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The target fault is particularly suitable for a number of different reasons.
First strike-slip faulting is more suitable than normal or reverse faulting. The latter is mechanically more complex because of a high level of segmentation and heterogeneous arrangements of faults that are thus subject to multiple stress interactions.
Second the rapid deformation rate of the North Anatolian Fault (about 20 mm/yr) favors a relatively short recurrence time between major earthquakes, which is necessary to be able to obtain a record of a significant number of seismic cycles.
Third this plate-boundary has a unique structural simplicity, forming east of 900 km long structure accommodating most of the plate strain.
Finally the fault simple kinematics further favors a straightforward loading history and may explain why strain release on this fault occurred abruptly in clustering
sequences of major earthquakes rupturing long fault stretches.
The North Anatolian Fault
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To get deeper insights in the mechanisms at work during the seismic cycle, we propose to establish the seismic history over the last 2000 years of the North Anatolian fault (NAF).
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