Our research into the active tectonics and resulting landscape response in Western Turkey started with the appointment of a PhD student in 2012 (Dr Emiko Kent) whose research investigated the timing and rates of active normal faulting along the southern margin of the Gediz Graben using river profile metrics alongside traditional geological methods (e.g., cross-section construction). Her research demonstrated that maximum long-term slip rates along the fault are ~ 1.3 mm/yr (Kent et al., 2016) but that a fault linkage event occurring ~ 0.7 Ma caused the propagation of wave of incision through the river systems and caused the rate of fault motion to increase to a maximum ~ 2 mm/yr (Kent et al., 2017). Analysis of the knickpoints marking the upstream extent of this pulse of incision indicates that the landscape response time of this region is in the order to 1.6 – 2.7 Ma. This research highlighted that fault activity exerts a first-order control on the river geomorphology but that climate and rock type (lithology) are also significant in the landscape response to active faulting.
