Soil liquefaction susceptibility of Akcay residential area (Biga Peninsula, Turkey) close to North Anatolian Fault Zone

Balikesir province Akcay district (Biga Peninsula, South Marmara Region, Turkey); the studied area is located on the southern branch of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, where some earthquake, ۱۸۶۷ Edremit (Mw =۷.۰), ۱۹۱۹ Ayvalik-Sarmisakli (Mw = ۷.۰), ۱۹۴۴ Edremit (Mw =۶.۴) and ۱۹۵۳ Yenice (Mw = ۷.۲) earthquakes occurred in the historical and the instrumental period. In the said area, generally, the groundwater level is high and sandy soils are widespread. In this study, therefore topography, depth of groundwater table and soil characteristics of the said area were investigated in terms of susceptibility to liquefaction. In addition, the safety factor against liquefaction (FL) for the soil layers were determined by using simple procedure based on SPT-N values. Then the spatial distributions of the safety factor at ۳ m, ۶ m, ۹ m, ۱۲ m, ۱۵ m and ۱۸ m depths were obtained. Taking into considering FL values obtained, the liquefaction potential index and the liquefaction severity index of soil profile in the location of boring were calculated, then the spatial distributions of these index were obtained. According to the maps obtained, ۵.۸% of the studied area has low liquefaction potential, ۱۰.۷% medium liquefaction potential, ۱۸.۳% high liquefaction potential, and ۵۳.۸% very high liquefaction potential, and ۲۲.۷% of the study area has very low liquefaction severity, ۱۷.۱% low liquefaction severity, ۴۷.۷% moderate liquefaction severity, and ۱.۱% high liquefaction severity and ۱۱.۴% of the studied area has none-liquefiable soil.

Keywords:

North Anatolian Fault Zone , Soil liquefaction , liquefaction potential index , liquefaction severity index