Orientations of palaeotectonic features as a key to understanding the neotectonic block rotation of the Kocaeli peninsula, NW Turkey

Abstract

Due to northward subduction of Neotethys, the İstanbul zone collided with the Sakarya zone in northwest Turkey during the early Eocene. Subsequently, this region was subjected to compressional forces during the late Eocene–early Miocene period. Folds, thrusts and reverse faults developed approximately parallel to long axes of the İstanbul zone. NNW–SSE oriented conjugate strike‐slip faults developed with continued contraction. In addition to the orientations of palaeotectonic features, the morphotectonic, stratigraphic and seismic characteristics expose differences between the northeastern Marmara peneplain and the southern Black Sea highland. This study reports causes of this diversity reflecting the neotectonic evolution of the İstanbul zone. The diversity is related to the clockwise rotation of the Kocaeli peninsula between two dextral zone‐bounding faults and two sinistral block‐bounding faults. The principle factors of this process were the development of the North Anatolian fault zone (NAFZ) and the related evolution of the Adapazarı–Karasu fault zone (AKFZ), the Bosphorus fault zone (BFZ) and the Northern Boundary fault (NBF).