5 research outputs found
Geometry and Paleoseismology of the Malatya Fault (Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone), Eastern Turkey: Implications for intraplate deformation of the Anatolian Scholle
he sinistral Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone
(MOFZ) is one of the outstanding intraplate deformation
belts within Anatolia. The 165-km-long, NE–SW-striking Malatya Fault (MF), which constitutes the southern
section of the MOFZ, is separated into five segments
according to its surface geometry. These segments have
evident morphotectonic features that reflect long- and
short-term fault activity, such as morphologic structures
offset by as little as 7 m and as much as 7.3 km. This
study provides results from the first paleoseismological
investigations on the MF. We find that the last earthquake occurred between 965 and 549 BCE and calculate
a recurrence interval of 2275 ± 605 years from evidence
for four paleo-events over the last 10 ka. Considering
fault segmentation and our paleoseismological data, we
propose that the accumulated strain on the MF may
cause a destructive earthquake (M = 7.4) in the near
future. Our results support the hypotheses that the MF
and other NW-striking dextral and NE-striking sinistral
strike-slip faults within the eastern part of Anatolia are
plate boundary-related, active deformational structures