The Subduction Geometry Of The Isparta Angle

The Subduction Geometry of the Isparta Angle

Abstract: The Isparta Angle (IA) is located to the north of Antalya Bay in south-western Turkey, where the Hellenic and Cyprian arcs intersect as reverse V shaped in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The convergent plate boundaries between the Anatolian and African plates comprise two separate arcs, the Hellenic and the Cyprian, and these arcs intersect in the eastern Mediterranean area. There are some works about the presence of a subduction zone in the study area, but there is not any concrete evidence.

In this study we applied the 3-D tomographic method to determine subduction geometry of the IA. The results of this study show the concrete evidence about the tectonic formation in the study area. We obtained the 3-D tomographic images by using a large number of arrival time data of P wave. P-wave velocity structure has been compared with the epicentral distribution of earthquakes and tectonic pattern. Our tomography results confirmed the major subduction slabs related to Hellenic and Cyprian arcs. The seismic activity is intense along highly heterogeneous zones along the subduction zone in this region.