an active deep marine strike slip basin along the north anatolian fault in turkey the tekirdag depression within the marmara sea in the mediterranean region is an active rhomb shaped strike slip basin along the north anatolian fault with a basin floor at a water depth of 1150 m new multichannel seismic reflection data and on land geological studies indicate that the basin is forming along a releasing bend of the strike slip fault and is filled with syntransform sediments of pliocene quaternary age the basin is bounded on one side by the north anatolian fault and on the other side by a subparallel normal fault which forms the steep submarine slope in cross section the basin is strongly asymmetric with the thickness of the syntransform strata increasing from a few tens of meters on the submarine slope to over 2 5 km adjacent to the north anatolian fault seismic sections also show that the slope forming normal fault connects at depth to the north anatolian fault implying that the basin is completely detached from its substratum the whole structure can be envisaged as a huge rather flat negative flower structure the releasing bend of the north anatolian fault responsible for the formation of the basin is flanked by a constraining bend along the constraining bend the syntransform strata are being underthrust implying a recent change in the direction of the regional displacement vector this thrusting is responsible for the uplift of the submarine slope to a height of 924 m possibly by a mechanism of elastic rebound regional geology suggests that most of the syntransform strata are lacustrine with only the topmost few hundred meters consisting of deep marine clays the anomalous present depth of the tekirdag depression is due to reduced quaternary sedimentation coupled with high rates of displacement along the north anatolian fault which amounts to 20 mm yr in the marmara sea region

strike slip duplexes abstract strike slip fault systems often contain zones of steep imbricate faults geometrically similar to imbricate fans and duplexes in dip slip thrust and normal fault systems they are evident in map view rather than in vertical sections examples of duplexes are cited from both active and ancient systems and from theoretical and physical models duplexes may form at bends on strike slip faults by a process kinematically analogous to the sequential imbrication of ramps on dip slip faults however some may form and many may initiate as non sequential riedel fractures at fault offsets or on straight fault segments this process is more marked than in dip slip systems where primary anisotropy such as bedding exerts more control on fault geometry strike slip duplexes may be shunted along the fault system parallel to the regional slip vector however duplexes or individual horses will usually also move up or down perpendicular to the slip vector because of the unconstrained upper surface to the fault system these factors mean that no section through a strike slip system should be expected to area balance the faults of strike slip duplexes and imbricate fans may root in kinematically necessary low dip faults or may converge downwards and appear in vertical sections as flower structures

kinematics of the mw 7 2 12 november 1999 duzce turkey earthquake the november 12 1999 duzce earthquake ruptured a 40 km long fault segment of the north anatolian fault system immediately to the east of the august 17 1999 izmit rupture we use displacements of 32 sites derived from gps measurements immediately before and after the duzce earthquake to estimate the geometry and slip distribution of the coseismic rupture the 51 northward dipping rupture plane the rake of the slip vector average 3 76 0 04 m right lateral 0 76 0 04 m normal slip and the slip distribution inferred from the gps data are consistent with seismic observations and the distribution of surface offsets measured in the field the geodetically determined moment magnitude is mw 7 2 the duzce earthquake had the highest slip to rupture length ratio of any historic earthquake along the north anatolian fault this is consistent with the duzce earthquake being a part of a composite rupture with the preceding izmit event

a complex seismogenic shear zone the duzce segment of north anatolian fault turkey abstract this work highlights how surface geological data can integrate and complete a fault characterization including its seismogenic depth we investigated the area struck by the november 1999 mw 7 1 earthquake that ruptured the duzce segment of the north anatolian fault zone nafz after the august 1999 mw 7 4 izmit earthquake to explore the persistency or evolution of the active fault setting at the surface we compared detailed coseismic surface expressions with the long term morphology and structural architecture of the duzce zone we identified a simple 1999 coseismic fault trace cft and an older complex fault system rfs involving a wider zone of deformation two different parts of the duzce segment were recognized a western section presents a staircase trajectory of the coseismic fault trace that reactivated part of the older fault system an eastern section presents a straight coseismic fault trace that cross cuts the older and complex fault system the western duzce fault segment splays out from the izmit counterpart of the nafz forming a releasing fault junction by comparing a model of its coseismic surface deformation field with the long term morphology we observed that the present topography of this western section results from the nafz activity by repeating coseismic deformations like those in 1999 the mechanical interaction in the release fault junction produces local transtension across the western duzce fault and justifies its stable complexity it does not evolve into a straight trace the surface boundary between the duzce fault sections also separates at depth two fault sections one with low slip to the west and another with a big asperity to the east thus the izmit duzce interaction 1 may produce an unfavorable setting for a build up of asperities in the western duzce segment and 2 could delay the propagation of the izmit rupture along the duzce segment that nucleates mainshocks only on its eastern section in other words the arrangement of the fault junction may permanently control how the two sections of the duzce fault behave and rupture

preliminary slip rate estimates for the duzce segment of the north anatolian fault zone from offset geomorphic markers abstract new estimates on the quaternary slip rate of the active transform margin of north anatolia are provided we investigated the area struck by a mw 7 1 earthquake on the 12th of november 1999 that ruptured the duzce fault segment of the north anatolian fault in order to analyze the spectacular tectonically driven cumulative landforms and the drainage pattern settings we carried out a 1 25 000 scale geological and geomorphological mapping along the fault trace we reconstruct and describe as offset geomorphic markers right hand stream deflections and fluvial terraces inset into alluvial fan deposits radiocarbon dating indicates that 100 m stream deflections were built up by the last 7000 yrs of fault activity conversely two documented and correlated late pleistocene fluvial terraces are horizontally offset by 300 and 900 m respectively these were dated by means of optically stimulated luminescence osl to 21 ka bp and 60 ka bp assuming a constant rate of deformation for the duzce fault ages and related offsets translate to consistent slip rates that yield an average slip rate of 15 0 3 2 mm yr for the last 60 ka thus the duzce fault importantly contributes to the north anatolian margin deformation suggesting a present day partitioning of displacement rates with the mudurnu fault to the south and confirming its important role in the seismic hazard of the area

holocene slip rate of the north anatolian fault beneath the sea of marmara abstract the north anatolian fault naf is a major continental transform system that extends e w across turkey for over 1600 km separating the anatolian and eurasian plates a portion of its northern branch runs below the sea of marmara this portion constitutes a seismic gap because the last destructive earthquakes occurred at the western 1912 ganos earthquake m 7 4 and eastern 1999 izmit and duzce earthquakes m w 7 4 7 2 edges of the marmara basin it is likely that fault ruptures will fill this gap in the next decades this region of the north anatolian fault is critical to our understanding of fault interactions stress buildup during seismic cycle and seismic hazard in the istanbul area we obtained high resolution acoustic images of the naf in the floor of the eastern marmara sea gulf of izmit and measured fault related offsets of 14 c dated subseafloor channels and paleoshorelines the resulting average slip rate on the fault is 10 mm year for the last 10 kyr this is less than half the total anatolia eurasia relative motion estimated at 24 mm year for the last 10 years from satellite geodetic measurements we conclude that either much of the strike slip motion along this branch of the naf did not occur on the main fault segment or the slip rate increased recently or both these results affect kinematic models of the naf and assessments of seismic hazard for the city of istanbul and the surrounding region

morphology displacement and slip rates along the north anatolian fault turkey 1 geological and geomorphological offsets at different scales are used to constrain the localization of deformation total displacement and slip rates over various timescales along the central and eastern north anatolian fault naf in turkey the naf total displacement is reevaluated using large rivers valleys 80 15 km and structural markers pontide suture 85 25 km tosya vezirkopru basins 80 10 km these suggest a neogene slip rate of 6 5 mm yr over 13 myr the river network morphology shows offsets at a range of scales 20 m to 14 km across the main fault trace and is also used to estimate the degree to which deformation is localized at a smaller scale the morphology associated with small rivers is offset by 200 m along the naf the age of these features can be correlated with the holocene deglaciation and a slip rate of 18 3 5 mm yr is determined this is consistent with a rate of 18 5 mm yr deduced independently from the 14c dating of stream terrace offsets over the short term gps data gives a similar rate of 22 3 mm yr all our results tend to show that most of the deformation between the anatolian and eurasian lithospheric plates has been accommodated along or very close to the active trace of the naf the difference between the neogene and the holocene slip rate may be due to the recent establishment of the current plate geometry after the creation of the naf

the active main marmara fault abstract this paper presents selections from and a synthesis of a high resolution bathymetric sparker and deep towed seismic reflection data set recently acquired by the french ifremer r v le suroit in an e w deep trough that forms the northern half of the sea of marmara in nw turkey it includes the first high resolution complete bathymetric map of this area a single throughgoing dextral strike slip fault system which is the western continuation of the northern branch of the north anatolian fault cuts this trough lengthwise and joins the 1999 8 17 kocaeli earthquake fault with the 1912 8 09 arkoy murefte earthquake fault both of which display strike slip offset in its eastern one fourth the structure follows closely the northern margin of the deep trough whereas in the west it hugs its southern margin the eastern one fourth of the structure has a minor component of its displacement distributed across the deep trough owing to a possible original bend in the course of the dextral structure the present course of the north anatolian fault in the sea of marmara originated some 2 105 a ago by cutting across the older basin fabric generated by a dominant nne ssw extension before it began taking up major motion in the pliocene

effects of the oligocene climatic events on the foraminiferal record from fuente caldera section spain western tethys abstract an expanded succession of upper priabonian upper eocene to chattian upper oligocene hemipelagic marls interbedded with turbiditic sandstone layers is present in the spanish fuente caldera section subbetic zone western tethys we analyzed foraminifera from this section quantitatively with emphasis on biostratigraphy and paleoecology benthic foraminifera indicate an upper to possibly upper middle bathyal depth of deposition for most of the studied section with paleobathymetric analysis made difficult because of the common presence of shallow water taxa some reworked by turbidites and others epiphytic taxa which may have been transported by turbidites or by floating plant material we identified three major biotic and paleoenvironmental events 1 the major planktonic foraminiferal turnover across the eocene oligocene boundary which includes several first and last occurrences as well as a decrease in the percentage of surface water dwellers possibly linked to global cooling 2 a dramatic sea level drop indicated by the presence of a 37 m thick sequence of calcarenites lower half of planktonic foraminiferal zone o2 31 5 ma with abundant trace fossils and allochthonous foraminifera this sea level fall which triggered erosion of material in shallow marine settings and transport by turbidity currents into the basin apparently post dated the major glacial expansion on the antarctic continent oi1 33 7 ma and predated the later major expansion oi2 through oi2b 27 30 5 ma thus may have been tectonically controlled 3 a warming event starting in the chattian lowermost part of zone o6 27 1 ma which could be correlated to the globally recognised late oligocene warming event but apparently started somewhat earlier 27 1 ma as compared to 26 5 ma

environmental and climatic changes during the last 20 000 years at lake tuz central turkey abstract our study demonstrates the importance of detailed lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic analyses of deposits of lake side terraces and alluvial fans in attempts to identify fluctuations of climate characteristics such as precipitation and evaporation rates and of local conditions for water balance changes in the central part of turkey during the last 20 000 years lake tuz basin central part of the anatolian plateau turkey had two high lake level stages dated as about 20 000 17 000 years ago and about 13 000 years ago at the high lake stages water level rose more than 15 m higher than the present lake level and the lake area spread widely to near the southern edge of the basin as inferred by lithologic and chronological investigation of drilling cores in the holocene lake level fell and the southeast part of the basin became extensive lake terraces alluvial fans have formed along the edge of the upland area on the terraces in the holocene stratigraphy and dating of the fan deposits show the fluctuations in the depositional rates of the fans major formative stages of the fans are dated about 7000 5500 and 2500 2000 years bp and several times of minor stages probably 4300 and 3000 years bp occurred between the two major stages our archaeological research shows that there are strong relationships between the distributions of archaeological sites of this area and the above geo environmental histories

the sea of marmara a plate boundary sea in an escape tectonic regime abstract the sea of marmara is dissected by two major fault systems the first consists of two east west striking transtensional boundary faults and a number of secondary faults subparallel to them the second is made up of ne sw trending subvertical strike slips and their conjugates oriented nw se that offset the first system these fault systems segment the deep marmara sea into 5 blocks that are either rhomboidal lazy z or wedge shaped three of these blocks may be interpreted as pull apart basins characterized by transtension while the other two sill areas which separate the basins are transpressional push up structures the blocks are subjected to rapid episodic subsidence but they also undergo pervasive vertical motions and possible rotations relative to one another the sedimentary column above the acoustic basement mapped within the sea of marmara can be divided into 3 seismic units a folded and truncated pre transform unit and two syn transform units the lower thick syn transform unit exhibits 3 distinct seismic facies a well stratified basin fill facies cut by subvertical growth faults a push up facies with a contorted or chaotic internal configuration and a slump facies the observed neotectonic and sedimentary regimes result from compressional movement between eurasia and africa which has led to major dextral transform movements along the north anatolian fault zone escape tectonics and from the fact that this fault zone splinters into two overlapping right stepping oblique master faults at the eastern and western border of the sea of marmara respectively

step over and bend structures along the 1999 duzce earthquake surface rupture north anatolian fault turkey the 12 november 1999 duzce earthquake m w 7 1 which occurred on the duzce fault of the north anatolian fault zone formed a 40 km long surface rupture which extended between golyaka in the west and kaynasli in the east the earthquake nucleated close to the beykoy step over a 0 8 km wide and 1 8 km long pressure ridge with bilateral rupture propagation both to the west and the east the beykoy kaynasli and cevizlik step overs through which the 1999 duzce rupture propagated are less than 2 5 km wide the eften and bakacak step overs where the rupture was arrested are more than 4 km wide these exceptional dimensions of step overs associated with the 1999 duzce rupture were investigated for their influ ence on rupture propagation the earthquake broke three distinct geometric segments from west to east the eften dagdibi and kaynasli fault segments separated by left restraining step overs at beykoy and kaynasli to the west of the main shock 3 5 m of average slip on the eften fault segment propagated into the 2 km wide cevizlik releasing double bend where it was largely arrested with smaller 0 5 m slip continuing westward on the golyaka intervening segment west of lake eften this is similar to the ter mination of slip observed on the karadere fault segment in the 1999 izmit earthquake where 1 5 m of slip was largely terminated by a releasing double bend at the golyaka intervening segment with minor slip continuing eastward near lake eften to the east of the main shock 5 m of slip decreased along the dagdibi fault segment to about 3 5 m at the 1 km wide kaynasli step over from here to the east the 2 5 m of average slip on the kaynasli fault segment continued to decrease reaching zero at the releasing step overs to the elmalik fault the terminations of the 1999 duzce surface rupture are defined by distinct struc tural complexities the rupture was arrested in the west at the 4 km wide eften releasing double bend where the eastern termination of the 1999 izmit rupture also occurred to the east the rupture terminated at the 4 to 5 km wide bakacak releasing double step overs both eastern and western ends of the duzce rupture have short fault segments that experienced minor rupture during the 1999 duzce earthquake the golyaka intervening segment experienced minor rupture during both the 1999 izmit and duzce earthquakes the duzce rupture propagated across 0 8 to 2 km wide step overs but it was arrested at step overs 4 km wide or wider these results agree with the observations on ratios between step over width in kilometers and strike slip displacement in meters collected along strike slip faults worldwide let tis et al 2002

complex evolution of the erzincan basin eastern turkey abstract two new tectonic models are presented to explain the pull apart opening of the erzincan basin our field studies indicated that the erzincan basin is not a typical rhombic pull apart basin instead it has a rather complex single or two stage pull apart opening mechanism the basin was initially formed as a result of a 4 km wide releasing stepover and a 15 divergence angle between segments 1 and 2 of the north anatolian fault zone nafz along which the westward tectonic escape of the anatolian block has been taking place the single stage model refers to the partitioning of the transtensional deformation by coeval normal and strike slip displacements on parallel trending faults which remained since their initiation the two stage model infers that the basin opening was modified later by the formation of the left lateral ovacik fault which caused fragmentation of the anatolian block the two stage pull apart basin opening mechanism accounts for the observed geometry of the erzincan basin the present day geometry of the basin indicates that there had been 35 5 km of right lateral displacement along the nafz and 5 2 km of left lateral displacement along the ovacik fault

gps derived strain rate field within the boundary zones of the eurasian african and arabian plates we use the gps velocity field 1988 1998 for eastern mediterranean and asia minor to determine the crustal deformation strain rate field in an area bounded by 35 n and 43 n and 20 e and 48 e we calculate the normal and shear strain rate components associated with the major faults and compare these qualitatively with seismological data uncertainties in the calculation of the strain rates reach 50 nstrain yr 1 in sparsely observed parts of anatolia whereas we estimate errors 20 nstrain yr 1 in the aegean and marmara regions the largest compressional strain rate components in the eastern part of the study area occur along the greater caucasus mountain front reaching 70 nstrain yr 1 1 nstrain yr 1 0 0317 10 15 s 1 the north anatolian fault zone is the clearest feature in the shear strain rate field it is expressed as a pronounced dextral strike slip fault zone reaching rates of up to 170 nstrain yr 1 this holds true also for the izmit area where the august 17 1999 earthquake occurred central anatolia is almost strain free whereas extension prevails in western anatolia the principal axes of extension vary around the n s direction with strain rates of up to 85 nstrain yr 1 these extensional areas coincide with graben features and normal faulting earthquakes the central and southwestern aegean sea is strain free with values far below 40 nstrain yr 1 the seismic cluster around the dodekanissa islands southeastern aegean sea coincides with nw se oriented extension attaining strain rates of up to 90 nstrain yr 1 this area of extension also exhibits recent active volcanism the entire hellenic arc shows compressional strain rates perpendicular to the arc the pliny strabo troughs along the eastern segment of the arc show left lateral shear strain rates reaching 80 nstrain yr 1 significant extension is found in central greece with a nne ssw oriented maximum of 120 nstrain yr 1 centered around the gulf of corinthos the kephalonia fault zone in nw greece is a distinct dextral fault zone separating apulia from the rapidly moving aegean microplate right lateral shear strain rates reach 150 nstrain yr 1

westward propagation of the north anatolian fault into the northern aegean timing and kinematics we present new evidence for the propagation processes of the north anatolian fault folding in the dardanelles straits region allows us to document the timing of the deformation preceding and the finite displacement after the passage of the propagating tip of the fault the accuracy of the observations is due to interplay between deformation and the sea level changes in the mediterranean the well known messinian regression followed by the pliocene transgression the long term kinematics around the sea of marmara pull apart total displacement of about 85 km over the past 5 m y is similar to the present day kinematics deduced from space geodesy at a larger scale westward propagation of the north anatolian fault over nearly 2000 km in the past 10 m y appears to be associated with strain recovery suggesting that the continental lithosphere retains long term elasticity

surface rupture earthquakes over the last 1000 years in the wellington region new zealand and implications for ground shaking hazard the wellington region is cut by five active right lateral strike slip faults wairarapa wellington ohariu shepherds gully pukerua and wairau faults that have average recurrence intervals of meter scale surface rupture that range from 500 years to 5000 years and lateral slip rates that range from 1 to 10 mm yr only the wairarapa fault has ruptured since european settlement since circa a d 1840 paleoseismological studies on these faults have allowed the compilation of a complete record of surface rupture events over the past 1000 years in the wellington region within this time period there does not appear to be any temporal clustering of surface rupture events on adjacent faults the m 8 a d 1855 wairarapa earthquake did not trigger rupture on any other fault in the region the most recent surface faulting event on the wellington fault 290 440 cal years b p cal years are calendar years before a d 1950 does not coincide with rupture of any other onland fault and over 300 years separate the timing of the second most recent rupture on the wellington fault 660 720 cal years b p and the most recent rupture of the ohariu fault 1060 1140 cal years b p the most recent rupture of the shepherds gully pukerua fault is probably older than that of the ohariu fault the apparent nonclustering of surface rupture earthquakes in the wellington region has been documented only for the on land strike slip faults there are other possible seismogenic sources in the region and thus important issues remain to be addressed regarding the history of large earthquakes in the wellington region 1 the seismogenic potential and earthquake recurrence interval of the subduction thrust beneath wellington is not known 2 the timing of rupture events on the offshore portion of the wairau fault is not known and 3 paleoseismic data are not available for the section of the wellington fault north of the wellington hutt valley segment estimates of earthquake hazard in the wellington region for all return times greater than 50 years that incorporate paleoseismicity data are between one and two modified mercalli mm intensity units higher than the hazard based solely on the historical seismicity catalog and the hazard is spatially more variable using a deterministic attenuation model the level of shaking hazard approaches near maximum values within a return time of 500 years largely reflecting the recurrence interval 500 770 years of surface rupture earthquakes on the wellington fault inclusion of a plausible model for magnitude 8 subduction zone earthquakes does not affect the level of mm intensity in wellington region at return times greater than 500 years but does make a small contribution to the hazard at return times between 50 and 500 years

polyphased block tectonics along the north anatolian fault in the tosya basin area turkey abstract the tosya basin is located in the bending segment of the north anatolian fault naf in turkey we have obtained original observations on the neotectonics from sar ers images digital elevation model dem and field structural analysis regional neogene deformation is characterised by the occurrence of several basins that are superimposed in time and space they result from differently oriented movements since 12 ma including southwestward motion along a fault subparallel to the naf we propose a model of polyphased tectonics related to the displacement of several individualised blocks in the first stage tortonian the north tosya block has moved toward the n250 azimuth parallel to the dextral n70 striking segment of the naf as a consequence a triple junction related compatibility basin was opened at the intersection with a n60 to n30 striking fault this pattern is similar to the karliova corner where the naf and the east anatolian fault meet in the second stage early pliocene middle pleistocene a segment of the former n70 naf was abandoned and the naf propagated eastward to form a n90 striking segment n90 naf cutting the former tosya block and basin into two parts the north tosya block has moved again and this new geometry has permitted a south tosya block to move parallel to the naf but with a higher rate which has induced compression in the tosya basin in the third stage holocene the south tosya block moved toward n240 obliquely to any of the naf segments this has resulted in the formation of two holocene pull apart type basins along the previous n60 to n30 striking fault while extensional faults were formed in the south tosya block estimated dextral displacement along the naf is 5 9 to 8 5 km at this stage this model of blocks moving in different directions including holocene local movements toward n240 means that the naf can be considered not to be a simple transform fault our model implies that the n90 naf was non existent before the early pliocene

tomographic models and seismotectonics of the reggio emilia region italy the aim of this study is to define the vp and vp vs structure of the fault zone ruptured by the ml 5 1 earthquake of october 15 1996 which occurred near reggio emilia central northern italy a 1 month long seismic sequence followed the mainshock and occurred in a small region along the outer border of the northern apenninic belt at depth ranging between 10 and 17 km p and s wave arrival times from 304 aftershocks recorded by two local dense seismic arrays installed in the epicentral region have been inverted to obtain one and three dimensional velocity models by using state of the art local earthquake tomographic techniques velocity models and aftershock relocation help us to infer the seismotectonic of the region earthquakes originated along a nw dipping backthrust of a ne trending main thrust composing the western part of the broad ferrara arc a main high vp and high vp vs region delineates a pop up structure in the center of the area the high vp vs within the pop up structure supports the presence of a zone with increased pore pressure the hypocentral depth of both mainshock and aftershocks is greater than those usually found for the main seismogenic regions of the apenninic belt p wave velocity values in the seismogenic area obtained by tomography are compatible with rocks of the mesozoic cover and suggest that seismicity occurred within the mesozoic units stack at present by compressional tectonics

global positioning system constraints on plate kinematics and dynamics in the eastern mediterranean and caucasus we present and interpret global positioning system gps measurements of crustal motions for the period 1988 1997 at 189 sites extending east west from the caucasus mountains to the adriatic sea and north south from the southern edge of the eurasian plate to the northern edge of the african plate sites on the northern arabian platform move 18 2 mm yr at n25 5 w relative to eurasia less than the nuvel 1a circuit closure rate 25 1 mm yr at n21 7 w preliminary motion estimates 1994 1997 for stations located in egypt on the northeastern part of africa show northward motion at 5 6 2 mm yr also slower than nuvel ia estimates 10 1 mm yr at n2 4 e eastern turkey is characterized by distributed deformation while central turkey is characterized by coherent plate motion internal deformation of 2 mm yr involving westward displacement and counterclockwise rotation of the anatolian plate the anatolian plate is de coupled from eurasia along the right lateral strike slip north anatolian fault naf we derive a best fitting euler vector for anatolia eurasia motion of 30 7 0 8 n 32 6 0 4 e 1 2 0 1 myr the euler vector gives an upper bound for naf slip rate of 24 1 mm yr we determine a preliminary gps arabia anatolia euler vector of 32 9 1 2 n 40 3 1 1 e 0 8 0 2 myr and an upper bound on left lateral slip on the east anatolian fault eaf of 9 1 mm yr the central and southern aegean is characterized by coherent motion internal deformation of 2 mm yr toward the sw at 30 1 mm yr relative to eurasia stations in the se aegean deviate significantly from the overall motion of the southern aegean showing increasing velocities toward the trench and reaching 10 1 mm yr relative to the southern aegean as a whole

gps and geologic estimates of the tectonic activity in the marmara sea region nw anatolia a dense network of 52 global positioning system gps sites is used to determine the velocity field and strain rate pattern at the western end of the north anatolian fault zone nafz in the marmara sea region nw anatolia based on four gps campaigns carried out biannually between 1990 and 1996 the detailed kinematic field of crustal motion is calculated the southernmost station shows an average rate of 22 3 mm yr oriented westward relative to istanbul eurasia this value is indicative of the dextral strike slip motion of nw anatolia relative to the black sea the gps velocity field reveals that the sites located on the thrace black sea block show negligible motion relative to istanbul the gps based deformation pattern of three sections crossing the westward prolongation of the nafz is compared with neotectonic data both the gps and the neotectonic data give clear evidence that most of the deformation occurs along a relatively narrow e w oriented zone this belt extends from the single fault trace of the nafz through the gulf of izmit the marmara sea the arkoy region and the gulf of saros into the north aegean trough nat in addition the cross sections show the increasing influence of the n s oriented extension in the aegean sea region from the comparison of the directions and rates of shear and normal strain deduced from gps data with geologic and seismic observations we conclude that the most active zone of dextral shear follows a line along mudurnu valley the northern marmara sea and the saros trough where it joins the nat