Vulnerability of coastal archaeological sites of Turkey to sea level rise

Date

2025-4-09

Author

Kösem, İremnaz

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Coasts have always been the centers of cultural exchange and trade, which can be seen clearly by the cultural heritage sites left behind. Those sites hold the essence of a society with its art and history, in addition to providing significant resources for the land’s economic and social development. With its 8333 km long coastline, Türkiye is one of the countries with numerous coastal cultural heritage sites, and it is expected that the rise of sea levels due to climate change will negatively affect those sites at different levels. This study aims to assess the vulnerability of archaeological heritage sites protected by law along the coasts of Türkiye to sea level rise and its impacts (coastal erosion, flooding, and permanent loss of land caused by extreme water levels). For this purpose, a coastal cultural heritage vulnerability assessment model (CCHVAM) is developed and utilized. It is found that over 35% of the coastal cultural heritage sites of Turkey have high vulnerability to sea level rise based on both the SSP2-4.5 and the SSP5-8.5 scenarios. Furthermore, coastal erosion analysis is performed using the vi Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) and the Shoreline Simulation (ShorelineS) Model on two of the assessed heritage sites. The analyses performed on the shorelines of the Anemurium Ancient City and the Soli-Pompeiopolis Ancient City revealed that there are many ancient buildings on the beach in these sites, and they are threatened by coastal erosion. Finally, it is found by the projections made that in these two sites, the average coastline movement is over 20 m landward by 2050.

Subject Keywords

Vulnerability assessment, Climate change, Coastal erosion, Cultural heritage, Sea level rise

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/114549

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis