Abstract
Abstract. In the deep part of the Sea of Marmara (Turkey), the sedimentation developing upon the North Anatolian Fault is strongly influenced by the associated seismic activity, through gravity reworking (fluidized landslides) and tsunamis. Specific layers (homogenites + turbidites, HmTu), representing individual sedimentary events, have been characterized along three giant piston cores retrieved from the Çinarcik and Central (or Orta) basins. Pre-Holocene, nonmarine sediments, were analyzed, representing the last 12–17 kyr BP (before present). For a 2 kyr long interval, 11 events could be precisely correlated on both sides of the Central Basin's southwestern scarp. For each of them, based on the specific depositional process, the thickness difference between the two sites was considered as a direct estimation of the vertical component of a coeval coseismic offset. The homogenite (upper) component accounts for the major part of the thickness difference (ranging from 36 to 144 cm). These offsets were considered as likely representing dominantly vertical throws, along the transtensional southwestern boundary of the inner, pull-apart Central Basin. In terms of natural hazards, further investigations on this local behavior should rather be directed to tsunami genesis.
Highlights
Since several decades, sedimentary archives, either marine or lacustrine, have been explored as potential paleoseismic records, beside previously well-developed terrestrial approaches (McCalpin, 2009)
High-resolution (3.5 kHz) seismic profiles were acquired, and a complete survey with the VICTOR remote operating vehicles (ROV) was dedicated to a high-precision multibeam bathymetric mapping of different deep scarps (Armijo et al, 2005; Uçarkus, 2010)
The chronology is based on anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) 14C calibrated ages: previously published measurements performed at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (NOSAMS facility) (Beck et al, 2007), and a set of new measurements performed at CEA (French Atomic Energy Commission) Saclay (CNRS-INSU ARTEMIS facility)
Summary
Sedimentary archives, either marine or lacustrine, have been explored as potential paleoseismic records, beside previously well-developed terrestrial approaches (McCalpin, 2009). – indirectly, (i) on the basis of correlations with reported seismic events (for historical seismicity) (e.g., Siegenthaler et al, 1987; Piper et al, 1992; Chapron et al, 1999; Goldfinger et al, 2007; Beck et al, 2012) and (ii) when detecting the same paleoevent in a large area independently from local setting (e.g., variable slope dip) This second approach is especially used for deep structures, as subduction, (e.g., Goldfinger et al, 2007; Gracia et al, 2010; Moernaut, 2011; Pouderoux et al, 2012) and in some cases, for surface-reaching major faults (e.g., Goldfinger et al, 2007);. Detailed sedimentological aspects may be consulted in the above-mentioned publications
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