A tectonic escape structure: Erciyes pull-apart basin, Kayseri, central Anatolia, Turkey

Koçyi̇ği̇t, Ali̇; Erol, Oğuz

doi:10.1016/s0985-3111(00)01055-x

Cited by 19 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The two fault systems separate an eastern domain experiencing mainly north–south compression from the westerly escaping Anatolian plate. The tectonic domains east of the NAF and EAF comprise several sub‐domains from north to south: the Greater Caucasus, the Transcaucasus depression, the Lesser Caucasus, the east Anatolian plateau and the Arabian platform (Kocyigit & Erol 2001).…”

Section: Tectonic Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pn tomographic imaging of mantle lid velocity and anisotropy at the junction of the Arabian, Eurasian and African plates

Al-Lazki¹,

Sandvol

Şeber³

et al. 2004

Geophysical Journal International

188

116

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SUMMARY The interaction of the Arabian plate with the Eurasian plate has played a major role in building the young mountain belts along the Zagros–Bitlis continent–continent collision zone. Arabia's northward motion is considered to be the primary driving force behind the present‐day westerly escape of the Anatolian plate along the North and East Anatolian fault zones as well as the formation of the Turkish and the Iranian plateaux. In this study we mapped Pn‐wave velocity and anisotropy structures at the junction of the Arabian, Eurasian and African plates in order to elucidate the upper‐mantle dynamics in this region. Pn is a wave that propagates within the mantle lid of the lithosphere and is often used to infer the rheology and fabric of the mantle lithosphere. Applying strict selection criteria, we used arrival times of 166 000 Pn phases to invert for velocity and anisotropy in the region. Using a least‐squares tomographic code, these data were analysed to solve simultaneously for both velocity and azimuthal anisotropy in the mantle lithosphere. We found that most of the continental regions in our study area are underlain by low Pn velocity structures. Broad‐scale (∼500 km) zones of low (<8 km s−1) Pn velocity anomalies underlie the Anatolian plate, the Anatolian plateau, the Caucasus region, northwestern Iran and northwestern Arabia, and smaller scale (∼200 km), very low (<7.8 km s−1) Pn velocity zones underlie southern Syria, the Lesser Caucasus, the Isparta Angle, central Turkey and the northern Aegean Sea. The broad‐scale low‐velocity regions are interpreted to be hot and unstable mantle lid zones, whereas very low Pn velocity zones are interpreted to be regions of no mantle lid. The low and very low Pn velocity zones in eastern Turkey, northwestern Iran and the Caucasus region may be associated with the latest stage of intense volcanism that has been active since the Late Miocene. The low Pn velocity zones beneath the Anatolian plate, eastern Turkey and northwestern Iran may in part be a result of the subducted Tethyan oceanic lithosphere beneath Eurasia. We also found a major low‐velocity zone beneath northwestern Arabia and the Dead Sea fault system. We interpret this anomaly to be a possible extension of the hot and anomalous upper mantle of the Red Sea and East Africa rift system. High Pn velocities (8.1–8.4 km s−1) are observed to underlie the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the central and eastern Arabian plate. Observed Pn anisotropy showed a higher degree of lateral variation than did the Pn velocity structure. Although the Pn anisotropy varies even in a given tectonic region, in eastern Anatolia very low Pn velocity and Pn anisotropy structures appear to be coherent.

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Section: Tectonic Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pn tomographic imaging of mantle lid velocity and anisotropy at the junction of the Arabian, Eurasian and African plates

Al-Lazki¹,

Sandvol

Şeber³

et al. 2004

Geophysical Journal International

188

116

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Early GPS studies suggested that present‐day motion of the Anatolian plate is explained by coherent extrusion of a rigid tectonic block, driven by the pull of the African slab rollback beneath the Hellenic‐Cyprus subduction zones with minimal internal deformation of the plate [ McClusky et al , ; Reilinger et al , ]. Other models call for significant internal deformation of the Anatolian plate, in which smaller strike‐slip‐bounded crustal wedges move independently, each accommodating some of the relative motion between the Arabian and Eurasian plates [ Şengör , ; Koçyiğit and Beyhan , ; Koçyiğit and Erol , ; Jaffey and Robertson , ; Bozkurt , ]. The Anatolian plate experienced significant internal deformation throughout the late Cenozoic, prior to and after the initiation of “escape tectonics,” but its contribution to the lateral translation is rarely considered in regional geodynamic models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New kinematic and geochronologic evidence for the Quaternary evolution of the Central Anatolian fault zone (CAFZ)

et al. 2015

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As the kinematics of active faults that bound the Anatolian plate are well studied, it is now essential to improve our understanding of the style and rates of intraplate deformation to constrain regional strain partitioning and improve seismic risk assessments. One of these internal structures, the Central Anatolian fault zone (CAFZ), was originally defined as a regionally significant left-lateral "tectonic escape" structure, stretching for 700 km in a NE direction across the Anatolian plate. We provide new structural, geomorphic, and geochronologic data for several key segments within the central part of the CAFZ that suggest that the sinistral motion has been overstated. The Ecemiş fault, the southernmost part of the CAFZ, has a late-Quaternary minimum slip rate of 1.1 ± 0.4 mm a À1 , slower than originally proposed. Farther north, the Erciyes fault has fed a linear array of monogenetic vents of the Erciyes stratovolcano and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating shows a syneruptive stress field of ESE-WNW extension from 580 ± 130 ka to 210 ± 180 ka. In the Erciyes basin, and central part of the CAFZ, we mapped and recharacterized the Erkilet and Gesi faults as predominantly extensional. These long-term geological rates support recent GPS observations that reveal ESE-WNW extension, which we propose as the driver of faulting since 2.73 ± 0.08 Ma. The slip rates and kinematics derived in this study are not typical of an "escape tectonic" structure. The CAFZ is a transtensional fault system that reactivates paleotectonic structures and accommodates E-W extension associated with the westward movement of Anatolia.

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“…The geological history of Cappadocia is characterized by the creation of volcanic landforms and the deposition of ignimbrites during the Neogene-Quaternary periods (Aydan and Ulusay 2003). The area is covered by several hundred meters thick, almost horizontal layers of acidic volcanic tuffs and lavas from Erciyes, Melendiz, and Hasandağ volcanoes (Koçyiğit and Erol 2001;Kopar 2007). Many special morphological features such as fairy chimneys, badlands, valleys, and caves occur due to the erosive effects of precipitation and the Kızılırmak River and its branches on volcanic tuffs.…”

Section: Central Anatoliamentioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative Tourism in Turkey

2016

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A tectonic escape structure: Erciyes pull-apart basin, Kayseri, central Anatolia, Turkey

Cited by 19 publications

References 9 publications

Pn tomographic imaging of mantle lid velocity and anisotropy at the junction of the Arabian, Eurasian and African plates

Pn tomographic imaging of mantle lid velocity and anisotropy at the junction of the Arabian, Eurasian and African plates

New kinematic and geochronologic evidence for the Quaternary evolution of the Central Anatolian fault zone (CAFZ)

Alternative Tourism in Turkey

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