Plio-Quaternary Stress State in the Burdur Basin, SW-Turkey

Abstract

This study defines the Plio-Quaternary to present day stress regime in the Burdur Basin, located at the northeastern end of the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone in SW Turkey. This fault length, which is considered the landward continuation of the Pliny-Strabo trench, is an important feature in SW Turkey. The inversion slip vectors measured on fault planes indicate a consistent normal faulting stress regime during Plio-Quaternary time, continuing into recent times as indicated by earthquake focal mechanism inversions. Both states have consistent NW-SE trending horizontal minimum stress axes (sigma(3)). The orientation of fault sets is predominantly around the NE-SW direction in the major Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone, making the extension NW-SE. The mean stress ratio is 0.74 indicating a triaxial stress state, which is clearly different from radial extension. The NW-SE extension is probably responsible for the formation of the Burdur Basin during Plio-Quaternary time. This extension, which is probably caused by slab-pull force due to the subduction process along the Cyprus arc, produces a dominant normal motion along the FBFZ. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.