@article{OzsayinCinerRojayetal.2013, author = {Ozsayin, Erman and Ciner, T. Attila and Rojay, F. Bora and Dirik, R. Kadir and Melnick, Daniel and Fernandez-Blanco, David and Bertotti, Giovanni and Schildgen, Taylor F. and Garcin, Yannick and Strecker, Manfred and Sudo, Masafumi}, title = {Plio-Quaternary extensional tectonics of the Central Anatolian Plateau a case study from the Tuz Golu Basin, Turkey}, series = {Turkish journal of earth sciences = T{\"u}rk yerbilimleri dergisi}, volume = {22}, journal = {Turkish journal of earth sciences = T{\"u}rk yerbilimleri dergisi}, number = {5}, publisher = {T{\"u}bitak}, address = {Ankara}, issn = {1300-0985}, doi = {10.3906/yer-1210-5}, pages = {691 -- 714}, year = {2013}, abstract = {The Tuz Golu Basin is the largest sedimentary depression located at the center of the Central Anatolian Plateau, an extensive, low-relief region with elevations of ca. 1 km located between the Pontide and Tauride mountains. Presently, the basin morphology and sedimentation processes are mainly controlled by the extensional Tuz Golu Fault Zone in the east and the transtensional Inonu-Eskisehir Fault System in the west. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the Plio-Quaternary deformation history and to refine the timing of the latest extensional phase of the Tuz Golu Basin. Field observations, kinematic analyses, interpretations of seismic reflection lines, and Ar-40/Ar-39 dating of a key ignimbrite layer suggest that a regional phase of NNW-SSE to NE-SW contraction ended by 6.81 +/- 0.24 Ma and was followed by N-S to NE-SW extension during the Pliocene-Quaternary periods. Based on sedimentological and chronostratigraphic markers, the average vertical displacement rates over the past 5 or 3 Ma with respect to the central part of Tuz Golu Lake are 0.03 to 0.05 mm/year for the fault system at the western flank of the basin and 0.08 to 0.13 mm/year at the eastern flank. Paleo-shorelines of the Tuz Golu Lake, vestiges of higher lake levels related to Quaternary climate change, are important strain markers and were formed during Last Glacial Maximum conditions as indicated by a radiocarbon age of 21.8 +/- 0.4 ka BP obtained from a stromatolitic crust. Geomorphic observations and deformed lacustrine shorelines suggest that the main strand of the Tuz Golu Fault Zone straddling the foothills of the Sereflikochisar-Aksaray range has not been active during the Holocene. Instead, deformation appears to have migrated towards the interior of the basin along an offshore fault that runs immediately west of Sereflikochisar Peninsula. This basinward migration of deformation is probably associated with various processes acting at the lithospheric scale, such as plateau uplift and/or microplate extrusion.}, language = {en} } @article{BerndtYildirimCineretal.2018, author = {Berndt, Christopher and Yildirim, Cengiz and Ciner, Attila and Strecker, Manfred and Ertunc, Gulgun and Sarikaya, M. Akif and {\"O}zcan, Orkan and Ozturk, Tugba and Kiyak, Nafiye Gunec}, title = {Quaternary uplift of the northern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau}, series = {Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal}, volume = {201}, journal = {Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0277-3791}, doi = {10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.10.029}, pages = {446 -- 469}, year = {2018}, abstract = {We analysed the interplay between coastal uplift, sea level change in the Black Sea, and incision of the Kizilirmak River in northern Turkey. These processes have created multiple co-genetic fluvial and marine terrace sequences that serve as excellent strain markers to assess the ongoing evolution of the Pontide orogenic wedge and the growth of the northern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau. We used high-resolution topographic data, OSL ages, and published information on past sea levels to analyse the spatiotemporal evolution of these terraces; we derived a regional uplift model for the northward advancing orogenic wedge that supports the notion of laterally variable uplift rates along the flanks of the Pontides. The best-fit uplift model defines a constant long-term uplift rate of 0.28 +/- 0.07 m/ka for the last 545 ka. This model explains the evolution of the terrace sequence in light of active tectonic processes and superposed cycles of climate-controlled sea-level change. Our new data reveal regional uplift characteristics that are comparable to the inner sectors of the Central Pontides; accordingly, the rate of uplift diminishes with increasing distance from the main strand of the restraining bend of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). This spatial relationship between the regional impact of the restraining bend of the NAFZ and uplift of the Pontide wedge thus suggests a strong link between the activity of the NAFZ, deformation and uplift in the Pontide orogenic wedge, and the sustained lateral growth of the Central Anatolian Plateau flank. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @article{YildirimSchildgenEchtleretal.2013, author = {Yildirim, Cengiz and Schildgen, Taylor F. and Echtler, Helmut Peter and Melnick, Daniel and Bookhagen, Bodo and Ciner, T. Attila and Niedermann, Samuel and Merchel, Silke and Martschini, Martin and Steier, Peter and Strecker, Manfred}, title = {Tectonic implications of fluvial incision and pediment deformation at the northern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau based on multiple cosmogenic nuclides}, series = {Tectonics}, volume = {32}, journal = {Tectonics}, number = {5}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0278-7407}, doi = {10.1002/tect.20066}, pages = {1107 -- 1120}, year = {2013}, abstract = {We document Quaternary fluvial incision driven by fault-controlled surface deformation in the inverted intermontane G{\"o}kirmak Basin in the Central Pontide mountains along the northern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau. In-situ-produced Be-10, Ne-21, and Cl-36 concentrations from gravel-covered fluvial terraces and pediment surfaces along the trunk stream of the basin (the G{\"o}kirmak River) yield model exposure ages ranging from 71ka to 34645ka and average fluvial incision rates over the past similar to 350ka of 0.280.01mm a(-1). Similarities between river incision rates and coastal uplift rates at the Black Sea coast suggest that regional uplift is responsible for the river incision. Model exposure ages of deformed pediment surfaces along tributaries of the trunk stream range from 605ka to 110 +/- 10ka, demonstrating that the thrust faults responsible for pediment deformation were active after those times and were likely active earlier as well as explaining the topographic relief of the region. Together, our data demonstrate cumulative incision that is linked to active internal shortening and uplift of similar to 0.3mm a(-1) in the Central Pontide orogenic wedge, which may ultimately contribute to the lateral growth of the northern Anatolian Plateau.}, language = {en} } @article{MelnickYildirimHillemannetal.2017, author = {Melnick, Daniel and Yildirim, Cengiz and Hillemann, Christian and Garcin, Yannick and Ciner, T. Attila and Perez-Gussinye, Marta and Strecker, Manfred}, title = {Slip along the Sultanhani Fault in Central Anatolia from deformed Pleistocene shorelines of palaeo-lake Konya and implications for seismic hazards in low-strain regions}, series = {Geophysical journal international}, volume = {209}, journal = {Geophysical journal international}, publisher = {Oxford Univ. Press}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0956-540X}, doi = {10.1093/gji/ggx074}, pages = {1431 -- 1454}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Central Anatolia is a low-relief, high-elevation region where decadal-scale deformation rates estimated from space geodesy suggest low strain rates within a stiff microplate. However, numerous Quaternary faults have been mapped within this low-strain region and estimating their slip rate and seismic potential is important for hazard assessments in an area of increasing infrastructural development. Here we focus on the Sultanhani Fault (SF), which constitutes an integral part of the Eskisehir-Cihanbeyli Fault System, and use deformed maximum highstand shorelines of palaeo-lake Konya to estimate tectonic slip rates at millennial scale. Some of these shorelines were previously interpreted as fault scarps, but we provide conclusive evidence for their erosional origin. We found that shoreline-angle elevations estimated from differential GPS profiles record vertical displacements of 10.2 m across the SF. New radiocarbon ages of lacustrine molluscs suggest 22.4 m of relative lake-level fall between 22.1 +/- 0.3 and 21.7 +/- 0.4 cal. kaBP, constraining the timing of abrupt abandonment of the highstand shoreline. Models of lithospheric rebound associated with regressions of the Tuz Golu and Konya palaeolakes predict only similar to 1 m of regional-scale uplift across the Konya Basin. Dislocation models of displaced shorelines suggest fault-slip rates of 1.5 and 1.8 mm yr(-1) for planar and listric fault geometries, respectively, providing reasonable results for the latter. We found fault scarps in the Nasuhpinar mudflat that likely represent the most recent ground-breaking rupture of the SF, with an average vertical displacement of 1.2 +/- 0.5 m estimated from 54 topographic profiles, equivalent to a M similar to 6.5-6.9 earthquake based on empirical scaling laws. If such events were characteristic during the ultimate 21 ka, a relatively short recurrence time of similar to 800-900 yr would be needed to account for the millennial slip rate. Alternatively, the fault scarp at Nasuhpinar might represent a larger earthquake requiring more frequent smaller events to account for the millennial rate. The relatively fast slip rate of the SF over the past 21 ka is unlikely to have persisted over longer timescales and might reflect spatiotemporal variations in deformation rates within kinematically-linked fault systems within Central Anatolia, or a transient perturbation to the local stress field or fault strength. Such perturbation might have been related to climatically controlled changes in surface and near-surface loads and by interactions among the different tectonic processes that have been proposed to drive the overall slow uplift and associated extension in the Central Anatolian Plateau.}, language = {en} }