Lava remains in Türkiye's Nemrut Geopark captured with drone

The lava remnants in the Nemrut Geopark in eastern Türkiye's Bitlis, which aspires to be included in UNESCO's Global Geopark Network, were viewed with a drone. The lava remains in the Mt. Nemrut Caldera and Volcano, which contribute to the tourism of the city with its hot and cold lakes, ice cave, steam chimney and biodiversity, reveals the volcanic activity of its past, Bitlis, eastern Türkiye, Sept. 27, 2022.

The lava remains that came to the surface from thousands of meters within the Earth as a result of volcanic eruptions many years ago in the Güzelsu and Taşharman villages of Ahlat district, located at the foot of Mt. Nemrut in Tatvan, are also the subject of scientific research.

Rector of Bitlis Eren University, whose area of expertise is geography. professor Necmettin Elmastaş said Mt. Nemrut is one of the important volcanic mountains in Türkiye. He said that before the volcanic eruption, the water in the Van Lake basin was mixed with the Murat and Euphrates rivers through the Muş Plain.

"With the explosion, Nemrut acted as a volcanic cone and set in the formation of Lake Van. In the second phase, it rose to 4,000 meters (13,123.36 feet). In the third phase, a thousand-meter cone part was scattered around with a big explosion and the Nemrut Caldera was formed. There are more than 40 lava eruptions in and around the caldera. In the Kantaşı region, there is an important cone. Especially in the Kantaşı region, the latest lava from Nemrut can be seen. Soil still has not formed and you cannot see any vegetation on it. In the Kantaşı region, the two lava flows on the Güzelsu and Taşharman sides are still fresh today. Each area with the flow creates a geosite. These areas are also important geological elements for the geopark," explained Elmastaş.

He pointed out that the most severe eruption in Nemrut occurred in 1441 but lava eruptions existed until the 1600s.

Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Çan Vocational School Mining Technology Department professor Aydın Büyüksaraç said that Mt. Nemrut is a very young volcano and has been described as a "sleeping volcano."

There are five lakes in the Nemrut Caldera, Büyüksaraç said and explained: "One of the lakes is hot and the other is the largest lake. Other lakes are located in different parts of the caldera. There are cold areas in the caldera, which are defined as steam outlets and ice caves."

Büyüksaraç outlined that there have been lava flows in this region, especially recently. "The characteristics of these lava flows are basaltic and rhyolitic in nature. These are depth rocks. They are very important geological formations that were not expected to be on the surface but came to the surface from a depth of thousands of meters."