US-Turkey Workshop: The Tectonics of Eastern Turkey and Northern Arabian Plate, Istanbul, Turkey, May 2002

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

0114478 Barazangi Description: This award supports a joint workshop and cooperative research project on the Tectonics of Eastern Turkey. The workshop will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in May 2002. The co-organizers are Dr. Muawia Barazangi, Department of Geological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York and Dr. Niyazi Turkelli, Professor of Geophysics at the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI), Bogazici University, Istanbul. The workshop will focus on the evolution and origin of the Eastern Anatolian Plateau, Bitlis suture, and East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ). Scientists from Cornell and the KOERI have recently deployed a temporary NSF-funded PASSCAL array in eastern Turkey. The array is designed to improve understanding of the Bitlis/Zagros thrust zones as well as the nature of continental escape along the EAFZ and North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ), imaging upper mantle and crustal structure in these two fairly different tectonic environments. In order to interpret these seismic images, it is necessary to incorporate geochemical, geomorphic, and geologic observations from the region. Ten US scientists and at least six Turkish scientists are expected to participate. KOERI seismologists will make several trips to Cornell for close collaboration on the analysis of data collected from a recent broadband array in eastern Turkey. Scope: This award will encourage discussion among US and Turkish scientists on several important geological questions in light of data already collected. These questions include: Is the Arabian plate being subducted, delaminated, or neither? Is the Anatolian plateau supported dynamically or isostatically? What are the current earthquake hazards in eastern Turkey? Appropriate Turkish government officials will be invited to a special session on the implications of the results concerning the evaluation of earthquake hazard in eastern Turkey. Funding for this project is provided by the Division of International Programs and the Division of Earth Sciences.