Geosciences (Oct 2021)

Seismic Activity of the Manisa Fault Zone in Western Turkey Constrained by Cosmogenic <sup>36</sup>Cl Dating

  • Nasim Mozafari,
  • Çağlar Özkaymak,
  • Dmitry Tikhomirov,
  • Susan Ivy-Ochs,
  • Vasily Alfimov,
  • Hasan Sözbilir,
  • Christian Schlüchter,
  • Naki Akçar

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11110451
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 11
p. 451

Abstract

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This study reports on the cosmogenic 36Cl dating of two normal fault scarps in western Turkey, that of the Manastır and Mugırtepe faults, beyond existing historical records. These faults are elements of the western Manisa Fault Zone (MFZ) in the seismically active Gediz Graben. Our modeling revealed that the Manastır fault underwent at least two surface ruptures at 3.5 ± 0.9 ka and 2.0 ± 0.5 ka, with vertical displacements of 3.3 ± 0.5 m and 3.6 ± 0.5 m, respectively. An event at 6.5 ± 1.6 ka with a vertical displacement of 2.7 ± 0.4 m was reconstructed on the Mugırtepe fault. We attribute these earthquakes to the recurring MFZ ruptures, when also the investigated faults slipped. We calculated average slip rates of 1.9 and 0.3 mm yr−1 for the Manastır and Mugırtepe faults, respectively.

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