Leman Altuntaş writes that a 2026 investigation of the boat-shaped Durupınar Formation in eastern Türkiye, led by Prof. Dr. Cenker Atila of Sivas Cumhuriyet University, has detected right-angled subsurface anomalies via ground-penetrating radar and found carbon levels roughly 40 percent higher in soil from inside the formation than outside it. An international team of about 20 researchers from five countries is combining GPS mapping, 3D modeling, radar, and laboratory analysis to determine whether these features reflect natural geology or a man-made structure, with lab results expected within two to three months and a full report in 2027.
- The formation was first spotted in 1959 aerial photographs by Turkish army mapping officer İlhan Durupınar and placed under state protection in 1987.
- A 1996 peer-reviewed study by Collins and Fasold concluded Durupınar is a doubly plunging syncline and that earlier claims of iron fittings and petrified wood are better explained by volcanic rocks and minerals such as limonite and magnetite.
- The GPR equipment originates from the United States and is also used in U.S. Air Force research, though the project itself is an academic field study led from Türkiye.
- The oft-repeated "exact match" to biblical dimensions depends on which cubit standard is used; the Egyptian royal cubit (~52.4 cm) yields ~157 m, closer to the length commonly cited by the research project.
- The formation was first spotted in 1959 aerial photographs by Turkish army mapping officer İlhan Durupınar and placed under state protection in 1987.
- A 1996 peer-reviewed study by Collins and Fasold concluded Durupınar is a doubly plunging syncline and that earlier claims of iron fittings and petrified wood are better explained by volcanic rocks and minerals such as limonite and magnetite.
- The GPR equipment originates from the United States and is also used in U.S. Air Force research, though the project itself is an academic field study led from Türkiye.
- The oft-repeated "exact match" to biblical dimensions depends on which cubit standard is used; the Egyptian royal cubit (~52.4 cm) yields ~157 m, closer to the length commonly cited by the research project.
Ground-penetrating radar at Göbeklitepe, Turkey, has revealed additional circular enclosures, a large building, and potential early domestic structures, expanding our understanding of this 12,000-year-old site.
