Gülsen UcarkusIstanbul Technical University · Department of Geological Engineering
Gülsen Ucarkus
Assistant Professor
About
66
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Introduction
Publications
Publications (66)
Th e Mw 7.4, August 17, 1999 İzmit earthquake ruptured a ~100-km-long onshore section of the North
Anatolian Fault (NAF) in the eastern Marmara region, causing the loss of more than 20,000 people and extensive destruction. Th e western termination and total length of the earthquake rupture is still a matter of debate because the surface rupture goe...
A strike-slip fault is present outboard and subparallel to the Wassuk Range front within the central Walker Lane (Nevada, USA). Recessional shorelines of pluvial Lake Lahontan that reached its highstand ca. 15,475 ± 720 cal. yr B.P. are displaced ∼14 m and yield a right-lateral slip-rate estimate approaching 1 mm/yr. The strike-slip fault trace pro...
Strike-slip faults are often segmented by step-overs resulting in a variety of deformation styles such as constraining bends, releasing bends and rotational deformation. These step-overs or discontinuities within the fault zones create segment boundaries that are associated with complex geometric patterns. Our knowledge from recent studies of dynam...
The Sea of Marmara is located in the North Anatolian Fault (NAF), a major continental transform plate boundary between the Eurasian and Anatolian-Aegean plates. The area is also under the influence of the N-S extensional Aegean regime. The 100 km-wide NAF zone in the Marmara region accommodates 24 mm/year dextral motion, with 70%–80% of this displa...
Earthquake-induced submarine slope destabilization is known to cause mass wasting and turbidity currents, but the hydrodynamic processes associated with these events remain poorly understood. Instrumental records are rare, and this notably limits our ability to interpret marine paleoseismological sedimentary records. An instrumented frame comprisin...
Türkiye’nin en önemli iki doğrultu atımlı fay sisteminden birisi olan Doğu Anadolu Fayı (DAF), Karlıova (Bingöl) ve Türkoğlu (Kahramanmaraş) arasında uzanan yaklaşık 580 km uzunluğunda KD-GB uzanımlı sol yanal bir faydır ve fayın Gölbaşı (Adıyaman) ve Türkoğlu (Kahramanmaraş) arasında uzanan yaklaşık 95 km’lik bölümü Pazarcık Segmenti olarak adland...
The sedimentary sequence in Lake Salda has been first documented in detail by analyses of high-resolution seismic profiles and sediment cores together with onshore outcrops along the present coastline of the lake. Such a multi-proxy approach provides a sensitive record of changing lake level and depositional conditions in Lake Salda during the mid-...
Submerged fault ruptures generate earthquake-triggered mass flow deposits, which are extensively used as a tool in subaqueous paleoseismology. In tectonically active deep sedimentary basins, such as the Sea of Marmara (SoM), these mass flow deposits are defined as turbidite-homogenite units (THUs), consisting essentially of a coarse basal part and...
The Lake Hazar (Elazığ) is situated as an inter-mountain basin located on the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) which is a major continental left-lateral strike-slip fault in Eastern Turkey. Since most of the major cities in the eastern part of Turkey with high populations are located along or near the EAFZ; studies focused on earthquake risk in the...
Earthquake-induced submarine slope destabilization is known to cause debris flows and turbidity currents, but the hydrodynamic processes associated with these events remain poorly understood. Records are scarce and this notably limits our ability to interpret marine paleoseismological sedimentary records. An instrumented frame comprising a pressure...
Identifying the offshore thrust faults of the Western Transverse Ranges that could produce large earthquakes and seafloor uplift is essential to assess potential geohazards for the region. The Western Transverse Ranges in southern California are an E-W trending fold-and-thrust system that extends offshore west of Ventura. Using a high-resolution se...
A multi-proxy analyses was applied on the sediment core from the Gulf of Saros (GoS) to identify and characterize climate and hydrological changes during the middle-to-late Holocene. The formation of two discrete Holocene sapropel layers in the GoS sediments was documented for the first time in the sediment core based on total organic carbon analys...
Multi-spectral satellite imagery becomes a powerful tool in analyses of the earth’s surface in various aspects, including tectonic studies. There are many worldwide samples of such studies, documenting the distribution of faulting or deformation of lithological units especially in arid, semi-arid regions. The East Anatolian Shear Zone and its most...
A new analysis of high-resolution multibeam and seismic reflection data, collected during several oceanographic expeditions starting from 1999, allowed us to compile an updated morphotectonic map of the North Anatolian Fault below the Sea of Marmara. We reconstructed kinematics and geometries of individual fault segments, active at the time scale o...
The southern part of the Western Anatolia extensional province is governed by E-W trending horst-graben systems and NW-SE oriented active faults. The NW striking Yatağan Fault is characterized by an almost pure normal sense of motion with a minor dextral strike-slip component. Although the settlements within the area have been affected by several e...
Convergence between Arabian, African, and Eurasian plates lead to westward escape of the Anatolian microplate. The extension in western Anatolia is mostly characterized by E-W trending horst-graben systems, which are formed within a N-S extensional system. Moreover, the NE-SW and NW-SE trending fault systems are the other important neotectonic feat...
Multi-proxy analyses and lithology of two cores, MRS-CS18 and MRS-CS27, from the İmralı Basin of the Sea of Marmara (SoM) provide novel information on environmental conditions, relative sea level, and sill depths of the straits of Bosporus and Dardanelles during the Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5 and 6. The fossil and multi-proxy geochemical records...
Multi-proxy analyses and lithology of two cores, MRS-CS18 and MRS-CS27, from the _ Imralı Basin of the Sea of Marmara (SoM) provide novel information on environmental conditions, relative sea level, and sill depths of the straits of Bosporus and Dardanelles during the Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5 and 6. The fossil and multi-proxy geochemical recor...
Turkey is seismically one of the most active regions of the world. The interaction of three major plates, Eurasia, Arabia and Africa, generates different neotectonic provinces in this region. The SW Anatolia, as part of the western extensional province, is mostly defined by E–W striking normal and NW–SE striking strike-slip and normal faults. We st...
The westward propagation of North Anatolian Fault Zone’s (NAFZ) M>7 earthquakes since 1939 is one of the mostwell-known rupture series of an active continental transform fault within the instrumental period. During the lasttwenty years following the devastating Mw 7.4 1999 Izmit earthquake, immense number of observations gatheredfrom the Sea of Mar...
Holocene earthquake history of the Central High Segment of the North Anatolian Fault is examined here for the first time based on analysis of seismoturbidites within a 21-m-long piston core recovered from the Kumburgaz Basin in the Sea of Marmara. The visual lithological description combined with detailed grainsize analyses indicate that the deep b...
Sediment sequences deposited in active transform basins provide valuable archives of earthquake-triggered co-seismic sedimentation. A better understanding of the relationship between offshore fault ruptures and Seismotur-bidites would have direct implications for earthquake hazard assessment. Submerged section of the North Anato-lian Fault in the n...
Sediment sequences deposited in active transform basins provide valuable archives of earthquake-triggered co-seismic sedimentation. A better understanding of the relationship between offshore fault ruptures and Seismotur-bidites would have direct implications for earthquake hazard assessment. Submerged section of the North Anato-lian Fault in the n...
The Sea of Marmara (NW Turkey), an intracontinental sea between the Mediterranean and Black Seas, is located in a tectonically active region with the formation of shallow gas hydrates and free gas. It is widely known that, Sea of Marmara sediments are organic-rich and conducive to production of methane, which is released on the sea floor through ac...
The two sides of the Strandja Sill show a highly discontinuous stratigraphic succession since the Late
Oligocene. This area, together with the Sea of Marmara Basin, is usually proposed as the gateway for the
Paratethyan freshwaters and organisms that constituted the Lago Mare facies in the Mediterranean Sea
during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC...
The Sea of Marmara canyons occur on the steep (10°-29") slopes forming the boundaries of the
-1250 m-deep transtensional basins along the North Anatolian Fault zone. Most of the canyons
were initiated by tectonic and erosional processes mainly during the Plio-Quaternary, when the
basin margins were uplifted and deep basins subsided. Some, such as t...
The Sea of Marmara (SoM) is located between the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, to which it is connected via the Istanbul (Bosphorus) and Canakkale (Dardanelles) straits having sill depths of 65 and 35 m, respectively. It has a two-way water mass exchange with a permanent pycnocline located at 20-25 m water depth. With the objective of determining Ho...
The two sides of the Strandja Sill show a highly discontinuous stratigraphic succession since the Late Oligocene. This area, together with the Sea of Marmara Basin, is usually proposed as the gateway for the Paratethyan freshwaters and organisms that constituted the Lago Mare facies in the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC...
The two faults that has caused large magnitude earthquakes devastating
İstanbul are the Prince Islands and the Central High segments, located on the
northern strand of the North Anatolian Fault. It is therefore important to determine the paleo-earthquake history of these faults over several earthquake cycles. With the objective of determining long-...
The Ventura Avenue anticline (VAA) lies within the Transverse Ranges
structural province of southern California, an east-west trending fold and
thrust belt superposed on the northwest structural grain of California. The
VAA has experienced nearly 2.7 km of structural uplift (relief) since fold
initiation about 200-300 thousand years ago, yielding a...
Tecer Fault is a N60˚-70˚E-trending, left-lateral, strike-slip fault to the south of the town of Sivas, Turkey. This fault is considered as the eastward continuation of Deliler Fault, which was classified as a probably active, left-lateral fault on the Active Fault Map of Turkey. We investigated the field characteristics and paleoseismic history of...
Sedimentary earthquake records of the last 2400 a, including that of the devastating 17 August 1999 İzmit earthquake (Mw = 7.4), were studied in cores from the 210 m-deep central Karamürsel Basin of the İzmit Gulf in the eastern Sea of Marmara, using laser grain-size, physical properties, stable O and C isotopes and XRF Core Scanner analyses, and d...
We conducted palaeoseismic studies along the North Anatolian fault both east and west of the Marmara Sea to evaluate its recent surface rupture history in relation to the well-documented historical record of earthquakes in the region, and to assess the hazard of this major fault to the city of Istanbul, one of the largest cities in the Middle East....
Continental transform boundaries cross heavily populated regions, and they are associated with destructive earthquakes,for example, the North Anatolian Fault (NAF)across Turkey, the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault in Haiti,the San Andreas Fault in California, and the El Pilar fault in Venezuela. Transform basins are important because they are typi...
The Messinian Salinity Crisis is well known to have resulted from a significant drop of the Mediterranean sea level. Considering both onshore and offshore observations, the subsequent reflooding is generally thought to have been very sudden. We present here offshore seismic evidence from the Gulf of Lions and re-visited onshore data from Italy and...
No abstract available.
doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.13.11.2011
Tecer Fault is a N60°-70°E-trending, left-lateral, strike-slip fault to the south of the town of Sivas, Turkey. This fault is considered as the eastward continuation of Deliler Fault, which was classified as a probably active, left-lateral fault on the Active Fault Map of Turkey. We investigated the field characteristics and paleoseismic history of...
The earth's crust is generally more pervasively faulted than it is commonly believed. Most faults are of normal type and almost as many are thrusts. Strike-slip faults occur not as frequently as the others (except on small scales), but when they do in a big way, they influence the orogenic architecture in manners very different from the other two t...
The geometry and kinematics of faulting along the North Anatolian Fault in the Marmara Sea has long been a controversial issue. Various fault models have been put forward resulting in different tectonic regimes, i.e, crustal scale pull-apart tectonics and slip partitioning (Armijo et al. 2002), a single throughgoing fault system suggesting now inac...
Seismotectonic methods allowing quantitative measures of the frequency
and severity of earthquakes have greatly advanced over the last 30
years, aided by high-resolution imagery, digital topography and modern
techniques for dating. During the same period, deterministic models
based on the physics of earthquakes (Coulomb stress interactions) have
be...
The Ganos fault is the westernmost segment of the NAF that generated the 9 August 1912 earthquake (Ms=7.3) followed by a second shock on 13 September 1912 (Ms=6.8). We studied the surface ruptures at 45 sites to document slip distribution and cumulative offset along strike. Co-seismic offsets measurements ranging from 2 to 5.5 m showed maximum slip...
We investigate the cumulative and co-seismic offsets of the Ganos fault, the westernmost segment of the right- lateral North Anatolian Fault System that ruptured during the 9 August 1912 Mürefte earthquake (Ms = 7.3). The earthquake size requires a minimum 120 km fault rupture length. Right-lateral coseismic offsets are measured at 45 sites along t...
The Sea of Marmara is a crustal-scale pull-apart basin that formed by the transtensional step-over of the North Anatolian fault (NAF) in the west. Smaller fault steps bound three deep basins (Cinarcik, Central and Tekirdag basins from east to west) which alternate within the larger the Sea of Marmara pull-apart combining strike-slip and normal faul...
An intense controversy on chronostratigraphy of upper Miocene–lower Pliocene deposits and the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Dardanelles area led to a systematic investigation of calcareous nannoplankton content of 10 key-sections representative of the most relevant regional Kirazlı and Alçıtepe formations. Our study shows clearly that the Kirazl...
We conducted palaeoseismic studies along the North Anatolian fault both east and west of the Marmara Sea to evaluate its recent surface rupture history in relation to the well-documented historical record of earthquakes in the region, and to assess the hazard of this major fault to the city of Istanbul, one of the largest cities in the Middle East....
We conducted palaeoseismic studies along the North Anatolian fault both east and west of the Marmara Sea to evaluate its recent surface rupture history in relation to the well-documented historical record of earthquakes in the region, and to assess the hazard of this major fault to the city of Istanbul, one of the largest cities in the Middle East....
The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) makes a major transtensional step-over in the west which forms the lithospheric scale Sea of Marmara pull-apart, between the strike-slip Ganos and Izmit faults. Smaller strike- slip segments and pull-apart basins alternate within the main step-over, combining strike-slip and normal faulting. During the MARMARASCARPS...
The submerged section of the North Anatolian fault within the Marmara Sea was investigated using acoustic techniques and submersible dives. Most gas emissions in the water column were found near the surface expression of known active faults. Gas emissions are unevenly distributed. The linear fault segment crossing the Central High and forming a sei...
The Akşehir fault is one of the most important faults reflecting internal deformation of the Anatolian block. Small to medium magnitude earthquakes due to this fault are known from both historical and instrumental records. The last earthquake was aearly in 2002 (Mw=6.2) and it resulted in structural damage and loss of life. The surface deformations...
Earthquake scarps associated with recent historical events have been found on the floor of the Sea of Marmara, along the North Anatolian Fault (NAF). The MARMARASCARPS cruise using an unmanned submersible (ROV) provides direct observations to study the fine-scale morphology and geology of those scarps, their distribution, and geometry. The observat...
The El Camp Fault (Catalan Coastal Ranges, NE Iberian Peninsula) is a slow slipping normal fault whose
seismic potential has only recently been recognised. New geomorphic and trench investigations were carried out
during a training course across the El Camp Fault at the La Porquerola alluvial fan site. A new trench (trench 8)
was dug close to a tre...
The North Anatolian fault zone splays into three strands in the eastern
Marmara region. The northern strand crosses the Sapanca lake and extends
through north of Armutlu peninsula, northern Marmara Sea and Saros Bay.
The middle strand splays from Mudurnu valley in SW direction and extends
through Geyve, Iznik, Gemlik, Bandirma and Bayramic. The sou...
We have excavated over 30 trenches at four sites on the North Anatolia
fault (NAF), east and west of the Marmara Sea, Turkey. To the west, the
Ganos strand of the NAF is characterized by a relatively simple trace
that extends from the Marmara Sea westward to the Gulf of Saros, where
slip steps right into the Aegean Sea. This segment sustained large...
Projects
Projects (2)
EMODnet Geology is a European Project which promotes the collection of marine geological data mapped by various national and regional mapping projects and recovered in the literature, in order to make them freely available through a web portal. The group consists of 34 partners and 5 subcontractors who are able to provide geological information from all of the European seas.The geology data that are compiled in the project includes:
-Sea-bed substrate (sediment layer at the seafloor),
-Sediment accumulation rate ;
-Sea-floor geology - lithology (bedrock geology beneath the surficial --sediment and Quaternary deposits);
-Sea-floor geology - stratigraphy ;
-Coastal behaviour;
-Mineral occurrences (e.g. oil and gas, aggregates, metallic minerals) ;
-Geological events and probabilities (e.g earthquakes, submarine landslides, volcanic centres),
-Submerged landscapes
ITU EMCOL is a sub-contractor in this project.
WEb portal :https://www.emodnet-geology.eu/
The main aim of this project is mapping and investigating the morphological, kinematical and paleoseismological properties of Muğla, Yatağan, Milas and Gökova faults which are indicated as “active fault" in revised “Active Fault Map of Turkey”.
The Aegean Region is seismically one of the most active regions on the earth with the effect of N-S extensional tectonic forces. This general tectonic behavior is represented by widely distributed and E-W trending horst-grabens and gulfs, printing significantly the regional morphology at the western Turkey. There are alternative hypotheses on the origin of the extensional tectonics, which are: (a) The westward escape of the Anatolian plate along the North Anatolian (NAF) and East Anatolian (EAF) faults, and its interaction with the Greek Shear Zone in the Northern Aegean (Şengör, 1979; Şengör and Yılmaz, 1981), (b) Back-arc spreading of the Hellenic arc (Angelier et al. 1981), and (c) Thermal collapse following the doming of the Menderes Massive (Seyitoğlu and Scott 1991; 1992). It is generally accepted that all of these conditions are partly involved in the development of the neotectonics of the region. Although the distributions of the source faults are ambiguous, there are some records documenting large earthquakes in the history of this region.
In the framework of this project, we propose a study to determine the morphotectonic, paleoseismic and kinematic characteristics of the Milas, Yatağan, Muğla, faults and Gökova Fault Zone, which are indicated as “active faults” in MTA’s Revised Active Fault Map of Turkey. First we will study on remote sensing and then collect data with the field works. We are going to map these fault lines and determine potential paleoseismic sites and excavate trenches on the best candidates along the active faults.
There is no any published paleoseismological study on these faults. Any data about the history and precise locations of past earthquakes have great importance for the region. This case also promotes the importance of the proposed study. Although there is no historical record on Muğla, Yatağan and Milas Faults, we will study these faults and test the location and validity of BC 411, 227, 199, 27 and AD 141 142, 554, 1493, 1866, and 1933 earthquakes, which all heavily affected the Gulf of Gökova and the surrounding region. The results of this study will shed light on the recent earthquake history and recurrence intervals of the faults and will be used to re-evaluate seismic hazards in this region.
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Bu proje, Muğla il sınırları içinde yer alan ve MTA tarafından güncellenen “Türkiye Diri Fay Haritası”nda aktif fay olarak belirtilen Muğla, Yatağan, Milas ve Gökova faylarının detaylı haritalanması, kinematik özelliklerinin araştırılması ve hendek çalışmaları ile sismik tarihçelerinin araştırılmasını amaçlamaktadır.
Ege bölgesinin aktif olarak deforme olduğu ve kuzey-güney yönlü açılma gerilmelerine maruz kaldığı bilinmektedir. Ege bölgesinin bu genel aktif tektonik karakteri, Doğu-Batı gidişli horst-grabenler ve bunlara çapraz olarak gelişmiş fay sistemleriyle morfolojide belirgin izler oluşturmuştur. Gerilme rejiminin kökeni hakkında farklı görüşler mevcuttur. Birinci görüş Anadolu bloğunun KAF ve DAF boyunca batıya kaçması ve kuzey Ege bölgesinde Yunan makaslama zonuyla karşılaşmasıdır (Şengör, 1979; Şengör ve Yılmaz, 1981). Diğer görüşler, Helenik trence bağlı yay-ardı açılma (Angelier ve diğ., 1981) ve Menderes Masifi’ndeki domlaşmayı takip eden termal çökmelerdir (Seyitoğlu ve Scott, 1991,1992). Genel kanı tüm bu etkenlerin belli oranlarda bölgenin aktif tektoniğini denetlediği şeklindedir. Kaynak fayları konusunda belirsizlik olsa da bölgenin tarihsel dönemlerde büyük depremlerden etkilendiği konusunda önemli bilgiler mevcuttur. Proje kapsamında MTA tarafından hazırlanan diri fay haritasında aktif fay olarak gösterilen ve adlanan “Gökova Fay Zonu”, “Milas Fayı”, “Yatağan Fayı” ve “Muğla Fayı” önce uzaktan algılama yöntemleri ile incelenecek, sonra arazi çalışmaları ile morfolojik ve kinematik açıdan incelenecektir. Bu faylar haritalandıktan sonra üzerinde uygun alanlar belirlenerek hendekler açılacak ve fayların deprem tarihçeleri araştırılacaktır.
Bu faylar ile ilgili basılmış bir paleosismoloji çalışması bulunmaması projenin önemini artırmaktadır. Bu faylar üzerinde belirlenecek eski deprem verileri ilk olacaktır. Muğla, Yatağan, Milas fayları üzerinde tarihsel deprem verileri bilinmese de, Gökova körfezinin kuzey sınırını oluşturan Gökova Fay Zonu üzerinde meydana geldiği düşünülen ve Bodrum’da ve Kos Adası’nda önemli tahribatlar oluşturan MÖ 411, 227, 199, 27, MS 141-142, 554, 1493, 1866, 1933 depremlerinin doğruluğu ve hangi kaynak faylarla ilgili olduğu araştırılacaktır. Gerek bu fay zonundan gerekse çalışılacak diğer faylardan elde edilecek kinematik ve tarihsel deprem verileri, hem bölgedeki yerleşimlerin deprem tehlikesine karşı önlem almaları için bir altlık oluşturacak, hem de Batı Anadolu’nun aktif deformasyon özelliklerinin anlaşılmasına ışık tutacaktır.