Carbonates from the ancient world's longest aqueduct:A testament of Byzantine water management

The fourth‐ and fifth‐century aqueduct system of Constantinople is, at 426 km, the longest water supply line of the ancient world. Carbonate deposits in the aqueduct system provide an archive of both archaeological developments and palaeo‐environmental conditions during the depositional period. The 246‐km‐long aqueduct line from the fourth century used springs from a small aquifer, whereas a 180‐km‐long fifth‐century extension to the west tapped a larger aquifer. Although historical records testify at least 700 years of aqueduct activity, carbonate deposits in the aqueduct system display less than 27 years of operation. This implies that the entire system must have been cleaned of carbonate, presumably during regular campaigns. A 50‐km‐long double‐aqueduct section in the central part of the system may have been a costly but practical solution to allow repairs and cleaning of the aqueducts of carbonate to ascertain a continuous water supply to the city. The fifth‐century channel was commonly contaminated with clay, caused by the nature of the aqueduct system and possible local damage to the channel. This clay‐rich water could have been one of the reasons for the construction of large reservoirs in Constantinople. imageLeverhulme Trust http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000275Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/50110000165

İzmir‐Ankara suture as a Triassic to Cretaceous plate boundary – data from central Anatolia

The İzmir‐Ankara suture represents part of the boundary between Laurasia and Gondwana along which a wide Tethyan ocean was subducted. In northwest Turkey, it is associated with distinct oceanic subduction‐accretion complexes of Late Triassic, Jurassic and Late Cretaceous ages. The Late Triassic and Jurassic accretion complexes consist predominantly of basalt with lesser amounts of shale, limestone, chert, Permian (274 Ma zircon U‐Pb age) metagabbro and serpentinite, which have undergone greenschist facies metamorphism. Ar‐Ar muscovite ages from the phyllites range from 210 Ma down to 145 Ma with a broad southward younging. The Late Cretaceous subduction‐accretion complex, the ophiolitic mélange, consists of basalt, radiolarian chert, shale and minor amounts of recrystallized limestone, serpentinite and greywacke, showing various degrees of blueschist facies metamorphism and penetrative deformation. Ar‐Ar phengite ages from two blueschist metabasites are ca. 80 Ma (Campanian). The ophiolitic mélange includes large Jurassic peridotite‐gabbro bodies with plagiogranites with ca. 180 Ma U‐Pb zircon ages. Geochronological and geological data show that Permian to Cretaceous oceanic lithosphere was subducted north under the Pontides from the Late Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. This period was characterized generally by subduction‐accretion, except in the Early Cretaceous, when subduction‐erosion took place. In the Sakarya segment all the subduction accretion complexes, as well as the adjacent continental sequences, are unconformably overlain by Lower Eocene red beds. This, along with the stratigraphy of the Sakarya Zone indicate that the hard collision between the Sakarya Zone and the Anatolide‐Tauride Block took place in Paleocene

Tephrostratigraphy and chronology of the Quaternary Gölludağ and Acıgöl volcanic complexes (Central Anatolia, Turkey)

International audienc

Geomorphology and tephrochronology review of the Hasandağ volcano (southern Cappadocia, Turkey)

International audienc

Identification and Dating of Tephra Layers from Quaternary Sedimentary Sequences of Inner Anatolia, Turkey

International audienc

The stomach content of a Mediterranean Monk Seal ( Monachus monachus

The stomach contents of an adult Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) found stranded on the Turkish eastern Mediterranean coast near Antalya in May 2013 were analysed. In total, 69 individual food items were counted and nine taxa were identified to species or family level. Of the identified taxa, Sparidae was the most highly represented family of prey fish, and one cephalopod species, Octopus vulgaris, was found. Ariosoma balearicum and Argyrosomus regius were encountered for the first time in the diet of a Monk Seal in the Mediterranean. Several body parts (three heads, six forelimbs, neck bones and fractured upper forelimb bones) of Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) were also identified, which is the first record of this species in the Monk Seal's diet

Lacustrine mineral facies and implications for estimation of palaeoenvironmental parameters: Neogene intervolcanic Pelitçik Basin (Galatean Volcanic Province), Turkey

The mineralogy of the Neogene lacustrine facies of Pelitcik basin was investigated for the purpose of deriving the palaeoenvironmental parameters of this intervolcanic basin. The laboratory studies indicate that dolomite and K-feldspar are the major non-clay minerals in the study area, where plagioclase, analcime, fibrous zeolite and quartz are the minor constituents. Dolomites are found to be non-stoichiometric in chemistry. The clay fraction of the lacustrine facies is composed mainly of dioctahedral smectites. The smectites are rich in Al-Fe indicating a detrital origin. Illite comprises a minor contribution to the clay fraction, where chlorite and kaolinite are found in trace amounts. Based on dolomite stoichiometry and the mineral paragenesis found in the Pelitcik basin, the depositional conditions are suggested to have been a shallow, quiet, perennial lacustrine environment with fresh to slightly saline and slightly alkaline water chemistry. In addition, based on geological and mineralogical constraints, it is suggested that the water chemistry fluctuated during the deposition of the Pazar formation and the lake began its evolution with a hydrologically closed system and completed its evolution with a hydrologically open system