ON THE TRACK OF GLACIER LAKES...

[For more information on the glaciers of Turkey see:
pubs.usgs.gov/prof/p1386g/turkey.pdf
For more information on mountain climbing see:
http://www.adiyamanli.org/mountaineering_turkey.htm ]


x0x ON THE TRACK OF GLACIER LAKES...

By Yildirim Gungor


Carrying a heavy pack on your back you climb the seemingly endless
winding path upwards. You are out of breath, and at every step your
pack seems to get heavier. Each breath you take falls into a rhythm
with your heart beat. You turn around and look back. Far below you
catch sight of the flat grassy spot where your tent stood just that
morning and you ate breakfast. As a light drizzle begins to fall, you
notice the black clouds and begin to walk faster. A sparrow darts in
front of you with a wild cry, and behind it comes a bird of prey. Life
depends on a single extra flap of the wing. The final few steps, a
final effort, and suddenly you emerge on a flat meadow. All around you
are colourful flowers. You are in a world of enchantment. You long to
just stretch out on the ground, but your goal is not far now. First
you hear the rippling sound of a small stream and then a huge blue
lake appears before you like an enormous emerald hidden amongst tall
wild peaks. Your wonderment quickly makes way for panic. Claps of
thunder shake the sky, and rain buckets down.


Reclining in your tent, a cup of coffee in hand, you watch the
rainfall drumming on the lake. Safe from the elements, thoughts run
through your head. Human beings have always had to battle with nature,
finding new solutions to each problem encountered. The greatest
struggle for survival took place during the ice ages, in a ruthless
battle in which the odds were against mankind. Yet they managed to
come out of it alive. In time the climate warmed, and the glaciers
retreated, only to move downwards again in cold periods, reaching
right into the valleys. In the course of this movement to and fro, the
glaciers scraped and ground the valley floors like gigantic files, and
dug out the plateaus into bowls of all shapes and sizes. Valleys were
gradually eroded into troughs, and the bowls filled with water to form
glacier lakes. Water from these lakes flowed down through the glacier
valleys, and human settlements were established on their gouged out
floors.


Small streams flowing from glacier lakes converged to form larger
streams, which in turn converged again to form great rivers. Their
banks became home to civilizations founded by people in search of
water and fertile soil. Thus glaciers and glacier lakes became an
inseparable part of human life. All over the world glacier lakes are
to be found in high mountains. In Turkey they are to be found in the
mountains of the Eastern Black Sea, Toros, Cilo, Munzur and other
ranges, along with glaciers and innumerable glacier valleys. On the
summit of Mount Suphan in eastern Turkey is a glacier lake which
sometimes dries up completely in summer. At over 4000 metres, this is
the highest glacier lake in Turkey.


The Kackar Mountains of the Eastern Black Sea region are full of
glacier lakes, created by the Greater, Lesser and Southern glaciers
remaining from the last ice age, and by many small glaciers on their
northern slopes. These lakes water the entire region. They are the
source of the Kavran, Ceymakcur, Palakcur, Avacur and Kackar rivers,
each of which flows through a broad glacier valley, and converging
with streams from Vercenik form the fierce torrent of the Firtina
River. To the south the Davali , Buyukcay and Bulut rivers join those
from Mount Altiparmak to form the Barhal River, which is the main
source of the great Coruh River. Seeking out glacier lakes is a
fascinating journey through geological and human time, revealing
nature at its most remote and spectacular.

* Yildirim Gungor is a geologist