An international study, in which Dr. Gülin Gençoğlu Korkmaz from the Department of Geological Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of Konya Technical University (KTÜN) took part as the lead researcher, shed light on long-awaited questions regarding the movement of the Salt Lake Fault. The study, in which researchers from Konya Technical University, Heidelberg University (Germany), Curtin University (Australia) and the University of Toronto (Canada) also contributed, is of great importance not only in terms of understanding regional seismic risks of the fault, but also in terms of developing global continental deformation models.
In the study, the effect of the approximately 200-kilometer Salt Lake Fault, located east of the Salt Lake, on the crustal movements in Central Anatolia was examined in detail. Dr. Gençoğlu Korkmaz stated that this discovery allows for more accurate modeling of the fault dynamics and tectonic processes in the region.
As a result of the geological and geochronological analyses, it was revealed that only vertical movement occurred along the fault; in other words, the crustal blocks moved away from each other and there was no lateral sliding. According to the findings supported by the detailed examination of the old lava flows originating from the Hasandağ volcano, it was determined that this movement occurred between 0.90 and 1.23 millimeters per year and lasted between the last 151,000 and 38,800 years.
The researchers emphasized that the Salt Lake Fault clearly showed that it moves with “vertical slip normal faulting” (pure dip-slip), and that it contributes to the east-west extension dynamics in Central Anatolia. Previously proposed hypotheses of lateral slip movements were invalidated by this study.
This important discovery not only provides a more accurate assessment of seismic risks in Türkiye but also contributes to a better understanding of the behavior of the Anatolian plate against the collision of the Arabian and Eurasian plates in the east and the extension movements in the Aegean region in the west.
As a result of the research, this study not only explains the geological processes around the Salt Lake but also reveals how the forces coming from deep within the Earth shape today.
The full study was published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment as an article titled ‘Pure dip-slip along the Salt Lake Fault Zone accommodates east-west extension of Central Anatolia’ and can be accessed via the following link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02192-6
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