The Cotton Castle
Drip. Drip. Drip. Rain and melting snow seep through cracks on Earth’s surface. T e water f lows downward. It sinks deeper and deeper under the ground. Rumble. Rumble. Giant chunks of Earth’s
crust move. 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. T at’s the layer of Earth right under the crust. When the water and magma meet, the
water heats up. Soon, it’s boiling hot. T e water fills with carbon dioxide, a gas from the magma. Now, the water begins to bubble back up
through the cracks. It passes through layers of rock. T e water is still so hot that it dissolves some limestone. T is rock is made from the skeletons of sea creatures. T e water picks up a chemical from the limestone. It’s called calcium carbonate.
14 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER Finally, the water bubbles up out of the
ground. It forms about 20 hot springs in the country of Turkey. As the water spills over the sides of the
springs, the 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 as water drips over it. It looks like frozen waterfalls. In other places, the new rock piles up like big, 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 pretty pools, though. Over time, the rock formed a cliff . Its top looks like giant steps. T ey’re called terraces. Each snow-white terrace holds a pool of
bright blue water. As long as the water flows, these rock formations will continue to grow.
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