GIS-Based Soil Investigation of Balıkesir (Northwest Turkey) with Geophysical and Geotechnical Methods

Soil research was carried out using geophysical, geological, and geotechnical methods to reduce possible earthquake damage and to ensure regular land use in the regions determined within the borders of Bandırma and Erdek districts of Balıkesir province. In this context, microtremor measurements were made in the study area. The ground was obtained with the dominant period and magnification values. Microtremor, shear wave velocity (Vs30), soil drilling, and SPT-N test results were collected and transferred to the database created in the ArcGIS program, a Geographical Information System (GIS) software. Using the data in the database with the ArcMap program, the geology of the study area, aspect, slope, dominant soil period, soil amplification, shear wave velocity (Vs30), soil classification according to TBDY-2018 maps by making necessary corrections created. In addition, 308 earthquake data with a magnitude of 4.0 and above obtained from 5 Strong Ground Motion stations in the study area were analyzed with the Geopsy program, and ground amplification values were obtained and added to the database. With the geotechnical properties of the study area, the results of the analyzes and evaluations obtained as a result of the geophysical study are presented with microzonation maps, and preliminary information that can be used in studies to reduce the earthquake hazard in the study area has been created