Active faults in the Sea of Marmara, western Turkey, imaged by seismic reflection profiles

Turkey is moving westward relative to Eurasia, thereby accommodating the co llision between Arabia and Eurasia. This motion is mostly taken up by strik e-slip deformation along the North and East Anatolian Faults. The Sea of Ma rmara lies over the direct westward continuation of the North Anatolian Fau lt zone. Just east of the Sea of Marmara, the North Anatolian Fault splits into three strands, two of which continue into the sea. While the locations of the faults are well constrained on land, it has not yet been determined how the deformation is transferred across the Sea of Marmara, onto the fau lts on the west coast of Turkey. We present results from a seismic reflecti on survey undertaken to map the faults as they continue through the three d eep Marmara Sea basins of Clnarclk, Central Marmara and Tekirdag, in order to determine how the deformation is distributed across the Sea of Marmara, and how it is taken up on the western side of the sea. The data show active dipping faults with associated tilting of sedimentary layers, connecting t he North Anatolian Fault to strike-slip faults that cut the Biga and Gallip oli Peninsulas.