Geologic and geotechnical effects of an impact caused by an airplane crash

A Turkish Airlines (THY) Boeing 737-400 plane crashed into alluvial soils creating an approximately 13 m deep and 30 m wide crater near the village of Adatepe, Ceyhan in southern Turkey. Effects of the impact on the soils in and around the crater were investigated from both the geological and soil mechanics point of view.

The results show that the impact caused severe deformations in the soils in and around the crater. The soils deformed similar to metamorphic rocks seen at many terrestrial hypervelocity impact craters around the world and became overconsolidated up to a distance of about 10 m from the crater wall as a result of the impact.

Also, the crash was recorded as a 2.7 magnitude earthquake by a nearby microtremor seismograph which provided both the location (epicenter) and time of the crash which was not known immediately after the crash.     

Buildings Damages after Elazığ, Turkey Earthquake on January 24, 2020

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake that occurred on January 24, 2020, has been effective in Turkey’s eastern regions. The earthquake, with recorded peak ground acceleration (PGA) value of 0.292 g, caused the destruction or heavy damage of buildings, especially in the city center of Elaz?? province. The purpose of this paper was to share the results of detailed investigation in the earthquake-stricken area. Additionally, the causes of damages and failures observed in the buildings were compared to those that had occurred in previous earthquakes in Turkey. In this study, the damages observed in especially RC buildings as well as in masonry and rural buildings were summarized, the lessons learned were evaluated, and the results were interpreted with reference to Turkish earthquake codes. In the study, it was particularly emphasized why the building stock underwent such damage even though the buildings were exposed to earthquake acceleration well below the design acceleration values.

     

Influence of Seawater on the Suction and Swelling Behavior of Clayey Soils

The present study examines the suction characteristics and swelling behavior of clayey soils when exposed to natural seawater with respect to distilled water. The effects of saline waters on the engineering behavior of soils need to be determined since the salinity of the pore fluid of soils near coastal areas increases continuously. Six clayey soil samples with different mineralogy and characteristics were gathered and tested to determine the suction and swelling characteristics in the presence of natural seawater and distilled water. The results show that the total suction values of the samples are higher in the presence of seawater than in distilled water. The samples with high swelling potential have lower matric suction values than nonswelling soils. Moreover, in contrast to swelling-type soils, the matric suction values of the nonswelling soils remain similar in the presence both distilled water and seawater. The modified free swell index (MFSI) of the samples is well correlated with the liquid limit (LL), plasticity index (PI), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) in distilled water. However, coefficients of determination decreased in the presence of seawater. Also, there is no significant correlation existing between total and matric suction values and the MFSI values of the samples.     

Active fault database of Turkey

We have updated the active fault map of Turkey and built its database within GIS environment. In the study, four distinct active fault types, classified according to geochronological criteria and character, were delineated on the 1:25,000 base map of Turkey. 176 fault segments not included in the former active fault map of Turkey, have been identified and documented. We infer that there are 485 single fault segments which are substantially potential seismic sources. In total 1964 active-fault base-maps were transferred into the GIS environment. Each fault was attributed with key parameters such as class, activity, type, length, trend, and attitude of fault plane. The fault parameters are also supported by slip-rate and seismogenic depth inferred from available GPS, seismological and paleoseismological data. Additionally, expected maximum magnitude for each fault segment was estimated by empirical equations. We present the database in a parametric catalogue of fault segments to be of interest in earthquake engineering and seismotectonics. The study provides essential geological and seismological inputs for regional seismic hazard analysis of all over Turkey and its vicinity.     

RAGLAND,AN LL3.4 CHONDRITE FIND FROM NEW MEXICO

The Ragland, New Mexico chondrite was found in 1978, and consists of a single stone of 12.16 kg that broke into three pieces. The stone is moderately weathered and has a pronounced chondritic texture. Bulk composition favors an LL classification, and modal analysis and oxygen isotopic composition are consistent with this. The thermoluminescence sensitivity of 0.056 ± 0.020 normalized to Dhajala, compositional variability of olivine (mean Fa 18.3, σ = 10.1) and low-Ca pyroxene (mean Fs 14.6, σ = 6.7), and Ca concentrations in olivine indicate metamorphic subtype 3.4 ± 0.1. The isotopically heavy oxygen composition, which is characteristic of subtypes 3.0–3.1, may be a primary characteristic and not a result of weathering. Low concentrations of radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar and planetary ³⁶Ar suggest noble gas loss.     

Annual production and productivity of the macrophytes of river Champanala,a side spill channel of the Ganges at Bhagalpur

The present investigation gives the turnover value and productivity of macrophytes like Eichhornia crassipes, Hydrilla verticillata, Ceratophyllum demersum, Potamogeton crispus and Azolla pinnata for the year 1978 at Koylaghat site of the Champanala channel, a southern side spill channel of the river Ganges. The average annual production of all the macrophytes comes to 3.925 g/m² · d, which is better than the world average of rice cultivated fields. All the important macrophytes in the present investigation are replaced annually. In contrast to pond and reservoir ecosystems, where the productivity of macrophytes is highest in the rainy season, in the Champanala channel the most of the macrophytes are absent from July to December and maximal productivity was about 4 g/m² · d from February to April. The difference in the development of macrophytes in standing and flowing waters results from the fact that in the rainy season increasing flow velocity, sudden fluctuations in water column depth and other destabilising factors produce unfavourable conditions for macrophytes in flowing waters.     

Lessons learnt from checking the quality of openly accessible river flow data worldwide

ABSTRACT

Advances in open data science serve large-scale model developments and, subsequently, hydroclimate services. Local river flow observations are key in hydrology but data sharing remains limited due to unclear quality, or to political, economic or infrastructure reasons. This paper provides methods for quality checking openly accessible river-flow time series. Availability, outliers, homogeneity and trends were assessed in 21 586 time series from 13 data providers worldwide. We found a decrease in data availability since the 1980s, scarce open information in southern Asia, the Middle East and North and Central Africa, and significant river-flow trends in Africa, Australia, southwest Europe and Southeast Asia. We distinguish numerical outliers from high-flow peaks, and integrate all investigated quality characteristics in a composite indicator. We stress the need to maintain existing gauging networks, and highlight opportunities in extending existing global databases, understanding drivers for trends and inhomogeneity, and in innovative acquisition methods in data-scarce regions.     

NASA's Astrophysics Data Archives

The NASA Office of Space Science has established a series of archivalcenters where science data acquired through its space science missionsis deposited. The availability of high quality data to the generalpublic through these open archives enables the maximization of sciencereturn of the flight missions. The Astrophysics Data Centers CoordinatingCouncil, an informal collaboration of archival centers, coordinates datafrom five archival centers distiguished primarily by the wavelength rangeof the data deposited there. Data are available in FITS format. Anoverview of NASA's data centers and services is presented in this paper.A standard front-end modifyer called Astrowbrowse is described. Othercatalog browsers and tools include WISARD and AMASE supported by theNational Space Scince Data Center, as well as ISAIA, a follow on toAstrobrowse.