The Anatolian Plateau, also known as the “Turkish Plateau”, is located in the Asia Minor Peninsula in the West Asian region of Asia, mainly in Turkey. The Anatolian Plateau is bordered by the Black Sea to the north, and is separated from Europe by the Turkish Strait (composed of the Bosphorus, Marmara and Dardanelles) to the northwest, the Mediterranean Sea to the west and southwest, and the east and west. Netoros Mountain is adjacent to the Armenian Plateau, with a total area of about 500,000 square kilometers.
The reason why Anatolia has many lakes
Anatolia The Liya Plateau is surrounded by mountains on three sides in the north and southeast, and opens to the west. The terrain is generally high in the east and low in the west, with an average altitude of between 800 meters and 1200 meters. The Anatolian Plateau is a plateau with many rivers and lakes. The main lakes include Lake Van, Lake Tuz, Lake Khazar, Lake Chirdel, Lake Beysehir, Lake Ebel, Lake Eri Deer Lake and Burdur Lake etc. Among them, Lake Van, located in the eastern part of the Anatolian Plateau, is the largest lake in the region, with a total area of about 3,713 square kilometers.
Location Map of Antolia Plateau
Why Anatolia How many lakes are there on the plateau? We know that lakes belong to the category of surface runoff to protect lake basins and the water bodies they contain. Obviously, an area with many lakes must have a large number of lake structures and a large number of water bodies that form lakes. Therefore, let’s look at the situation of the Anatolian Plateau from the above two aspects. The first is the “lake structure”, that is, the depressions that can store water on the surface, and the formation of depressions can be caused by internal forces or external forces. Of course, it can also be artificially formed.
Turkey Van Lake
Anatolian Plateau is a high and low terrain The undulating plateau is very conducive to the formation of lake basins. Since the Anatolian Plateau is located near the extinction boundary of the Eurasian plate, the Indian Ocean plate and the African plate, the Eurasian plate and the other two plates are mutually in the north-south direction. The collision and extrusion not only caused the uplift of the Anatolian Plateau, but also caused many folded mountains to be distributed on the plateau. The southern edge of the plateau is the Taurus Mountains, and the northern edge is the Krollu Mountain and the East Kadeniz Mountains (two mountains). collectively known as the Pontine Mountains).
Location of the Anatolian Plateau in the Plate Distribution Map
Between these mountains, there are subsidence basins and plains. These rift basins are surrounded by high, high and low parts, making them ideal lake structures. At the same time, because the Anatolian Plateau is surrounded by mountains on three sides in the north and southeast, the water on the plateau flows to the middle of the plateau, which is very conducive to the formation of lakes. The second is the “lake water source”. The water in the lakes on the Anatolian Plateau mainly comes from atmospheric precipitation. From the perspective of the pressure belt wind belt, the main precipitation here comes from the prevailing westerly wind belt.
Topographic map of Anatolia Plateau
Anatolia The plateau has a latitude range of approximately 36°N to 42°N and is subject to prevailing westerly winds from the Atlantic Ocean during the winter season. At the same time, because the plateau topography is high in the east and low in the west, it is favorable for the prevailing westerly belt to carry water vapor deep into the plateau from west to east, and the uplift of the terrain increases the precipitation. On the high-altitude mountains in the eastern part of the plateau, there are glaciers that do not melt all year round, and the melting water of glaciers is also one of the sources of lake water. The numerous rifted basins on the Anatolian Plateau are the basis for the formation of lakes, and abundant precipitation and glacial meltwater provide water sources for the lakes.
Tuz Lake