Changes in biodiversity of the extremely polluted Golden Horn Estuary following the improvements in water quality

Long-term biological data supported by physicochemical parameters were evaluated to investigate the biodiversity of the Golden Horn Estuary from the past to the present. Limited observations dating back to 60 years ago indicated the existence of a diverse community in this small estuary. Unfortunately, in parallel with the increase in unplanned settlements and industry around the Golden Horn, pollution stress increased since the 1960s. Preliminary studies in the 1990s indicated survival of only a couple of pollution-resistant species, in the relatively cleaner lower estuary. Following the intensification of rehabilitation studies in 1998 and particularly after the opening of the floating bridge at the mid estuary; a remarkable day-by-day recovery in marine life has begun with the improving water quality. Nutrient concentrations decreased markedly; while water clarity significantly increased. Fecal coliform values decreased 10(3) fold. Phytoplankton composition changed and dense blooms of eukaryotic phytoplankters frequently occurred. Hydrogen sulfide almost completely disappeared even during the warmest periods of the year and dissolved oxygen concentrations increased. All results clearly depicted that the Golden Horn ecosystem shifted to eutrophic conditions from an anoxic environment. SCUBA dives in 2002, documented the level of diversification of life in the Golden Horn. All appropriate substratums were intensely covered by macrobenthic forms until the Halic Bridge and filter feeders dominated the plankton-rich ecosystem. Achieving the diversity of 1940s is not possible since the Black and Marmara seas, influencing water quality of the Golden Horn, are also suffering from anthropogenic impacts and are far less diverse than their rich diversity in 1940s. However, the Golden Horn is a good example that even the most polluted ecosystems can recover when appropriate measures are taken.     

Climate change in Turkey for the last half century

Climate change and its urban-induced bias in selected Turkish cities is studied with a quality controlled temperature and precipitation data of Turkish stations in the period of 1950–2004. These stations are classified into two groups according to their populations; S1, including rural and suburban stations and S2, including large urban stations. Moving average signals, 365-day, and their digital low pass filtered versions are produced to eliminate the short term fluctuations and examine the possible trends or anomalies in climate data. Furthermore, ‘relative difference’ signals are introduced and applied to temperature and precipitation series to observe the actual local changes in the climate data independent from large-scale effects. Mann–Kendall test statistics are calculated for maximum, minimum, mean temperature and precipitation series and plotted on maps to determine any spatial trend patterns. Signal analysis show a cool period extending from early 1960s till 1993, generally with the lowest temperature values on 1992–1993 owing to the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. A last decade significant warming trend is observed in both of the series, S1 and S2, leading to 2000–2002 temperatures to be recorded as maximums in record history. The variability of urban precipitation series is generally larger than the rural ones, suggesting that urban stations can experience more frequent and severe droughts and floods. Though not significant, an increase in the urban precipitation compared to the rural one is also found. Spatial analysis resulted in significant warming in southern and southeastern parts of the country. Particularly, minimum temperature series show significant warming in almost all of the regions indicating the effect of urbanization. Significant decreases of precipitation amounts in the western parts of Turkey, such as Aegean and Trachea regions, are found. On the other hand, some Turkish northern stations show increases in precipitation of which some are significant.     

Exact solution to the relative orbital motion in eccentric orbits

This paper studies the relative orbital motion between arbitrary Keplerian trajectories. A closed-form vectorial solution to the nonlinear initial value problem that models this type of motion with respect to a noninertial reference frame is offered. Without imposing any particular conditions on the leader or the deputy satellites trajectories, exact expressions for the relative law of motion and relative velocity are obtained in a closed form. This solution allows the parameterization of the relative motion manifold and offers new methods to study its geometrical and topological properties. The result presented in this paper opens the way to obtain new classes of approximate solutions to the equations of relative motion with time, an eccentric or true anomaly as independent variables. Published in Russian in Solar System Research, 2009, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 44–55. The text was submitted by the autors in English.     

Hydrocarbons generated by hydropyrolysis of suspended marine particulate organic matter: Relationship to the oceanography of the Black Sea and the Rhodes Gyre

The suspended particulate organic matter, SPOM, in the autumnal Black Sea has been characterised using catalytic hydropyrolysis (HyPy) of the total (bound plus free) lipid material. The technique, which generates maximum yields of volatile products from sediments, kerogens and phytoplankton, was followed using gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The generated alkanes were dominated by n-C₁₈, hypothesised to arise predominantly from unsaturated C₁₈ fatty acids. Steranes were generated from reductive conversion of free and bound sterols. The generation of branched alkanes and especially of hopanes provided formal evidence for the participation of bacteria in the mineralisation of the SPOM. Whereas similar distributions of n-alkanes were generated from SPOM sampled from different depths of the comparatively well-stirred Rhodes Gyre (eastern Mediterranean), mineralisation of the SPOM at each depth of the central Black Sea produced characteristic changes in the composition and concentration of the HyPy products. Depth profiles of the n-alkanes generated from SPOM in the region of the Rim Current were affected by the local hydrography. Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of anthropogenic origin were present in the surface waters of the central Black Sea. Some methyl benzenes, thiophenes and pyrroles were also generated.     

A New Statistical Perspective on Trophic Indexes for Shallow Lakes

Water Resources - The aim of this study is to develop a new trophic level index using water quality parameters which are known to affect eutrophication but not in national and international...     

Top-down approach to design the relief system in a metropolitan city using UAV technology,part I: the first 48 h

Natural Hazards - In this study, a relief system for a large metropolitan city exposed to serious earthquakes is designed and a top-down approach is applied. Afflicted people’s states and...     

Hydrochemical and isotopic properties of the Mahmutlu and Bağdatoğlu mineralized thermal springs, Kırşehir, Turkey

The present study identifies the hydrochemical and isotopic properties of the Mahmutlu and Ba?dato?lu mineralized thermal springs in K?r?ehir province, a geothermal field in central Anatolia, Turkey. Based on these properties, a hydrogeological regime is proposed in order to explain the Mahmutlu–Ba?dato?lu geothermal system. The relation between the concentrations of the environmental stable isotopes deuterium and oxygen-18 in the water is similar to the relationship in global meteoric water, indicating that the water is of meteoric origin. Evaluation of the geochemical characteristics of the water reveals that these two thermal springs belong to the same hydrogeological system. The hydrogeological system comprises a fractured limestone member of the Çevirme Formation and the Kervansaray Formation as reservoir rocks, and the Delice?rmak Formation as an overlying aquitard. The waters of the Mahmutlu and Ba?dato?lu springs are mainly of the Na-Cl-SO4 type that originate from the Pohrenk evaporite. The thermal waters are undersaturated with respect to calcite, dolomite, halite, and gypsum. The δ 18O and δ 2H contents indicate a δ 18O shift in the Mahmutlu and Ba?dato?lu waters. The temperature range of the two reservoirs is estimated to be 98–158?°C, on the basis of Na+K+Ca and SiO2 geothermometers.     

Evolution of seismic hazard maps in Turkey

A review on the historical evolution of seismic hazard maps in Turkey is followed by summarizing the important aspects of the updated national probabilistic seismic hazard maps. Comparisons with the predecessor probabilistic seismic hazard maps as well as the implications on the national design codes conclude the paper.