The R/V Meteor Cruise Leg M44/1 in February 1999 in the Sea of Marmara: The First Multibeam Bathymetric Study and Analysis of Methane in Sediment and Water Columns

Authors: İSMAİL KUŞÇU, PETER HALBACH, MAIK INTHORN, THOMAS KUHN, RICHARD SEIFERT

Abstract: During the first leg of R/V Meteor cruise M44 in February 1999, geoscientific studies in two areas in the Sea of Marmara were carried out. The studies mainly focused on cool fluid and gas (mainly methane) emanations in the deepest zones of the Sea of Marmara along the northern strand of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, which were particularly expected because of the availability of fault zones as a preferential pathway for fluid migration. Fluids and gases both within the pore water and the benthic water were investigated through long cores and water samples to reveal their relationship with the solid substance of the sediments. In order to determine the coring, water sampling and video stations, bathymetric charts of the study areas A and B were obtained by using the HYDROSWEEP mapping system. The first multibeam bathymetric maps at 1: 50.000 scale of the Sea of Marmara revealed E-W-trending strike-slip faults cutting the basins and the ridges, adding new insights to previous studies which reported ridges and basins bounded by NE-SW-trending strike-slip faults and E-W- trending normal faults.

Keywords: Sea floor morphology, methane emanations, active faulting, Tekirdağ ridge, Çınarcık basin, North Anatolian Fault Zone, Sea of Marmara

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