Late Holocene erosion in NW Anatolia from sediments of Lake Manyas, Lake Ulubat and the southern shelf of the Marmara Sea, Turkey

This paper deals with modern and ancient sedimentation in fresh water lakes and the marine shelf of the southern Marmara region, NW Anatolia, Turkey. Most of the information has been obtained from monitoring of suspended load discharged into two lakes (Manyas and Ulubat) in the last 45 years and from 8 to 11 m thick lacustrine sediments, in addition to radiocarbon-dated shelf sediments. This allows a holistic approach to the drainage basin denudation over time. The results show that the sedimentation rates in the lakes were low 0.22 cm year −1, from 4000 to 2000 years BP and then they increased (0.29 cm year −1) up to sub-recent times and reached 0.44 cm year −1 in the last century. It is suggested that deforestation created high rates of sedimentation in the basins and/or strong denudation of the region during the Late Holocene. This study also shows that for shallow freshwater lakes the calculation of sedimentation rates must include fine particles lost by the outlets and coarse-grained bed load deposited on their shores. In addition, a high rate of sedimentation has been created by short, but repetitive intense depositions. During the last century particularly during the last 45 years, the rate of sedimentation or denudation has increased dramatically in NW Turkey. The two World Wars and mismanagement of the land had important local effects by increasing deforestation and resulting in the present erosive conditions.