Late Quaternary subsidence records from the Datça graben and Cnidus ancient city (SW Turkey): sea-level changes versus tectonics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1344/GeologicaActa2021.19.6Keywords:
Cnidus, Datça graben, eastern Mediterranean, Quaternary sea-level changes, SW TurkeyAbstract
The Datça graben in southwestern Anatolia is a WNW-trending seismically active depression, with tectonic activity since Pliocene time. This tectonic activity is controlled by normal faults, which have effected ancient settlements. The Cnidus city (old and modern) –an ancient mercantile centre during the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods– is one of the places that has recorded this activity. The ancient harbour walls of Cnidus, lying 2.2-4.0m below sea level, contain important traces about sea-level changes and tectonics over the past 2.6kyr. Palaeostress analysis along boundary faults in the Datça graben yields an almost N–S oriented pure tensional regime, compatible with earthquake focal mechanism solutions located around the Datça Peninsula. Additionally, an almost E−W trending surface rupture related to a historical earthquake in modern Cnidus, which shows normal fault characteristics, gives further support to the ongoing extension along the Kızlan, Karaköy and Cnidus fault zones. Previous studies on late Quaternary sea-level changes around the Datça Peninsula suggest that 2.6kyr ago sea level was 1.0-1.25m lower than today. From the present-day depth of the Old Cnidus harbour remains and regional sea-level records, it can be inferred that tectonics has played a significant role. Our calculations show that the Datça graben is subsiding at rates of 0.36-0.46mm/yr in the central part and 1.05-1.15mm/yr in the southern part. These values match those found in other areas around the Datça Peninsula.
References
Alçiçek, H., 2010. Stratigraphic correlation of the Neogene basins in southwestern Anatolia: Regional palaeogeographical,
palaeoclimatic and tectonic implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 291, 297-318.
Altunel, E., Stewart, I.S., Piccardi, L., Barka, A., 2003. Earthquake faulting at ancient Cnidus, SW Turkey. Turkish Journal of
Earth Sciences, 12, 137-152.
Angelier, J., 1991. Inversion of field data in fault tectonics to obtain regional stress. III: A new rapid direct inversion method by analytical means. Geophysical Journal International, 103, 63-76.
Antonioli, F., Anzidei, M., Lambeck, K., Auriemma, R., Gaddi, D., Furlani, S., Orru, P., Solinas, E., Gaspari, A., Karinja, S., Kovacic, V., Surace, L., 2007. Sea-level change during the Holocene in Sardinia and in the northeastern Adriatic (central Mediterranean Sea) from archaeological and geomorphological data. Quaternary Science Reviews, 26, 2463-2486.
Anzidei, M., Antonioli, F., Benini, A., Lambeck, K., Sivan, D., Serpelloni, E., Stocchi, P., 2011. Sea level change and vertical land movements since the last two millennia along the coasts of southwestern Turkey and Israel. Quaternary International, 232, 13-20.
Barka, A.A., Reilinger, R., 1997. Active tectonics of the Mediterranean region: deduced from GPS, neotectonic and seismicity data. Annali di Geophisica, 11, 587-610.
Bean, G.E., Cook, J.M., 1952. The Cnidia. British School at Athens, 47, 171-212.
Bozkurt, E., 2000. Timing of extension on the Büyük Menderes graben, western Turkey, and its tectonic implications. In:
Bozkurt, E., Winchester, J.A., Piper, J.D.A. (eds.). Tectonics and Magmatism in Turkey and the Surrounding Area. Geological Society of London, 173 (Special Publications), 385-403.
Brückner, H., Kelterbaum, D., Marunchak, O., Porotov, A., Vött, A., 2010. The Holocene sea level story since 7500 BP – Lessons from the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black and the Azov Seas. Quaternary International, 225, 160-179.
Büyüközer, A., 2012. Knidos Limanları. Doctoral Thesis. Konya, Selçuk University, 252pp.
Delvaux, D., Moeys, R., Stapel, G., Petit, C., Levi, K., Miroshnichenko, A., Ruzhich, V., San’kov, V., 1997. Paleostress reconstruction and geodynamics of the Baykal region. Tectonophysics, 282(1–4), 1-38.
Delvaux, D., Sperner, B., 2003. Stress tensor inversion from fault kinematic indicators and focal mechanism data: the TENSOR program. In: Nieuwland, D. (ed.). New Insights into Structural Interpretation and Modelling. Geological Society of London, 212 (Special Publications), 75-100.
Dirik, K., Türkmenoğlu, A., Tuna, N., Dirican, M., 2003. Datça Yarımadası’nın Neotektoniği, Jeomorfolojisi ve Bunların Eski Medeniyetlerin Yerleşimi ve Gelişimi Üzerindeki Etkisi. Middle East Technical University (METU), Research Project nº ODTÜ AFP-00-07-03-13, unpublished, 66pp.
Dirik, K., 2007. Neotectonic characteristics and seismicity of the Reşadiye Peninsula and surrounding area, southwest Anatolia. Geological Bulletin of Turkey, 50(3), 130-150.
Donovan, D.T., Jones, E.J.W., 1979. Causes of world-wide changes in sea level. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 136, 187-195.
Ersoy, Ş., 1990. Stratigraphy and tectonics of the neotectonic units in the Reşadiye (Datça) Peninsula, SW Turkey. International Earth Science Colloquium on the Aegean (IESCA) Proceedings, 116.
Ersoy, Ş., 1991. Datça (Muğla) yarımadasının stratigrafisi ve tektoniği. Geological Bulletin of Turkey, 34, 1-14.
Fairbridge, R.W., 1961. Eustatic changes in sea level. In: Ahrens, L.H., Press, F., Rankama, K., Runcorn, S.K. (eds.). Physics and Chemistry of the Earth. London, Pergamon Press, 99-185.
Fleming, K., Johnston, P., Zwartz, D., Yokoyama, Y., Lambeck, K., Chappell, J., 1998. Refining the eustatic sea-level curve since the Last Glacial Maximum using far- and intermediate-field sites. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 163, 327-342.
Flemming, N.C., Czartoryska, N.M.G., Hunter, P.M., 1973. Archaeological evidence for eustatic and tectonic components
of relative sea level change in the South Aegean. In: Blackman, D.J. (ed.). Marine Archaeology. London, Butterworths, 1-16.
Goy, J.L., Zazo, C., Dabrio, C.J., 2003. A beach-ridge progradation complex reflecting periodical sea-level and climate variability during the Holocene (Gulf of Almeria, Western Mediterranean). Geomorphology, 50, 251-268.
Grant, M., 1986. A Guide to the Ancient World: A Dictionary of Classical Place Names. The H.W. Wilson Company, 728pp.
Guidoboni, E., Comastri, A., Traina, G., 1994. Catalogue of ancient earthquakes in the Mediterranean area up to the 10th century. Rome, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, 504pp.
Haq, B.U., 1991. Sequence stratigraphy, sea-level change, and significance for the deep sea. In: Macdonald, D.I.M. (ed.). Sedimentation, Tectonics and Eustasy; Sea-level changes at Active Margins. International Association of Sedimentologists, 12 (Special Publication), 3-39.
Hsü, K.J., Cita, M.B., Ryan, W.B.F., 1973. The origin of the Mediterranean evaporates. Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, 42, 1203-1231.
İnce, M.D., 2019. Magnetostratigraphy and Kinematic Characteristics of Datça graben (Muğla, SW Turkey). M.Sc. Thesis. Ankara, Middle East Technical University, 79pp.
Kahraman, B., Özsayın, E., Üner, S., Dirik, K., 2013. Pliocene to Recent Tectonic Activity of the Reşadiye Peninsula and the Relationship Between the Recent Earthquakes Occurred in the Gulf of Gökova: Preliminary Results. Vienna (Austria), EGU-2013 European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Geophysical Research Abstracts Volume 15, EGU2013-8639.
Kayan, İ., 1988a. Datça yarımadasında “Eski Knidos” yerleşmesini etkileyen doğal çevre özellikleri. Ankara Üniversitesi Coğrafya Araştırmaları Dergisi, 11, 51-70.
Kayan, İ., 1988b. Late Holocene sea-level changes on the Western Anatolian coast. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeoecology, 68, 205-218.
KOERI, 2020. Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI) – Istanbul, Turkey. Retrieved from http://www.koeri.boun.edu.tr/
Krijgsman, W., Hilgen, F.J., Raffi, U., Sierro, F.J., Wilson, D.S., 1999. Chronology, causes and progression of the Messinian salinity crisis. Nature, 400, 652-655.
Lambeck, K., Antonioli, F., Purcell, A., Silenzi, S., 2004a. Sealevel change along the Italian coast for the past 10,000 year. Quaternary Science Reviews, 23, 1567-1598.
Lambeck, K., Anzidei, M., Antonioli, F., Benini, A., Esposito, A., 2004b. Sea level in Roman times in the Central Mediterranean
and implications for recent change. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 224, 563-575.
Lambeck, K., Purcell, A., 2005. Sea-level change in the Mediterranean Sea since the LGM: model predictions for tectonically stable areas. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24, 1969-1988.
Lykousis, V., 1991. Sea-level changes and sedimentary evolution during the Quaternary in the northwest Aegean continent
margin, Greece. In: Macdonald, D.I.M. (ed.). Sedimentation, Tectonics and Eustasy: Sea-level Changes at Active Margins. International association of sedimentologist, 12 (Special Publication), 123-131.
McClusky, S., Balassanian, S., Barka, A.A., Demir, C., Gergiev, I., Hamburger, M., Kahle, H., Kastens, K., Kekelidse, G., King,
R., Kotzev, V., Lenk, O., Mahmoud, S., Mishin, A., Nadaria, M., Ouzounus, A., Paradisissis, D., Peter, Y., Prilepin, M., Reilinger, R., Sanli, I., Seeger, H., Teableb, A., Toksöz, N., Veis, G., 2000. GPS constraints on crustal movements and deformations for plate dynamics. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105, 5695-5720.
McKenzie, D., 1978. Active tectonics of the Alpine-Himalayan belt: The Aegean Sea and surrounding regions. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 55, 217-254.
Meulenkamp, J.E., Wortel, W.J.R., Van Wamel, W.A., Spakman, W., Hoogerduyn Strating, E., 1988. On the Hellenic subduction
zone and geodynamic evolution of Crete since the late Middle Miocene. Tectonophysics, 146, 203-215.
Morhange, C., Pirazzoli, P.A., Marriner, N., Montaggioni, L.F., Nammour, T., 2006. Late Holocene relative sea-level changes
in Lebanon, Eastern Mediterranean. Marine Geology, 230, 99-114.
Morris, A., Robertson, A.H.F., 1993. Miocene remagnetization of carbonate platform and Antalya Complex units within the
Isparta Angle, SW Turkey. Tectonophysics, 220, 243-266.
Mourtzas, N.D., Kolaiti, E., Anzidei, M., 2016. Vertical land movements and sea level changes along the coast of Crete (Greece) since Late Holocene. Quaternary International, 401, 43-70.
Ocakoğlu, F., Açıkalın, S., Özsayın, E., Dirik, K., 2014. Tectonosedimentary evolution of the Karacasu and Bozdoğan basins in the Central Menderes Massif, W Anatolia. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences, 23(4), 361-385.
Özsayın, E., 2016. Relative tectonic activity assessment of the Çameli Basin, Western Anatolia, using geomorphic indices.
Geodinamica Acta, 28(4), 241-253.
Pavlopoulos, K., 2010. Relative sea level fluctuations in Aegean coastal areas from middle to late Holocene. Geodinamica
Acta, 23(5-6), 225-232.
Pavlopoulos, K., Kapsimalis, V., Theodorakopoulou, K., 2010. Relative sea-level changes in Aegean coastal areas during Holocene: A geoarchaeological view. Journal of Earth Science, 21, 244-246.
Pavlopoulos, K., Fouache, E., Sidiropoulou, M., Triantaphyllou, M., Vouvalidis, K., Syrides, G., Gonnet, A., Greco, E., 2013. Palaeoenvironmental evolution and sea-level changes in the coastal area of NE Lemnos Island (Greece) during the Holocene. Quaternary International, 308-309, 80-88.
Pirazzoli, P.A., 2005. A review of possible eustatic, isostatic and tectonic contributions in eight late-Holocene relative sea-level histories from the Mediterranean area. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24, 1989-2001.
Seyitoğlu, G., Scott, B., 1991. Late Cenozoic crustal extension and basin formation in west Turkey. Geological Magazine, 128, 155-166.
Smith, P.E., York, D., Chen, Y., Evensen, N.M., 1996. Single crystal 40Ar-39Ar dating of a late Quaternary paroxysm on Kos, Greece: concordance of terrestrial and marine ages. Geophysical Research Letters, 23, 3047-3050.
Sümer, Ö., İnci, U., Sözbilir, H., 2013. Tectonic evolution of the Söke Basin: Extension-dominated transtensional basin formation in western part of the Büyük Menderes graben, Western Anatolia, Turkey. Journal of Geodynamics, 65, 148-175.
Şenel, M., 2002. 1:500,000 scale Geological Map of Turkey, Denizli sheet. Ankara, General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration.
Şengör, A.M.C., 1979. The North Anatolian Transform Fault: its age, offset and tectonic significance. Journal of Geological
Society London, 136, 269-282.
Şengör, A.M.C., Yılmaz, Y., 1981. Tethyan evolution of Turkey: a plate tectonic approach. Tectonophysics, 75, 181-241.
Şengör, A.M.C., Görür, N., Şaroğlu, F., 1985. Strike-slip faulting and related basin formation in zones of tectonic escape: Turkey as a key study. In: Biddle, K.T., Christie-Blick, N. (eds.). Strike-slip Faulting and Basin Formation. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, 37 (Special Publications), 227-264.
Tan, O., Tapırdamaz, M.C., Yörük, A., 2008. The Earthquake Catalogues for Turkey. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences, 17, 405-418.
Tiryakioğlu, İ., Aktuğ, B., Yiğit, C.Ö., Yavaşoğlu, H.H., Sözbilir, H., Özkaymak, Ç., Poyraz, F., Taneli, E., Bulut, F., Doğru, A., Özener, H., 2018. Slip distribution and source parameters of the 20 July 2017 Bodrum-Kos earthquake (Mw6.6) from GPS
observations. Geodinamica Acta, 30(1), 1-14.
Tur, H., Yaltırak, C., Elitez, İ., Sarıkavak, K.T., 2015. PlioceneQuaternary tectonic evolution of the Gulf of Gökova, southwest Turkey. Tectonophysics, 638, 158-176.
Uluğ, A., Duman, M., Ersoy, Ş., Özel, E., Avcı, M., 2005. Late Quaternary sea-level change, sedimentation and neotectonics
of the Gulf of Gökova: Southeastern Aegean Sea. Marine Geology, 221, 381-395.
Vacchi, M., Rovere, A., Chatzipetros, A., Zouros, N., Firpo, M., 2014. An updated database of Holocene relative sea level changes in NE Aegean Sea. Quaternary International, 328- 329, 301-310.
Vail, P.R., Mitchum, R.M., Thompson, S., 1977. Seismic stratigraphy and global change of sea level. Part 3: Relative change of sea level from coastal onlap. In: Payton, C.E. (ed.). Seismic Stratigraphy-Applications to hydrocarbon exploration. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoire, 26, 63-81.
Yıldırım, C., Tüysüz, O., Genç, Ş.C., Aksoy, M.E., 2016. Knidos Fayı’nın Deprem Tekrarlanma Aralığının ve Kayma Hızının Kozmojenik Klor-36 Yüzey Yaşlandırma Yöntemi ile Belirlenmesi. Ankara, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), Project Report nº 113Y436, 72pp.
Yıldırım, C., Aksoy, M.E., Sarıkaya, M.A., Şahin, S., Tüysüz, O., Genç, Ş.C., Doksanaltı, M.E., Tesson, J., Benedetti, L., Özcan, O., Cömert R., Avdan, U., 2019. Surface faulting history of the Knidos Fault, inferences from surface exposure dating (36Cl) and paleoseismic trenching. 23rd Meeting of Active Tectonics Research Group (ATAG-23), Abstracts, 79.
Yılmaz, Y., Genç, Ş.C., Gürer, Ö.F., Bozcu, M., Yilmaz, K., Karacik, Z., Altunkaynak, Ş., Elmas, A., 2000. When did the western Anatolian grabens begin to develop? In: Bozkurt, E., Winchester, J.A., Piper, J.D.A. (eds.). Tectonics and Magmatism in Turkey and the Surrounding Area. Geological Society of London, 173 (Special Publication), 353-384.
Yolsal-Çevikbilen, S., Taymaz, T., Helvacı, C., 2014. Earthquake mechanisms in the Gulfs of Gökova, Sığacık, Kuşadası, and the Simav Region (western Turkey): Neotectonics, seismotectonics and geodynamic implications. Tectonophysics, 635, 100-124.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Geologica Acta
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Geologica Acta is the property of the UB, GEO3BCN, IDAEA and UAB. Geologica Acta must be cited for any partial or full reproduction. Papers are distributed under the Attribution-Share Alike Creative Commons License. This license allows anyone to reproduce and disseminate the content of the journal and even make derivative works crediting authorship and provenance and distributing possible derivative works under the same or an equivalent license.
Author Rights
Authors retain the copyright on their papers and are authorized to post them on their own web pages or institutional repositories. The copyright was retained by the journal from the year 2003 until 2009. In all cases, the complete citation and a link to the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the article must be included.
The authors can use excerpts or reproduce illustrations of their papers in other works without prior permission from Geologica Acta provided the source of the paper including the complete citation is fully acknowledged.
