The Melendiz River (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: ''Uluırmak'' ), is a stream forming the

Ihlara Valley The Ihlara Valley (or Peristrema Valley; Turkish ''Ihlara Vadisi'') is a canyon which is 15 km long and up to 150 m deep in the southwest of the Turkish region of Cappadocia, in the municipality of Güzelyurt, Aksaray Province. The va ...

in the territory of the

Aksaray Province Aksaray Province ( tr, ) is a province in central Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Konya along the west and south, Niğde to the southeast, Nevşehir to the east, and Kırşehir to the north. It covers an area of . The provincial capital is t ...

, Turkey. In ancient times, its name was Potamus Kapadukus (Cappadocia River). It arises from Melendiz Mountain, passes through

and

Aksaray Aksaray (, Koine Greek: Ἀρχελαΐς ''Arhelays'', Medieval Greek: Κολώνεια ''Koloneya'', Ancient Greek: Γαρσάουρα ''Garsaura'') is a city in the Central Anatolia Region, Turkey, Central Anatolia region of Turkey and the ca ...

city center and empties into Tuz Lake. It is formed by the merging of springs and streams from the skirts of Melendiz Mountain. The catchment area (basin) is 565.2 km². The annual average flow in Selime Village is 72.99 hm³. The flow decreases in summer and increases with spring rains. Since it is fed from sources, it does not dry completely in summer. Its length is 60 km. The flow coefficient is 0.141. In the permeable terrain with

Tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

, the majority of precipitation does not appear to run off.

Geography

The Melendiz River stream originates from Melendiz Mountain, nearby

Mount Hasan Mount Hasan ( tr, Hasan Dağı) is a volcano in Anatolia, Turkey. It has two summits, the high eastern Small Hasan Dagi and the high Big Hasan Dagi, and rises about above the surrounding terrain. It consists of various volcanic deposits, includ ...

in Sultan Pinari, Çiftlik, Niğde. It then flows into the

, passing by villages such as

Ihlara Ihlara, formerly known as Xliára (Cappadocian Greek: Χλιάρα; Latin: Chliará) is a township with its own municipality in Aksaray Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is situated at about from the province seat of Aksaray and near the tow ...

, Ilısu, Selime, the archaeological site of

Aşıklı Höyük Aşıklı Höyük is a settlement mound located nearly south of Kızılkaya village on the bank of the Melendiz brook, and southeast of Aksaray, Turkey. Aşıklı Höyük is located in an area covered by the volcanic tuff of central Cappadoci ...

, and cuts through the heart of

city, splitting

into North-West and South-East. On the way, it creates the Mamasun Reservoir.

References

* * * {{coord missing, Turkey Landforms of Aksaray Province Rivers of Turkey