Potential Geoheritage Assessment; Dereiçi Travertines, Başkale, Van (East Anatolian Turkey)

Abstract

Dereiçi travertines famous for their Pamukkale-like conveyors are located to the south of the Başkale district of Van. The travertines are located after the 30th km of Başkale - Hakkâri highway and after 12 km by the road separating to the west. In this study, the morphological analyzes of travertines bearing geological heritages and their evaluation as \"geo-tourism\" were investigated. The oldest travertines in the region are the Layer-Type Traverteners at the base. On the Layer Type Travertines are the shear cracks developed in the K 10 B and K 40 D directions due to regional compressions and the Ridge Type Travertines formed by the waters from this crack. Finally, the waters draining down the slope from the cracks opening in the northeastern slope of the Ridge Type Travertines form the old and current Terrace Type Travertines.There are also small-sized Cave Type Travertines in the void spaces of various sizes developed in back-type travertines. When considered in potential of geoheritage, the region draws attention with two Ridge Type Travertines, a traverten bridge, some non-active terraced travertine, and a waterfall along a shear crack.In addition, the appearance of the natural walls formed by the downwind water due to the inclination of the Ridge Type Travertines along the northeast patch is also worth seeing. Dereiçi Travertines is one of the most important regions to be evaluated and protected from the perspective of geoheritage. However, these geological assets have not been found to be interesting, but at the same time, they have recently become the targets of the managerships looking for marble industry. Moreover, because of the increasingly decreasing hydrothermal waters coming out of the cracks, some of these terraces are dried up and some of them are coming to the stage of drying.The measures to be taken in order to continue natural formation are discussed in this article.