Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
that a further set of moraines at c. 2200 m in the high cirque of Megali Kazania may
be Holocene Neoglacial features. However, features at a similar altitude on Mount
Smolikas (2632 m asl) in the Pindos Mountains were argued to be of Late-glacial
age (Hughes
et al.
, 2006d).
3.2.9 Turkey
The mountains of Turkey cover a vast area spanning from the Mediterranean Sea to
the borders of Georgia, Armenia, Iran and Iraq. Where the Mediterranean influence
ends and begins is difficult to establish, although even the mountains of far north-
eastern Turkey are likely to have been influenced, at least in part, by Mediterranean
climate systems during the Pleistocene.
In the Ka¸kar Mountains, bordering the Black Sea (in NE Turkey Figure 3.1),
Ak¸ar
et al.
(2007) have presented
10
Be ages from granitic surfaces in the Kavron
Valley on the southern slopes of the highest peak, Ka¸kar Dagı (3932 m asl).
The Kavron Valley glacier advance began at least 26
±
1.2 ka and continued un-
til 18.3
0.7 ka the main
valley became ice-free with glaciers restricted to tributary cirques. A later glacier
advance took place between 13.0
±
0.9 ka. After this time the glacier retreated and by 15.5
±
0.8 ka. A similar situation has
been reported from a northward-draining valley of Mount Ver¸enik (3907 m asl), the
second highest peak in the Ka¸kar Mountains. Here, a valley glacier advanced be-
fore 26.1
±
0.8 and 11.5
±
1.0 ka. According to Ak¸ar
et al.
(2008), the Ver¸enik glacier collapsed rapidly and after 17.7
±
0.8 ka the main
valley was ice-free with only five small glaciers in tributary valleys. Among these,
the Hem¸in glacier had completed its retreat by c. 15.7
±
0.8 ka. This was followed
by a Late-glacial advance, identified on the basis of glacial erosion features (Ak¸ar
et al.
, 2008).
In western Turkey, in the north-facing valleys of Mount Sandıras (2295 m asl),
Late Pleistocene glaciers extended to c. 1.5 km in length and terminated at an alti-
tude of c. 1900 m asl. Sarıkaya
et al.
(2008) have utilized
in situ
cosmogenic
36
Cl
to ascertain the exposure age of boulders on moraine surfaces in these valleys and
found that the last local glacier maximum occurred at approximately 20.4
±
1.2 ka and continued to advance until 18.8
±
±
1.3 ka.
In this valley, glacier retreat was interrupted by readvances at c. 19.6
1.6 ka and
16.2
±
0.5 ka. Glacier modelling suggests that temperatures during the last glacier
maximum on Mount Sandıras were 8.5-11.5
◦
C lower than modern values and that
precipitation was nearly double that of today (Sarıkaya
et al.
, 2008).
On Mount Erciyes in central Turkey, Sarıkaya
et al
. (2009) found evidence of
four periods of glaciation. Glaciations on this extinct volcano were dated using
36
Cl nuclide analysis to provide exposure ages for 44 moraine boulders. The largest
glacier formed close in time to the LGM and reached 6 km in length and descended
to an altitude of 2150 m asl. These glaciers began to retreat 21.3
±
0.9 ka. The
glaciers then readvanced and retreated by 14.6
±
1.2 ka (Late-glacial), and again
by 9.3
±
±
0.5 ka during the Early Holocene. The last glacier advance took place at
