Mount Ararat Was Once Located By The Sea – Study Of Palm Leaves Reveals

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - Fossils of palm leaves were found growing on the edge of the sea in Igdir, located at the foot of Ararat Mountain. They were sent last week Igdır University and Atatürk University to be examined. After careful inspection, the scientists found inside pieces of leaves from palm trees that only grow by the sea.

Mount Ararat, viewed from Turkey.© Vladislav Jirousek/Dreamstime.com via Britannica

Igdir is the capital of Igdir Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, famous for the highest mountain in Turkey, Mount Ararat (or Agri Dagi).

The discovery reveals that Mount Ararat used to be located by the sea.

According to researchers, the mountain was located about 23 to 55 million years ago (Miocene period) in the coastal region of the Paratetis Sea, once covered with palm trees. However, today, there are no palm trees in this region. Researchers visited the site and more plants were found and analyzed; the results of the study helped to strengthen the theory.

Daily Sabah writes that Celalettin Gözüaçık, a faculty member of Iğdır University’s Biodiversity Research Center, informed that researchers have been observing this area for a long time and had launched studies to find more leaf fossils.

“We are here to inform the authorities on this matter, and at the same time we, as the university, are looking after and protecting the place,” Gözüaçık said, adding that professors of paleontology have been conducting their research on the matter and will continue to do so.

According to the findings of the researchers, the area owes its richness in biodiversity to its altitude change and volcanic activity.

Mount Ararat is dubbed “Turkey’s roof” for its height, is mentioned in many myths and legends because it is related to Noah’s Ark that is said to have landed on the mountain after the Great Flood. Mount Ararat is also mentioned in the holy books and has many names in different languages.

For this reason alone, Ararat is a place of attraction for many tourists, both local and foreign.

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer