Geochemical characteristics of ophiolitic rocks from the southern margin of the Sivas basin and their implications for the Inner Tauride Ocean,Central-Eastern Turkey

Number of dismembered ophiolite bodies crop out between Sivas and Malatya on the top of the Eastern Tauride platform in the central-eastern Turkey. One of which at the southern margin of the Sivas basin in the Tecer Mountain area comprises melange and the lower part of an oceanic lithospheric section on top of the Tauride platform. The mantle tectonites are characterized by variably serpentinized harzburgites and dunites, and are intruded by numerous isolated dykes. The gabbroic cumulates consist of olivine gabbro, gabbro and gabbronorite. The major and trace element geochemistry of the mafic cumulate rocks suggests that the primary magma was compositionally similar to those observed in modern island-arc tholeiitic sequences. The isolated dykes are exclusively basaltic in composition and display geochemically two distinct subgroups: Group I is represented by high TiO₂ (.87–1.47 wt.%) and other incompatible elements, whereas Group II is characterized by low TiO₂ (.36–.66 wt.%) and other incompatible elements. The Group I isolated diabase dykes have flat to slightly LREE-depleted profiles (La/Yb_N = .32–.79), whereas the Group II isolated diabase dykes are more depleted in general and have a LREE-depleted character (La/Yb_N = .19–.49). This suggests that the isolated dykes were derived from an island arc tholeiitic magma (Nb/Y = .02–.05) with different degrees of partial melting (Group II > Group I) and relatively high oxygen fugacity in intra-oceanic subduction zone. The ophiolitic rocks in the study area may well be compared with the Divri?i ophiolite to the southeast. All the evidence suggests that the isolated dykes in the Tecer Mountain area differ from the alkaline isolated dykes cutting the Divri?i ophiolite. Since the late stage dykes (~76 Ma) in the Divri?i area are alkaline, the tholeiitic isolated dykes in the present study should have been emplaced prior to the alkaline dykes during Late Cretaceous SSZ-spreading (~90 Ma) within the Inner Tauride Ocean.     

Geological parameters affecting the marble production in the quarries along the southern flank of the Menderes Massif, in SW Turkey

The Mugla province is one of the major marble producing regions located in the southern flank of the Menderes Massif in SW Turkey. The Menderes Massif is a regionally metamorphosed massif with an old Pan-African core and cover successions from the Permo–Carboniferous to Paleocene. There are four major metamorphic carbonate horizons in the cover successions exploited for the marble production. These horizons are located within the Permo–Carboniferous, Triassic, Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene successions along the southern flank of the Menderes Massif. Here the world wide known marbles with names such as the Mugla Black, the Milas White, Veined, Pearl, Aubergine, Lilac and Lemony, the Mugla White and the Aegean Bordeaux are found.

Detailed geological studies were carried out in selected marble quarries representing the different stratigraphic levels to determine the geological parameters affecting the marble production in the southern flank of the Menderes Massif in SW Turkey. The geological parameters such as bedding, joints, schist interlayers and mica filled joints affecting the block production from the marble beds are considered to be primary features. The presence of dolomite bands and lenses, abnormal sized calcite crystals and emery minerals which affect the slab and the production qualities and appearances are considered to be secondary geological parameters. The primary and secondary geological parameters affecting the marble productions at different stratigraphical levels in SW Turkey, are determined and the practical aspects of these findings are discussed.     

Barrier holes and trench application to reduce blast induced vibration in Seyitomer coal mine

In this research, experimental applications have been performed to reduce blast induced vibrations in open pit mines. For this purpose, artificial discontinuity zones such as barrier holes and trench were opened in a dragline panel of Seyitomer Lignite Enterprise, Kutahya, Turkey. Peak particle velocities in front of and behind them were measured by seismographs. In this way, their effect against vibration was observed and compared. Barrier holes were opened 24 m deep through 3 parallel lines and aligned at 1 m spacing. On the other hand, the trench had 8 m depth and 4 m width. During the research, 209 measurements were taken belonging to 105 explosions. Twenty-eight explosions were carried out in the barrier holes experiments and 77 explosions were carried out in the trench experiments. A decrease in vibration of 14.3–18.5% was obtained behind the barrier holes while a decrease of 24.8–58.1% was provided by the trench.     

Factors controlling stratal pattern and facies distribution of fluvio‐lacustrine sedimentation in the Sivas mini‐basins,Oligocene (Turkey)

The Sivas Basin, located in the Central Anatolian Plateau of Turkey, is a foreland basin that records a complex interaction between sedimentation, salt tectonics and regional shortening during the Oligo‐Miocene leading to the formation of numerous mini‐basins. The Oligocene sedimentary infill of the mini‐basins consists of a thick continental succession, the Karayün Formation, comprising a vertical succession of three main sub‐environments: (i) playa‐lake, (ii) fluvial braided, and (iii) saline lacustrine. These sub‐environments are seen as forming a large Distributive Fluvial System (DFS) modified through time as a function of sediment supply and accommodation related to regional changes in climate and tectonic regime. Within neighbouring mini‐basins and despite a similar vertical stratigraphic succession, subtle variations in facies assemblages and thickness are observed in stratigraphic units of equivalent age, thus demonstrating the local control exerted by halokinesis. Stratigraphic and stratal patterns reveal in great detail the complex interaction between salt tectonics and sedimentation including different types of halokinetic structures such as hooks, wedges and halokinetic folds. The regional variations of accommodation/sediment supply led to coeval changes in the architectural patterns recorded in the mini‐basins. The type of accommodation regime produces several changes in the sedimentary record: (i) a regime dominated by regional accommodation limits the impact of halokinesis, which is recorded as very small variations in stratigraphic thickness and facies distribution within and between mini‐basins; (ii) a regime dominated by localized salt‐induced accommodation linked to the subsidence of each individual mini‐basin enhances the facies heterogeneity within the DFS, causing sharp changes in stratigraphic thickness and facies assemblages within and between mini‐basins.     

Challenging the planetary boundaries I: Basic principles of an integrated model for phosphorous supply dynamics and global population size

A simple mass balance model has been developed to assess the planetary boundary for P supply in relation to use by human society. Phosphorus sources used by humans are from fossil reserves. The model takes into account resource use rate and reserves, consumption, phosphate to food production, environmental degradation, waste and recycling. Various policy scenarios are tested from current end of pipe solutions to clean production and pollution prevention, sustainable consumption and production polices and sustainable population policy. In order to get an overview of possible future scenarios it is necessary to close nutrient cycles and formulate a sustainable population policy. The outcome of systems dynamics based modeling for four scenarios are given in a sister paper in this issue. Results show that effective population and P recycling policies are crucial to avoid world hunger.     

An adaptive Markov chain algorithm applied over map-matching of vehicle trip GPS data

Markov chains have frequently been applied to match the probable routes with a set of GPS trip data that a pilot vehicle is emitting over a specific graph road network. This class of map- matching (MM) algorithms presently demonstrates and involve statistical and ad-hoc measures to drive the Markov chain transitional probabilities in picking the best route combinations constrained over the graph road network. In this study, we have devised an adaptive scheme to modify the Markov Chain (MC) kernel window as we move along the GPS samples to reduce the mistakes that can happen by the use of narrower MC widths. The measure for temporarily increasing the MC window width is chosen to be the ratio between the geodesic distance of current route to the actual geodesic distance between each pair of GPS samples. This adaptive use of MC has shown to have hardened the results significantly with tolerable computational cost increase. The details of the overall algorithm are depicted by the example routes extracted from various vehicle trips and the results are shown to validate the usefulness of the algorithm in practice.