Late pleistocene cosmogenic 36Cl glacial chronology of the Mount Karanfil, Central Taurus Range, Turkey

Abstract

The glacial chronology of the Taurus Mountain Range of Turkey is probably one of the best studied in the world thanks to several works and publications that use quantitative methods during the last decade. Here, we report the timing of deglaciations during the late Pleistocene in the Mount Karanfil (37.36oN, 35.03oE, 3026 m) in the central Taurus Range. Glaciers that originated from N-NW facing cirques at ca. 2500 m asl, deposited lateral, hummocky and terminal moraines that reach down to 2100 m asl. We dated the limestone boulders from these moraines by terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide 36Cl surface exposure method. A total of 20 boulder ages indicate up to 3 phases of deglaciation during the late Pleistocene. Three glaciers that deposited well-developed lateral moraines ca. 1.5 km long and up to 50 m high, yield an average mean age of ∼20 ka corresponding to the local Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Another moraine, at slightly higher elevations, testifies to the presence of Late Glacial (∼15 ka) in the Mount Karanfil. Finally, a lower cirque moraine, in contact with the upper parts of the Late Glacial moraines at ∼2200 m asl, yielded an age of 10.5 ± 1.0 ka, which indicates that glaciers totally disappeared at the onset of Holocene. A rock glacier at ca. 2500 m was also dated to early Holocene (11.5 ± 1.1 ka) indicating that in early Holocene periglacial conditions dominated in the area. The moraine and rock glacier ages are first dates obtained from this part of the Taurus Range and are compatible with glacial chronology of the southern Turkey and surrounding regions.