Stone burned 2,500 years in Turkey

The flames in Turkey's valley have been burning continuously for at least 2,500 years, with the effect of a rare metal.

Mysterious eternal fire burns 2,500 years

Yanartas is the area near the Olympus valley, southwestern Turkey, known for burning fires throughout the year. In Turkish, Yanartas means "a burning stone".

These flames are believed to be the inspiration of Homer poet when he created the fire-spray monster character Chimera in the Illiad school. A Greek god Bellerophon buried the monster Chimeara into the ground. And many indigenous people believe that this is the burial place of the Chimeara and these flames are its breath.

In fact, the flames emitted from these rock holes are the result of leakage of methane from the underlying stratosphere through openings. Yanartas' methane gas source is thought to form from a higher temperature than the conditions in this area. Nobody knows, what ignited these flames caught fire, but these flames have been sustained for continuous burning for more than 2500 years.

Fire flames at Yanartas at night.(Photos: Wikipedia)

Recent research by Giuseppe Etiope, a scientist from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanoes in Rome, Italy, and colleagues at Bolyai University (Romania), may have found the answer. The expert group said that Ruthenium , a rare metal found in flames under this area, could act as a catalyst. In the laboratory, Ruthenium promotes methane formation at temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius, equivalent to the heat level at Yanartas.

"The above results show that the formation of methane can occur at lower temperatures than conventional thinking," said New Scientist quoted Michael Whiticar, an expert at Victoria University, Canada.

According to Etiope, a significant amount of this methane may exist in the world, opening up the prospect of finding new sources of natural gas.

For hundreds of years, sailors who were floating in the open sea could see these flames and take them as signs to determine their direction. Today, these flames are used by people traveling to dust to make water for tea.