Determination of the deep fault geometry along the southern branch of the North Anatolian Fault System by using resistivity and magnetic methods

•Foothills of highlands are defined by right lateral strike-slip fault.•The dipping angles of the faults on the surface are similar to those located in the shallower and deep parts of the continental crust.•The faults in the deep parts of crust are the transtensional stresses components of the strike-slip faulting.•Comparison of the positioning of the faults in the deep parts of the continental crust to those observed on the surface indicate a fault zone related to strike-slip tectonic system in the region.

The Wenner lateral resistivity and magnetic dyke profiles carried out along the southern branch of the North Anatolian Fault System. The use of magnetic dyke method indicates that the faults located in the deep parts of the continental crust were high angled and dipping towards north and the right lateral strike slip faults were the only active main fault types in the Plio-Quaternary deposits. Besides, a high angled strike slip fault and its secondary components form the geological contact between the basement rocks and the basin filling deposits. NAFS-SB that is developed during Plio-Quaternary (Neotectonic) period is the only structural source during the formation of the deposits in the depression areas and recent times. This zoning is related to NAFS-SB and developed depending on both the near-vertical and 70–90° dipping strike slip faulting. Apart from the near-vertical fault planes, the faults dipping towards the depression areas developed due to the existence of the transtensional stresses in the strike slip faults.