Page 59 - Super Earth Encyclopedia

DREAMLAND

FAIRY CHIMNEYS

In the heart of Turkey lies an amazing landscape
that looks like a setting for a fantasy story. The terrain
is dotted with clusters of hoodoos—spires of soft rock
topped by conical caps of harder rock that protect
the spires from the elements. Known as fairy chimneys,
they are made of compacted volcanic ash capped by
solidified lava. These rocks once formed continuous
layers, but rainwater seeping through cracks in the hard
lava flow eroded them into isolated rocky pinnacles.
Each one can survive for thousands of years, but
eventually its protective cap falls off, allowing the
softer rock to be worn away.

AT A GLANCE
• LOCATION Göreme National Park,

Cappadocia, central Turkey
• AREA 116 sq miles (300 sq km)
• AGE The volcanic rocks erupted
about 3 million years ago
• STATUS World Heritage Site

STATS AND FACTS

CAPPADOCIA HEIGHT
Over a period of
at least 2,000 years, Cappadocia Some of the
chimneys of
comes from a
houses, churches, Persian word Cappadocia
monasteries, and meaning “land of are 130 ft
even underground beautiful horses.” (40 m) high.
cities have been FORMIDABLE FORMATIONS
carved from the
volcanic rocks of ANCIENT LANDS UNDERGROUND CITY
Cappadocia.
People have settled Turkey’s largest
in the region since underground city,
before the time Derinkuyu, had
of the Roman living space for up
Empire. to 20,000 people.

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