ALBERT

Description: Understanding micro-seismicity is a critical question for earthquake hazard assessment. Since the devastating earthquakes of Izmit and Duzce in 1999, the seismicity along the submerged section of North Anatolian Fault within the Sea of Marmara (comprising the “Istanbul seismic gap”) has been extensively studied in order to infer its mechanical behaviour (creeping vs locked). So far, the seismicity has been interpreted only in terms of being tectonic-driven, although the Main Marmara Fault (MMF) is known to strike across multiple hydrocarbon gas sources. Here, we show that a large number of the aftershocks that followed the M 5.1 earthquake of July, 25th 2011 in the western Sea of Marmara, occurred within a zone of gas overpressuring in the 1.5–5 km depth range, from where pressurized gas is expected to migrate along the MMF, up to the surface sediment layers. Hence, gas-related processes should also be considered for a complete interpretation of the micro-seismicity (~M 〈 3) within the Istanbul offshore domain.

Description: Understanding of the evolution of fluid-fault interactions during earthquake cycles is a challenge that acoustic gas emission studies can contribute. A survey of the Sea of Marmara using a shipborne, multibeam echo sounder, with water column records, provided an accurate spatial distribution of offshore seeps. Gas emissions are spatially controlled by a combination of factors, including fault and fracture networks in connection to the Main Marmara Fault system and inherited faults, the nature and thickness of sediments (e.g., occurrence of impermeable or gas-bearing sediments and landslides), and the connectivity between the seafloor and gas sources, particularly in relation to the Eocene Thrace Basin. The relationship between seepage and fault activity is not linear, as active faults do not necessarily conduct gas, and scarps corresponding to deactivated fault strands may continue to channel fluids. Within sedimentary basins, gas is not expelled at the seafloor unless faulting, deformation, or erosional processes affect the sediments. On topographic highs, gas flares occur along the main fault scarps but are also associated with sediment deformation. The occurrence of gas emissions appears to be correlated with the distribution of microseismicity. The relative absence of earthquake-induced ground shaking along parts of the Istanbul-Silivri and Princes Islands segments is likely the primary factor responsible for the comparative lack of gas emissions along these fault segments. The spatiotemporal distribution of gas seeps may thus provide a complementary way to constrain earthquake geohazards by focusing the study on some key fault segments, e.g., the northern part of the locked Princes Islands segment.

Description: The submerged section of the North Anatolian fault within the Marmara Sea was investigated using acoustic techniques and submersible dives. Most gas emissions in the water column were found near the surface expression of known active faults. Gas emissions are unevenly distributed. The linear fault segment crossing the Central High and forming a seismic gap – as it has not ruptured since 1766, based on historical seismicity, exhibits relatively less gas emissions than the adjacent segments. In the eastern Sea of Marmara, active gas emissions are also found above a buried transtensional fault zone, which displayed micro-seismic activity after the 1999 events. Remarkably, this zone of gas emission extends westward all along the southern edge of Cinarcik basin, well beyond the zone where 1999 aftershocks were observed. The long term monitoring of gas seeps could hence be highly valuable for the understanding of the evolution of the fluid-fault coupling processes during the earthquake cycle within the Marmara Sea.

Description: The Sea of Marmara is traversed by the North Anatolian Fault system and also presents abundant emission sites of methane gas into the water column. In order to assess the spatial relationship between gas emissions and active faults, the distribution of distances between gas emission sites and the nearest fault is calculated and compared with the distribution of distances between a uniform random distribution of points (Poisson process representing the null hypothesis of an absence of relationship between gas emissions and faults) and the nearest fault. Interestingly, the distance distribution for the Poisson process is nearly exponential, indicating that the fault map does not have a characteristic scale other than that representing the intensity of the fault network. The distance distribution for the observed gas emissions is significantly narrower than that arising from the Poisson process, with a Kolmogorov distance of 0.25 ± 0.02. The crossing point between the two distributions defines the characteristic half-width of the swath of gas emission sites around the mapped active faults. For the whole Sea of Marmara data set a characteristic half-width of 900–1000 m is found which matches the half-width of the seafloor deformation zone observed around the main active fault. When the same analysis is applied to zones covering the Western High and the Central High it is found that the swath of gas emissions is wider on the Central High (2 km half-width), and not clearly related to the seafloor deformation zone there. This difference is put in perspective with recent work showing that creep is occurring on the western segment of the Main Marmara Fault (this also causing microseismicity) while the central Istanbul-Silivri segment may have remained locked since the 1766 magnitude 7+ earthquake. This suggests that aseismic slip (and not only earthquake occurrence) effectively maintains high permeability conduits in fault zones in sediments.