Mount Samsari ( ka, სამსარი) is a peak of the
Abul-Samsari Range in
Southern Georgia. The elevation of the mountain is above sea level. Mount Samsari represents a volcanic cone, inside of which lies a
caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
with a diameter of with a semicircular ridge surrounding it. The formation of the caldera is linked to local fault systems. The floor of the caldera is lined with rocks and glacial debris as well as small lakes and contains
volcanokarst formations. The caldera rim contains traces of previous glaciation, including cirques. The mountain was built up during the late
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
period and is made up of
andesites,
dacites and
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 ...
s. The slopes of Samsari are mainly devoid of vegetation. The caldera formed roughly 200ka ago.
References
* ''Georgian State (Soviet) Encyclopedia.'' 1985. Book 9. p. 33.
* The Structural Position and Conditions of Formation of the Samsari Caldera Volcano (Javakheti Upland, Georgia), Bezhan Tutberidze, Mariam Akhalkatsishvili, Hamlet Salukvadze.
* The Samsari Volcanic Center as an Example of Recent Volcanism in the Lesser Caucasus: K–Ar Geochronological and Sr–Nd Isotopic Data ''DOKLADY EARTH SCIENCES'' Vol. 393A No. 9 2003
Samsari, Mount
Samsari, Mount
Mountains of Samtskhe-Javakheti region
Samsari, Mount
Samsari, Mount
{{georgia-geo-stub