Fluvial stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments in the Pasinler Basin, eastern Turkey

Valley floor sediments from the Pasinler Basin, eastern Turkey, provide evidence for Pleistocene and Holocene floodplain conditions. Three terrace surfaces are present. Evidence for tectonic processes active during the Late Neogene is widespread within the basin, but tectonic processes do not appear to have substantially influenced the details of the Holocene palaeoenvironmental record. Significant changes in hydrology are recorded, with more stable floodplain conditions occurring at around 9000, 5500 and 4000 cal. yr BP. Incision occurred sometime after approximately 4000 BP, probably as a response to dual climatic and human controls. Comparisons with key sites in the Anatolian region and beyond suggest these changes are part of a regional climatic pattern, perhaps influenced by changes in the East African Monsoon. Differences in the details of the records across the region reflect the characteristics of the local environment, which, increasingly in the latter Holocene, includes human activity.