Vertical distribution and mobilization of arsenic in shallow alluvial aquifers of Chapai-Nawabganj district, Northwestern Bangladesh

Core sediments from two boreholes and groundwater from fifty four As-contaminated well waters were collected in the Chapai-Nawabganj area of northwestern Bangladesh for geochemical analysis. Groundwater arsenic concentrations in the uppermost aquifer (10 to 40 m of depth) range from 2.76?C315.15 mg/l (average 48.81 mg/l). Arsenic concentration in sediments ranges from 3.26?C10 mg/kg. Vertical distribution of arsenic in both groundwater and sediments shows that maximum As concentration (462 mg/l in groundwater and 10 mg/kg in sediments) occurs at a depth of 24 m. In January 2008, 2009 and 2010, maximum As concentration occurs at the same depth. Environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) with EDAX was used to investigate the presence of major and trace elements in the sediments. The dominant groundwater type is Ca-HCO₃ with high concentrations of As and Fe, but with low levels of NO₃ ^? and SO₃ ^?2. Statistical analysis clearly shows that As is closely associated with Fe (R² = 0.64) and Mn (R² = 0.91) in sediments while As is not correlated with Fe and Mn in groundwater samples. Comparatively low Fe and Mn concentrations in some groundwater, suggest that probably siderite and/or rhodochrosite precipitated as secondary mineral on the surface of the sediment particles. The correlations along with results of sequential leaching experiments suggest that reductive dissolution of FeOOH and MnOOH mediated by anaerobic bacteria represents mechanism for releasing arsenic into the groundwater.     

A new approach to use AHP in landslide susceptibility mapping: a case study at Yenice (Karabuk, NW Turkey)

This study aimed to investigate the parameter effects in preparing landslide susceptibility maps with a data-driven approach and to adapt this approach to analytical hierarchy process (AHP). For this purpose, at the first stage, landslide inventory of an area located in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey covering approximately 567?km² was prepared, and a total of 101 landslides were mapped. In order to assess the landslide susceptibility, a total of 13 parameters were considered as the input parameters: slope, aspect, plan curvature, topographical elevation, vegetation cover index, land use, distance to drainage, distance to roads, distance to structural elements, distance to ridges, stream power index, sediment transport capacity index, and wetness index. AHP was selected as the major assessment methodology since the adapted approach and AHP work in data pairs. Adapted to AHP, a similarity relation?Cbased approach, namely landslide relation indicator (LRI) for parameter selection method, was also proposed. AHP and parametric effect analyses were performed by the proposed approach, and seven landslide susceptibility maps were produced. Among these maps, the best performance was gathered from the landslide susceptibility map produced by 9 parameter combinations using area under curve (AUC) approach. For this map, the AUC value was calculated as 0.797, while the others ranged between 0.686 and 0.771. According to this map, 38.3?% of the study area was classified as having very low, 8.5?% as low, 15.0?% as moderate, 20.3?% as high, and 17.9?% as very high landslide susceptibility, respectively. Based on the overall assessments, the proposed approach in this study was concluded as objective and applicable and yielded reasonable results.     

A Simplified Failure Criterion for Intact Rocks Based on Rock Type and Uniaxial Compressive Strength

The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of intact rock, which can be estimated using relatively straightforward and cost-effective techniques, is one of the most practical rock properties used in rock engineering. Thus, constitutive laws to represent the strength and behavior of (intact) rock frequently use it, along with additional intrinsic rock properties. Although triaxial tests can be employed to obtain best-fit failure criterion parameters that provide best strength predictions, they are more expensive and require time-consuming procedures; as a consequence, they are often not readily available at early stages of a project. Based on the analysis of an extensive triaxial test database for intact rocks, we propose a simplified empirical failure criterion in which rock strength at failure is expressed in terms of confining stress and UCS, with a new parameter which can be directly estimated from the UCS for a specified rock type in the absence of triaxial test data. Performance of the proposed failure criterion is then tested for validation against experimental data for eight rock types. The results show that strengths of intact rock estimated by the proposed failure criterion are in good agreement with experimental test data, with small discrepancies between estimated and measurements strengths. Therefore, the proposed criterion can be useful for preliminary (triaxial) strength estimation of intact rocks when triaxial tests data are not available.     

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.     

Validation of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) fire monitoring product using ground observations over Turkey

Validation of the active fire monitoring (FIR) product from Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager sensor of Meteosat Second Generation satellite is performed over Turkey. Ground truth data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for the years 2007, 2008, and 2009 is used by taking the active fire months of April–September into consideration. The contingency tables are obtained on a monthly basis and categorical statistics of probability of detection (POD) and false alarm rate (FAR) are derived. The results are introduced for each subclass, namely probable, possible, and combined cases. The highest POD amounts of 8.5, 1.93, and 9.4 % are obtained for the possible, probable, and combined cases, respectively, with the lowest FAR amounts of 70.9, 4.5, and 86.1 % for the same categories. FIR product validation with respect to predefined burnt area thresholds is introduced in the second part of the study in order to investigate burnt area effect in active fire detection. Increasing POD values with respect to burnt area amount is obtained with relatively higher values in probable than possible type. On the other hand, FAR variation is observed to be not correlated with the burnt area amount.     

Preliminary chemical and micromorphological observations on Urartu (800–600 B.C.) ceramics,eastern Turkey

Anatolia has long been a major pottery production center of the ancient world, dating back 7000 cal yr B.P. The Early Iron Age Urartu Kingdom (800–600 B.C.) of eastern Anatolia is known for the production of high‐quality pottery, but little is known regarding firing technology and manufacture of these ceramics. Here we present a preliminary study of Urartu ceramic micromorphology and chemistry and suggest that the Urartus had good knowledge of local geology and intentionally used chemical fluxes (Pb, Rb, and Li) to attain desired firing temperatures. The sophisticated production of Urartu ceramics is comparable to later high‐quality Roman pottery (terra sigillata) procured from the same area. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Carbonate weathering and connate seawater influencing karst groundwaters in the Gevas–Gurpinar–Güzelsu basins,Turkey

There are 59 springs at the Gevas–Gurp?nar–Güzelsu basins, 38 of these springs emerge from the fractured karst aquifers (recrystallized limestone and travertine) and 21 emerge from the Yuksekova ophiolites, K?rkgeçit formation and alluvium. The groundwater samples collected from 38 out of the total of 59 springs, two streams, one lake and 12 wells were analyzed physico-chemically in the year 2002. EC and TDS values of groundwater increased from the marble (high altitude) to the ophiolites and alluvium (toward Lake Van) as a result of carbonate dissolution and connate seawater. Five chemical types of groundwater are identified: Ca–Mg–HCO₃, Mg–Ca–HCO₃, Mg–Na–HCO₃, Na–Ca–HCO₃ and Mg–Ca–Na–HCO₃. The calculations and hydrochemical interpretations show that the high concentrations of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and HCO₃ ^? as predominant ions in the waters are mainly attributed to carbonate rocks and high pCO₂ in soil. Most of the karst springs are oversaturated in calcite, aragonite and dolomite and undersaturated in gypsum, halite and anhydrite. The water–rock interaction processes that singly or in combination influence the chemical composition of each water type include dissolution of carbonate (calcite and dolomite), calcite precipitation, cation exchange and freshening of connate seawater. These processes contribute considerably to the concentration of major ions in the groundwater. Stable isotope contents of the groundwater suggest mainly direct integrative recharge.     

Evaluation and comparison of landslide susceptibility mapping methods: a case study for the Ulus district,Bartın,northern Turkey

The purpose of this study was to investigate the capabilities of different landslide susceptibility methods by comparing their results statistically and spatially to select the best method that portrays the susceptibility zones for the Ulus district of the Bart?n province (northern Turkey). Susceptibility maps based on spatial regression (SR), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), logistic regression (LR) method, and artificial neural network method (ANN) were generated, and the effect of each geomorphological parameter was determined. The landslide inventory map digitized from previous studies was used as a base map for landslide occurrence. All of the analyses were implemented with respect to landslides classified as rotational, active, and deeper than 5 m. Three different sets of data were used to produce nine explanatory variables (layers). The study area was divided into grids of 90 m × 90 m, and the ‘seed cell’ technique was applied to obtain statistically balanced population distribution over landslide inventory area. The constructed dataset was divided into two datasets as training and test. The initial assessment consisted of multicollinearity of explanatory variables. Empirical information entropy analysis was implemented to quantify the spatial distribution of the outcomes of these methods. Results of the analyses were validated by using success rate curve (SRC) and prediction rate curve (PRC) methods. Additionally, statistical and spatial comparisons of the results were performed to determine the most suitable susceptibility zonation method in this large-scale study area. In accordance with all these comparisons, it is concluded that ANN was the best method to represent landslide susceptibility throughout the study area with an acceptable processing time.