Cappadocia, Rock Formation

Cappadocia, Rock Formation

TURKEY

The Cappadocia region is largely underlain by sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams, and ignimbrite deposits erupted from ancient volcanoes. Some 60 million years ago, during three seperate geological periods, the Toros Mountains rose up and in the north, with the land of the Anatolia Plateau beeing squeezed, volcanoes erupted. The mountains of Erciyas, Hasandagi, Golludag all spewed forth lava. The ashes that piled up on the plaetau formed a soft tufa layer. Some of the upper levels of the tufa became covered with a hard basalt formed by a thin layer of lava. In time, the basalt cracked and broke into pieces and the rainwater running in the cracks began eroding the tufa. The changes in temperatures and the wind also contributed to the erosion. Thus, from the hard basalt stones hat-like cones were formed.
People came to call these strange formations fairy Chinmeys. Those tufa layers that were not coated with basalt, thanks to the continental erosion, turned into valleys and strangely shaped canyons. Almost 2,000 years ago, Christians carved their first churches into these stones.