A large and rapid planar failure: causes,mechanism, and consequences (Mordut,Gumushane, Turkey)

Gumushane is a small city located on highway connecting the harbour city Trabzon in the Black Sea Region of Turkey to the Eastern Anatolia. Following an excavation to create an area for housing on the northeast side of this highway, a large and rapid planar failure inclined to the southwest occurred. A large amount of fractured and weathered granitic material moved downward over this planar failure. After the failure, the highway was closed to traffic for 1 week, and more than ten houses on top of this failure were collapsed completely. The present study aims to investigate the mechanism of this failure. The study was performed using kinematical, limit equilibrium and numerical analyses for both post- and pre-failure conditions. Based on the detailed field observations, the failure mode was determined to be planar, and the slide mechanism was determined to be controlled by three fault planes. As a result of these analyses, it can be concluded that the slope before failure had critical conditions and that the excavation and uncontrolled blasting triggered and accelerated the slope failure.     

Mineralogical and petrological features of the Cemilköy ignimbrite,Cappadocia, Turkey

The Cemilköy ignimbrite is one of the voluminous ignimbrite deposits in Cappadocia. The Cemilköy ignimbrite contains pumice and lithic clasts of volcanic and ophiolitic origin in an ash matrix. The unwelded Cemilköy ignimbrite is distinguished from other deposits in Cappadocia by flattened pumices, elongate vesicles and a slaty fabric. The mineral assemblage of the Cemilköy ignimbrite is plagioclase, biotite, quartz and oxides (magnetite and Ti-magnetite) and the matrix is glassy. Eutaxitic texture is dominant and all pumice clasts have a vitrophyric-porphyritic texture. The same textural properties were observed throughout the spatial distribution of Cemilköy ignimbrite. Microprobe studies reveal that plagioclase compositions range from albite through oligoclase-andesine. Estimated plagioclase-liquid temperatures (T) and pressures (P) are varying between 806 and 847?°C and 4.2–7.1 (kbar), and the H₂O content of the melt is estimated to have been 5?wt.% from the pumice clasts. Based on geochemical data, the Cemilköy ignimbrite is rhyolitic and calc-alkaline in character, and all pumice clasts are enriched in LIL and LRE elements relative to HFS elements. Negative Nb, Ta and Ti anomalies, ratios of Ba/Nb >28 (56–77), Ba/Ta ?450 (590–700) and Th/Yb vs. Ta/Yb are consistent with a subduction-related origin. According to the geochemical and mineralogical-petrographical data, the Cemilköy ignimbrite originated from partial melting of a mantle source which was enriched during previous subduction processes with variable degrees of assimilation fractional crystallization (AFC) through time and Cemilköy ignimbrite erupted from a crustal magma chamber at shallow to intermediate depth.     

The comparison of the performance of ELM,BRNN, and SVM methods for the prediction of compression index of clays

The compression index (Cc) is a necessary parameter for the settlement calculation of clays. However, determination of the compression index from oedometer tests takes a relatively long time and leads to a very demanding experimental working program in the laboratory. Therefore, geotechnical engineering literature involves many studies based on indirect methods such as multiple regression analysis (MLR) and soft computing methods to determine the compression index. This study is aimed to predict the compression index by using extreme learning machine (ELM), Bayesian regularization neural network (BRNN), and support vector machine (SVM) methods. The selected variables for each method are the natural water content (w_n), initial void ratio (e₀), liquid limit (LL), and plasticity index (PI) of clay samples. Many trials were carried out in order to get the best prediction performance with each model. The application results obtained from the models were also compared based on the correlation coefficient (R), coefficient of efficiency (E), and mean squared error (MSE). The results indicate that the BRNN method has better success on estimation of the compression index compared to the ELM and SVM methods.     

Investigation of meandering in Filyos River by means of satellite sensor data

The most significant morphological property of a river is the meandering process, which is dominated and governed by hydraulic, hydrologic and topographic characteristics of the river and its drainage area. It is possible to obtain reliable data on river morphology in the long term by using remotely sensed data. In this study the Filyos River, located at the Western Black Sea region of Turkey, has been selected as the study area to show the capabilities of remote sensing technology and to define the appropriate techniques for achieving the most reliable information on the river morphology by monitoring the meandering processes. The findings of the study indicate that remotely sensed data can be used successfully in defining some basic characteristics of the meandering process on rivers. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geodetic Datum of Indonesian Maritime Boundaries: Status and Problems

Indonesia has maritime boundaries with 10 countries namely: Australia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Palau, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and India. Many treaties have been ratified concerning these boundaries. Unfortunately, many coordinates of boundary points mentioned in the treaties are not clear in relation to their geodetic datum. The uncertainty in geodetic datum of boundary points introduces complications and problems in spatial management of Indonesia's maritime boundaries, since it can displace the boundary lines from their assumed true location. This study investigates the possible original geodetic datums for the maritime boundaries between Indonesia and neighboring countries, in the case they are not explicitly stated in the treaties. The displacements of boundaries in WGS84 datum are generally in the order of a few hundred meters, i.e., about 200 to 400 m, depending on the assumed original geodetic datum being considered. These boundary displacements are spatially advantageous for Indonesia in some cases and also disadvantageous in others. The study will sum up with some conclusions and recommendations.     

Flood Forecasting and Flood Warning in the Firth of Clyde, UK

Coastal flooding has caused significant damage to a number of communities around the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland, UK. The Firth of Clyde is an enclosed embayment affected by storm surge generated in the Northern Atlantic and propagated through the Irish Channel. In recent years, the worst flooding occurred on 5th January 1991 with the estimated damage of approximately £7M. On average, some £0.5M damage is caused each year by coastal flooding. With the latest climate change predictions suggesting increased storm activity and the expected increase in mean sea levels, these damages are likely to increase. In line with the expansion of flood warning provision in Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has developed a flood warning system to provide local authorities and emergency services with up to 24 h warning of coastal flooding within the Firth of Clyde and River Clyde Estuary up to Glasgow City Centre. The Firth of Clyde flood warning system consists of linked 1-D and 2-D mathematical models of the Firth of Clyde and Clyde Estuary, and other software tools for data processing, viewing and generating warning messages. The general methodology adopted in its implementation was developed following extensive consultation with the relevant authorities, including local councils and police. The warning system was launched in October 1999 and has performed well during four winter flood seasons. The system currently makes forecasts four times a day and is the only operational coastal flood warning system in Scotland.This paper summarises the development of the warning system, gives a review of its operation since its launch in 1999 and discusses future developments in flood warning in Scotland.     

A detached binary system BK Pegasi

TheUBV photometry of the detached F-type eclipsing binary BK Pegasi is presented. The light curve solution by a simple spherical model assumption suggests that a slightly hotter, larger and more luminous primary was eclipsed during the primary minimum. Combined with the radial velocity curves in Popper (1983), it was used to determine anew the system's parameters. The age and the metal abundance of the system were estimated as (3.3 ± 0.2) × 10⁹ yr andz = 0.028 ± 0.003 from a comparison with the new grids of stellar models and the isochrones by Schalleret al. (1993). The distance of the system was estimated as 290 pc.     

Observations of Antarctic precipitable water vapor and its response to the solar activity based on GPS sensing

Predicting global climate change is a great challenge and must be based on a thorough understanding of how the climate system components behave. Precipitable water vapor (PWV) is one of the key components in determining and predicting the global climate system. It is well known that the local surface temperature and pressure have a direct influence on the production of PWV. However, the influence of solar activity on atmospheric dynamics and their physical mechanisms is still an open debate, where past studies are focused at mid-latitude regions. A new method of determining and quantifying the solar influence on PWV based on GPS observations to correlate the GPS PWV and total electron content (TEC) variations is proposed. Observed data from Scott Base (SBA) and McMurdo (MCM) stations from 2003 to 2005 have been used to study the response of PWV to solar activity. In the analysis, the effects of local conditions (wind speed and relative humidity) on the distribution of PWV are investigated. Results show significant correlation between PWV and solar activity for four geomagnetic storms, with correlation coefficients of 0.74, 0.77, 0.64 and 0.69, which are all significant at the 95% confidence level. There was no significant correlation between TEC and PWV changes during the absence of storms. On a monthly analysis, a strong relationship exists between PWV and TEC during storm-affected days, with correlation coefficients of 0.83 and 0.89 (99% confidence level) for SBA and MCM respectively. These indicate a statistically significant seasonal signal in the Antarctic region, which is very active (higher) during the summer and inactive (lower) for the winter periods.     

Vibration characteristics of a suspension bridge under traffic and no traffic conditions

This paper presents the variations of vibration under different traffic conditions on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet suspension bridge in Istanbul, Turkey.The main intention is to determine the vibration amplifications under heavy-traffic as opposed to no-traffic conditions. This is the first study in this particular area that has been performed on this bridge, over which an average of 200,000 cars pass daily. Two full-scale ambient vibration surveys were carried out on two different days to determine the response of the bridge to diverse traffic conditions. Initial measurements were taken as the bridge experienced heavy stress conditions caused by rush-hour traffic. Secondary measurements were recorded after closing the bridge to traffic. The data were analyzed to gauge the vibration effects of heavy-traffic conditions on the bridge and to determine the effects of different traffic conditions on the free vibration characteristics of the bridge. The analyses were performed utilizing different amplification methods. Results show that there are important differences in the amplifications of the vibration amplitudes. Especially heavy-traffic on the bridge causes the vibration response of the bridge to be intensified in comparison to no-traffic conditions. Additionally, predominant frequencies are shifted as a direct result of traffic load acting on the bridge. Even more importantly and is probably analogous for all long-span bridges, is the fact that any movement causing vibration on the bridge is carried and amplified along its length. These significant amplifications indicate the important effect of varying traffic loads and how the bridge responds to the diverse movements it experiences. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.