Investigating the potential of liquefaction issue of some Turkish dams during earthquakes

Abstract

This research is carried out to investigate and assess the critical role of soil properties and their content in influencing the soil liquefaction phenomenon that takes place when an earthquake happens. A case study is considered in this work, representing the Karakaya Dam. Two research approaches were implemented to achieve the research goal, including extrapolation in Excel and numerical optimization using linear regression. The outputs revealed that the annual temperature in the future of zones around the Karakaya Dam, including Azami, Ortalama, and Asgari, would witness a moderate increase of about 3 to 6 degrees Celsius in the next decade. Moreover, the research confirmed that the Euphrates River discharge rate at the Karakaya Dam would witness a significant increase from (100-350 m³) to (2,590-2,640 m³) in 2029, explaining that temperature and discharge rate may influence the liquefaction. Meanwhile, the research outputs indicated that soil temperature under the Karakaya Dam and chemical elements would not vary significantly in the next decade. Notwithstanding, the pH number will change widely from 4.14 to 9.74 in 2029. Besides, the most significant chemical molecule concentration in the soil under the Karakaya Dam is the phosphite anion, corresponding to a minimum and maximum concentration of 1 and 2 μg/m², respectively.