Microstructural study of the partition between seismic and aseismic deformation along the North Anatolian Fault zone, Turkey

Abstract:

Along the North Anatolian Fault (Turkey), fault sliding is accommodated both by earthquakes and by aseismic creep. The creep processes develop either as transient (post-seismic or interseismic) sliding or as permanent sliding along zones localized on specific segments of the fault. Creep processes relax the stress and contribute to stress redistribution within the seismogenic zone. They participate to the deformation budget during the seismic cycle, sometimes delaying or on the contrary helping triggering the occurrence of large earthquakes. Identifying the mechanisms controlling creep and their evolution with time and space represents a major challenge for predicting the mechanical evolution of active faults. Our goal is to answer three main questions: How to identify at the outcrop scale permanent creep from transient creep? Is aseismic creep controlled by lithology? How does creep evolve before and after earthquakes? The challenge is to understand which key parameters control the shift from seismic to aseismic deformation, such as the effect of fabric, rock lithology, fault roughness, strain-rate, fluid pressure or stress.
We collected samples from a dozen of fresh and well-preserved fault outcrops along creeping and locked segments of the North Anatolian Fault. We used various methods such as microscopic and geological observations, SEM, XRD analysis, strain measurements from image processing approaches in order to quantitatively characterize the amount of deformation and the mechanisms involved. Results show different relationships between lithology and mechanisms of deformation: (i) Along the locked segments of the North Anatolian Fault, in massive limestone, we found evidence of large earthquakes followed by pre- or post-seismic (i.e. afterslip) creep. (ii) Along some creeping segments, we observed gouges with weak clay (saponite) that could accommodate (or have accommodated in the past) large permanent creep. (iii) Along other creeping segments, we observed deformed serpentine bodies attesting of creep episodes, the strain values of which remaining to be evaluated, but also evidences of past earthquakes, suggesting in such areas a mixed-mode of seismic and aseismic deformation.