Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Microzonation of the Plio-Quaternary soils: a study of the liquefaction risk potential in the Lake Van Basin, Turkey

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Yüzüncü Yıl University (YYU) campus area is located on the eastern shore of Lake Van, within one of the active tectonic belts of Eastern Anatolia. The sediments accumulated in a lake formed when the Murat River was dammed by volcanoclastic deposits and hence include lacustrine, fluvial and sandy shore sediments. In order to delineate the liquefaction-prone soils, geological and geophysical data were assessed. On the basis of the Liquefaction Potential Index (IL), three main geotechnical zones were identified in the study area and three microzones were delineated within the university campus to reflection the potential damage to structures.

Résumé

Le campus de l’Université de Yüzüncü Yil (YYU) est situé sur la rive est du Lac Van, au sein de la chaîne active de l’Anatolie orientale. Les sédiments du lac résultent du barrage de la rivière Murat par des dépôts pyroclastiques et se présentent ainsi sous forme de dépôts lacustres, fluviatiles et de sables littoraux. Afin de délimiter les zones de sables potentiellement liquéfiables, des données géologiques et géophysiques ont été rassemblées. Sur la base d’un Indice de potentiel de liquéfaction (IL), trois principales zones géotechniques ont été identifiées dans le secteur étudié et trois microzones ont été délimitées à l’intérieur du campus universitaire par référence à des dommages possibles aux structures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acarlar M, Bilgin E, Elibol E, Erkal T, Gedik İ (1991) Geology of East and Northern part of Van lake, General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration publication no. 1061 (in Turkish)

  • Aydan Ö, Sezaki M, Yarar R, (1996) The seismic characteristics of Turkish earthquakes.In: 11th World Conferance on Earthquake Engineering, Acapulco, Mexico. Paper no. 1025

  • Çiftçi Y, Selçuk L, Özvan A, Akkaya İ, Şengül A, Bülent A (2004) Seismic risk analysis for the settlement in the Basin of lake Van. Fifth international sempozyum on Eastern mediterranen geology, Thessaloniki, Grecee

  • Degens ET, Kutman F (1978) The geology of lake Van. The Mineral Research and Exploration Institute of Turkey. No. 169, p158

  • Dewey JF, Hempton MR, Kidd WSF, Şaroğlu F, Şengör AMC (1986) Shortening of continental lithosphere: the neo-tectonics of Eastern Anatolia–a young collision zone; collision tectonics, Geological society Special Publication no. 19, pp3–36

  • Finn WDL, Ledbetter RH, Wu G (1994) Liquefaction in city soils, design analysis. Geotechnical special publication 44 ASCE, New York, p51–76

  • Gençoğlu S, İnan E, Güler H (1990) Earthquake risk of Turkey; Chamber of Geophysical Engineers in Turkey Publication, Ankara, Turkey (in Turkish)

  • Ishihara K (1985) Stability of natural deposits during earthquakes. In: Proceeding 11th international conference on soil mechanics and foundation engineering, vol 1 pp321–376

  • Iwasaki T, Arakava T, Tokida K (1982) Simplified procedures for assessing soil liquefaction during earthquakes. In: Proceedings of the conference on soil dynamics and earthquake engineering, Southampton, UK, pp925–939

  • Ketin İ (1977) Short explanation for geological prospections between Van lake and Iran border. Bull geol soc Turk 20:79–85 (in Turkish)

    Google Scholar 

  • Koçyiğit A, Yılmaz A, Adamia S, Kuloshvili S (2001) Neo-tectonics of East Anatolian Plateau (Turkey) and Lesser Caucasus: implication for transition from thrusting to strike-slip fault. Geodinamica Acte 14(1–3):177–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Koçyiğit A (2002) Neotectonics and seismicity of of East Anatolian. In: Workshop-2002 on the Geology of East Anatolian, 02–06 September 2002.Van, Turkey

  • Kramer SL (1996) Geotechnical earthquake engineering. Prentice Hall, NJ, 651p

  • Lemcke G (1996) Pala¨oklimarekonstruktion am Van see (Ostanatolien, Turkei). Dissertation, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Zurich), no. 11786, 182pp

  • Özkaymak Ç (2003) Active tectonic properties of Van city and nearby area, M. Sc. Thesis, University of Yüzüncü Yıl, geological engineering program. Van-Turkey (in Turkish)

  • Schweizer G (1975) Untersuchungen zur physiogeographievon ostanatolienund Nordwestiran. Geomorphologische, klima- und hydrogeographischeStudien im Vansee-und Rezaiyehsee-Gebiet. Tubinger Geographische Studien, vol 60. Tubingen, Germany:University of Tubingen

  • Seed HB, Idriss IM (1971) Simplified procedure for evaluating soil liquefaction potential. J Soil Mech Found ASCE 97: no. SM9, pp1249–1273

    Google Scholar 

  • Seed HB, Murarka R, Lysmer J, Idris IM (1976) Relationships of maximum acceleration, maximum velocity distance from source and local site conditions for moderately strong earthquakes. Bull Seismol Soc Am 66(4): 1323–1342

    Google Scholar 

  • Seed HB, Idriss IM (1982) “Ground motions and soil liquefaction during earthquakes”. Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Monograph series, Berkeley,134p

  • Selçuk L (2003) Engineering properties of soils in Zeve campus area of Yüzüncü Yıl University, M.Sc. Thesis, University of Yüzüncü Yıl, Van-Turkey (in Turkish)

  • Skempton AW (1953) The colloidal activity of clays. In: Proceedings of the third international conferance on soil mechanism, Zurich, pp57–61

  • Şaroğlu F, Yılmaz Y (1986) Geological evolution and Basin models in neo-tectonic period in Eastern Anatolia. Miner Res Explor Bull 107:73–94 (in Turkish)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabban A (2000) The seismicity and geology of the cities. Chamber of Geological Engineers, no. 56 (in Turkish)

  • Ulusay R, Aydan Ö, Kumbasar H, Sönmez H, Tuncay E (2000) Liquefaction in last earthquakes in Turkey. General overview of the liquefaction potential in Western Anatolia. In: Proceeding of symposium of seismicity of the West Anatolia, Region, May 24–27, 2000, Izmir, pp323–336 (in Turkish)

  • Yılmaz Y, Şaroğlu F, Güner Y (1987) Initiation of the neo-magmatism in East Anatolia. Tectonophysics 134:177–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Youd TL, Idriss IM co-chair (2001) Liquefaction resistance of soils. Summary report from the 1996 NCEER and 1998 NCEER/NSF Workshop on evaluation of liquefaction resistance of soils. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 127(4):817–833

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The Research Foundation of the Yüzüncü Yıl University supported this study. The authors thank Prof. Reşat Ulusay for discussions on the liquefactions of the region and Prof. Ali Koçyiğit for permitting the use of his tectonic map. Geologist Bülent Aras is also acknowledged for his help during the borehole study and data collection. The authors are grateful to Ali Özvan and Alper Şengül for their assistance in the field and laboratory studies. Geophysical studies were conducted by İsmail Akkaya. Many geology students helped in the geological and geophysical studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ankara University, Tandoğan, 06100, Ankara, Turkey

    Levent Selçuk

  2. Department of Geological Engineering, Architectural-Engineering Faculty, Yuzuncu Yil University, 65080, Van, Turkey

    Yahya Çiftçi

Authors
  1. Levent Selçuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yahya Çiftçi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Levent Selçuk.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Selçuk, L., Çiftçi, Y. Microzonation of the Plio-Quaternary soils: a study of the liquefaction risk potential in the Lake Van Basin, Turkey. Bull Eng Geol Environ 66, 161–176 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-006-0052-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-006-0052-3

Keywords

Mots clés

Search

Navigation