Aragats Mountain

Mount Aragats is an isolated four-peaked volcano massif in Armenia. Its northern summit, at 4,090 m (13,420 ft) above sea level, is the highest point of the Lesser Caucasus and Armenia. It is also one of the highest points in the Armenian Highlands.The Aragats massif is surrounded by Kasagh River on the east, Akhurian River on the west, Ararat plain on the south and Shirak plain on the north. The circumference of the massif is around 200 km (120 mi), and covers an area of 6,000 km2 (2,300 sq mi) or around ^1⁄5 of Armenia’s total area. 944 km² (364 sq mi) of the massif is located above 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

The peaks of Mount Aragats

1․ The northern peak 4090․1 m

2․ Western peak 3995․3 m

3․ Eastern peak 3908․2 m

4․ Southern peak 3887․8 m

Climbing Mount Aragats - Northern peak

The huge crater of Mount Aragats

Situated 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Armenian capital Yerevan, Aragats is a large volcano with numerous fissure vents and adventive cones. Numerous large lava flows descend from the volcano and are constrained in age between middle Pleistocene and 3,000 BCE. The summit crater is cut by a 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) long line of cones which generated possibly Holocene-age lahars and lava flows. The volcanic system covers an area of 5,000 km² and is one of the largest in the region. More recent activity in flank centres occurred in Tirinkatar (0.48-0.61 Ma), Kakavasar, (0.52-0.54 Ma) and Ashtarak (0.58 Ma), as well as Jrbazhan in the summit area (0.52 Ma). The magmas feeding Aragats are unusually hot for arc-derived magmas, resulting in long and voluminous lava flows.

PhotoBy: Artur Martirosyan