The Fairy Chimneys

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Geography Assessment Task - The Fairy Chimneys Olivia Sivills, 8T Mr. Parmar

Introduction:
The Fairy Chimneys, located in the Cappadocia region in Turkey (Officially the Republic of Turkey, it is bordered by eight countries; Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria), are a popular destination for tourists to visit and learn about this rare creation. Being a karst landscape and close to Kayseria and basically on top of the Derinkuyu underground city (an ancient multi-level underground city in the Derinkuyu district in Nevşehir Province, Turkey), with a latitude of 38° 40' 8.39" N, and a longitude of 34° 50' 12.59" E, they are the perfect place to stop for an educational and amazing experience.
The fairy …show more content…

Millions of years ago, many volcanoes erupted around the area of Turkey, raining ash and covering the entire landscape for thousands of miles. Over time, the ash turned into a hard and porous rocks called tuff which was then covered by a layer of basalt. Exposed to the elements of nature via cracks in the basalt layer, the softer tuff underneath was washed out, leaving a cap of the basalt layer protecting a tall column of the softer tuff. Eventually, the leftover columns would also be washed away, causing the entire structure to crumble and fall. This eroding action of nature is seen only in a few places in the world and one of its most spectacular results is the fairy chimneys as the Cappadocian climate, with sharp changes of temperature, heavy rains, and melting snow in the spring plays an important role in the …show more content…

While erosion processes pose a natural threat to the integrity of these structures, tourism pressures, and future development ideas also threaten to damage the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. Currently, the only protection for this site is it being listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site of Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia since 1985, but other than that, Officials from Ürgüp Municipality (local administrative body in charge of Cappadocia zone) said they had no current projects on implementing extra protection measures, with an exception of blocking roads on Goreme National Park with no concise plans. Apparently there are music clubs in the area that is creating the ground to move and pieces of large rock to fall, luckily none so far that has caused injuries, so I would suggest that all music clubs and discos should be closed down in the surrounding area. We should confine the physical growth of the towns in the area and traffic should be rearranged as done on Goreme National Park and should even be blocked in proximity with the fairy chimneys. In the West, they only allow golf buggies in these type of sites so this could

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