Karst geomorphology of Anamur environment

Anamur is located on Middle Taurus Belt and on south of Taşeli which is one of the most important karstic plateau. Anamur district is in the quality of laboratory environment in terms of its karstification conditions and the composed shapes. Research area has the land structure containing explicit differences in terms of its location and phisical geography. The change of elevation conditions in short-range has caused Mediterranean climate to change on Taşeli Plateau. There exist rock groups which belong to different geological time. Anamur district is an area on which schist and carbonate rocks are prevalent. On coastal zones, schist structures and on the north plateaus, limestone litology is widely seen. 8 different formation in various structure and thickness karstification are formed by karstic litology that is the subject of this study. With the aim of determining the litolojic factors of karstification of these structures, by taking rock samples from mentioned formations, XRF and XRD analysis have been conducted in MTA laboratory. Chemical and physical features of the samples such as karstic rock type, the percentages of major elements, texture and cyrstal characteristics and the size of grain of the formation are tabularised. The karstification levels based on field observations regarding each sample has been determined. Obtained table provided useful results regarding the explanation of karstic shapes formed on carbonate rocks in Anamur district. In addition, the fact that karstic shapes that are formed in different litologies develop in various size and types with the effect of physical environment variables is explained with cause and effect relation. The differences and similarities are demonstrated by comparing these shapes. According to the field observations and analysis results, it has been inferred that both various litologies and various carstification conditions are existent in the field and therefore karstification causes remarkable differences in the selected area. The subjects such as the way the local people use the land, the effect of karstic structure on population distribution, the use of karstic land in agriculture and husbandry have also been clarified. Key words: Karstification, Karstic Shapes, Geomorphology, Anamur, Taşeli Plateau