Development of half-grabens along the northwestern end of Gediz-Alaşehir Graben: Inferences from morphometric and kinematic analysis
- 1Middle East Technical University, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Geological Engineering Department, Ankara, Türkiye (ttekin@metu.edu.tr)
- 2Munzur University, Department of Geography, Tunceli, Türkiye
Aegean Extensional Province under which evolution was primarily influenced by the interaction of the northward subducting African plate beneath along “Mediterranean Ridge” and the extrusion of the Anatolian continental fragment caused by relative motion along two major continental transform faults, dextral North Anatolian Fault and sinistral East Anatolian Fault. The resultant interaction led to a crustal extension in NW-SE trending direction in Western Anatolia known as the Gediz-Alaşehir Graben (GAG).
The study of dynamic morphology along the graben displayed by mountain front morphology (mountain front sinuosity and symmetry of mountain ridges) is studied. To understand the dynamic effects, a series of profiles was taken from Spildağ Mountain in the west to Gölmarmara Lake in the east.
Secondly, kinematic data are collected from fault planes from NW-SE trending, NE facing four faults developed between Manisa fault to Gölmarmara fault. The Angelier Inversion method was applied to the Win-Tensor program (Delvaux and Sperner, 2003) and used in the analysis of the fault slip data. The result is an NE-SW extensional regime that is overprinted onto NE-SW dextral and sinistral oblique-slip motion.
Mountain front sinuosity (Smf) and sudden changes of slope along topographic profiles (kinks) indicate the activity of the faults but different rates of deformations. Moreover, indicators manifest a series of NE-facing half grabens that exist within the Gediz-Alaşehir graben. The ages from the dating of the calcite samples from either fault scarps and trenches are going to assist in better comprehension of the active tectonics of Gediz-Alaşehir graben.
To sum up, the Gediz-Alaşehir graben which was constructed on four half-grabens developed under the NE-SW extensional regime during the post-Late Miocene manifests the current configuration of the topography.
Keywords: Aegean Extensional Province, Gediz-Alaşehir Graben, morphometric analysis, kinematic analysis.
How to cite: Tekin, T., Dönmezoğulları, T., Sançar, T., and Rojay, B.: Development of half-grabens along the northwestern end of Gediz-Alaşehir Graben: Inferences from morphometric and kinematic analysis, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-19249, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19249, 2024.
