Geology of the conveyance tunnel for the Mersin-Tarsus Plains Irrigation Project, Icel, Turkey

 This paper discusses the geology in the area northwest of Tarsus, southern Turkey, where a conveyance tunnel for the Mersin-Tarsus Plains Irrigation Project was to be constructed. The scheme was to use water discharging from the Pamukluk dam, the main unit of the Mersin-Tarsus project. The paper describes the rock classifications of the proposed conveyance tunnel of the Mersin-Tarsus Plains Irrigation Project. Rock mass quality and selection of the appropriate support system for the rock units along the tunnel were determined using RMR, Q and RSR classifications. Six different units and eight rock mass classes were determined along the conveyance tunnel, about 5 km in length. The main rock units along the tunnel alignment consist of Paleozoic dolomitic limestone, schist, breccia and marble; Mesozoic limestone and magmatic rock complexes (granophyre, gabbro, diorites); Cenozoic sandstone-marl-conglomerate and reef limestones. Received: 4 August 1999 · Accepted: 29 March 2000