Turkish glaciers and glacial deposits

Present day glaciers and glacier-related landforms in Turkey occur in 3 major regions:o1.The Taurus Mountain Range (Mediterranean coast and SE Turkey): Two thirds of the present day glaciers are concentrated in the SE part. Among these mountains, Mount Cilo (4135 m) alone supports more than ten glaciers. Here the actual snowline changes between 3400-3600 m and the Last Glacial snowline is estimated to have been at around 2800 m (Messerli, 1967). In the Central part, Alada (3756 m) Bolkarda (3524 m) constitute two of the most important mountains where modern glaciers, although very small, are present. Even though there are signs of past glacial activity (Last Glacial snowline is estimated to be around 2200 m), no glaciers are present in the W Taurus Mountains today.2.The Pontic Mountain Range (Eastern Black Sea coast): The highest peak of the Pontic Range is Mount Kaçkar (3932 m) where five glaciers are developed. Several other mountains such as Verçenik (3710 m), Bulut (3562 m), Altiparmak (3353 m), Karagöl (3107 m) and Karada (3331 m) also support various glaciers (Leutelt, 1935; Lembke, 1939; Blumenthal, 1958). The modern snowline elevation is much lower on the north facing slopes (3100-3200 m) compared to the south facing ones (3550 m), because of the effect of humid air masses (Erinç, 1952a). The Last Glacial snowline elevation was 2600 m on average.3.Volcanoes and independent mountain chains scattered across the Antolian plateau: In the interior of the country, volcanoes such as Mount Ari (Ararat) (5165 m), with an ice cap of 10 km ² ; Mount Süphan (4058 m) and Mount Erciyes (3916 m) show signs of glacial activity and active glaciers. On the other hand, Mount Uluda (2543 m), Mount Mercan (3368 m) and Mount Mescid (3239 m) in Central Anatolia also bear traces of past glacial activity. As a whole, very limited data are available on Turkish glaciers, and recent observations indicate a glacier recession at least since from the beginning of the 20th century.