USING LANDSAT IMAGES TO DETERMINE THE STRUCTURAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EAST ANATOLIAN AND DEAD SEA FAULT ZONES IN SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY

The Dead Sea transform fault is a major plate boundary between the Arabian Plate and Sinai Plate (a microplate of the African Plate). The Dead Sea transform is over 1,000 km long and stretches from the Gulf of Aqaba on the northern edge of the Red Sea to the Tauride collisional zone in southeast Turkey. There is overwhelming evidence for major left lateral strike slip movement, especially in the southern half of the transform plate boundary where around 105 km of left- lateral displacement has been recognized by numerous researchers. The compensation for this lateral displacement, however, is less evident in the central and northern sections, where many compressional faults and folds have been identified. One major controversy associated with the Dead Sea transform is the path it takes in the northernmost extent of the fault system in southeastern Turkey.

As part of an undergraduate research project, we have re-examined the complex structural relationship between East Anatolian and Dead Sea fault zones in southeastern Turkey with using the newly obtained landsat data. The interaction between the two fault zone and associated crustal movement have created several complex Neogene basins and uplifts in southeastern Anatolia, including the Hatay Graben, and Amanos Mountains. We have determined that the Dead Sea fault zone, indeed, joins the East Anatolian fault zone at three locations; 1) at the Amik Basin in the southern part of the Hatay Graben; 2) north of the town of Narli; and 3) northeast of the Hazar Lake.