IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR YOUNGER DRYAS GLACIER ADVANCES IN THE MOUNTAINS OF ANATOLIA?

Anatolia has certainly not been considered a key site for paleoglacial chronologies, including evidence for a Younger Dryas paleoglacial signal. Similarly, little is known on the ice-age evolution of this part of the world. Things have changed recently.

Today, only relict glaciers exist in the mountains of Anatolia. In important contrast to the present situation is a well developed moraine system of a paleo maximum ice extent which is correlated with the global Last Glacial Maximum (Akçar et al. 2014). In addition, Late Glacial stadials are mapped and dated. However, evidence for Little Ice Age glacier expansion is doubtful, except for voluminous and spectacular rock-glacier activity in the highest cirques. In several locations a set of moraine ridges is found in the cirque areas, external to the rock glaciers. The most complete sequence, which is as well dated, is at Uludag in Western Turkey. Uludag is a solitary mountain range located to the southwest of Bursa, south of the Marmara Sea, reaching an elevation of 2542 m asl. A morpho-complex of three cirques opens to the north. All three locations exhibit a set of moraine ridges, external to perennial snow patches. 10Be boulder ages are in the order of 11.6 +/- 0.7 ka. The corresponding ice extent for such glaciers was 500 to 800 m from the peaks. Additional sites for Younger Dryas candidates in Turkey are: Kartal Lake Valley (Sarikaya et al. 2008), Muslu Valley (Zahno et al. 2009), Hacer Valley (Zreda et al. 2011), Kavron and adjacent Valleys (Akçar et al. 2008). The recorded glacier response in the Eastern Mediterranean to the Younger Dryas cooling is an important input to paleocirculation modeling.