Türkiye Jeoloji Bülteni

Pleistocene Glaciations in Karadağ, Western Taurus Mountains, Turkey.

Abstract: Karadağ is one of the mountains subjected to the Pleistocene glaciations in the Teke Peninsula (WesternTaurus) along with Beydağları, Akdağ, and Sandıras Mountains. Karadağ, which reaches 2418 m summit at a 30km straight distance from the northeast of Fethiye Bay, has many peaks over 2300 m. There are plenty of glacialresearches and dating studies aim to reveal Pleistocene glaciation chronology of the mountains such as Sandırasand Akdağ in the Teke Peninsula. On the other hand, glaciations in Beydağları were mentioned superficially and ingeneral terms. Lastly, there has not been known any glaciation phenomenon in Karadağ, in other words there are notany studies concerning the glaciation on the mountain. However, Karadağ has distinctive cirques and moraines onthe slopes of high elevations near the peak. In this study, we identified glacial valleys, cirques developed in differentsizes and aspects and lastly frontal and hummocky moraines in front of these cirques. They are descending to theelevation of 1800 m. With this study, a new glacial area was identified in Turkey and made a contribution to theglaciation inventory of Turkey. This study aims to reveal the geomorphological and climatological characteristics ofthis area with regard to tectonic, climatic and karstic characteristics during Pleistocene. Maps and relevant outputswere created and analyzed by geographic information systems using the spatial data obtained from the field studies,unmanned aerial vehicles and meteorological stations.