The Keli (Qeli) Highland ( ka, ყელის ზეგანი, ''qelis zegani'') is a volcanic field in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on the western side of the

Jvari Pass The Georgian Military Road or Georgian Military Highway (, 'sakartvelos samkhedro gza'' , os, Арвыкомы фæндаг 'Arvykomy fændag'' is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative r ...

south to the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

range. More than thirty volcanic edifices on an area of 20x30km² make up this volcanic field, which consists mostly of monogenetic volcanic structures. The lavas are

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

trachyandesite Trachyandesite is an extrusive igneous Rock (geology), rock with a composition between trachyte and andesite. It has little or no free quartz, but is dominated by Sodium, sodic plagioclase and alkali feldspar. It is formed from the cooling of ...

s and

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

s. The rivers Tetri Aragvi, Patara Liakhvi,

Ksani The Ksani (, , ''Ĉysandon'') is a river in central Georgia, which rises on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in South Ossetia and flows into the Kura (''Mtkvari''). It is long, and has a drainage basin of .

and Didi Liakhvi originate from the Keli volcanic area, and some peaks drain into the

Terek river The Terek (; , Tiyrk; , Tərč; , ; , ; , ''Terk''; , ; , ) is a major river in the Northern Caucasus. It originates in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of Georgia (country), Georgia and flows through North Caucasus region of Russia into the Casp ...

. Several mountain ranges separate the area into distinct high plains. Quaternary

Dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

lava flows overlie thich Mesozoic sedimentary sequences. Western Khorisar (elevation 3736 m) and Didi-Nepiskalo (3694 m) are the highest summits close to the crest of the

. In the northeastern part of the system are the Nepiskalo volcanoes and several smaller structures. The Patara-Nepiskalo volcano is strongly degraded by glacial action and may have had a caldera. Other volcanoes are Sharkhokh, Northern Shadilkhokh, and Southern Shadilkhokh in the western Kaidon range and the lava flows created by the latter two volcanoes between the Arkhi Range,

Keli Lake Keli Lake ( ka, ყელის ტბა; os, Хъелы цад, ''Qely cad'') is a volcanic-glacial lake in the Akhalgori Municipality, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of Georgia. Located in Caucasus Mountains, in Keli Highland, at 2914 m above sea l ...

and the Aragvistavi river, the Ermani–Akhubata lava plateau, Eastern Sharkhokh volcano and several lava domes (Ermani, Fidarkokh and others). Nikoloz Skhirtladze first studied the volcanoes and divided the volcanism into glacial and postglacial stages. Later research indicated three phases of volcanism: A first phase 245–170ka involved lava dome formation including Kordieritovyi dome, Patara-Nepiskalo volcano and Kabardzhin–Sakokhe centre and its associated a laval flow in the Aragvi valley. A second phase 137–70ka with large scale effusive activity included the "Pyramidal Peak" Volcano which dammed local rivers with lava flows. From 90ka on activity formed Didi-Nepiskalo and the Ekisom and Khorisar domes. The third phase less than 30ka with evidence that it continued into the Holocene formed Eastern Khorisa and Ploskaya Vershina. Activity of East Khorisar Volcano spans both stages and created lava flows in the

valley, at the end involving the collapse of the northern flank of its crater.

References

{{reflist Volcanoes of Georgia (country) Volcanic fields Pleistocene volcanoes Holocene volcanoes