Lake Aygır

This article is about the lake in Bitlis. For other lakes, see Lake Aygır (Erzurum) and Lake Aygır (Kars).

Lake Aygır (Turkish: Aygır Gölü); is a lake in the Adilcevaz district of Bitlis province. It is located at the southern foot of Süphan Mountain..^[1]

Lake Aygır
Lake Aygır
Location	Adilcevaz, Bitlis Province
Coordinates	38.8365°N 42.8230°E / 38.8365; 42.8230
Lake type	Freshwater, Maar
Basin countries	Turkey
Max. width	37 kilometres (23 mi)
Max. depth	65 metres (213 ft)
Surface elevation	1,942 m (6,371 ft)

The source of lake water is rains and Şorlar Creek from the summit of Mount Süphan. It has been declared a sensitive area to be strictly protected by the Presidency. ^[2]

Geology and geography

Aygır Lake is a maar lake formed as a result of a phreatic eruption of Mount Süphan, in which groundwater came into contact with volcanic magma, generating a huge volume of steam and causing an explosion. The maar crater is somewhat elliptical, being 1400 m across in the north–south direction and 1820 m in the east–west direction. The lake inside the maar is 1245 m north–south and 1670 m east–west. The elevation of the lake surface is 1942 m. The height of the maar wall is around 70 m in the north and 30 m in the south. The area of the lake inside the maar is around 1.6 km² (0.62 sq mi). The waters of the lake freeze in winter. ^[3]