Abstract
ABSTRACTThe intersection of the Eurasian and Arabian plates and the smaller Anatolian Scholle created the Karlıova Triple Junction (KTJ) in eastern Turkey. In this study, we present analogue model experiments for this region and compare the results with our field observations and data from remote sensing imagery. Our comparison suggests that the sense of slip along curvilinear faults at the west of the KTJ changes along strike moving away from the principal displacement zones, from strike-slip to oblique normal and then to pure normal slip. Although, the active Prandtl cell model has been proposed to explain the overall regional fault pattern at eastern part of the Anatolian Scholle, the map view orientation of the secondary faults within the Karlıova wedge and performed analogue modelling results suggest that the passive wedge-shaped Prandtl cell model with a normal dip-slip component along slip lines is more appropriate in order to explain not only deformation pattern around the KTJ but also internal deformation of eastern part of the Anatolia. Moreover, these faults accumulate the significant amount of deformation that causes to the irregular earthquake behavior and the relatively lower geologic slip-rates along the main fault branch of boundary faults around the KTJ.Abbreviations: Strike-slip; Karlıova Triple Junction (KTJ); continental deformation; North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ); East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ);Varto Fault Zone (VFZ)
Highlights
The basic assumption of plate tectonics is that the plates are rigid and that deformation between two lithospheric plates is confined to a narrow zone along its mutual boundary (Le Pichon, 1968; McKenzie & Parker, 1967; Morgan, 1968; Wilson, 1965)
The comparison between the passive Prandtl cell models and structural pattern within the Karlıova wedge clearly shows that Varnes (1962) model can explain the overall geometries of strike-slip faults, but not the vertical motions along the Bahçeköy and Toklular faults observed in nature
In order to understand causal relationship between the main fault zones and tectonic structures of the Karlıova region, we organize the initial orientation of the plate boundaries in accord with the Plio-Quaternary geometry of the triple junction components (Figure 8 (a)): The boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Anatolian Scholle is oriented N70°W, as is the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Arabian Plate
Summary
The basic assumption of plate tectonics is that the plates are rigid and that deformation between two lithospheric plates is confined to a narrow zone along its mutual boundary (Le Pichon, 1968; McKenzie & Parker, 1967; Morgan, 1968; Wilson, 1965). Geometry and sense of slip lines of passive Prandtl cell model resemble the surface fault geometry that formed between the NAFZ and EAFZ in the Karlıova region at the easternmost part of the Anatolian Scholle (Figure 2). We compare the mapped structures with the results of passive Prandtl cell model based analogue model experiments, which provide a more reasonable causal relationship between the NAFZ, the EAFZ and the tectonic structures between them.
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