Late-Holocene landscape evolution of a delta from foredune ridges

Seyhan Delta, Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey

Bibliographic Data

ID12265606
AuthorsEmrah Özpolat (0000-0002-1829-0152, Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, corresponding author), Eren Şahiner (0000-0002-7159-2491, Institute of Nuclear Science, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey), Orkan Özcan (0000-0002-7485-6157, Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey), Tuncer Demi̇r (0000-0003-2740-7268, Department of Geography, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey), Lewis A Owens (0000-0002-2525-5160, North Carolina State University), Lewis A Owen (Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA)
Year2021
Volume31
Issue5
Pages760-777
Publication date2021-02-04
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Holocene (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-6836 • E-ISSN: 1477-0911
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0959683620988047
OpenAlexW3126504829
LanguageEN
References cited61

The Çukurova Delta Complex, formed by the Seyhan, Ceyhan, and Berdan rivers, is the second-largest delta system in the Mediterranean. The delta complex is a major depocenter that contains sediments transported from the Taurus Mountain belt since the Miocene. Studies on the Quaternary landscape evolution of the Çukurova Delta Complex are scarce, and in particular, the Holocene evolution of the Seyhan Delta section of the Çukurova Delta Complex has been poorly understood. Sedimentological analysis, high-resolution digital elevation models derived using structure from motion, and optically stimulated luminescence dating of the foredune ridges in the Seyhan Delta help define the lesser-known nature of Late-Holocene paleoenvironmental and landscape evolution of the Seyhan section of the Çukurova Delta Complex. The foredune ridges provide evidence that the Akyatan Lagoon, one of Turkey’s largest lagoon, formed at the beginning of the last millennium. The ridges bordering the north and south of Tuzla Lagoon show that the lagoon completed its formation between the 11th and 14th centuries when the ancient delta was to the east. The Seyhan River flowed 10 km east from its current course until at least the 16th Century, and its ancient delta was active until that time. After the 16th Century, the Seyhan River shifted to its current course in the west and began to build the modern delta and the youngest foredune ridges were formed by a combination of aeolian and littoral processes. The contemporary delta continued to prograde until the construction of the Seyhan Dam in AD 1956. Since the construction of the Seyhan Dam, the delta shoreline at the river mouth retreated drastically and foredune formation stopped. In the past few decades, most of the foredune ridges have been eroded away by coastal processes and agricultural activities

Aeolian processes · Delta · Foredune · Geography · Holocene · Physical geography · Quaternary · River delta · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Marine and environmental studies · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Geology · Paleontology

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