study at the archaeological site of Sagalassos (SW Turkey)

The archaeological site of Sagalassos (SW Turkey) is located in a region characterized by the absence of any significant recent seismic activity, contrary to adjacent regions. However, the assessment of earthquake-related damage at the site suggests that the earthquakes that have been demonstrated to have struck this Pisidian city in ca. AD 500 and in the middle or second half of the 7th century AD are characterized by an MSK intensity of at least VIII and occurred on a fault very close to the city. Different investigation techniques (archaeoseismology, remote sensing and geomorphology, surface geology and structural data, 2D resistivity imaging and palaeoseismological trenching) have been applied at the archaeological site and its direct surroundings in search for the causative fault of these earthquakes. This multidisciplinary approach shows that each of the different approaches independently provides only partial, non-conclusive information with respect to the fault identification. Integration is imperative to give a conclusive answer in the search for the causative fault. This study has, indeed, revealed the existence of a to date unknown active normal fault system passing underneath ancient Sagalassos, i.e. the Sagalassos fault. A historical coseismic surface rupture event on this fault could be identified. This event possibly corresponds to the devastating Sagalassos earthquakes of ca. AD 500 and the middle or second half of the 7th century AD. Finally, this study demonstrates that in the particular geodynamic setting of SW Turkey archaeological sites with extensive earthquake-related damage form an important tool in any attempt to asses the seismic hazard.     

Petrogenesis of oligocene plutonic rocks in western Anatolia (NW Turkey): Insights from mineral and rock chemistry,Sr-Nd isotopes,and U-Pb,Ar-Ar and (U-Th)/He geochronology

Northwestern Anatolia is characterized by voluminous Paleozoic to Cenozoic granitoid bodies with varying compositions. Most of them are composite plutons emplaced into western Anatolia orogenic crust during the Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene along the İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture zone. This paper reports systematic good quality mineral and bulk-rock chemistry, Sr-Nd isotope data, honblend Ar-Ar, zircon U-Pb and first apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) ages to reveal possible source compositions of the Evciler and Eybek granitoids and petrogenetic/geodynamic processes involved during their genesis, and thermochronology of Oligocene magmatism in the NW Anatolia. The Evciler and Eybek granitoids are mainly granodiorite and composed of K-feldspar (usually orthoclase and rarely microcline), plagioclase (albite, oligoclase), hornblende, biotite, quartz and accessory minerals (e.g., titanite, zircon, apatite, opaque), and secondary minerals such as chlorite, sericite and clay minerals. Estimated temperature-pressure conditions are 690–770 ° C at 1.6–2.7 kbar for the Evciler granitoid and 690–760 ° C at 3.2–4.01 kbar for the Eybek granitoid. These two granitoids enriched in LILEs (e.g., U, Th, Rb, and K), LREEs and Pb, and depleted in HREEs (e.g., Nb, Ti) and Sr, Ba and P relative to LILEs, and display small negative Eu anomalies. They belong to calc-alkaline, high-K calc-alkaline and minor shoshonite series, and display metaluminous and I-type character. Their REE patterns show a large fractionation between LREE and HREE ((La/Yb)N = 4.6–21.4) and a small negative Eu anomaly (Eu* = 0.2–0.3). The Evciler granitoid has homogeneous ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.7060−0.7063 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0.51259−0.51262, and the Eybek granitoid has ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.7060−0.7080 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0.51243−0.51263. New precise ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data of hornblende and ²⁰⁶Pb–²³⁸U ages of zircons and (U-Th)/He ages of apatites from the plutons allow a more accurate temporal reconstruction of the Cenozoic magmatism of the western Anatolia. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of hornblendes from the Evciler and Eybek granitoids gave plateau ages of between ca. 28 Ma and 25 Ma. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) ²⁰⁶Pb-²³⁸Pb ages of euhdral magmatic zircons from the samples of these granitoids yield between ca. 28 and 26 Ma. The new high-temperature age constraints indicate Oligocene emplacement ages for the two intrusive bodies. The closeness of the zircon U-Pb and the hornblende Ar-Ar ages show that they experienced quick post-crystallization cooling. However, the significant difference between the apatite (U-Th)/He ages of 19.8 Ma and 7.6 Ma obtained on the Evciler and Eybek granitoids warns that in the post-Oligocene times the two structural blocks had different exhumation histories.     

蠕滑断裂带岩石组成和构造特征分析:以龙门山灌县-安县断裂带为例

断裂蠕滑可以连续释放部分构造应力,但仍可能造成重大的地质灾害,甚至具有发生大地震的可能性。断层岩是断裂作用中的直接产物,其物质组成和内部构造可为揭示断裂带滑移机制提供关键信息。2008年M_w 7.9汶川地震中破裂的龙门山灌县-安县断裂带具有蠕滑性质,是探究大陆内部蠕滑断裂滑移机制的最佳案例。本文以龙门山灌县-安县断裂带地表探槽和深部钻孔的断层岩为研究对象,通过碎屑统计、X射线粉末衍射矿物分析、光学显微镜和扫描电镜观测,结果显示该断裂带断层泥碎屑含量和颗粒大小均小于断层角砾岩,其粘土矿物含量高达50%以上,且断层岩中普遍发育粘土-碎屑组构以及拖尾构造、似S-C组构等多种压溶构造。综合分析发现压溶作用、低摩擦系数物质以及颗粒滑移对灌县-安县断裂带的蠕滑变形都发挥着重要作用,并且三者相辅相成,因此认为灌县-安县断裂带的蠕滑过程主要是压溶作用和摩擦-颗粒滑移机制共同作用,该认识可更好地了解地震周期并为区域防震减灾提供科学依据。