Gas and seismicity within the Istanbul seismic gap

L. Géli; P. Henry; C. Grall; J. B. Tary; A. Lomax; E. Batsi; V. Riboulot; E. Cros; C. Gürbüz; S. E. Işlk; A. M.C. Sengör; X. Le Pichon; L. Ruffine; S. Dupré; Y. Thomas; D. Kalafat; G. Bayrakci; Q. Coutellier; T. Regnier; G. Westbrook; H. Saritas; G. Çifçi; M. N. Çaǧatay; M. S. Özeren; N. Görür; M. Tryon; M. Bohnhoff; L. Gasperini; F. Klingelhoefer; C. Scalabrin; J. M. Augustin; D. Embriaco; G. Marinaro; F. Frugoni; S. Monna; G. Etiope; P. Favali; A. Bécel

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23536-7

Gas and seismicity within the Istanbul seismic gap

L. Géli^*
, P. Henry
, C. Grall
, J. B. Tary
, A. Lomax
, E. Batsi
, V. Riboulot
, E. Cros
, C. Gürbüz
, S. E. Işlk
, A. M.C. Sengör
, X. Le Pichon
, L. Ruffine
, S. Dupré
, Y. Thomas
, D. Kalafat
, G. Bayrakci
, Q. Coutellier
, T. Regnier
, G. Westbrook

H. Saritas, G. Çifçi, M. N. Çaǧatay, M. S. Özeren, N. Görür, M. Tryon, M. Bohnhoff, L. Gasperini, F. Klingelhoefer, C. Scalabrin, J. M. Augustin, D. Embriaco, G. Marinaro, F. Frugoni, S. Monna, G. Etiope, P. Favali, A. Bécel

^*Corresponding author for this work

Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences

Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer
Aix-Marseille Université
Columbia University
Universidad de los Andes Colombia
ALomax Scientific
Bogazici University
Istanbul Technical University
National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
University of Birmingham
Maden Tetkik ve Arama Genel Mudurlugu
Dokuz Eylul University
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - German Research Centre for Geosciences
Free University of Berlin
National Research Council of Italy
Istituto Nazionale Di Geofisica E Vulcanologia
Babes-Bolyai University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Understanding micro-seismicity is a critical question for earthquake hazard assessment. Since the devastating earthquakes of Izmit and Duzce in 1999, the seismicity along the submerged section of North Anatolian Fault within the Sea of Marmara (comprising the "Istanbul seismic gap") has been extensively studied in order to infer its mechanical behaviour (creeping vs locked). So far, the seismicity has been interpreted only in terms of being tectonic-driven, although the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) is known to strike across multiple hydrocarbon gas sources. Here, we show that a large number of the aftershocks that followed the M 5.1 earthquake of July, 25^th 2011 in the western Sea of Marmara, occurred within a zone of gas overpressuring in the 1.5-5 km depth range, from where pressurized gas is expected to migrate along the MMF, up to the surface sediment layers. Hence, gas-related processes should also be considered for a complete interpretation of the micro-seismicity (~M < 3) within the Istanbul offshore domain.

Original language	English
Article number	6819
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	8
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23536-7
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).

Funding

This work is based on the results of 15 years of continuous, marine investigations in the Sea of Marmara, conducted within both bi-lateral collaborations (France-Turkey; Italy-Turkey) and EU-funded Research Programmes, e.g. the ESONET Network of Excellence (contract N° 036851) and the MARSITE Integrated Project (contract N° 308417). Jean-François Rolin and Roland Person, coordinators of ESONET, as well as Nurcan Özel and Meral Agualdis, respectively coordinator and project manager of MARSITE are warmly acknowledged. Acknowledgements are also addressed to the Turkish Navy and to the Turkish Hydrographic Service (SHOD) for supporting the operations at sea, particularly our correspondent, Captain Erhan Gezgin; to the personnel of the French Embassy in Ankara, particularly Mrs Bonnafous-Boucher; to CNR and to Ifremer for funding operations at sea of R/V Le Suroit, R/V Pourquoi pas? and R/V Urania, respectively; to the Institute of Marine Science and Technology of the University of Izmir for support with R/V Piri Reis; to Pascal Pelleau, Mikaël Roudaut and Ronan Apprioual for their technical support; to professor Oguz Özel, for his support for using R/V Yunuz of Istanbul University; to the personnel of Ineris -Armand Lizeur, Emmanuel Klein and Pascal Bigarré-for their support in using the SYTMIS software; to Jean Schmittbuhl, Hayrullah Karabulut and Michel Bouchon for fruitful discussions and for providing unpublished manuscript; to Miraille Laigle and Alfred Hirn for providing the deep-seismic data from the Seismarmara Cruise; to COST action FLOWS for support to collaboration between EU and Turkey on transform-type plate boundary studies. Anthony Lomax worked as a MARSITE sub-contractor, under CNRS-Contract N° MA201301A; Estelle Cros worked under a grant from Institut Carnot Ifremer-Edrome, Contract reference number 06/11/2013. Intense use was made of Global Mapping Tools (GMT)57. Data available on http://doi.org/10.17882/49764.

Funders	Funder number
Institut Carnot Ifremer-Edrome	06/11/2013
Seventh Framework Programme	308417
Natural Environment Research Council	noc010011
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche	MA201301A

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 14 Life Below Water

Access to Document

10.1038/s41598-018-23536-7

Cite this

Géli, L., Henry, P., Grall, C., Tary, J. B., Lomax, A., Batsi, E., Riboulot, V., Cros, E., Gürbüz, C., Işlk, S. E., Sengör, A. M. C., Le Pichon, X., Ruffine, L., Dupré, S., Thomas, Y., Kalafat, D., Bayrakci, G., Coutellier, Q., Regnier, T., ... Bécel, A. (2018). Gas and seismicity within the Istanbul seismic gap. Scientific Reports, 8(1), Article 6819. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23536-7

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abstract = "Understanding micro-seismicity is a critical question for earthquake hazard assessment. Since the devastating earthquakes of Izmit and Duzce in 1999, the seismicity along the submerged section of North Anatolian Fault within the Sea of Marmara (comprising the {"}Istanbul seismic gap{"}) has been extensively studied in order to infer its mechanical behaviour (creeping vs locked). So far, the seismicity has been interpreted only in terms of being tectonic-driven, although the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) is known to strike across multiple hydrocarbon gas sources. Here, we show that a large number of the aftershocks that followed the M 5.1 earthquake of July, 25th 2011 in the western Sea of Marmara, occurred within a zone of gas overpressuring in the 1.5-5 km depth range, from where pressurized gas is expected to migrate along the MMF, up to the surface sediment layers. Hence, gas-related processes should also be considered for a complete interpretation of the micro-seismicity (\textasciitilde{}M < 3) within the Istanbul offshore domain.",

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Géli, L, Henry, P, Grall, C, Tary, JB, Lomax, A, Batsi, E, Riboulot, V, Cros, E, Gürbüz, C, Işlk, SE, Sengör, AMC, Le Pichon, X, Ruffine, L, Dupré, S, Thomas, Y, Kalafat, D, Bayrakci, G, Coutellier, Q, Regnier, T, Westbrook, G, Saritas, H, Çifçi, G, Çaǧatay, MN, Özeren, MS, Görür, N, Tryon, M, Bohnhoff, M, Gasperini, L, Klingelhoefer, F, Scalabrin, C, Augustin, JM, Embriaco, D, Marinaro, G, Frugoni, F, Monna, S, Etiope, G, Favali, P & Bécel, A 2018, 'Gas and seismicity within the Istanbul seismic gap', Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 1, 6819. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23536-7

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AU - Géli, L.

AU - Henry, P.

AU - Grall, C.

AU - Tary, J. B.

AU - Lomax, A.

AU - Batsi, E.

AU - Riboulot, V.

AU - Cros, E.

AU - Gürbüz, C.

AU - Işlk, S. E.

AU - Sengör, A. M.C.

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AU - Ruffine, L.

AU - Dupré, S.

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AU - Bayrakci, G.

AU - Coutellier, Q.

AU - Regnier, T.

AU - Westbrook, G.

AU - Saritas, H.

AU - Çifçi, G.

AU - Çaǧatay, M. N.

AU - Özeren, M. S.

AU - Görür, N.

AU - Tryon, M.

AU - Bohnhoff, M.

AU - Gasperini, L.

AU - Klingelhoefer, F.

AU - Scalabrin, C.

AU - Augustin, J. M.

AU - Embriaco, D.

AU - Marinaro, G.

AU - Frugoni, F.

AU - Monna, S.

AU - Etiope, G.

AU - Favali, P.

AU - Bécel, A.

PY - 2018/12/1

Y1 - 2018/12/1

N2 - Understanding micro-seismicity is a critical question for earthquake hazard assessment. Since the devastating earthquakes of Izmit and Duzce in 1999, the seismicity along the submerged section of North Anatolian Fault within the Sea of Marmara (comprising the "Istanbul seismic gap") has been extensively studied in order to infer its mechanical behaviour (creeping vs locked). So far, the seismicity has been interpreted only in terms of being tectonic-driven, although the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) is known to strike across multiple hydrocarbon gas sources. Here, we show that a large number of the aftershocks that followed the M 5.1 earthquake of July, 25th 2011 in the western Sea of Marmara, occurred within a zone of gas overpressuring in the 1.5-5 km depth range, from where pressurized gas is expected to migrate along the MMF, up to the surface sediment layers. Hence, gas-related processes should also be considered for a complete interpretation of the micro-seismicity (~M < 3) within the Istanbul offshore domain.

AB - Understanding micro-seismicity is a critical question for earthquake hazard assessment. Since the devastating earthquakes of Izmit and Duzce in 1999, the seismicity along the submerged section of North Anatolian Fault within the Sea of Marmara (comprising the "Istanbul seismic gap") has been extensively studied in order to infer its mechanical behaviour (creeping vs locked). So far, the seismicity has been interpreted only in terms of being tectonic-driven, although the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) is known to strike across multiple hydrocarbon gas sources. Here, we show that a large number of the aftershocks that followed the M 5.1 earthquake of July, 25th 2011 in the western Sea of Marmara, occurred within a zone of gas overpressuring in the 1.5-5 km depth range, from where pressurized gas is expected to migrate along the MMF, up to the surface sediment layers. Hence, gas-related processes should also be considered for a complete interpretation of the micro-seismicity (~M < 3) within the Istanbul offshore domain.

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DO - 10.1038/s41598-018-23536-7

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AN - SCOPUS:85046363781

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 8

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

IS - 1

M1 - 6819

ER -

Gas and seismicity within the Istanbul seismic gap

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

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