Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Geomorphology, cilt.464, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
The Söğüt Mountains is a fault-bounded carbonate range situated between the active Acıgöl and Akgöl grabens in southwestern Türkiye. The southwestern sector of the Acıgöl Graben floor displays an array of faults that have produced peculiar intra-basin half-grabens with local lakes and drainages. The conspicuous geomorphic expression of the intra-basin faults and depressions in this sector of the basin is attributed to low sedimentation rate (i.e., starved basin) related to very limited runoff and sediment supply from the southwestern carbonate margin of the basin, dominated by subsurface drainage in a carbonate bedrock strongly affected by gravitational deformation and karstification. Detailed mapping reveals the presence of large landslides and extensive DSGSDs in the mountain fronts flanking the Söğüt Mountains, showing ridge-top depression, uphill-facing scarps, high-relief downhill-facing scarps, and toe bulges. Cartographic relationships provide insights into the development and evolution of the deformations in the slopes that experience continuous tectonic rejuvenation and debuttressing. DSGSDs and large landslides take advantage of secondary synthetic tectonic faults, in which gravitational and tectonic displacement are superposed. The transformation of DSGSDs into large to giant short runout landslides (up to ca. 3.5 Gm3) occurs mainly on laterally unconfined slopes associated with bends and stepovers in the basin-bounding faults. Seismicity is likely the main triggering factor controlling the kinematics of the gravitational deformations and landslides. Cartographic evidence indicate downslope propagation of the gravitational deformation (uphill-facing-scarps and associated troughs) in the tectonically growing slopes. Additionally, preferential development of solution sinkholes is observed in gravitationally distorted slopes with impeded surface drainage.