Tracing the geometry of an active fault using remote sensing and digital elevation model: Ganos segment, North Anatolian Fault zone Turkey

The surface expression of the North Anatolian Fault between the Sea of Marmara and the Gulf of Saros, Turkey was determined using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Système Probatoire de l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) high resolution visible (HRV) Panchromatic images and a digital elevation model (DEM) based on 1:25 000 scale topographic maps. The remotely sensed data had been enhanced to reveal linear details. Between Gaziköy (Marmara Shore) and Saros two small releasing steps were identified, one to the east of Mürseli village and the other between Mürseli and Yayaköy villages. Hitherto, a single straight fault line had been drawn between Gaziköy and Saros on the geological map of this region. Between the Yeniköy and Sofular villages, the fault strike bends ∼7° further to the SE. The course of the fault between the Sea of Marmara and the Gulf of Saros is, therefore, more complicated than formerly believed and this is probably because the fault has utilized the pre-existing structures of the Neo-Tethyan subduction-accretion complex.