Mount Ararat was by a sea millions of years ago, say experts

IĞDIR

Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest mountain, used to be by a sea millions of years ago, according to experts.

Fossils discovered in the rocks falling from the summit of the mountain in the eastern province of Iğdır’s Tuzluca district were examined by academics.

Leaf pieces of a palm tree, which normally grows by the sea, were found in the fossils at the foot of the mountain, which is known as “Turkey’s roof” due to its height.

“This region was by the sea in the Miocene period, that is, approximately 23 to 55 million years ago,” said Levent Gültekin, a scientist from Erzurum’s Atatürk University.

He stressed that the countryside of the province is the coastal area of the Paratetis Sea where palm trees were located.

“Palm trees were here millions of years ago and scientific evidence is available,” he added.

Celalettin Gözüaçık and Belkıs Muca Yiğit, two academics from Iğdır University, also supported claims that the region was once by the sea, and the biggest proof of this was the palm leaves.

Thanks to its flora and fauna dotting thousands of acres of land, the mountain still provides a unique living environment to wild animals, some of which are not known by people.

The mountain range is cited as the area where Noah’s Ark landed after the Great Flood.