Mount Erciyes

Mount Erciyes (Turkish: Erciyes Dağı) is an inactive volcano in Kayseri Province, Turkey. It is a large stratovolcano surrounded by many monogenetic vents and lava domes, and one maar. The bulk of the volcano is formed by lava flows of andesitic and dacitic composition. At some time in the past, part of the summit collapsed towards the east.

The volcano began to form in the Miocene. At first, a volcano farther east named Koç Dağ formed from lava flows. Then, again to the east, large explosive eruptions formed a caldera. During the Pleistocene, Mount Erciyes proper grew inside the caldera together with a group of lava domes. Lateral eruptions of Erciyes may have generated ash layers in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean during the early Holocene.

The last eruptions occurred during the early Holocene and may have deposited ash as far away as Palestine; the occurrence of historical volcanism is uncertain. Future eruptions of Erciyes may endanger the nearby cities to the north. The volcano was glaciated during the Pleistocene. One regular glacier still exists, but is receding.

Erciyes is the adoption into Turkish of the Greek name Argaios (Greek: Ἀργαῖος). The Latinized form is Argaeus; a rarely encountered alternative latinization was Argaeas mons, Argeas mons. The Greek name has the meaning of "bright" or "white"; as applied to the mountain, it may have been eponymous of Argaeus I (678 – 640 BC), king of Macedon and founder of the Argead dynasty.

The Turkish name was historically spelled Erciyas, and it was changed to Erciyes to conform with vowel harmony in the 1940s–1960s. Mons Argaeus on the Moon was named for Argaeus. The mountain and associated god Aškašipa mentioned in Assyrian sources, and "Mount Harhara" of Bronze Age and Iron Age inscriptions in Anatolia may be Erciyes.

Several myths refer to the mountain. The tale of Cis Hatun features the eponymous daughter of a local chief and her lover. The chief agreed that the lover could have her if he slayed the fire-breathing dragon on Mount Erciyes; he set out over her objections, she tried to stop him and they were both burned alive. Cis Hatun brought her wedding dress to the mountain, where it remained and forms Erciyes' permanent snow cover.

Erciyes lies in the Kayseri Province of Turkey. The city of Kayseri lies 15 kilometres (9.3 mi)-25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Erciyes volcano; some lava domes generated by the volcano are within the urban limits. Other towns in the region are Talas and Hacilar, also north of Erciyes but closer to the volcano (19 kilometres (12 mi) and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi), respectively), Develi, located south, and İncesu, located west and southwest of the volcano. Access to the summit area is difficult. Climbers in antiquity reported that both the Black Sea and the Mediterranean could be seen from the summit.

Mount Erciyes and Mount Hasan are both large stratovolcanoes that lie in Central Anatolia, on the Anatolian Plate. This microplate is part of the collision zone between the Eurasian Plate, the African Plate, and the Arabian Plate that forms the Alpide Belt. This convergence commenced in the Miocene and formed the Anatolian block, with two oceans that existed between these three plates in the Eocene disappearing through subduction. During the late Miocene, the Neo-Tethys ocean disappeared, and Africa and Eurasia collided. Later, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez separated the Arabian Plate from the African Plate, causing the former to collide with Eurasia and forming the Bitlis–Zagros Belt. The Anatolian block was pushed westward between the North Anatolian and East Anatolian faults, and it is still moving today.