Abstract
The NW-trending Denizli basin of the SW Turkey is one of the neotectonic grabens in the Aegean extensional province. It is bounded by normal faults on both southern and northern margins. The basin is filled by Neogene and Quaternary terrestrial deposits. Late Miocene- Late Pliocene aged Kolankaya formation crops out along the NW trending Karakova uplift in the Denizli basin. It is a typical fluviolacustrine succession that thickens and coarsens upward, comprising poorly consolidated sand, gravelly sand, siltstone and marl. Various soft-sediment deformation structures occur in the formation, especially in fine- to medium grained sands, silts and marls: load structures, flame structures, clastic dikes (sand and gravely-sand dike), disturbed layers, laminated convolute beds, slumps and synsedimentary faulting. The deformation mechanism and driving force for the soft-sediment deformation are related essentially to gravitational instability, dewatering, liquefaction-liquidization, and brittle deformation. Field data and the wide lateral extent of the structures as well as regional geological data show that most of the deformation is related to seismicity and the structures are interpreted as seismites. The existence of seismites in the Kolankaya Formation is evidence for continuing tectonic activity in the study area during the Neogene and is consistent with the occurrence of the paleoearthquakes of magnitude >5.
Highlights
Soft-sediment deformation structures are the result of liquefaction or fluidization in water-saturated unconsolidated sediments
The aim of this paper is to describe the various types of soft-sediment deformation structures from the Kolankaya Formation in the Denizli Basin and to discuss their potential triggering mechanisms
Major grabens were formed by a phase of Early to Late Miocene extension related to the roll-back of the Aegean subduction zone. These basins were later cut by grabens trending E-W, during a Pliocene phase of extension related to the westward “tectonic escape” of Anatolia
Summary
Soft-sediment deformation structures are the result of liquefaction or fluidization in water-saturated unconsolidated sediments. Soft-sediment deformation structures related to seismically induced liquefaction or fluidization are named as seismites [5]. Seismites in lacustrine deposits are divided into different classes and their trigger mechanisms discussed by Sims [6], Alfaro et al [11], Rodrıguez-Pascua et al [12], Bowman et al [14], and Neuwerth et al [16]. Sims [6] suggested that the relative abundance of seismites in lacustrine deposits is related to the following parameters: (1) the presence of water-saturated sediments, (2) the presence of sediments with high susceptibility to liquefaction, and (3) the absence of hydrodynamic and sedimentary processes obliterating the products of seismically induced deformation. The aim of this paper is to describe the various types of soft-sediment deformation structures from the Kolankaya Formation in the Denizli Basin (western Turkey) and to discuss their potential triggering mechanisms
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