| Continental
rifts and graben are the most prominent geological structures on the
continental
crust that deformed under the control of extensional tectonics. Stress
is accommodated by weakness zones perpendicular to the orientation of
these
depressions.
In
recent studies carried out in western Anatolia, a crustal scale zone of
weakness is found in a region located between Izmir and Balikesir. This
Izmir-Balikesir
transfer zone is bounded by the
E-W trending Gediz,
Küçük
Menderes and Büyük Menderes graben, the Menderes
metamorphic
core complex and by related detachment faults from the west. In this
zone
we find Paleozoic-Mesozoic rocks of the Karaburun belt and the Bornova
Flysch zone, sedimentary rocks of Eocene age, volcano-sedimentary rocks
of Neogene age, Plio-Quaternary units and Holocene-Recent sediments
(see
the map below).
These
rocks associations belong to dissimilar basins that developed in
different
time periods. The NE-trending basins and their boundary faults are also
known from the northern and eastern part of the Gediz graben.
The
main subject of this study is to investigation of the NE-trending
Neogene-Recent
basins and their structural features. The geological evolution and the
stress regime that caused stresses the Neogene to Recent basins will be
established. This includes the study of rotations.
To
do this, we will:
1
- study certain key areas within the NE-trending basins at 1:25.000
scale,
2
- determine the age of the rock units by Ar/Ar dating and
paleontology,
3
- establish the geometry and kinematic features of faults that
(de)formed
the basin fill and
4
- carry out paleomagnetic studies to determine the style and amount of
rotation.
Fresh slip-planes of the
Seferihisar fault zone
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The
data obtained from the field and laboratory studies will establish for
the first time the contribution of NE-trending weak zones to the N-S
extensional
tectonics of western Anatolia that were claimed to have been formed
since
the Oligocene. The study will also establish
the role and significance of zones of weakness developed parallel to
the
orientation of extension in western Anatolia.
These
studies will be carried out together with staff members from Dokuz
Eylül
University (Izmir) and Middle East Technical University (Ankara). This
project supports three PhD students and one MSc student.
Bora
Uzel is supervised by Hasan Sözbilir, Nuri
Kaymakci and Cor Langereis |
2012
- Uzel, B., Sözbilir, H.
and Özkaymak,
Ç. (2012). Neotectonic Evolution of an Actively Growing
Superimposed Basin in Western Anatolia: The Inner Bay of Izmir, Turkey,
Turkish
Journal of Earth
Sciences, 21,
239-271.
2011
- Koca, M.Y.,
Sözbilir, H. and Uzel , B. (2011). An
Investigation on the Causes of Deformations Formed Along
the Sarıgöl Fault Zone (Sarıgöl Fay Zonu Boyunca Meydana Gelen
Deformasyonların Nedenleri Üzerine Bir Araştırma), Journal of Geological
Engineering (Jeoloji
Mühendisli þi Dergisi), 35,
151-174.
- Özkaymak,
Ç, Sözbilir, Uzel, B. and Akyüz, H.S.
(2011).
Geological
and palaeoseismological evidence for Late Pleistocene-Holocene activity
on the Manisa Fault Zone, Western Anatolia, Turkish
Journal of
Earth Sciences, 20,
449-474.
- Sözbilir,
H., Sari, B., Uzel, B., Sömer, O. and Akkiraz, S.
(2011). Tectonic
implications of transtensional supradetachment basin development in an
extension-parallel transferzone: the Kocacay Basin, western Anatolia,
Turkey. Basin
Research, 23,
423-448.
2009
- Helvaci,
C., Ersoy, E.Y., Sözbilir, H., Erkül,
F.,Sümer,
Ö.
and Uzel, B. (2009). Geochemistry and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of
Miocene
volcanic rocks from the Karaburun Peninsula: Implications for
amphibole-bearing
lithospheric mantle source, Western Anatolia, Journal
of
Volcanology
and Geothermal Research, 185,
181-202.
- Sözbilir, H., Sümer,
Ö., Uzel, B., Ersoy, Y.,
Erkül, F., İnci, U., Helvacı, C. and Özkaymak,
Ç.
(2009). The Seismic geomorphology of the Sığacık Gulf (İzmir)
earthquakes of October 17 to 20, 2005 and their relationships with the
stress field of their Western Anatolian region [17-20 Ekim
2005-Sığacık Körfezi (İzmir) depremlerinin sismik
jeomorfolojisi
ve bölgedeki gerilme alanları ile ilişkisi, Batı Anadolu]. Geological Bulletin of
Turkey, 52,
217-238.
2008
- Sözbilir,
H., Uzel, B., Sümer, Ö., Ýnci, U., Ersoy,
Y.,
Koçer,
T., Demirtaþ, R. ve Özkaymak, Ç. (2008).
Evidence for
a kinematically linked E-W trending Izmir Fault and NE-trending
Seferihisar
Fault: Kinematic and paleoseismogical studies carried out on active
faults
forming the Izmir Bay, Western Anatolia. Türkiye
Jeoloji
Bülteni, 51
(2), 91-114.
- Uzel, B.
& Sözbilir, H. (2008). A First record of strike-slip
basin in
western Anatolia and its tectonic implication: The Cumaovasi basin as
an
example. Turkish Journal of
Earth Sciences, 17,
559-591.
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