Periglacial landforms and soil formation on summit of the Mount lda (Kaz Dağı), Biga Peninsula-Turkey

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study is to reveal geomorphological characteristics and evolution of the periglacial landforms occurred on the summit of the Kaz Dağı (in Turkish) characterised with a specific mountain environment developed under the dry summer subtropical Mediterranean climate. To reach this aim, morphoclimatic processes-characteristics and soil development of the Kaz Dağı district have been evaluated. Kaz Dağı (1774 m a.s.l.), which had been called as the Mount Ida in Greek Mythology, forms a physical geographic border between Çanakkale and Balıkesir provinces. Periglacial landforms consisting of the non-sorted circles including mud circles and stony earth circles, non-sorted steps and cryoturbation terraces and block currents, are found in subalpine vegetation zone at upper boundary of Mount Ida. According to morphogenetic process analysis, on the summit of the Kaz Dağı, the dominant processes are freezing + freezing-thawing in the December-March period, freezing-thawing + weathering in the November and April months, and weat-hering in which frost is not effective in the April-November period. As for pedological processes and mineralogical characteristics of soils formed under the same climatic conditions but on different parent materials of various periglacial landforms, taxonomy of these soils was classified at the Entisol ordo described as young soils.

KEYWORDS:

• Mediterranean mountain climate
• sub-alpine vegetation
• periglacial process
• soil formation
• Mount Kaz (Ida)
• Turkey

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely thank to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and the Turkish Meteorological Service for supporting us with monthly and daily climatological time-series data recorded at six AWOS stations surrounding the Mount Kaz.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).