Late-Pleistocene to Holocene sedimentary fills of the Çınarcık Basin of the Sea of Marmara
Highlights
► We characterize the main lithology of the deep infills of the Sea of Marmara. ► We examine climatic and tectonic imprints on the sedimentary record. ► Twenty seismoturbidites deposited during the Late-Pleistocene to Holocene. ► We determined the depositional processes of seismoturbidites in the Sea of Marmara. ► We examine a connection between mass failure deposits and turbidites.
Introduction
The use of subaqueous sedimentary sequences in marine and lake basins as archives of past earthquake events is part of a newly evolving field of subaqueous paleoseismology (e.g., Beck et al., 1996, Beck et al., 2007, Chapron et al., 1999, Arnaud et al., 2002, Goldfinger et al., 2003, Schnellmann et al., 2005, McHugh et al., 2006, Sarı and Çağatay, 2006, Carrillo et al., 2008). Such studies are important for seismic risk evaluation, providing important information on fault segmentation and recurrence time. An important area of study in subaqueous paleoseismology is the establishment of criteria for distinguishing turbidites of seismic origin from those of other origins, such as storm waves, hyperpycnal flows, gas hydrate dissociation, sediment overloading, volcanic eruptions and floods (Postma et al., 1988, Prior et al., 1989, Nemec, 1990, Mulder and Syvitski, 1995, Beck et al., 1996, Beck et al., 2007, Chapron et al., 1999, Cita and Aloisi, 2000, Nakajima and Kanai, 2000, Shiki et al., 2000, Arnaud et al., 2002, Goldfinger et al., 2003, Schnellmann et al., 2005, Carrillo et al., 2008). Turbidites have been used as proxies for earthquake activity along the northern San Andreas Fault (Goldfinger et al., 2003), in the Cariaco Basin associated to the El Pilar fault system (Carrillo et al., 2008), and in the Mediterranean and Marmara Seas associated with the North Anatolian Fault (Kastens and Cita, 1981, Cita et al., 1996, Beck et al., 2007).
The Sea of Marmara (SoM) lies at the gateway between the Black and Aegean seas in northwest Turkey, and is located on the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) which is a major continental transform boundary between the Eurasian and Anatolian plates (Fig. 1) (Şengör et al., 1985, Şengör et al., 2004, Wong et al., 1995, İmren et al., 2001, Le Pichon et al., 2001, Armijo et al., 2002, Armijo et al., 2005). The SoM consists mainly of a relatively broad (maximum width 45 km) southern shelf, a narrow (maximum width 20 km) northern shelf, and three strike-slip basins up to 1270 m deep. The deep basins from west to east are called Tekirdağ (1133 m), Central (1268 m), and Çınarcık (1276 m) basins, which are separated from each other by Western and Central submarine highs (Fig. 2). The most active northern branch of the NAF, the Main Marmara Fault (Le Pichon et al., 2001), extends beneath the northern SoM from the Gulf of Izmit to Ganos. This fault has created devastating earthquakes, the most recent being the 1999 İzmit earthquake with Mw = 7.4 (e.g., Ambraseys, 2002). The sedimentary sequence of the Late Pleistocene–Holocene in the SoM includes two main units; an upper marine (Unit 2) and a lower lacustrine (Unit 1) unit with the boundary between the two units dated to 12.3 cal ka BP (all ages are calibrated to calendar years) (Çağatay et al., 2000, Çağatay et al., 2003, Çağatay et al., 2009, Sperling et al., 2003, Eriş et al., 2007, Eriş et al., 2011, McHugh et al., 2008). The deep basin sedimentary sequence of the SoM consists predominantly of turbidites of seismic origin, and provides an archive of long-term earthquake activity (McHugh et al., 2006, Sarı and Çağatay, 2006, Beck et al., 2007). For this reason, the SoM is an excellent natural setting for a submarine geological and paleoseismological study, where radiocarbon-dated deep basin sedimentary earthquake records can be matched with the 2500 yr historical records of the Marmara region (Sarı and Çağatay, 2006, McHugh et al., 2008). In the Central Basin, Beck et al. (2007) documented an 8 m-thick homogenite layer in Core MD01-2431, which consists of a 1 m-thick basal layer of mud-clast-rich breccia at the base, 1.5 m-thick coarse sand in the middle and a 5.5 m-thick layer of visually structureless clay at the top.
In this study, we present detailed stratigraphic and sedimentological descriptions and textural properties of a 32.3 m-long RV Marion Dufresne Core MD01-2425 recovered from the Çınarcık Basin of the SoM, involving laser particle-size, magnetic susceptibility and AMS 14C analyses. Our major objectives here are to characterize the main lithology and textures of the post-glacial infills of the SoM that were presumably influenced by seismic activity of the NAF. We also attempt to correlate possible major mass flow events that occurred in the sub-basins of the SoM during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene using high resolution seismic and core data. This correlation suggests that turbidites were generated by historic earthquakes along the NAF.
Section snippets
Bathymetry and morphology of the Çınarcık Basin
The dextral strike-slip tectonics of the NAF (North Anatolian Fault) determines the rhomboidal or wedge-like shape morphologies of the subbasins (the Tekirdag, Central and Çınarcık basins) of the SoM (McKenzie, 1972, Şengör et al., 1985, Şengör et al., 2004, Barka and Kadinsky-Cade, 1988, Görür et al., 1997, Çağatay et al., 2000, Demirbağ et al., 2003, Yılmaz et al., 2009). The Çınarcık Basin is the largest and deepest basin (maximum 1276 m depth) between the branches of the NAF in the east of
Data and methodology
High resolution seismic reflection profiles at a resolution of 3.5 kHz were acquired by chirp sub-bottom profiler onboard R/V ATALANTE during the MARMARASCARPS cruise (Fig. 1). Depths of reflectors below the sea surface were calculated using average water and sediment velocities of 1450 m s− 1 and 1550 m s− 1 respectively. Calypso core MD01-2425 was recovered from a depth of 1230 m in the Çınacık Basin during the MARMACORE cruise onboard R/V Marion Dufresne (Fig. 1). The 32.3 m long piston core was cut
Core stratigraphy
In this study, we mainly focused on three sediment cores retrieved from the Central and Çınarcık basins (see Fig. 2). Cores MD01-2429 and MD01-2431 from the Central Basin have been previously studied and interpreted by Beck et al. (2007), whereas the 32.3 m long giant piston Core MD01-2425 is analyzed in this study (Fig. 3). Based on the main lithological and textural variations in the core, two sedimentary units can be distinguished as marine Unit-2 and lacustrine Unit-1. The lithostratigraphic
Stratigraphic correlation of seismic lines and the core sections
The most significant imprint of a mass-wasting event has been previously investigated by Beck et al. (2007) from the Central Basin of the SoM. They have documented 8 m of a unique sedimentary event (‘homogenite layer’) that was attributed to a major earthquake of the NAF. However, the effects of tectonic activity are evident from the presence of seismically transparent layers in the seismic data from the other subbasins of the SoM. This transparent acoustic facies is very similar to the
Conclusions
High resolution seismic and core data from three different basins of the Sea of Marmara (Tekirdağ, Central and Çınarcık) have been studied to investigate the impacts of seismic events along the North Anatolian Fault during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene. For this purpose, we mainly focused on two sediment cores retrieved from the Central and Çınarcık basins of the SoM. Detailed correlations between two deep coring sites document sedimentary records of the these basins, then core-to-seismic
Acknowledgments
The MARMACORE and MARMARASCARPS Cruises were performed within the framework of a French–Turkish scientific collaboration dedicated to the seismic risk in the Istanbul and Sea of Marmara region. These investigations were supported by the Turkish TUBITAK, the French INSU-CNRS, and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). MARMACORE Scientific Team is very grateful to Yvon Balut for successful management of the giant piston corer. We acknowledge the captain of R/V MARION-DUFRESNE and the whole
References (53)
- et al.
Enhanced seismicity in the early post glacial period: evidence from the post-würm sediments of Lake Annecy, Northwestern Alps
Journal of Geodynamics
(1996) - et al.
Late Quaternary co-seismic sedimentation in the Sea of Marmara's deep basins
Sedimentary Geology
(2007) - et al.
Late Glacial Holocene paleoceanography of the Marmara Sea: timing of connections with the Mediterranean and the Black Seas
Marine Geology
(2000) - et al.
Sea level changes and depositional environments in the İzmit Gulf, eastern Marmara Sea, during the Late Glacial-Holocene period
Marine Geology
(2003) - et al.
Late Pleistocene–Holocene evolution of the northern shelf of the Sea of Marmara
Marine Geology
(2009) - et al.
Disentangling Late Quaternary climatic and seismo-tectonic controls on Lake Mucubaji sedimentation (Merida Andes, Venezuela)
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology
(2008) - et al.
Deep-sea tsunami deposits triggered by the explosion of Santorini (350 y BP), Eastern Mediterranean
Sedimentary Geology
(2000) - et al.
Deep-sea tsunami deposits in the eastern Mediterranean: new evidence and depositional models
Sedimentary Geology
(1996) - et al.
Investigations of the tectonics of the Main Marmara Fault by means of deep-towed seismic data
Tectonophysics
(2003) - et al.
The timing and evolution of the post-glacial transgression across the Sea of Marmara shelf south of İstanbul
Marine Geology
(2007)
The North Anatolian fault within the Sea of Marmara: a new interpretation based on multichannel seismic and multi-beam bathymetry data
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Turbidites as records of intense palaeoearthquake in Lake Biwa, Japan
Sedimentary Geology
The active main Marmara fault: comparative anatomy of a continental transform fault in a marine setting
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Submarine earthquake geology along the North Anatolian Fault in the Marmara Sea, Turkey: a model for transform basin sedimentation
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
The last reconnection of the Marmara Sea (Turkey) to the World Ocean; a paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic perspective
Marine Geology
Sedimentary features of seismoturbidites triggered by the 1983 and older historical earthquakes in the eastern margin of the Japan Sea
Sedimentary Geology
Sedimentary features of the seismo-turbidities, Lake Biwa, Japan
Sedimentary Geology
Black Sea impact on the formation of eastern Mediterranean sapropel S1? Evidence from the Marmara Sea
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology
The Sea of Marmara: a plate boundary sea in an escape tectonic regime
Tectonophysics
The seismic activity of the Marmara sea region over the last 2000 years
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Asymmetric slip partitioning in the Sea of Marmara pull-apart: a clue to propagation processes of the North Anatolian Fault?
Terra Nova
Submarine fault scarps in the Sea of Marmara pull-apart (North Anatolian Fault): implications for seismic hazard in İstanbul
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Flood and earthquake disturbance of 210Pb geochronology (Lake Anterne, NW Alps)
Terra Nova
Strike slip fault geometry in Turkey and its influence on earthquake activity
Tectonics
Structural features of the Tuzla region, Istanbul
Turkish Journal of Marine Science
A mid-late Holocene sapropelic sediment unit from the Southern Marmara shelf and its paleoenvironmental significance
Quaternary Science Reviews
Cited by (16)
Factors affecting thickness and frequency of turbidites triggered by earthquakes in Kumburgaz Basin, Sea of Marmara
2022, Marine GeologyCitation Excerpt :A clear demarcation of these boundaries is important for construction of a robust age-depth model based on an event-free stratigraphy, which can then be used dating THUs and establishing long-term paleoseismological records (Beck, 2009; Goldfinger, 2011; Barnes et al., 2013; Yakupoğlu et al., 2019), The SoM, being located along the North Anatolian Fault (NAF), is an important location for subaqueous paleoseismological studies (e.g. Çağatay et al., 2012; Eriş et al., 2012; Drab et al., 2012; McHugh et al., 2014; Drab et al., 2015b; Yakupoğlu et al., 2019). Moreover, because of its interesting oceanographic setting between the Aegean (Mediterranean) Sea and Black Sea, its environment alternated between lacustrine and marine, with latest marine connection taking place ∼12.6 cal yrs.
The uppermost Pleistocene–Holocene mud drape across the Marmara Sea: Quantification of detrital supply from southern Marmara rivers
2021, Sedimentary GeologyCitation Excerpt :The primary reason for expecting a deficiency in supply from rivers alone is that there are several other processes which must have contributed fine-grained sediment, even if the river supply was dominant. The deep central basins contain thick post-reconnection deposits (Figs. 7B, 9) with ubiquitous muddy turbidites and homogenites attesting to seismically-induced failures of portions of the very steep slopes which encircle these areas (e.g., Beck et al., 2007, 2015; Eriş et al., 2012; Zitter et al., 2012; Campos, 2014). Any material mobilised in this way from Pleistocene and older deposits would not be accounted for by the calculations targeting contemporaneous river supply.
Sedimentological and geochemical evidence for seismoturbidite generation in the Kumburgaz Basin, Sea of Marmara: Implications for earthquake recurrence along the Central High Segment of the North Anatolian Fault
2019, Sedimentary GeologyCitation Excerpt :kyrs BP, the warm period would have decreased the stream power to generate low river sediment input on the shelves (Çağatay et al., 2009; Eriş et al., 2012). Several authors also note that mass transport processes and turbidity currents were more frequent and the turbidites were thicker during the lacustrine stage than during the marine episode (Beck et al., 2007; McHugh et al., 2008; Eriş et al., 2012). The seismoturbidites in core CS-01 were deposited during the high sea level stand.