Anatolia

Cappadocia is a land made by old volcanoes.

Over a very long time, its rock slowly wore away. Tall, pointy towers called fairy chimneys were left standing.

Cappadocia lies on the central Anatolia plateau in a volcanic landscape. Erosion, the slow wearing away of rock, has carved it into a series of ridges, valleys and pointed pillars known as fairy chimneys, or hoodoos.

The area is bordered on the south and east by rows of extinct volcanoes, from Erciyes Dağ, 3,916 meters high, to Hasan Dağ, 3,253 meters. UNESCO calls the landscape spectacular, and erosion will keep making new fairy chimneys and rock pillars.

UNESCO describes Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia (inscribed 1985) as a volcanic landscape on the central Anatolia plateau, sculpted by erosion into a succession of mountain ridges, valleys and pinnacles known as fairy chimneys or hoodoos. It is bounded on the south and east by ranges of extinct volcanoes, with Erciyes Dağ (3,916 m) at one end and Hasan Dağ (3,253 m) at the other.

Under criterion (vii), the Göreme Valley offers a globally renowned and accessible display of hoodoo landforms and other erosional features. The erosional processes that formed the conical rock structures will continue to create new fairy chimneys and pillars; some cones and pillars have also been damaged by earthquakes, which UNESCO treats as a naturally occurring phenomenon.

Anatolia has lakes of fresh water. It also has a very salty lake.

In summer, the salty lake shrinks. It leaves a shiny white layer of salt.

Lake Beyşehir and Lake Eğirdir, two of the largest freshwater lakes in Türkiye, lie in the Turkish Lakes Region. Lakes in this region are filled by rain, limestone springs, streams and water running off the nearby Sultan Mountains. At least 181 kinds of birds nest and breed on their shores and islands.

Lake Tuz ('tuz' means salt in Turkish) is a saline lake on the central plateau with no outlet. Groundwater from the northern Taurus Mountains bubbles up into it through springs. In summer its water shrinks back and leaves a thick, bright white layer of salt.

NASA's Earth Observatory places Lakes Beyşehir and Eğirdir, among Türkiye's largest freshwater lakes, in the tectonically active Turkish Lakes Region. The region's shallow lakes are replenished by precipitation, limestone springs and streams, and runoff from the Sultan Mountains; levels change seasonally with use for drinking water and irrigation, and at least 181 bird species nest and breed on the shores and islands.

Lake Tuz, about 150 km south-southeast of Ankara, has no outlet: it is fed by groundwater from the Northern Taurus Mountains that rises through springs, plus two major streams and spring rain. When its water recedes in summer, a thick salt layer is exposed; ESA notes that satellites have used this bright white surface to calibrate their sensors for the color white.

Flamingos used to come to Lake Tuz to feed and build nests.

Now the lake often has very little water. Scientists are studying why.

Lake Tuz was once the second-largest lake in Türkiye, and flamingos flocked there to feed and nest. Scientists who studied satellite images taken every August from 1985 to 2016 found two periods. Before 2000, the lake usually kept some water all summer. After 2000, it held much less, and in 2008 and 2016 it dried up completely.

The flamingos depended on permanent water in the lake's south-west and west, where the water is less salty and the bacteria they eat gather.

Aydin and colleagues (2020) mapped water, salt and marsh at Lake Tuz from Landsat images taken each August from 1985 to 2016. From 1985 to 2000, water covered more than 20 percent of the lakebed in all years except 1992 and 1994; between 2001 and 2016 it covered less than 20 percent every August except 2015, and the lake dried up completely in 2008 and 2016.

The researchers link the decline to more frequent and intense droughts together with heavy use of the groundwater and surface water that feed the lake: some streams were rerouted for irrigation or dammed. Permanent water in the less saline south-west and west had been vital for breeding and feeding flamingos, whose bacterial food concentrated there.

The fairy chimneys are beautiful but fragile.

Visitors look and take photos, and never scratch or climb on the rocks.

UNESCO warns that Cappadocia's natural landforms can be harmed by too many visitors: overuse by tourists and some vandalism have been reported there. Erosion will keep shaping new fairy chimneys, but slowly, so careless use can still damage them.

Visitors can help by staying on paths, never scratching or carving the rock, and leaving the landscape as they found it. That is PlayOwl's advice, built on UNESCO's warning.

UNESCO's statement of the property's state notes overuse by tourists, some vandalism and incompatible structures, and warns that although erosion will keep creating new fairy chimneys and pillars, the slow rate of that process means the property's natural values can still be threatened by unsustainable use.

PlayOwl's advice, built on that warning: stay on marked paths, never mark or climb the volcanic rock, and leave the landforms untouched. In the Turkish Lakes Region, NASA notes that the shores and islands are nesting and breeding grounds for at least 181 bird species, so keeping a distance from birds there matters too.