The 17 March 2005 Kuzulu landslide (Sivas, Turkey) and landslide-susceptibility map of its near vicinity

Landslides are common natural hazards in the seismically active North Anatolian Fault Zone of Turkey. Although seismic activity, heavy rainfall, channel incisions, and anthropogenic effects are commonly the main triggers of landslides, on March 17, 2005, a catastrophic large landslide in Sivas, northeastern of Turkey, the Kuzulu landslide, was triggered by snowmelt without any other precursor. The initial failure of the Kuzulu landslide was rotational. Following the rotational failure, the earth material in the zone of accumulation exhibited an extremely rapid flow caused by steep gradient and high water content. The Agnus Creek valley, where Kuzulu village is located, was filled by the earth-flow material and a landslide dam was formed on the upper part of Agnus Creek. The distance from the toe of the rotational failure down to the toe of the earth flow measured more than 1800 m, with about 12.5 million m³ of displaced earth material. The velocity of the Kuzulu landslide was extremely fast, approximately 6 m/s. The main purposes of this study are to describe the mechanism and the factors conditioning the Kuzulu landslide, to present its environmental impacts, and to produce landslide-susceptibility maps of the Kuzulu landslide area and its near vicinity. For this purpose, a detailed landslide inventory map was prepared and geology, slope, aspect, elevation, topographic-wetness index and stream-power index were considered as conditioning factors. During the susceptibility analyses, the conditional probability approach was used and a landslide-susceptibility map was produced. The landslide-susceptibility map will help decision makers in site selection and the site-planning process. The map may also be accepted as a basis for landslide risk-management studies to be applied in the study area.     

Contested hydrosocial territories and disputed water governance: Struggles and competing claims over the Ilisu Dam development in southeastern Turkey

Dam development in southeastern Turkey is a highly-disputed issue, fanned by the Turkish–Kurdish conflict, socio-environmental and historical–cultural concerns, and international geopolitical interests. This paper focuses on discussions around the Ilisu Dam and shows how different actor coalitions imagine different hydrosocial territories regarding this mega-hydraulic project currently under construction. Imaginaries, counter-imaginaries and endeavours to materialize them go far beyond technical projects, portraying the dam to (re)configure the territory physically, ecologically, socio-economically, symbolically and discursively. The paper embeds competing hydro-territorial constructs and claims within an analysis of governmentality and the multi-scalar and multi-issue politics of dam opponents.     

Missing the boat: Critical threats to coral reefs are neglected at global scale

Coral reefs have experienced a global decline due to overfishing, pollution, and warming oceans that are becoming increasingly acidic. To help halt and reverse this decline, interventions should be aimed at those threats reef experts and managers identify as most severe. The survey included responses from 170 managers, representing organizations from 50 countries and territories, and found that respondents generally agreed on the two major threats: overfishing and coastal development. However, resource allocation did not match this consensus on major threats. In particular, while overfishing receives much attention, coastal development and its attendant pollution are largely neglected and underfunded. These results call for a re-examination of how resources are allocated in coral reef conservation, with more attention given to aligning how money is spent with what are perceived to be the primary threats.     

Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of Intracontinental Basaltic Volcanism on the Northwest Arabian Plate,Gaziantep Basin,Southeast Anatolia,Turkey

Volcanism along the northwest boundary of the Arabian Plate found in the Gaziantep Basin, southeast Turkey, is of Miocene age and is of alkaline and calc-alkaline basic composition. The rare earth element data for both compositional series indicates spinel–peridotite source areas. The rare earth and trace elements of the alkaline lavas originate from a highly primitive and slightly contaminated asthenospheric mantle; those of the calc-alkaline lavas originate from a highly heterogeneous, asthenospheric, and lithospheric mantle source. Partial melting and magmatic differentiation processes played a role in the formation of the petrological features of these volcanics. These rocks form two groups on the basis of their ~(87) Sr/~(86) Sr and ~(143) Nd/~(144) Nd isotopic compositions in addition to their classifications based on their chemical compositions(alkaline and calc-alkaline). These isotopic differences indicate a dissimilar parental magma. Therefore, high Nd isotope samples imply a previously formed and highly primitive mantle whereas low Nd isotope samples may indicate comparable partial melting of an enriched heterogeneous shallow mantle. Other isotopic changes that do not conform to the chemical features of these lavas are partly related to the various tectonic events of the region, such as the Dead Sea Fault System and the Bitlis Suture Zone.     

湖泊与陆地雷电参数分布特征及其对比分析

根据湖北省雷电定位系统（Lightning Location System,LLS）2007年1月1日至2016年12月31日监测资料,采用数理统计方法,对湖泊和陆地区域的地闪频次、极性、地闪密度、雷电流幅值和波头陡度等雷电参数分布特征进行了对比研究。结果表明：湖泊与陆地的雷电参数时间变化趋势基本一致。近10 a闪电频次呈明显减少趋势,正地闪比例呈上升趋势;陆地比湖泊区域的闪电频次多,春夏季湖泊和陆地闪电频次差异明显,其中,夏季陆地闪电频次比湖泊多21.1%;湖泊和陆地闪电频次日变化大致呈单峰型,13-18时陆地闪电频次比湖泊多39.7%。湖泊地闪密度比陆地小,湖泊和陆地平均地闪密度分别为2.96次·（km^-2·a^-1）和3.47次·（km^-2·a^-1）。湖泊的平均雷电流幅值较陆地大;湖泊和陆地的平均雷电流波头陡度变化不大,相差一般在1 kA·（μs）^-1以下。     

Mapping of moraine dammed glacial lakes and assessment of their areal changes in the central and eastern Himalayas using satellite data

The relatively rapid recession of glaciers in the Himalayas and formation of moraine dammed glacial lakes(MDGLs) in the recent past have increased the risk of glacier lake outburst floods(GLOF) in the countries of Nepal and Bhutan and in the mountainous territory of Sikkim in India. As a product of climate change and global warming, such a risk has not only raised the level of threats to the habitation and infrastructure of the region, but has also contributed to the worsening of the balance of the unique ecosystem that exists in this domain that sustains several of the highest mountain peaks of the world. This study attempts to present an up to date mapping of the MDGLs in the central and eastern Himalayan regions using remote sensing data, with an objective to analyse their surface area variations with time from 1990 through 2015, disaggregated over six episodes. The study also includes the evaluation for susceptibility of MDGLs to GLOF with the least criteria decision analysis(LCDA). Forty two major MDGLs, each having a lake surface area greater than 0.2 km2, that were identified in the Himalayan ranges of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim, have been categorized according to their surface area expansion rates in space and time. The lakes have been identified as located within the elevation range of 3800 m and6800 m above mean sea level(a msl). With a total surface area of 37.9 km2, these MDGLs as a whole were observed to have expanded by an astonishing 43.6% in area over the 25 year period of this study. A factor is introduced to numerically sort the lakes in terms of their relative yearly expansion rates, based on their interpretation of their surface area extents from satellite imageries. Verification of predicted GLOF events in the past using this factor with the limited field data as reported in literature indicates that the present analysis may be considered a sufficiently reliable and rapid technique for assessing the potential bursting susceptibility of the MDGLs. The analysis also indicates that, as of now, there are eight MDGLs in the region which appear to be in highly vulnerable states and have high chances in causing potential GLOF events anytime in the recent future.     

Evaluating coastal scenery using fuzzy logic: Application at selected sites in Western Black Sea coastal region of Turkey

Coastal areas of the world are under treat due to the conflicting requirements of functions such as habitation and/or recreation, which affect the strategic asset of coastal scenery itself. Coastal managers, together with planners, need coastal landscape inventories, where the quality of coastal scenery is a part of the inventory. In order to provide an evidence-based approach for sound coastal management decisions, [Ergin et al., 2004] and [Ergin et al., 2006] developed a novel technique ‘coastal scenic evaluation’ (CSE), which addresses the evaluation of coastal scenery. The CSE technique utilizes fuzzy logic to derive values obtained from a checklist of 26 physical and human parameters. The methodology enables the calculation of an evaluation index (D), which categorizes the scenic values of coastal sites into five distinct classes. Using this technique, coastal scenic evaluations were carried out at 34 selected sites on the Western Black Sea coast of Turkey. Based on the calculated D values, a five-class differentiation was obtained for the selected sites, to provide baseline information for any envisaged subsequent management plans for these areas.     

Interpretation of210Pb profiles and verification of the CRS dating model in PIRLA project lake sediment cores

This paper reports results and analysis of²¹⁰Pb-activity measurements in 51 lake-sediment cores from 32 lakes in the four PIRLA (Paleoecological Investigations of Recent Lake Acidification) project regions (Adirondack Mountains [New York], Northern New England, Northern Florida, and the Northern Great Lakes States). General application of the Constant Rate of Supply (Constant Flux) model for²¹⁰Pb dating is valid for lakes in the PIRLA study, although application of the model is equivocal in a few lakes.²¹⁰Pb inventories and profiles are replicable among closely spaced cores within a lake. Specific²¹⁰Pb activity in surface sediments is negatively correlated with bulk sediment accumulation rate in seepage lakes, but not in drainage lakes. Drainage lakes with lower pH have lower unsupported²¹⁰Pb inventories in sediments, but the relationship does not occur in seepage lakes.²¹⁰Pb profiles in only seven of the cores, all from either the Adirondacks or the northern Great Lakes states, exhibit exponential decay curves. Deviations from an exponential profile include a flattening of the profile in the top few cm or excursions of one or a few measurements away from an exponential curve.²¹⁰Pb dates typically agree with other chronostratigraphic markers, most of which are subject to greater uncertainty. Several hypotheses, including sediment mixing, hydrologic regime, sediment focusing, and acidification, are proposed to explain variation of²¹⁰Pb distribution among lakes and regions. Hydrologic factors exert control on unsupported²¹⁰Pb inventories in PIRLA lakes, and there is a strong focusing effect in drainage lakes but a weak focusing effect in seepage lakes.This is the third of a series of papers to be published by this journal following the 20^th anniversary of the first application of²¹⁰Pb dating of lake sediments. Dr P. G. Appleby is guest editing this series.     

Petrochemical constraints on the models of Cretaceous-Eocene tectonic evolution of the Eastern Pontic chain (Turkey)

Sixteen selected samples from the Upper Cretaceous volcanic belt of the Eastern Pontids have been analysed for major elements, Rb, Sr and Zr. On the basis of the K₂O versus SiO₂ distribution, two groups of rocks have been distinguished, one with calc-alkaline affinity and a second group with shoshonitic character. The calc-alkaline rocks have porphyritic texture with clinopyroxene, plagioclase and orthopyroxene as phenocryst and in the groundmass. The orthopyroxene is lacking in the shoshonites where plagioclase, clinopyroxene and, in the more evolved terms, amphibole and biotite are the main phenocryst minerals. The shoshonitic rocks have higher $\text{K}{}_2\text{O}\text{Na}{}_2\text{O}$ ratio, K₂O, P₂O₅ and Rb, contents with respect to the calc-alkaline samples. The TiO₂ content is invariably low, never exceeding approximately 1%. The occurrence of volcanic rocks ranging in composition from calc-alkaline to shoshonitic in the Upper Cretaceous volcanic belt of the Eastern Pontids suggests that the Upper Cretaceous volcanic cycle reached its mature stage before the onset of the Eocene calc-alkaline volcanism which is believed to be neither genetically nor tectonically related with the Upper Cretaceous volcanism.