"Fairy Chimneys" in Göreme (Cappadocia, Central Anatolia - Turkey) - Places of Geologic Significance on Waymarking.com

Located in the central part of Anatolian peninsula, Cappadocia has become one of the most notable tourist destinations in Turkey. The uniqueness of the region was formed by the eruption of Mt. Erciyes and Mt. Hassan, circa 60 million years ago that spread a thick layer volcanic ash over the area. With time, this hardened into a soft porous stone known as tuff. Subsequent water and wind erosion created valleys in the soft rock that left behind higher sections of interesting formations known as "fairy chimneys".

"Fairy chimney", in geology called "hoodoo" is a tall thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos are composed of soft sedimentary rock and are topped by a piece of harder, less easily-eroded stone that protects the column from the elements. Hoodoos range in size from 2 to 40 meters. Hoodoo shapes are affected by the erosional patterns of alternating hard and softer rock layers. Minerals deposited within different rock types cause hoodoos to have different colors throughout their height. The geology of areas where fairy chimneys form typically comprises a thick layer of tuff (consolidated volcanic ash), covered by a thin layer of basalt or other volcanic rocks that are more resistant to erosion than the underlying tuff. Over time, cracks in the basalt allow the much softer tuff to be eroded and washed away. Fairy chimneys are formed where a small cap or boulder of the original basalt remains, and protects a cone of tuff beneath it from erosion. Eventually, the tuff will be undercut to the extent that the cap falls off, and the remaining cone is then quickly eroded. [wiki]