Active tectonic and palaeoseismological features of the western section of Mustafakemalpaşa Fault; Bursa, NW Anatolia

The Mustafakemalpaşa Fault (MF), located among Manyas, Ulubat and Orhaneli faults, is a right lateral strike-slip and 47 km in length. The MF begins with a pressure ridge at the west and exhibits complex jog terminations at east ends in restraining left stepovers. The western section of the fault bounds Miocene and Quaternary units and continues towards İlyasçılar. The central segment of the fault, starts with approximately 750-m leftward stepover, exhibits a sinusoidal geometry between Kapaklıoluk and Kabulbaba. In this section, MF traverses mountainous terrain and cuts Ophiolite, Jurassic limestones and Miocene detritals, forming dextral faulting features and gaining reverse component. The eastern section exhibits left stepping en-echelon pattern and consists 2.5-km offset on the Orhaneli River. In this study, palaeoseismological findings related to the Holocene activity and active tectonic properties of the MF are presented. The trenches exposed mismatched stratigraphy, demonstrating evidence of events across the fault. We identified three events (before BC 2190, later AD 1425 and 1850) that have occurred during the past 4000 years. We suggest a long non-characteristic recurrence interval and ~0.7 mm/y slip-rate for MF, based on trench data and offset of the Late Pliocene drainage of Orhaneli River.