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GEOGRAPHY OF FETHIYE
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
the town of Fethiye, Mugla, is situated
Anatolia in fhe laiifude and tongitude lines or 37 00 north, 36 15'28 50' wes1
and 29 50 east. It is surrounded in fhe south by Çayağzı where the Esen River
reaches rhe sea, in the west by the Kapdağ peninsula and Dalomon district, in
the south and southwest by fhe Mediterranean and the district of Kas. in the
east by Korkuteli and Elmalı, and in the north bv Golhisar and (dameli
districts, heihiye is noted for ITS natural beauty, as well as historical and
tounristic values. and is located on the Medilerronean coastline in the
neighbourhood of Dalaman, another district of Muğla.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Geological Structure The formations of
land in and around Fethive, located in the western part of the teke peninsula
are diversified. Indeed, there are various litholoqical units which surfaced
dunring the Paleozoic period and continued their formation through
Carbonipherious, Mesozoic, Tertiary and Quaternary eras to our present day. The
lithological units in the region, defined as Lycian Naps, demonstrate
diversified morphological formations of sedimentary rocks in various eras. Among
them are relatively younger units of Tertiary and
Quaternary periods. Pursuant to the Alpinian orogenism, as a result of the
epeirogenic movements, the land exhibits a refracted structure. The faulty
curves are examples of this structure. Paleozoic formations consist of the
Karadag series, Akkavak formations and the Teke River series.
The Mesozoic formations ore Haticeana
mountain series, Çenger, Agacli, Babadag formations, the Kayakoy dolomite and
Sandak, Göç Gediği and Sofular formations.
The Tertiary formations are between the
Beydaglar otokton and the Lycian naps and this is defined as the "intermediary
zone". The Lycian naps made up the alloktons within the region. The structural
units of the Lycian naps are in three groups as ophiolite lower naps (higher
naps).
The Quarternary formations are the Oren
and Düzcam formations dating to the Fourth era.
Mountains
As the Fethiye region is made up of
young folds with a massif structure, vulcanisation is not witnessed on a large
scae. The mountains are Kizilbel (1060 meters) at the boundary of Dalaman in the
west and Kızıldag (984 meters) to its east, the Eicik mountains (Sulüklu, Aygir,
Dumlu, simsir, Ortacal, 2185 meters) in the northeastern direction, Çal
mountains (2185 meters and the Garkın mountain (1260 meters) towards the east,
the Kartal mountain (2600 meters) where the western branches of the Esen river (Xanthos)
spring from, turning to southeast after the Kurumca and Avion mountains and to
northeast with the Girdev mountain. With Erbel and Gubele mountains and the
Kizilagoc (2591 meters) this formation ends at the Sogüt Lake in the south. This
mountainous area gets higher starting from the border of the Fethiye plain,
reaching its maximum point at the summit of Çaldag. It loses its altitude in the
direction of west to the east and is cut off by an alluvian plain in the valley
of the Esen River. This mountainous region forms part of the Western Taurus
Mountains and is generally made up of masses of limestone dating back to the
Mesozoic era. A second group of mountains lies to the south of Fethiye. Among
them, Babadag (1975 meters) reaches its maximal altitude in the north and
opens up almost like a wall which is the most rugged terrain. Beyond Akbel, also
known as the cistern saddle which. constitutes a short-cut between Kestep and
Fethiye, the Mendos Mountain gains altitude gradually. Arydag (Mendos, 1775
meters) suddenly gets very high in the south of Fethiye and consists of
limestone flooring from the Triassfc, Cretaceous and Eocenic periods. Arıdag
IMendos) constitutes an anticlinorium in the east-west direction. Along the
coastline, Dokuzgol mountain (1487 meters), Erendag and Sandak mountain (Kragos,
1025 meters) line up, reaching the Esen River (Xanthos) plain. In the Antique
Period this region was called Antikragos. Akdag (Massikitos, 3024 meters),
located near the Girdev mountain in the east of
the Esen River, between the Elmalı pasture in the east and Dumanlı and Katran
mountains in the south, is the highest mountain in the region.
Erendag (2439 meters), Salur mountain
(2596 meters) and Kizilagac (2591 meters) in the east, Kelebekli mountain (2160
meters) in the north, Güntutan mountain (2418 meters)-and Caldag (2184 meters)
in the west are the primary mountainous terrain around the basin of the Upper .Esen
River. To the east of the Esen River there are many mountains as well. Those in
the south are either perpendicular or parallel, to the sea-coast, constituting
in jagged coastline.
PLAINS
The Fethiye plain is in a hollow area in
comparison to the mountainous areas in the north and South: Techtonic movements
played a major "part in the formation of the plain. The chute in the direction
of east-west supports the theory that there exists the floor; of a graben
running from north to west, formed as a result of gradated faults. The
serpentine saddle of Murt in the east of the bay folding into the ridges is due
to alluviums carried by the minor floods in the area.
The meterial carried over by the Cerci
stream, Eldirek creek and Mersinli stream, when the flow of water loses its
velocity, results in detritus .heaps which fan our in the Fethiye plain. The
plain is not on 0 level area. The Fethiye plain is fed by alluviums from its
limited Framework. Because the plain is surrounded by serpentine rocks, it is
not very fertile due to the failure of the reddish soil to absorb other
elements. The old Fethiye, situated in the south-western part of the plain is
located on terraces. Here, there are terraces on the coast, representative of
the ebb tides of the Mediterranean. Fethiye has developed along these terraces
and continues growing along the coastline. In addition, in the southern part of
the bay, new settlements are in evidence, extending towards the slopes of the
mountains in the south.
The Uzumlu plain was formed as a result
of karstic events. The floor of the plain is 10.000 square meters, covered by
alluviums. The body of wafer flowing down to the plain, is fed by karstic spring
waters, which go underground by virtue of sinkholes along the northern and
southern coastline. Farming is carried out in this region which is interrupted
from time to time. the Seki plain is one of the major areas in this region. "The
Upper and the Lower Seki plains were formed first_of all by techtonic events as
a result or which the disentanqled rubbles were carried here and stocked up in
the sediment basin. The Lower Seki plain is a typical deposit of alluvium, Il
kms.lonq in the east-west direction, with a width of 4-5 kms. From the north to
the south. The Upper Seki plain (Mindan Plain) was o lake in the past. When the
water supply dried up, the floor of the lake became a plain. The plain is 6-7
kms.long in the northeastern-southwestern direction and roughly 4-4.5 kms.wide
from the east to the west.
The Caltilar plain generally resembles
the Upper and the Lower Seki Plains. At the same time, it is separated from the
surrounding area of limestone in jagged lines which indicates a karstic origin.
The floor of the plain is mainly terra rosa soil pointing to its formation under
the conditions of the Mediterranean climate.
In the Andag [Mendos) region, Kaya and
Ovacık plains are characteristically marred. The fault line in the area where
the Ovacyk plain joins the foot of Andag is worthy of notice. In the formation
of the Ovacyk plain, techtonic and karstic movements were influential. The plain
is approximately 9-10 square kilometers with detritus heaps in the east and in
the north.
In the streams fed by the basisn of the
Esen River, there are comparatively thick layers of alluvium ( 20-50 metersin
the Temeland Yayla Ceylan villages). In the northeast of Esen, the detritus
heaps in front of the eastern slopes of the valley resulted in a piedmont plane.
Before the formation of the delta of the Esen River, in ate Neogene and early
Quaternary periods, the present delta was a large bay. The drainage in the Esen
Valley occured very speedily and at the same time the correlated filling
material extended the area of the delta. At the site of Kayakoy, some of the
rock tombs are submerged into the sea. Similarly, the Letoon antique city in the delta area is
covered by alluviums which is indicative of techtonic movements in the region.
The eastern part of the delta of the Esen River has a floor of lagoon while the
middle part is an area of precipice and the western portion consists of sand
dunes on a straight line.
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