World Glacier Inventory - Inventaire mondial des Glaciers
(Proceedings of the Riederalp Workshop, September 1978; Actes de l'Atelier de Riederalp,
septembre 1978): IAHS-AISH Publ. no. 126, 1980.
Present glaciation in Turkey
A. Kurter and K. Sungur
Abstract. Glaciers are found mainly in the eastern, northeastern and southeastern parts of
Turkey in three main groups: (1 ) eastern part of the Black Sea coastal ranges, (2) the Taurus
ranges and (3) isolated extinct volcanic cones in the interior. In the first group there are several
glaciers longer than 1 km, the most famous of which is the Kaçkar Glacier. The second group
includes about two-thirds of the total number in Turkey with several longer than 4 km. The most
famous of the third group is the ice cap on Mount Agri (Ararat) with an area of 10 km 2 . The
valley glacier on the volcanic cone of Mount Erciyes is also well known.
Glaciation actuelle en Turquie
Résumé. Les glaciers sont situés principalement dans l'est, le nord-est et le sud-est de la Turquie.
On distingue trois groupes principaux: (1) la partie orientale des chaînes côtières de la mer Noire,
(2) les chaînes du Taurus et (3) certains cônes volcaniques éteints situé dans l'Intérieur. Le premier
groupe compte plusieurs glaciers dont 1a longueur est supérieure à 1 km, le plus connu d'entre eux
étant le glacier de Kaçkar. Le second groupe renferme environ les deux tiers des glaciers de la
Turquie avec plusieurs glaciers longs de plus de 4 km. Le plus célèbre glacier de ce troisième groupe
est la calotte du Mont Agri (Ararat), d'une superficie de 10 km 2 . Le glacier de vallée du cône
volcanique du Mont Erciyes est également bien connu.
INTRODUCTION
As a whole, Turkey can be considered a Mediterranean country. The mean elevation
exceeds 1000 m (1132 m) and, especially in the eastern part of the country, there are
high mountains lying above the snow line. Although the highest peaks of Turkey are
even higher than Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps, the degree of glacial
development is not of a similar magnitude due to the degree of dissection, continent ality and inadequacy of alimentation. Nevertheless, there are various types of glacier
in Turkey such as ice caps and cirque and valley glaciers which lie above the snow
line. There are also glacierets below this line, nourished by the snow coming from the
higher parts. In many places they turn into rock glaciers in their lower parts.
Glacier studies in Turkey were begun in 1842 by Hamilton. However, not all
investigators found the means of making accurate and detailed studies due, mostly, to
the absence or inadequacy of maps, as large scale topographical maps of the country
have been completed only recently. Also, air photographs have only been available
recently. Thus, elevation measurements have all depended upon altimetry by individual
scientists. For this reason, the lowest glacier elevations and the elevations of snow lines
differ from author to author. Even now, exact statements of glacier elevations are not
possible because not all glaciers are depicted on the recently completed 1:25 000 maps.
Thus, maps and air photographs should be used together in order to overcome this
difficulty. The standards set for the World Glacier Inventory can only be applied in
future studies. Due to the size of the area involved and the large number of glaciers,
such studies will take a long time with employment of many technicians in addition to
scientists. Therefore, all we can do now is to describe the present glaciation in Turkey
in outline and set out its problems.
155
156
A. Kurter and K. Sungur
GLACIATION IN TURKEY
Glaciers are found mainly in the eastern, northeastern and southeastern parts of the
country between latitudes 36° and 42°N and longitudes 26° and 45°E. The three
main groups are:
(1) The eastern part of the Black Sea coastal ranges (e.g. Rize Mountains).
(2) The Taurus ranges (especially the southeastern ranges and the Aladag and
Bolkar mountains in the central part).
(3) Isolated extinct volcanic cones in the interior parts such as Mount Erciyes,
Siiphan and Agri.
These groups will be described in the following sections.
The eastern part of the Black Sea coastal ranges
The glaciers in this group are located between longitudes 38° and 41° 30'E on the Rize
Mountains. This is the most humid part of the country and precipitation is very high,
locally exceeding 2000 mm, and consequently the snow line is lowest. Locally the snow
line may be reached at altitudes as low as 3100 m on the north-facing slopes where
various mountain and valley glaciers are found. However, 3500 m can be given as a
mean value for the northern slopes, e.g. 3600-3700 m (Schweizer), 3450-3500 m (Gall),
3400-3450 m (Loffler) and 3100-3200 m (Erinç). If these determinations are right, the
snow line should be higher on the southern slopes due to lower precipitation and
higher insolation. Erinç gives an approximate altitude of 3400 m here. The Black Sea
coastal ranges have several peaks exceeding or approaching 3500 m and mostly valley
glaciers have developed in this part.
Three valley glaciers have developed on the northern part of Mount Kaçkar, the
highest peak of the group. Of these, the one on the extreme west is the longest (1.5 km)
and the other two are both about 1 km in length. There is a firn field immediately to the
west of these three glaciers, lying at about 2900 m. There is another mountain glacier
to the northwest of this area at about 3150 m. Two smaller mountain glaciers are at
the western foot of the pyramidal peak of Mount Vercenik (3711 m). There are some
block glaciers at an altitude of 2850 m on these mountains according to Krenek and
Loffler.
On the Gavur Mountains, lying further inland, there are two smaller glaciers,
approximately 80-90 m in width and 40-50 m in length. The snow line here is reached
between 3500 and 3550 m (Loffler) or 3700 to 3750 m (Schweizer) whereas the snow
line descends to about 2850 m on the northern slopes of Mount Karagôl near Giresun.
The Taurus Mountains
About two-thirds of the glaciers in Turkey are located in the southeastern part of the
Taurus range near the Turkish-Iranian border. Most of the peaks in this rugged
mountainous region exceed or equal 4000 m in altitude. There are about 20 glaciers,
some longer than 4 km and some in the form of mountain glaciers, and all have developed
on the northern slopes. The regional snow line lies between 3500 and 3600 m
according to Messerli and Schweizer. In sheltered parts, the orographic snow line may
be reached at altitudes as low as 3000 m. There are more than 15 valley and mountain
glaciers on Mount Cilo, some of which are shorter than 1 km. There are also glaciers
in this area, occupying cirques on the shady sides of crests.
Isolated extinct volcanic cones in the interior
Some glaciers have formed on isolated extinct volcanic cones in the interior of the
country where the altitude of the snow line is rather high. The three cones on which
glaciers have formed are Mount Erciyes (3917 m) in the interior of Annatolia near
Present glaciation in Turkey
157
Kayseri, Mount Siiphan (4058 m) to the north of Lake Van and Mount Agri (Ararat,
5123 m) in the east which is the highest point of Turkey.
The glacier on Mount Erciyes descends from a cirque in the northwest down to an
altitude of 3380 m, having a length of approximately 550 m according to Erinc. The
snow line in this region is reached at 3800 m on the northern and 3400 m on the
southern slopes (Erinc and Messerli). There are also rock glaciers on this mountain,
especially on slopes facing the east, as well as a firn field to the northeast of the main
glacier.
The glacier on Mount Siiphan has a mean length of 1.5 km and hangs down the
shady north facing slopes of the interior wall of the caldera, projecting its tongue
through a gap in the northwest and descending to 3400 m. There is also a firn field at
an altitude of 3600-3700 m and another firn field in the northern part of the caldera
at 3600 m.
Mount Agri is covered with a well developed ice cap which descends down to
3500 m in some parts (3900 m on the northern and 4200 m on the southern slopes).
This ice cap covers roughly 10 km2 and eleven glacier tongues descend from it.
RESULTS
Information about the glaciers in the three areas is tabulated in Tables 1-3.
DISCUSSION
Vivian:
Avez-vous noté une évolution récente des glaciers turcs et de quels documents
disposez-vous pour apprécier les fluctuations glaciaires?
Kurter:
Les glaciers turcs évoluent en forme de retrait. Nous possédons des cartes et des
photos anciens pour apprécier cette sorte de fluctuation.
Higuchi:
In the Karagôl Mountains, there are snow patches and glacierets only on the northern
slopes. What is the reason for such a tendency?
Kurter:
(1) L'insolation est plus forte aux versants sud qu'aux versants nord et (2) les masses
d'air qui portent de l'humidité viennent dans cette région toujours de la direction nord.
Ommanney:
From the material presented it seems that most of the information required for a
glacier inventory has already been compiled. Would you please elaborate on the
problem.
Kurter:
Les études détaillées sur le terrain, les examens des photos aériens et surtout les
codifications des bassins, nominations des glaciers consistent des travaux à faire en
élaboration de notre problème.
Vohra:
Is there any group or organization studying glaciers in Turkey?
Kurter:
A présent les glaciers de la Turquie ne sont étudiés per aucun group ou bien
organisation sauf notre Institut de Géographie.
158
A. Kurter and K. Sungur
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