Pleistocene Glacier Heritage and Present-Day Glaciers in the Southeastern Taurus (Ihtiyar Sahap Mountains)

Abstract

Contemporary and past glacial landforms are common in the higher sections of Turkish mountains. The Eastern Black Sea Mountains, the Taurus, and individual high mountains in Central and Eastern Anatolia contain glacier landforms and landscapes, hosting also actual glaciers. The high mountainous landscapes of these regions are deeply marked by the influence of intense glaciation that occurred approximately 20,000 years ago. These landscapes owe much to karstic processes too. In Eastern Anatolia (Southeastern Taurus), glacier morphological heritage from the Last Glacial and contemporary glaciers concentrates in two main ranges. The first one, located in the Southeastern Turkey between Iraqi and Iranian borders, includes the Buzul (Cilo glaciers) and Ikiyaka (Sat glaciers) Mountains. The second one, located to the south of Lake Van, is the Ihtiyar Sahap Mountains. Compared to the Buzul and Ikiyaka Mountains where contemporary glaciers still cover relatively large areas, glaciers in the Ihtiyar Sahap Mountains are much smaller. In the Ihtiyar Sahap Mountains, the permanent Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) snowline was 2700 m above sea level (a.s.l.). Today, the snowline has risen so high (3200-3300 m a.s.l.) that young moraine deposits and rock glaciers now cover the cirques of the melting glaciers.