An example of river course changes on a delta plain: Seyhan Delta (Çukurova plain, southern Turkey)
✍ Scribed by Kemal Gürbüz
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 542 KB
- Volume
- 34
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0072-1050
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The three-dimensional sedimentary architecture of wind-and wave-dominated deltas fed by more than one major river system is poorly documented in the scienti®c literature. The Seyhan±Ceyhan±Tarsus delta in southern Turkey, described in this paper, presents a detailed layer-cake model for such a system. It further documents the planform evolution of the system over the past 4000 years using aerial photography and ®eld mapping together with a series of transects of commercial sedimentary cores with a maximum vertical penetration of 300 m. This latter high-density dataset is unique and aords the opportunity (i) to examine the evolution of this clastic system; (ii) to demonstrate how large-scale erosional truncations in wind-and wave-dominated deltas may be incorrectly interpreted as transgressive surfaces in analogue ancient systems; (iii) to show how major changes in drainage pattern can occur in this environment; and (iv) to sound a note of caution for the interference of man in an area particularly prone to erosion, in this case by the erection of major dams.