The Cotton Castle


Drip. Drip. Drip. Rain and melting snow seep through cracks on Earth’s surface. T e water flows downward. It sinks deeper and deeper under the ground. Rumble. Rumble. Earth’s tectonic plates


shiſt . Earthquakes rattle the land. T e planet’s crust cracks a little more. Gurgle. Hot magma rises. T is melted rock


comes from deep inside Earth’s mantle. When water and magma meet, the water


heats up. Soon, it’s boiling hot. It bubbles back up through the cracks. T is water is diff erent, though. It has picked up carbon dioxide (CO2


from the magma. T e water rises through limestone. T is


sedimentary rock is made from the skeletons of sea creatures. T e hot water dissolves some of the rock. When that happens, the water picks up a chemical called calcium carbonate.


14 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER ) Finally, the water bubbles up out of the


ground. It forms about 20 hot springs in Turkey. As the water spills over the sides of the springs, the CO2


gas rises into the air.


T e water quickly evaporates. T at leaves the calcium carbonate behind. At first, it’s gooey. T en it hardens into a new kind of limestone. T is limestone is bright white. In some


places, the rock hardens while water drips over it. It looks like frozen waterfalls. In other places, the new rock piles up. T ere, it looks like fluff y balls of cotton. T at’s why people call this place the Cotton Castle. T e Cotton Castle is probably most famous


for its terraces, though. Over time, the rock formed a cliff . Its top looks like giant steps. Each snow-white step holds a pool of bright blue water. As long as the water flows, these rock formations will continue to grow.


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