Seismic Moment and Recurrence: Microstructural and mineralogical characterization of rocks in carbonate fault zones and their potential for luminescence and ESR dating Evangelos Tsakalosa,b,*, Maria Kazantzakia, Aiming Linb, Yannis Bassiakosa, Eleni Filippakia , Nishiwaki Takafumib a Laboratory of Luminescence dating, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Centre for Scientific Research, N.C.S.R. “Demokritos”, Athens, 153 10, Greece b Department of Geophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan *Corresponding Author: Evangelos Tsakalos, Laboratory of Luminescence dating, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Centre for Scientific Research, N.C.S.R. “Demokritos”, Aghia Paraskevi, 153 10, Athens, Greece. E-mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +306974561999. Keyword: fault rocks; fault mirrors; carbonate fault zones; absolute dating; mineralogy; microstructural analysis Abstract: The important question of absolute dating of seismic phenomena has been the study of several researchers over the past few decades. The relevant research has concentrated on “energy traps” of minerals, such as quartz or feldspar, which may accumulate chronological information associated with tectonic deformations. However, the produced knowledge so far, is not sufficient to allow the absolute dating of faults. Today, Luminescence and Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) dating methods could be seen as offering high potential for dating past seismic deformed features on timescales ranging from some years