A geological and geotechnical investigation of the settlement area of Zümrüt Building (Konya, Turkey) which caused 92 fatalities due to its collapse

This study examines the local geological conditions and soil structure as possible causes of the collapse of the Zümrüt Building 2 February 2004. This catastrophe resulted in 92 fatalities and 35 injuries. This study also examines other views which claim weak soil structure, elastic and consolidation settlement of soil and excessive groundwater extraction as well as subsidence resulting from the underground silt erosion as possible factors. Zümrüt Building was constructed on normally consolidated, low plasticity clay. The underground water table was 30 m in depth. The internal friction angle of soil was 8°–30°, its cohesion was between 34 and 127 kN/m² and standard penetration test numbers varied between 11 and 50. The underground water level beneath Zümrüt Building had risen 4.5 m since its construction. Therefore the claim that subsidence resulting from the decrease of underground water level contributed to the collapse is incorrect. Secondly the settlement, resulting from the filling up of the pores created by the silt receding with the underground water, was 4.4 mm in total, and attributing this as the primary cause of the collapse is also incorrect. Soil properties, in situ and laboratory test results showed that the existing and/or expected settlement and the differential ground settlement in the Zümrüt building vicinity had the potential to cause structural damage. The tensile stresses caused by differential settlements recorded here are thought to be an indicator, but not the main cause contributing to the collapse of the building. The Zümrüt Building collapse was due to several compounding mistakes during the construction phase. These were geotechnical and other project faults and the use of low quality construction materials. The resulting catastrophe caused 92 fatalities, 35 injuries and a material loss of approximately US$7 million.     

The Dynamics of Benthic Respiration at a Mid-Shelf Station Off Oregon

Mid-shelf sediments off the Oregon coast are characterized as fine sands that trap and remineralize phytodetritus leading to the consumption of significant quantities of dissolved oxygen. Sediment oxygen consumption (SOC) can be delayed from seasonal organic matter inputs because of a transient buildup of reduced constituents during periods of quiescent physical processes. Between 2009 and 2013, benthic oxygen exchange rates were measured using the noninvasive eddy covariance (EC) method five separate times at a single 80-m station. Ancillary measurements included in situ microprofiles of oxygen at the sediment–water interface, and concentration profiles of pore water nutrients and trace metals, and solid-phase organic C and sulfide minerals from cores. Sediment cores were also incubated to derive anaerobic respiration rates. The EC measurements were made during spring, summer, and fall conditions, and they produced average benthic oxygen flux estimates that varied between ?2 and ?15 mmol m^?2 d^?1. The EC oxygen fluxes were most highly correlated with bottom-sensed, significant wave heights (H _s). The relationship with H _s was used with an annual record of deepwater swell heights to predict an integrated oxygen consumption rate for the mid-shelf of 1.5 mol m^?2 for the upwelling season (May–September) and 6.8 mol m^?2 y^?1. The annual prediction requires that SOC rates are enhanced in the winter because of sand filtering and pore water advection under large waves, and it counters budgets that assume a dominance of organic matter export from the shelf. Refined budgets will require winter flux measurements and observations from cross-shelf transects over multiple years.     

Examination of the structural characteristics arising in gypsums by the GPR and MASW methods (Sivas,Turkey)

This study was performed at an area of 50?×?48 m² being defined as a new settlement in the northeast of Sivas. In the study, the discontinuities that are not deep and their geophysical characteristics were examined by the GPR and MASW methods. For interpretation, GPR cross sections were prepared as 2D–3D, and MASW cross sections were prepared as 2D. As for geophysical cross sections, about 10 m depth was examined. It was understood that the reflections observed in the form of hyperbolas in GPR cross sections correspond to areas having low S wave velocity (V_s) in MASW cross sections. It was understood that the S wave velocities are lower than 653 m/s, that the seismic velocities in between 653 and 275 m/s indicate partially deteriorated areas and that the S wave velocities of unweathered gypsums are higher than 1275 m/s at these low-velocity zones. Thus, it was thought that the fill material that may arise in the fracture, crack and deterioration areas arises from intercalation and clastic gypsum units, and that it plays a role in having low value S wave velocities. In all the geophysical cross sections, it was understood that the structures with gypsum are intense at the initial 5 m. And a fracture at the south of the study area, that it was estimated might be longer than 40 m, was determined as the largest gypsum structure. It was understood that this fracture starts from a depth of about 5 m in the west and that it slopes down to 7 m depth in the east. According to these results, it was understood that the damage amount arising in time in the gypsum structures from the effect of water may increase, the study area was defined as risky, and the required importance should be attached to these structures especially in foundation engineering.     

A study on the long term periodicities among the X‐ray binaries: Two new superorbital periods

Long term behaviours of a few selected X‐ray binaries are studied on the basis of RXTE/ASM archive covering a period of ∼13 years of continuous X‐ray data. Two new superorbital periods seem to be revealed for the GX354‐0 and X Persei systems as 8.7 years and 345 days, respectively. Although the X Persei system has two strongest peaks in its power density spectrum at 15.7 years and at 345 days, the latter is much more plausible. The GX354‐0 system also has few additional periodicities appeared in different time intervals (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The 150d Modulation of the X-ray Emission of CYG X-1

The X-ray observations of Cyg X-1, covering a period of 3.8 years, by the All Sky Monitor (ASM) on board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) were analysed to search for long periodicities. The periodicities in the original data were seen to be distorted by the high/soft state and the failed state counts of the system, and thus the power spectra showed two unrealistic peaks at 1608and 406 days. The ∼ 300 day modulation reported previously(e.g. Priedhorsky et al. 1983) is not confirmed by the present ASM data. Truncation of the high counts above 30 cnts/s partly eliminates the distortion and reveals the true period of 150^d in the power spectra. It is interesting that the high/soft state (HS) and the failed state transitions (FST) always occur on the maximum phase of the150^d cycle. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Total Water Storage in Small Islands Using Multi-satellite Products: The case of Cyprus

The world’s longest international undersea water pipeline has recently been laid from southern Turkey to Northern Cyprus to address the water scarcity problems in the Cyprus Island. When completed, the project will add 19.8 million gallons of water annually for drinking and irrigation. Moreover, it will spur further development in the Turkish area divided from Greek community for four decades. Under such circumstances, satellite remote sensing provides a unique tool to evaluate the water policy for the entire island. The objective of this study is, therefore, to examine the potential of satellite-based remote sensing hydrologic models covering a small-scale Mediterranean island, which is under drought conditions. Satellite-based measurements such as GRACE (total water storage), TRMM (precipitation) and MODIS (evapotranspiration) data over a 1°–1° grid together with related information from global hydrological model, specifically WGHM and GLDAS, were collected for this purpose.     

Zinc, Lead and Cadmium Content in Meadow Plants and Mosses Along the M3 Motorway (Hungary)

The heavy metal content was investigated in meadow plants located in a cultivated area and situated along the M3 motorway (Hungary). In addition to the meadow plants used as passive bioindicators, active bioindicators were also exposed to examine the accumulation rate of air pollutants. Tortula ruralis (Hedw.) Geartn. ssp. ruralis was applied to monitor the status of the environment. Meadow plant samples were collected at distances of 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 m from the motorway and moss samples were exposed at the same distances. The zinc, lead and cadmium content of meadow plants and moss samples were analysed by ICP spectrophotometry. It was found that the zinc, lead and cadmium contents of the meadow plants decreased as the distance increased from the motorway. There was a significant difference even between values measured at the distances of 5 m and 10 m. The heavy metal contents in the moss samples exceeded those of the meadow plants. The heavy metal content in moss samples decreased with distance from the motorway. On comparing the data with Hungarian standards, it was found that measured values did not exceed the maximum allowed concentration levels.     

Precipitable water vapor (PWV) estimations from the site of the Eastern Anatolia Observatory<Superscript>∗</Superscript> (DAG), a new astronomical observatory in Turkey

We present preliminary statistics on the precipitable water vapor (PWV) content over the Karakaya Hills in Erzurum city, where the largest optical and near-infrared astronomical telescope in Turkey will be operated. Since the observatory will observe in the near-infrared (NIR), it is intended to perform PWV measurements of the atmosphere above the site by using signal delays in Global Positioning System (GPS) communication. The analysis of the GPS data recorded on the summit for almost one year shows that the atmosphere over the site of the observatory, which has an altitude of 3170 m, has favorable conditions for NIR observations. From GPS measurements, we report that the site had an average PWV of 3.2 mm and a median PWV of 2.7 mm between October 6, 2016, and June 15, 2017. We also present the time dependency of the PWV content and the correlations between the amount of PWV and the other meteorological records gathered from radiosonde flights and ground-based measurements.     

Review of water and soil contamination in and around Salihli geothermal field (Manisa,Turkey)

The town of Salihli is situated in Gediz Graben in the western Anatolia. This region is important in terms of industry, mining, geothermal energy, water sources, and agricultural production. Geothermal flow and anthropogenic activities in Salihli threaten the surrounding environment due to the contamination of cold groundwater, surface water, and soil. The goal of the present study is to determine the environmental effects of the geothermal and anthropogenic activities in Salihli on soil, stream sediments, and water. Stream sediments and farm soil have been contaminated by substances derived from geothermal and industrial effluents. To this end, the quality review of the water was completed and the heavy metal levels in stream sediment samples were measured to determine the extent of contamination. The elements As, B, Br, Fe, and Ni are the major contaminants present in surface water and groundwater in the study area. The concentrations of these elements excess tolerance limits of international water standards. Gibbsite, K-mica, kaolinite, sepiolite, halite, sulfur, willemite, and Pb(OH)₂ might be precipitated as scales at low temperatures on the soil; this could be interpreted as a resultant from soil contamination. The concentrations of 17 elements (As, Ba, B, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Li, Mo, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sr, and Zn) were measured in samples from stream sediments and surface soils. In the study area, especially geothermal and anthropogenic activities give rise to environmental pollution.