Characteristic features and paleoseismological behaviours of the Anamas Block Boundary Faults, Southwestern Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract

: The Anamas Block is located at the apex of the Isparta Angle which is one of the most important tectonic structures of Anatolia. The Isparta Angle, which has a complex tectonic structure, was formed as a result of compressional and extensional tectonic events that initiated from the Late Cretaceous continuing to the present. The GPS and kinematic data indicate the Anamas Block currently rotates clockwise due to the impact of the normal faults (Beyşehir Gölü and Sarıidris) with a minor right lateral strike-slip component on the east and west boundaries, while it is moved to the southeast by the effect of the normal fault (Gelendost) bounding the block from the north. In this study, paleoseismological trench investigations were carried out on the Sarıidris, Gelendost and Beyşehir Gölü faults. Data related with activity and fault kinematics of all three faults during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene period was collected on the trench walls. Sedimentological and structural evidences were observed for one earthquake on the Sarıidris, Beyşehir Gölü faults, and two earthquakes on the Gelendost Fault, which resulted in surface rupture during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene period.