Analysing lava flows that solidified and then broke apart over a massive crack in the Earth’s crust in Turkey has brought new insights into how continents move over time, improving our understanding of earthquake risks.
Analysing lava flows that solidified and then broke apart over a massive crack in the Earth’s crust in Turkey has brought new insights into how continents move over time, improving our understanding of earthquake risks.
New research by Curtin University has revealed the Tuz Gölü Fault Zone – a more than 200-kilometre-long geological structure visible from space – is slowly pulling apart, providing a rare glimpse into the forces that shape Earth’s crust when tectonic plates collide.
Lead Australian author Professor Axel Schmitt, from Curtin’s John de Laeter Centre and School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the study solved a long-standing mystery about the fault’s movement, in a breakthrough not just for assessing seismic hazards but also for improving global models of continental deformation.
“While Turkey is well known for its earthquake-prone strike-slip faults, this study confirms for the first time that the Tuz Gölü Fault is an extensional fault, meaning the land on either side is moving away from each other, rather than sliding sideways as was previously thought,” Professor Schmitt said.
Read more at Curtain University
Image: Hasandağ volcano (Credit: Axel Schmitt)
