No significant steady state surface creep along the North Anatolian Fault offshore Istanbul: Results of 6 months of seafloor acoustic ranging

Type Article
Date 2016-07
Language English
Author(s) Sakic P.1, 2, Piete Helene3, 4, Ballu V.1, 2, Royer J. -Y.3, 4, Kopp H.5, Lange D.5, Petersen F.5, Ozeren M. S.6, Ergintav S.7, 8, Geli LouisORCID9, Henry P.10, 11, Deschamps Anne3, 4
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ La Rochelle, Lab Littoral Environm & Soc, La Rochelle, France.
2 : CNRS, La Rochelle, France.
3 : Univ Brest, Lab Geosci Ocean, Plouzane, France.
4 : CNRS, Plouzane, France.
5 : GEOMAR Helmholtz Zentrum Ozeanforsch, Dynam Ozeanbodens FB4, Kiel, Germany.
6 : Istanbul Tech Univ, Eurasian Inst Earth Sci, Istanbul, Turkey.
7 : Bogazici Univ, Kandilli Observ, Istanbul, Turkey.
8 : Bogazici Univ, Earthquake Res Inst, Dept Geodesy, Istanbul, Turkey.
9 : Inst Carnot EDROME, Lab Aleas Geol & Dynam Sedimentaire, UR Geosci Marines, IFREMER, Plouzane, France.
10 : Aix Marseille Univ, CEREGE, CNRS, IRD, Aix En Provence, France.
11 : Coll France, Aix En Provence, France.
Source Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2016-07 , Vol. 43 , N. 13 , P. 6817-6825
DOI 10.1002/2016GL069600
WOS© Times Cited 30
Keyword(s) seafloor geodesy, North Anatolian Fault, Marmara Sea, acoustic ranging
Abstract The submarine Istanbul-Silivri fault segment, within 15 km of Istanbul, is the only portion of the North Anatolian Fault that has not ruptured in the last 250 years. We report first results of a seafloor acoustic ranging experiment to quantify current horizontal deformation along this segment and assess whether the segment is creeping aseismically or accumulating stress to be released in a future event. Ten transponders were installed to monitor length variations along 15 baselines. A joint least squares inversion for across-fault baseline changes, accounting for sound speed drift at each transponder, precludes fault displacement rates larger than a few millimeters per year during the 6 month observation period. Forward modeling shows that the data better fit a locked state or a very moderate surface creep—less than 6 mm/yr compared to a far-field slip rate of over 20 mm/yr—suggesting that the fault segment is currently accumulating stress.
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Sakic P., Piete Helene, Ballu V., Royer J. -Y., Kopp H., Lange D., Petersen F., Ozeren M. S., Ergintav S., Geli Louis, Henry P., Deschamps Anne (2016). No significant steady state surface creep along the North Anatolian Fault offshore Istanbul: Results of 6 months of seafloor acoustic ranging. Geophysical Research Letters, 43(13), 6817-6825. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069600 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00344/45513/