Surface exposure dating of Late Pleistocene glaciations at the Dedegöl Mountains (Lake Beyşehir, SW Turkey)

Situated on the interior side of the western central Taurus Mountains of SW Anatolia, the Muslu Valley in the Dedegöl Mountains (Mt Dipoyraz: 37° 37′ 07″ N, 31° 19′ 42″ E, 2992 m above sea level (a.s.l.)) represents the lower part of a formerly glaciated valley system of ∼7.5 km in length. Surface exposure ages with cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al date a glacier expansion out of the Muslu Valley 24.3 ± 1.8 ka ago (1σ confidence interval) and give evidence for pronounced glacier advances prior to the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 21 ± 2 ka). Deglaciation commenced no later than 17.7 ± 1.4 ka ago. Superimposed climatic oscillations are indicated by glacier fluctuations dated around 19.8 ± 1.6 ka and again 13.9 ± 2.3 ka prior to the first major amelioration of climate. The Late Pleistocene glacier chronology from the western central Taurus Mountains, published lake level fluctuation data of palaeolake Konya and Lake Beyşehir, and nearby pollen data on the central Anatolian plateau reveal a conspicuous time correlation of palaeoenvironmental change. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.