Project Details
Projekt
Evolution of highly explosive Nemrut and Süphan volcanoes (NE Anatolia) and Lake Van basin during the past 500.000 years
Applicant
Professor Dr. Hans-Ulrich Schmincke (†)
Subject Area
Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
Term
from 2009 to 2012
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 148952542
The overall objective is a temporal, geodynamic and environmental reconstruction of a tectonically and volcanically highly active, volcano-bordered, closed lake basin. Coupling of the systems active volcanoes Nemrut and Süphan - alkaline Lake Van (Anatolia) over the past c. 500 ka will be studied by analyzing deposits of large explosive eruptions on land and via available short cores in preparation for a lake drilling project (2010). Tephra of widespread major explosive volcanic events from both volcanoes (fallout and flow deposits) will be analyzed in the field and laboratory by structural, textural, compositional and physical age determinations (XRF, EMP, laser-ICP-MS of glass and phenocrysts and 40Ar/39Ar single crystal dating). These data will allow determination of the magnitude of eruptions, their distribution in time and space, regional correlation and correlation with, and between, drill sites and mass flux into the lake through time. Major goals include short and long-term climate impacts as reflected in paleosols separating major tephra units and paleowind directions. Temporal and dynamic reconstruction of volcanic mass transfer (Plinian fallout, pyroclastic flows, flank collapses and tsunamis resulting from sudden mass impact onto the lake) will help to assess hazard and risk for the populated areas bordering Lake Van, an area of rapid development in Turkey.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
