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| Erzinçan segment | |
|---|---|
| Name | Erzinçan segment |
| Type | Fault segment |
| Location | Eastern Anatolia, Turkey |
| Region | Eastern Anatolia Region |
| Country | Turkey |
| Partof | North Anatolian Fault Zone |
| Length | ~150 km |
Erzinçan segment is a crustal fault segment in eastern Turkey associated with the North Anatolian Fault Zone, notable for its role in destructive earthquakes and strike-slip tectonics. The segment links structural domains between the Pontic Mountains and the Anatolian Plateau and has been the focus of paleoseismic, geodetic, and seismological studies. Its behavior influences seismic hazard across provinces such as Erzincan Province, Tunceli Province, and Sivas Province and intersects transportation corridors like the Anatolian Highway and rail lines.
The segment is a right-lateral strike-slip structure within the North Anatolian Fault, bounding crustal blocks tied to the Anatolian Plate, the Eurasian Plate, and the Arabian Plate. It juxtaposes lithotectonic units including fragments of the Pontides, the Tauride Belt, and the Istanbul Zone along a linear trace characterized by fault gouge, pulverized bedrock, and across-fault offset terraces. Structural mapping links the segment to secondary features such as splay faults that connect to the East Anatolian Fault and transfer zones that communicate deformation to the Ankara-Erzurum Suture Zone. Crosscutting oblique-slip structures relate to regional stress fields documented by researchers affiliated with institutions like Istanbul Technical University, Boğaziçi University, and Middle East Technical University.
Situated within the collision-transform margin between the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the segment records strain partitioning that also involves the westward escape of the Anatolian Plate toward the Aegean Sea. Regional kinematics reflect interactions documented in GPS campaigns by groups from Tubitak Marmara Research Center, the US Geological Survey, and the European Geosciences Union community. The segment lies adjacent to crustal-scale structures such as the Çankırı Basin and links to broader tectonic features like the Bitlis-Zagros Suture Zone; its slip-rate estimates are constrained by trenching studies and geodetic models used by the International Seismological Centre and the Global Seismographic Network.
Historically and instrumentally, the segment has produced major events recorded in archives and catalogs maintained by Paleoseismology researchers, the Kandilli Observatory, and the United States Geological Survey. Notable earthquakes affecting the region are comparable in impact to events on the North Anatolian Fault, and archival studies draw on Ottoman-era registers, US Army reports, and contemporary catalogues. Paleoseismic trenches reveal multiple paleoearthquakes correlating with documented events such as the 1939 Erzincan earthquake, and seismotectonic analyses involve contributions from the International Seismological Centre, Global Centroid Moment Tensor project, and regional networks. Ground shaking, surface rupture, liquefaction, and landslide inventories have been compiled by teams linked to AFAD and international partners.
Along the segment, stratigraphic successions include Mesozoic limestones and marbles of the Pontides, Cenozoic volcanic and sedimentary cover of the Neogene, and Quaternary fluvial and colluvial deposits forming terrace sequences along rivers like the Kelkit River and tributaries. Lithologies exposed in fault scarps comprise ophiolitic mélange, flysch sequences associated with the Anatolide-Tauride Platform, and volcanic units correlated with the Cappadocian Volcanic Province. Paleoenvironmental interpretations use datable materials such as tephra from eruptions catalogued with the Smithsonian Institution volcanic database and radiocarbon ages reported by regional laboratories.
The segment shapes topography through linear valleys, deflected streams, and offset alluvial fans observable in satellite imagery analyzed by groups at NASA, the European Space Agency, and regional observatories. Fluvial incision, hillslope colluvium, and glacial relics in higher elevations interact with tectonic uplift to produce knickpoints and drainage rearrangements similar to features studied along the San Andreas Fault and the Dead Sea Transform. Geomorphologists from Istanbul University and the University of Oxford have quantified slip via morphochronology and cosmogenic nuclide dating campaigns, linking surface processes to seismic cycle models developed by the Southern California Earthquake Center.
The segment transects areas with mineral occurrences including polymetallic veins, carbonate-hosted lead-zinc mineralization, and geothermal manifestations exploited near fault-controlled fluid pathways. Exploration and resource assessments involve state entities such as MTA (General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration) and private companies active in the Anatolian mineral belt. Quaternary basins adjacent to the fault contain alluvial aggregates and potential shallow groundwater reservoirs used by municipalities in Erzincan and surrounding districts; engineering projects for infrastructure resilience reference standards from World Bank and European Investment Bank financed studies.
Scientific inquiry on the segment began with early geological surveys by the Ottoman Empire era and intensified after major 20th-century earthquakes, prompting paleoseismic trenching, seismic reflection profiling, and GPS campaigns led by institutions such as Boğaziçi University, Istanbul Technical University, and international collaborators including the USGS and European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre. Geophysical datasets include seismicity catalogs, magnetotelluric soundings, and gravity surveys archived by the Turkish General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA) and shared in synthesis papers in journals like Tectonophysics and Journal of Geophysical Research. Ongoing monitoring integrates permanent seismometer arrays, InSAR observations from Copernicus Sentinel missions, and community science initiatives coordinated with local authorities such as AFAD.