Slip rates on the Helike Fault, Gulf of Corinth, Greece: new evidence from geoarchaeology |
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| Authors: | Ioannis K Koukouvelas Dora Katsonopoulou Steven Soter Paraskevas Xypolias |
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| Institution: | Division of Physical Marine Geology and Geodynamics, Department of Geology, University of Patras, 265 00 Patras, Greece;;The Helike Society, 58 Solomou Street, 10 652 Athens, Greece;;Center for Ancient Studies, New York University, and American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West, New York, NY, USA |
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| Abstract: | Palaeoseismological and archaeological analysis of a trench enabled us to estimate the Holocene slip rates on the East Helike Fault, flanking the south-western Gulf of Corinth. We recognized two major fault strands within the trench: the ‘north fault’ controls a succession of three colluvial wedges and the deposition of a 2.7 m thick sedimentary sequence. The ‘south fault’ controls the deposition of a 2.9-m thick brownish-red colluvium. Based on colluvial stratigraphy, radiocarbon dating of the sediments suggests that the slip rate was c. 0.3 mm yr?1 from 10 250 to c. 1400 bp , when it increased dramatically to c. 2.0 mm yr?1 after a strong earthquake event near 1400 bp . The faster slip rate evidently increased the sedimentation rate. |
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