Geophysical and morphological constraints on active tectonics in the Eastern Pontides (Turkey)

The Eastern Pontides in northern Anatolia (Turkey) offers an exceptional record of significant tectonic evolution from subduction to crustal thickening and Anatolian escape tectonics. Here, we provide ground magnetic measurements at 435 points integrated with aeromagnetic data, remote sensing, and surface geological features from the literature reveal all these tectonic deformation effects on the Eastern Pontides. The region, which is tectonically separated into three sub-zones, clearly revealed from both aero and ground magnetic data. Lineament analysis was carried out to reveal the deformation styles of the region and to compare different data sets. According to the lineament analyzes obtained from the aero&ground magnetic data and all the other data sets, similar results were obtained for the three sub-zones. Although slight differences were obtained results between the used methods and zones, the main lineament orientation is calculated in the E-W direction. Thus, the obtained results emphasize that tectonic deformation effects resulting from long-term ∼N-S convergence and crustal shortening (subduction, collision, obduction) may still dominate the region. In addition to the lineament results, high (low) magnetic zones in the E-W orientation are also evident. Considering the resolution of the data used, these magnetic changes can be associated with large scale geological structures rather than surface lithological changes. Despite the existence of an active dextral the North Anatolian Fault Zone, the zone is not evident from the magnetic results so the transcurrent tectonic regime probably still not dominant in the entire region.