Glaciers on Turkey's highest mountain melting

Photos: AA

The glaciers on Mount Ağrı, Turkey's highest point with an altitude of 5,137 meters (over 16,853 feet), are melting due to increasing temperatures.

A glacier with an area of 10.2 square kilometers (4 square miles) on the summit of the mountain extends from the south to Öküz (ox) Stream in Dogubayazit district of Ağrı province, and from the north to the Cehennem (Hell) Valley in the Aralık district of Iğdır province.

The glacier on the summit of Mount Ağrı is of great importance for the region, Oğuz Şimşek, an associate professor at the Department of Geography in Iğdır University, told the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA).

Underlining that the largest glacier cover in Turkey is located on Mount Ağrı, Şimşek said global warming, whose effects have been clearly seen in Turkey recently, has caused the glaciers to melt in early July and August, causing landslides in the region.

The professor noted that glacial meltdowns occurring especially in Öküz Stream on the south-facing side of Mount Ağrı are clearly visible.

Triggered by glacial melt, the wet soil flows down the mountain slopes to the residential areas by picking up morainal material in its path, he added. (VK)