Structural Evolution of the Babadag Fault Zone in Denizli Graben, South Western Turkey

Abstract

The main goal of this thesis is to present the geometry and structural evolution of the Babadag fault zone, which is located at the southern margin of the Denizli Basin and separates metamorphic rocks in its footwall from sedimentary rocks in its hanging wall. The study also investigates the shear sense indicators that were found along the footwall rocks of the fault zone. The Babadag fault zone that controls the southern margin of the Denizli Basin is a steeply dipping normal fault. It contains two major step-over as displacement along the fault partitions westward. Deformation features in the Buyuk Menderes shear zone range from ductile-brittle and the early stage of the deformation during the extension was ductile. The fault rocks consisted ductile shear sense microstructures and brittle shear sense indicators, found in the fault rocks along the Babadag fault zone, indicate top to the north movement of the upper plate. These observations suggest to us that the prominent movement along the Babadag fault zone and its high-angle splays is top to the north.