Periglacial Landforms on Mount Çadır and Their Effects on Soil Formation, NE Türkiye

Abstract

Periglacial processes occur in periglacial areas and areas where cold environmental conditions prevail. Climatic conditions and soil formation processes control periglacial landforms. Mount Çadır (3054 m a.s.l.) is located Northeast of Türkiye on the natural border between the Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia Regions. This study aims to determine the geomorphological development of different periglacial landforms on Mount Çadır and to examine the soils formed on these periglacial landforms with the effect of climate and the soil formation process. The study method is based on geomorphological observations and laboratory analyses. Hypsometric measurements were made in this context, and 36 soil samples were collected. Afterwards, the data were obtained through statistical and physico-chemical properties. Periglacial landforms consisting of non-sorted steps, mud circles, and stony earth circles on the summit plains and sloping slopes on Mount Çadır are located in the 2598–3018 m a.s.l. elevation range. The statistical analyses of the periglacial landforms indicate a significant positive correlation coefficients at 0.01 level between length and width, 0.01 level between length and elevation, and 0.01 level between length and elevation. The values obtained from the soil analysis differ for each periglacial landform. Regarding the physical properties of the soils, the average aggregate stability and soil clay contents of the formed stony earth circles were 58.4% and 10.4%, respectively. At the same time, these values increased significantly in the soils formed on mud circles and non-sorted steps. Although the distribution of primary clay minerals in the soils was generally the same, quartz was more common in the soils formed on periglacial landforms. Moreover, the role of local or microtopographic landforms in the variation of soil pedological processes has been stated in many studies. The current research has also revealed that this case is also valid for unique periglacial micro-landforms. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.