Figure 40

Durupinar

Durupinar clay formation near Dogubayazit Turkey, which some claim is Noah’s ark. This clay formation, that looks like the hull of a ship, is located at Doğubayazit, Turkey, about 15 miles southwest of Mount Ararat. The formation is named after the Turkish scientist Captain Ilhan Durupinar, who in 1959 noticed it from satellite images. This unusual formation was ignored for twenty years until 1984, when Ron Wyatt convinced Col. Jim Irwin, Dr. John Morris and Marvin Steffins to examine the site.  However, geologists demonstrated that it is a clay formation resulting from the spring runoff around a lava flow and merely an anomaly of nature.  There was no evidence of petrified wood in the area, although the Turkish government has built a Noah’s ark visitor centre at the site to promote tourism.