East of the Sea of Marmara the NAF splits in three major branches; while the sinuous southern branch goes inland in direction SW up to Ayvacik, where it reaches the Aegean Sea near the southern mouth of the Dardanelles, the other two major branches (northern and central) of the NAF, being under the sea of Marmara about 100 kilometers apart, form the Marmara pull-apart basin, meeting again under the NE Aegean.