Fairy chimney
The term fairy chimney ( Turkish peri bacaları ) refers to earth pyramids in Turkey , which are located in the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir in Cappadocia . Fairy chimneys can be found in the towns of Göreme , Uçhisar , Ürgüp or Zelve east of the city of Nevşehir in the Göreme National Park (Turkish: Göreme Tarihî Millî Parki ), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site .
Emergence
During the eruptions of the Erciyes Dağı volcanoes in the east and Hasan Dağı in the southwest of the region, such amounts of dust, ash and rock were spewed out as a result of the eruptions since the Neogene (Young Tertiary ) age a good 20 million years ago that large surrounding areas were spewed out numerous meters were covered high. In particular, from the dust and ash deposits, a layer of the very soft tuff formed over the course of millions of years , which was subsequently removed mainly by wind or water erosion . In those places where harder and therefore more erosion-resistant rock was deposited over the tuff layer, the underlying tuff was partially spared from erosion-related erosion. In the course of time, the fairy chimneys, which characterize the landscape at least in certain areas of Cappadocia, have emerged. These tower-like tufa formations, mostly provided with a protective capstone on top, can be 30 meters high and often look like asparagus spears or phallic symbols .
For several thousand years they have been partially hollowed out ( cave architecture in Cappadocia ) and used as early Christian churches and for residential purposes. These caves have the advantage that they offer good protection from the elements. In the summer months the interior is protected from excessive heat radiation and in the often cold winters the tuff prevents the living areas from cooling down too much. Inhabited fairy chimneys have small window openings hewn out of the rock, which are carpeted to protect the living spaces from climatic influences; Most of the floors in the rooms are also decorated with carpets. They are usually heatable with a stove or a fireplace. The living rooms can extend over several floors, which are connected with ladders. Some fairy chimneys are open to visitors and can be viewed from the inside.
similarities
Similar looking pinnacles, but mostly of different geological origin, can also be found in other places on earth. For example, the out are sandstone existing hoodoos in the western United States to name, located in the Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah are and elsewhere. Glacier tables have a similar formation .
literature
- Susanne Oberheu, Michael Wadenpohl: Cappadocia. A travel guide through the land of fairy chimneys and rock castles. Shaker Media 2nd edition 2009, ISBN 978-3-86858-250-5 .
- Hans-Dieter Kaspar, Elke Kaspar: Cappadocia . 2012, ISBN 978-3-8423-6917-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cappadocia: Smoking fairy chimneys , accessed on Spiegel Online Reise on August 19, 2012
- ↑ In the Land of the Fairy Chimneys , an article in Focus Online from August 1, 2007
- ↑ Cappadocia - In the Land of Fairy Chimneys , BZ Online from February 22, 2010
- ↑ Description of the sights on the private website "kappadokien.de"
- ↑ Summary of the research results of the TU Freiberg 1998, "Türkeiexpedition", ( PDF file ; 6.2 MB) p. 6, p. 37 ff.
- ↑ Zürcher Unterländer ( Memento from October 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Zürcher Unterländer Online from February 12, 2011 (PDF; 297 kB)
- ↑ Magic Land of Stone In: Badische Zeitung -Online of April 13, 2012
- ↑ "Mineralienatlas.de" Examples and pictures of rock erosion