Soğuksu Lava Field, a photo from Van, East Anatolia

Photographer's Note

Part of the extensive lava field stretching south and north of the small town of Soguksu, situated between Van & Dogubeyazit. The landscape is desolate and the eruption is recent enough that grass and trees have not yet colonised the moonscape of solidified lava. The 2 locations marked on Google Maps are Soguksu Ilkokulu (primary school) & Soguksu Koyu Muhtarligi (Dark Mukhtar's Office?) I had to look up 'Mukhtar' (in Turkey and some Arab countries) the head of local government of a town or village. People have stacked stones atop one another in the fg.

Soğuksu is Turkish for coldwater. There are many place names in Turkey with that name. It was difficult to find any information on this lava field. EDIT: found this: "Pyroclastic cones with basaltic lava flows on the eastern side of Tendьrek volcano are around 2,500 years old." You can see an aerial shot of the lava field in the Wikipedia image in this link. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tend%C3%BCrek

papagolf21, COSTANTINO, ikeharel, pajaran, alvaraalto, pierrefonds, PaulVDV, mcmtanyel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

papagolf21 (152605) 2020-10-11 23:38

Bonjour, cher Chris,
Cette montagne de lave est impressionnante, elle vient glisser sur les verts pвturages.
Au loin, les montagnes semblent regarder l'ensemble sous un oeil bienveillant.
Amitiйs.
Philippe

emka (157280) 2020-10-11 23:42

Hello Chris, Surprising view of this lava field. It looks really strange between the green area. Excellent composition.
best regards MAlgo

COSTANTINO (115605) 2020-10-11 23:54

hello dear chris and have a nice new week
original version
impressive part of the extensive
lava field...
welldone
regards
Costantino

Silvio1953 (220717) 2020-10-12 0:26

Ciao Chris, great view of fascinating lava fields, excellent clarity, wonderful natural colors and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

holmertz (102066) 2020-10-12 1:09

Hello Chris,
It's a strange sight, like a really nasty scar in the scenery. I must have gone this way in 1974 on my way from Doğubeyazit to Van, but I have no memory of this. I wonder where the lava came from, since there is no volcano in the immediate surroundings. The nearest one, north of Lake Van, had its latest eruption 10.000 years ago.
In any case it's a spectacular sight. By the way, koyu (kцyь) means 'village (of)', so that location means Mukhtar's office of the village of Soğuksu.
Regards,
Gert

lousat (138683) 2020-10-12 1:28

Hi Chris,the name and the scenery reminds me a lot Iceland..ehehe...very interesting capture of this lava field taken in the best quality and perspective,well done! Have a nice week and thanks,Luciano

alvaraalto (42804) 2020-10-12 2:25

Hello Chris,
Fascinating contrast between the desolate landscape of the lava fields and the fresh green grass in the foreground and the greenery of the mountains in the background.
Once the lava is eroded it appears to yield fertile soil.
Excellent picture
Have a nice day, groet Rob

Miguel82 (47110) 2020-10-12 3:09

Chris, i never know when you reply or are online that s why i m not writing critiques. That solidified lava forms a sterile land in the background. It illustrates the volcanic activity in that area. Green pastures surround that geological formation. Fine colors, good sharpness, regards.

mkamionka (73500) 2020-10-12 3:33

Hi Chris,
quite an interesting scenery indeed. I like the fact the green color dominates both foreground and the distant hills while the central layer seems to be filled with the lava.
You have multiple horizontal layers of the composition which makes it eye catching. So pity that the sky isn't blue, that would make it more colorful yet.
Very well done,
M

Royaldevon (85674) 2020-10-12 3:49

Hello Chris,

I looked at your link, which tells us that the volcano is subsiding in a ring fault, I wonder what effect that will have!

You have revealed a really strong and interesting contrast between the lava field and the greenery of the f/g fields and the b/g slopes.

We can be warned of volcanic explosions now but I wonder what ancient people thought of volcanoes!

Have a good day,
Bev :-)

pajaran (115025) 2020-10-12 4:21

Greeting.
Nice green field and cool lava, well shown with nice colors, contrast and good text.
Beautiful nature and panorama.
I wish you all the best in the new week that has begun.
Paja.

vjmite (6526) 2020-10-12 4:25

Hi Chris,

A simple design overall, with the grey lava flow running across the middle breaking up the green above and below. Not much vegetation has grown in 2500 years, compared to the lush green in front of it. The jagged nature of the lava shows up well. I would be tempted to increase the contrast to give the photo a bit more life.

Vince

pierrefonds (113676) 2020-10-12 4:36

Bonjour Chris,

L'йtendue de l'endroit donne de la profondeur а la composition. La prise de vue permet de voir les dйtails du champ de lave Soguku. La lumiиre fait ressortir les couleurs. Bonne journйe.

Pierre

PaulVDV (62810) 2020-10-12 11:17

Hello Chris,
In 1984 I travelled from Doğubayazıt to Van but I didn't know this place. To be honest, this is the very first picture I ever see of it.
Well composed in different horizontal layers with the green plain adding the most colours.
A very unusual sight well presented.
Best regards, Paul

ifege (47069) 2020-10-12 21:16

Hi Chris
Shades of the lava flows that I saw in Hawaii last year - not one you would have wanted to be in front of. A good, minimalist photo.
cheers
Ian

mcmtanyel (67757) 2021-03-29 19:48

Hello Chris,
The lava field looks like those in Hawaii. I wonder how many thousands of years must pass before the lava fields are covered up.
Regards,
MT
PS. Soğuksu Kцyь Muhtarlığı means the "mukhtarate (just made that word up) of Soğuksu Village. Google maps missed the umlauts of Kцyь (village-of) and made it koyu (dark).