As being a geologist; micropaleontologist, I have been working on past climate and environmental changes in different regions of Anatolia for the past 15 years. We investigate climate and environmental changes from the Holocene to the present using high-resolution multi-proxy data from lake and marine sediments. The Anatolian peninsula, located in a tectonically active area, has a dynamic structure. The high altitude of Eastern Anatolia and the low altitude of Western Anatolia, the mountain ranges from the north and south (respectively, the Pontids and the Taurids), and the presence of different geographic structures make the region have very different climate types.
The normal fault-formed horst-graben systems of Western Anatolia have been preferred locations for ancient civilizations. The vertical mountains to the sea and the formation of wide plains by rivers have created fertile areas for agriculture and have allowed them to effectively use sea trade. However, as previously mentioned, the dynamic structure of Anatolia is an area of many changes in delta environments from the Holocene to the present. Determining past environments and human settlements in these areas is important for understanding human interactions. One of the most important factors in environmental changes is sudden or gradual changes in climate. Especially, the displacement of water sources due to seismic activity or climate change has greatly affected ancient settlements.
When evaluating past climate changes on a more recent scale, we understand that the weather conditions and climate changes of the last 800 years can be determined from the Ottoman archives of the Thrace and Marmara regions, and can be compared with the high-resolution multi-proxy data obtained from sediment records using various environmental markers. With this aim, *we target to determine the climate changes of the last millennium in Istanbul and its surroundings by comparing Ottoman archives and sediment core geochemistry and micropaleontology analyses obtained from Küçükçekmece, with a high resolution.
*P.S. This project proposal was jointly prepared by Dr. Sena Akçer and Dr. Özlem Sert, with contributions from Dr. Zeki Bora Ön, Dr. Demet Biltekin, Dr. Deniz Bozkurt, Dr. Ozan Mert Göktürk, and Prof. Dr. Nesibe Köse.
Author: Dr. Sena Akçer Ön
