The Isparta Angle and its reletationship with Aegean-Cyprus Tectonic Arcs, SW Turkey

Recent active tectonics of the southwestern Anatolia region is very interesting and complex for academic studies. It has been studied about plate tectonics especially for 20 years. Taurus Mountains in Turkey which are located in Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt, are one of the most active tectonic region in this orogenic belt.
   Although the Taurus Mountains generally run in approximately east-west direction, this order is interrupted in Isparta-Burdur Region (Lakes Region). They locally bend and form an inverse V shaped angular deformation which is formed around the lakes region located in the north of Antalya Bay. This tectonic structure is known as the Isparta Bend or the Isparta Angle in geological literature. Isparta Angle is a big active tectonic structure in the Southwestern Turkey. It is related with subduction zone located between African and Eurasia in Mediterranean Sea at south of Turkey. Subduction zone is the most important convergent plate boundary in the region and is divided into two parts in the south of Turkey. These two parts are called Aegean and Cyprus tectonic arcs. They extend from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea towards the Aegean Sea along the southwestern coast of Turkey. Main reason of the seismicities that occurred in the region are these subduction zones.
   Southwestern Anatolia is under the influence of N- S compressional forces along the Aegean and the Cyprus tectonic arcs due to the African–Anatolian Plate’s activities and also southwestern part of Taurus Mountains includes lots of enigmatic structures. These subduction zones have different seismotectonic and seismicity characteristics particularly in the east and west of Fethiye Bay. This difference has formed structurally large-scale tectonic fracture zones and big important tectonic structures for example Isparta Angle in the region. This angle is bordered by Aegean-Cyprus tectonic arcs in the south, Southwestern Anatolian Fault at the west and Kırkavak Fault at the east. Southwestern Anatolian Fault is one of the most important NE-SW direction and left lateral slip fault which is located between Fethiye Bay and Eğirdir Lake. On the other hand, Kırkavak Fault is one of the most important NNWSSE direction and right lateral slip fault which is located between Eğirdir Lake and the Mediterranean Sea. These are conjugate faults and syntectonic deformations in the region. This large-scale structural deformation, which has played an important role in the geodynamic and geotechnical revolution of the region, is located in the Lakes Region in the north of Antalya Bay, Southwestern Turkey.
   The Aegean Arc is higher seismicity than Cyprus Arc. This arc differentiates in direction toward NE and NW in south of the Crete Island because of it locally bends an edge around south of island. It caused a forming of a big tectonic line in the region known as Southwestern Anatolian Fault also known as Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone. On the other hand, it is believed that this bending is responsible for the extension in Western Anatolia since at least the middle-Upper Miocene. Isparta Angle has formed during the Paleotectonic Period (Middle Miocene time), and its evolution continues up until the present time since Upper Miocene. Even today it is the most important active tectonic deformation in the region. During the Neotectonic Period, many interesting events and structures are resulted due to this active tectonic deformation since the Upper Miocene. Examples of these events include active faulting, seismicity, volcanism and continental/lacustrine deposition in southwestern Turkey. On the other hand, The Central Anatolia moves westward along the North Anatolian Fault, relative to Eurasia. However, the Western Anatolia (west of the Isparta Angle) moves in a SW direction along the Southwestern Anatolian Fault. These are major evidence for active tectonic in the region. One of the significant deformations in the Mediterranean Sea is the Pliny-Strabo Trench that has a left lateral slip, extends as the Southwestern Anatolian Fault between the Fethiye Bay and the Eğirdir Lake in southwestern Turkey. Western and the Central Anatolia were separated from each other with the Southwestern Anatolian Fault.
   Main purpose of this study is to present the effects of the Aegean and the Cyprus tectonic arcs on the Isparta Angle at the southwestern Taurus and all tectonic structures during the paleotectonic and neotectonic periods.