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Geological Background and Three Vulnerable Geosites of the Kızılcahamam–Çamlıdere Geopark Project in Ankara, Turkey

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Abstract

Country-scale geological events of Neogene and Quaternary age are called neotectonism and so this is known as the neotectonic period in Turkey, where it was responsible for initiating and molding the present-day geomorphology of Anatolia. The neotectonism of the northwestern Anatolia (=western Pontides) are mainly represented by volcanic rocks called the Galatian Volcanic Complex (GVC) which consists of a series of andesites, basalts, and their pyroclastics. Rock sequences of the GVC indicate that volcanism took place abundantly in early and middle Miocene times as three separate phases intercalated by long-term fluviolacustrine environmental conditions. Therefore, the GVC consists of not only volcanics but also volcano sedimentary and pure sedimentary units. It blankets the various rock units from late Palaeozoic to Oligocene in age (=the Anatolian continent, substratum). As a result, rock units of the substratum here and the GVC together represent the whole record of the geological past of the western Pontides. Meantime, this region has been watched daily by thousands of travelers due to presence of highways, bringing a very colorful landscape with many erosional features to the public’s attention. In 2011, a 2,000 km2 part of the Galatian Volcanic Complex was registered as a geoconservation area called the Kızılcahamam–Çamlıdere Geopark Project by the authorized Turkish institutions. The general geology of the area and three geosites are introduced here. These geosites include (a) a petrified forest, (b) columnar basalts, and (c) a lacustrine sequence with leaf, fish, and insect fossils. These three geosites are the best representatives for demonstrating the Miocene environmental circumstances and sedimentary responses to a long-term, large-scale volcanism during the neotectonic period.

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Acknowledgments

Members of Turkish Association for Conservation of Geological Heritage–Jemirko, particularly Yaşar Suludere, helped with the preparation of early version of these notes. Gürol Seyitoğlu read the text and added some comments. Cemal Taluğ Rector of Ankara University, deans of Engineering Faculty, Head of the Kızılcahamam Municipality Coşkun Ünal, Kaymakams Bilal Çelik, Mustafa Çit, and Kaymakam of Çamlıdere Aydın Erdoğan gave full support during the geopark studies. Yaşar Suludere, Muzaffer Eker, Sevim Tuzcu, Hamdi Mengi, Necip Mülazımoğlu, Sonay Boyraz, Nurten Mercan worked in the field for the description of the geosites. In addition many local people and undergraduate students Özgür Yedek, Onur Yücel of Ankara University spent considerable effort to develop public awareness. Excursion participants of the Tectonic Crossroad Congress at Ankara in 2010 visited the geopark and gave new sights on the interpretation of the geosites. Valuable comments of the reviewers Alexandru Andrasanu and an anonymous one and José Brilha the journal editor provided significant contributions for the final version of the manuscript. They all are acknowledged with great pleasure.

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Kazancı, N. Geological Background and Three Vulnerable Geosites of the Kızılcahamam–Çamlıdere Geopark Project in Ankara, Turkey. Geoheritage 4, 249–261 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-012-0064-2

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