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The earthquake sedimentary record in the western part of the Sea of Marmara, Turkey
Drab, L.; Hubert-Ferrari, A.; Schmidt, S.; Martinez, P. (2012). The earthquake sedimentary record in the western part of the Sea of Marmara, Turkey. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 12(4): 1235-1254. dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-12-1235-2012
In: Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. Copernicus Publications: Göttingen. ISSN 1561-8633; e-ISSN 1684-9981, more
Peer reviewed article  

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  • Drab, L.
  • Hubert-Ferrari, A., more
  • Schmidt, S.
  • Martinez, P.

Abstract
    The submarine part of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) is a very significant hazard for the 12 million people living in Istanbul (Turkey). An accurate seismic risk assessment necessitates paleoseismological data, which can be retrieved in the Marmara Sea by using sedimentary cores. Here, a record of turbidites was obtained in five cores, spanning the Tekirdag Basin, the Western High and the Central Basin linked by the Tekirdag fault segment. The turbidites are synchronous at different sites across the two basins and through the structural high pointing to shaking by earthquakes as a triggering mechanism. In particular, the M = 7.4 1912 Mürefte earthquake left a distinctive sedimentary imprint in all the studied cores. Radiocarbon dating implies a turbidite recurrence interval of about 300 yr. The low number of seismo-turbidites documented in the Central Basin compared to the Tekirdag Basin suggests quasi-synchronous ruptures of the Tekirdag Segment and the adjacent Central Segment of the NAF or a partial seismic slip on the Central Segment. Both scenarios have implications regarding seismic hazard. Finally, though we obtained a paleoseismological record of the ruptures along the Tekirdag Segment, further chronological constraints are needed to better date the events and to confirm the completeness of the obtained record.

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