Multi-disciplinary earthquake researches in Western Turkey: Hints to select sites to study geochemical transients associated to seismicity

Warm and hot spring water as well as soil gas radon release patterns have been monitored in the Aegean Extensional Province of Western Turkey, alongside regional seismic events, providing a multi-disciplinary approach. In the study period of 20 months, seven moderate earthquakes with M _L between 4.0 and 4.7 occurred in this seismically very active region; two earthquakes with magnitude 5.0 also occurred near the study area. Seismic monitoring showed no foreshock activity. By contrast, hydro-geochemical anomalies were found prior to these seismic events, each lasting for weeks. The anomalies occurred foremost in conjunction with dip-slip events and seem to support the dilatancy and water diffusion hypothesis. Increased soil gas radon release was recorded before earthquakes associated with strike-slip faults, but no soil radon anomalies were seen before earthquakes associated with dip-slip faults. Geochemical anomalies were also noticeably absent at some springs throughout the postulated deformation zones of impending earthquakes. The reason for this discrepancy might be due to stress/strain anisotropies.     

Column densities of interstellar matter in the direction of the starκ Cas (B1 Ia)

We have studied the interstellar column densities in the direction of the star Cas with the IUE high resolution SWP spectrum so as to see the relations of element depletions with condensation temperature and compare our results with the interstellar column densities in the directions of the other B-type stars obtained with the COPERNICUS satellite.Based on the observations made by the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUEO, and collected at the Villafranca Satellite Tracking Station of European Space Agency.     

Investigation of Biosorption Behavior of Methylene Blue on Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm.

The effect of varying parameters such as dye concentration, adsorbent dose, pH and temperature on the adsorption capacity of Pleurotus ostreatus is investigated. The commonly available white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus is investigated as a viable biomaterial for the biological treatment of synthetic basic methylene blue effluents. The results obtained from the batch experiments reveal the ability of the fungus to remove methylene blue. The performance is dependent on the dye concentration, pH, and fungal biomass. The equilibrium and kinetics of adsorption are investigated and the Langmuir equation is used to fit the equilibrium isotherm. The adsorption isotherm of methylene blue follows only the Langmuir model with a correlation coefficient of ca. 0.96–0.99. The maximum adsorption capacity is ca. 70 mg of dye per g of dry fungus at pH 11, 70 mg L^–1 dye, and 0.1 g L^–1 fungus concentration, respectively. This study demonstrates that the fungus could be used as an effective biosorbent for the treatment of dye‐containing wastewater streams.     

Mixing processes in hydrothermal spring systems and implications for interpreting geochemical data: a case study in the Cappadocia region of Turkey

Mixing is a dominant hydrogeological process in the hydrothermal spring system in the Cappadocia region of Turkey. All springs emerge along faults, which have the potential to transmit waters rapidly from great depths. However, mixing with shallow meteoric waters within the flow system results in uncertainty in the interpretation of geochemical results. The chemical compositions of cold and warm springs and geothermal waters are varied, but overall there is a trend from Ca–HCO₃ dominated to Na–Cl dominated. There is little difference in the seasonal ionic compositions of the hot springs, suggesting the waters are sourced from a well-mixed reservoir. Based on δ¹⁸O and δ²H concentrations, all waters are of meteoric origin with evidence of temperature equilibration with carbonate rocks and evaporation. Seasonal isotopic variability indicates that only a small proportion of late spring and summer precipitation forms recharge and that fresh meteoric waters move rapidly into the flow system and mix with thermal waters at depth. ³H and percent modern carbon (pmC) values reflect progressively longer groundwater pathways from cold to geothermal waters; however, mixing processes and the very high dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of the water samples preclude the use of either isotope to gain any insight on actual groundwater ages.     

Reciprocal influence of Kürtün Dam and wastewaters from the settlements on water quality in the stream Harşit,NE Turkey

This paper aims to reveal the reciprocal influence of Kürtün Dam and wastewaters from the settlements on the water quality in the stream Har?it, NE Turkey. Several key water-quality indicators were measured: water temperature (T), pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity, water hardness, chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium nitrogen (NH₄ ⁺–N), nitrite nitrogen (NO₂ ^?–N), nitrate nitrogen (NO₃ ^?–N), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), total nitrogen (TN), orthophosphate phosphorus (PO₄ ^3?–P), and methylene blue active substances (MBAS). The monitoring and sampling studies were conducted every 15 days from March 2009 to February 2010 at two stations selected in the upstream and downstream of the Kürtün Dam. It was concluded that the Kürtün Dam Lake had a high-quality water in terms of T, pH, DO, COD, NH₄ ⁺–N, NO₂ ^?–N and NO₃ ^?–N values, but slightly polluted water with respect to TKN, PO₄ ^3?–P, and MBAS according to the Turkish Water Pollution Control Regulation. The dam improved the stream water quality by increasing the DO concentration, and decreasing the NO₂ ^?–N and PO₄ ^3?–P concentrations thanks to its hydraulic residence time despite the wastewater discharge by the nearby settlements. However, the wastewater discharge deteriorated the stream water quality increasing the COD, NH₄ ⁺–N, NO₃ ^––N, and TN concentrations.     

Geochemical constraints on the genesis of the Sarıcakaya intrusive rocks,Turkey: Late Paleozoic crustal melting in the central Sakarya Zone

The Sakarya Zone is intruded by several Late Paleozoic granitoids, of which the Sar?cakaya intrusive rocks in the central Sakarya (Eski?ehir) region, is the least-studied. The Sar?cakaya intrusive rocks consist mainly of quartz diorite-granodiorite, granodiorite and granite. They are, geochemically, divided into two groups: diorites and granites. The former is medium-K and calc-alkaline (mainly I-type), whereas the latter is high-K to shoshonite and calcic (I-type). Typical minerals for both rock types are plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz, biotite, hornblende and Fe–Ti oxides. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns for the Sar?cakaya intrusive rocks are moderately fractionated and have small negative Eu anomalies. They are enriched in LILE and LREE relative to HFSE showing characteristics of arc-related granitoids. Geochemical characteristics of the Sar?cakaya intrusive rocks indicate a hybrid origin through partial melting of lower crustal source rocks.     

Relatedness between contemporary and subfossil cladoceran assemblages in Turkish lakes

Cladocerans are valuable indicators of environmental change in lakes. Their fossils provide information on past changes in lake environments. However, few studies have quantitatively examined the relationships between contemporary and sub-fossil cladoceran assemblages and no investigations are available from Mediterranean lakes where salinity, eutrophication and top-down control of large-bodied cladocerans are known to be important. Here we compared contemporary Cladocera assemblages, sampled in summer, from both littoral and pelagic zones, with their sub-fossil remains from surface sediment samples from 40 Turkish, mainly shallow, lakes. A total of 20 and 27 taxa were recorded in the contemporary and surface sediment samples, respectively. Procrustes rotation was applied to both the principal components analysis (PCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA) ordinations in order to explore the relationship between the cladoceran community and the environmental variables. Procrustes rotation analysis based on PCA showed a significant accord between both littoral and combined pelagic–littoral contemporary and sedimentary assemblages. RDA ordinations indicated that a similar proportion of variance was explained by environmental variation for the contemporary and fossil Cladocera data. Total phosphorus and salinity were significant explanatory variables for the contemporary assemblage, whereas salinity emerged as the only significant variable for the sedimentary assemblage. The residuals from the Procrustes rotation identified a number of lakes with a high degree of dissimilarity between modern and sub-fossil assemblages. Analysis showed that high salinity, deep water and high macrophyte abundance were linked to a lower accord between contemporary and sedimentary assemblages. This low accord was, generally the result of poor representation of some salinity tolerant, pelagic and macrophyte-associated taxa in the contemporary samples. This study provides further confirmation that there is a robust relationship between samples of modern cladoceran assemblages and their sedimentary remains. Thus, sub-fossil cladoceran assemblages from sediment cores can be used with confidence to track long-term changes in this environmentally sensitive group and in Mediterranean lakes, subjected to large inter-annual variation in water level, salinity and nutrients.     

A critical review of the Kibyra Fault (Burdur-Fethiye Shear Zone,SW Turkey)

The Kibyra Fault is considered as the most significant evidence about the existence of the NE–SW-striking left-lateral Burdur-Fethiye Fault Zone in the south-western Anatolia in previous studies. However, recent studies show that there is a shear regime, named the Burdur-Fethiye Shear Zone, dominated by normal and left-lateral oblique normal faults in this region. A large number of ancient cities lie on this zone and many of them have been damaged by ancient earthquakes. One of these ancient cities is the ancient city of Kibyra. Most of previous studies suggest the Kibyra Fault depending on the damage in the city. However, the closest fault is located on the western side of the city and the earthquake damage was most likely caused by ground shaking. In this study, the existence of the supposed Kibyra Fault is discussed by integrating field studies, geological maps, trench data, digital elevation model and geomorphological analysis. In conclusion, it is understood that there is no evidence directly indicating a 35-km-long left-lateral fault in this region. The aim of this study is to examine the existence of the Kibyra Fault, take a different approach to the active fault studies and emphasise the importance of active faults for socio-economic conditions.