Factors controlling the morphological evolution of the Çanakkale Strait (Dardanelles, Turkey)

Seismic profiling, bathymetric and physical oceanographic data collected from the Çanakkale Strait revealed that the morphological evolution of the strait has been controlled by tectonic activity, and sediment erosion and deposition. Sediments in the strait have been sourced mostly by rivers draining the Biga Peninsula during lowstand periods. In highstand periods, by contrast, deposits in the strait were reworked by currents. The seafloor morphology of the Çanakkale Strait is also controlled by a sequence of factors ranging from tectonics to current erosion and deposition. Channel deposits overlying the basement are being eroded at the narrower, meandering central section of the strait (the Nara Passage) due to high current velocities. The eroded sediments are deposited in the relatively linear and wider, northern and southern sectors of the strait exposed to low current velocities. As a result, the high-energy areas are more deeply incised due to the erosion, whereas deposition elevates the seafloor in the areas exposed to lower current energy. Three strike-slip faults, which possibly relate to the activity of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, are responsible for the irregular shape of the strait and this, in turn, controls the current velocity along the strait. The high-energy conditions probably commenced with the latest invasion of Mediterranean waters some 12 ka b.p., and have continued as a two-layered current system to the present day.     

THE METEOR FLUX: IT DEPENDS HOW YOU LOOK

In this paper, we use radar observations from a 50 MHz radar stationed near Salinas, Puerto Rico, to study the variability of specular as well as non-specular meteor trails in the E-region ionosphere. The observations were made from 18:00 to 08:00 h AST over various days in 1998 and 1999 during the Coqui II Campaign [Urbina et al., 2000, Geophys. Rev. Lett. 27, 2853–2856]. The radar system had two sub-arrays, both produced beams pointed to the north in the magnetic meridian plane, perpendicular to the magnetic field, at an elevation angle of approximately 41 degrees. The Coqui II radar is sensitive to at least two types of echoes from meteor trails: (1) Specular reflections from trails oriented perpendicular to the radar beam, and (2) scattering, or, non-specular reflections, from trails deposited with arbitrary orientations. We examine and compare the diurnal and seasonal variability of echoes from specular and non-specular returns observed with the Coqui II radar. We also compare these results with meteor head echo observations made with the Arecibo 430 MHz radar. We use common region observations of these three types of meteor echoes to show that the diurnal and seasonal variability of specular trails, non-specular trails, and head echoes are not equivalent. The implications of these results on global meteor mass flux estimates obtained from specular meteor observations remains to be examined.     

Characteristics of the 1912 co-seismic rupture along the North Anatolian Fault Zone (Turkey): implications for the expected Marmara earthquake

Evidence of right‐lateral offsets associated with the 1912 earthquake (M_w 7.4) along the North Anatolian Fault (Gaziköy–Saros segment) allow us to survey (using DGPS) the co‐seismic and cumulative slip distribution. The damage distribution and surface breaks related with the earthquake show an elongated zone of maximum intensity (X MSK) parallel to the fault rupture on land but this may extend offshore to the north‐east and south‐west. Detailed mapping of the fault using topographic maps and aerial photographs indicates the existence of pull‐apart basins and pressure ridges. At several localities, the average 1912 offset along strike is 3.5–4 m and cumulative slip is 2–6 times that of individual movement. The fault rupture geometry and slip distribution suggest the existence of three subsegments with a combined total length of 110–120 km, a fault length and maximum slip similar to those of the 1999 Izmit earthquake. The amount of slip at the north‐easternmost section and in the coastal region of the Sea of Marmara reaches an average 4 m, thereby implying the offshore extension of the 1912 rupture. The results suggest that the 1912 event generated up to 150 km of surface faulting, which would imply a M_w 7.2–7.4 earthquake and which, added with rupture lengths of the 1999 earthquakes, help to constrain the remaining seismic gap in the Sea of Marmara.     

Prediction of engineering properties of rocks from microscopic data

The purpose of this study is to develop the empirical equations for the prediction of the physical and mechanical properties of limestone and marble from microscopic data including their mineralogical and petrographical properties and to test the validity of model equations by using multivariate statistical methods. This study was performed on 15 different rocks, composed of six limestone and nine marble samples. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was applied to predict the engineering properties of both the marble and limestone rock samples considering petrographical properties as inputs. In order to determine the overall significance of the empirical equations for prediction of the physical and mechanical properties of marble and limestone samples, the F test was also performed. As a result of this study, it is found that the empirical equations developed in this study are statistically significant.     

Assessment of groundwater vulnerability based on a modified DRASTIC model, GIS and an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method: the case of Egirdir Lake basin (Isparta, Turkey)

A DRASTIC-model method based on a geographic information system (GIS) was used to study groundwater vulnerability in Egirdir Lake basin (Isparta, Turkey), an alluvial area that has suffered agricultural pollution. ‘Lineament’ and ‘land use’ were added to the DRASTIC parameters, and an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method determined the rating coefficients of each parameter. The effect of lineament and land-use parameters on the resulting vulnerability maps was determined with a single-parameter sensitivity analysis. Of the DRASTIC parameters, land use affects the aquifer vulnerability map most and lineament affects it least, after topography. A simple linear regression analysis assessed the statistical relation between groundwater nitrate concentration and the aquifer vulnerability areas; the highest R ² value was obtained with the modified-DRASTIC-AHP method. The DRASTIC vulnerability map shows that only the shoreline of Egirdir Lake and the alluvium units have high contamination potential. In this respect, the modified DRASTIC vulnerability map is quite similar. According to the modified-DRASTIC-AHP method, the lakeshore areas of Senirkent-Uluborlu and Hoyran plains, and all of the Yalvaç-Gelendost plain, have high contamination potential. Analyses confirm that groundwater nitrate content is high in these areas. By comparison, the modified-DRASTIC-AHP method has provided more valid results.     

Thermal entanglement in two-qutrit spin-1 anisotropic Heisenberg model with inhomogeneous magnetic field

The thermal entanglement of a two-qutrit spin-1 anisotropic Heisenberg XXZ chain in an inhomogeneous magnetic field is studied in detail. The effects of the external magnetic field (B), a parameter b which controls the inhomogeneity of B, and the bilinear interaction parameters J_x=Jy≠Jz on the thermal variation of the negativity are studied in detail. It is found that negativity N decreases when the values of magnetic field, inhomogeneity b and temperature are increasing. In addition, N remains at higher temperatures for higher values of J_z and lower values of B and b.