Research Information System
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL, vol.167, pp.162-176, 2007 (SCI-Expanded)
Influences of Holocene climatic and sea level changes on sedimentation on the continental shelf off the Buyuk Menderes River delta, SW Turkey were investigated using grain size and X-ray clay mineralogical data on surficial and 14C-dated core sediments collected at 19-81 m water depths. Modern, fine-grained, siliciclastic sediments cover most of the seafloor of inner to mid-shelf areas. A narrow, relict belt extends from northwest to south (at 66-81 m water depths), where sediments are characterized by abundant sand and gravel (27-52%) and biogenic carbonate (16-44%) contents, and microscopic examination suggests an older origin. The radiocarbon ages of mid and lower sections in cores (3670-10,380 yr BP) reflect sedimentation under depositional conditions from early to late Holocene in the study area. Additionally, downcore changes of grain size toward coarser-grained sediments most probably record global climatic effects with sea level changes, specifically the transition from lowstand in early Holocene to highstand at mid-late Holocene. The presence of this relict belt in offshore waters can be attributed largely to active uplift tectonics. The coarser-grained relict belt, compared with available seismic profiles, corresponds to an lowstand unconformity of bottomset beds of the prograding Buyuk Menderes Delta.