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North Anatolian Fault

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Definition

The North Anatolian Fault in Turkey is a major, continental transform system that connects the compressional system of faults in eastern Turkey, the Caucasus and the Zagros to the extensional regime in the Aegean Sea region. This fault zone, which extends 1,400 km from its juncture with the East Anatolian fault near Karliova east of Erzincan westward into the Gulf of Saros in the Aegean Sea, has a long and complex history, with the modern trace superposed on a Jurassic Neothethyan suture zone. The modern North Anatolian fault was reactivated in late Miocene time as a strike-slip zone to accommodate the westward extrusion of the Anatolian Plate resulting from the northward collision of the Arabian Plate with Asia.

Geodetic studies indicate that the fault is loading at a rate of about 25 mm/year along its entire trace. Several geologic studies suggest a lower rate of 15–20 mm/year from dating of offset late Quaternary geologic markers, and this lower rate is consistent with...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, 92182, San Diego, California, CA, USA

    Prof. Thomas Rockwell

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  1. Prof. Thomas Rockwell
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Correspondence to Thomas Rockwell .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada

    Peter T. Bobrowsky

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Rockwell, T. (2013). North Anatolian Fault. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_255

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