Weathering geomorphology of Mount Ağın Andesites located in cool humid environment in Afyonkarahisar/Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study, the weathering forms on the andesite of volcanic Mount Ağın (1807 m) located within the borders of Afyonkarahisar province in the Central Western Anatolia part of the Aegean Region were investigated. The climatic characteristics of the study area, chemical and mineralogical-petrographic properties of the andesites, porosity, diaclase systems, and biogenic erosion cause formation of characteristic shape generations on the andesites. In the field, andesites have been weathered by mechanical effects based on salt crystallization, freeze-thaw, shrinkage-expansion, and by the chemical effects of waterbased on hydrolysis-hydration-oxidation. The weathering product formed as a result of differential weathering has been subsequently moved by erosion, and the unweathered parts came to the surface to form distinctive forms in the topography. Weathering forms seen on the andesites have been investigated in detail for the first time in Turkey. The aim of this study is to reveal the close relationship between erosional forms of “andesite topography” and the factors playing a significant role in the formation of these weathering features. According to field observations and laboratory analyses, the original weathering forms on the mass have been explored and classified, and consequently revealed their formation mechanism and morphometric properties.