Travertine Terraces

Travertine Terraces is an original illustration set in Southwest Anatolia, Turkey. It lies in mid-latitudes, where the climate is mediterranean — hot dry summers, wet winters.

Tiers of snow-white pools step down a slope, each rimmed basin holding turquoise mineral water. Fluted stalactite-like rims drip from every edge. Dry hills stand behind, and the late-summer afternoon light is hard and bright.

Why does hot spring water build white terraces?

Hot spring water carries dissolved limestone; when it reaches the surface and loses carbon dioxide, it drops that mineral load as a rim wherever the water spills. Each rim then grows outward and traps a pool behind it, so the terraces build themselves. The turquoise is optical, from fine white crystal suspended in clear water — not a pigment.

Terpano is a free daily geography puzzle. You study one original illustration, place a pin on a borderless terrain map, and see how close you were. There is no account and no sign-up; progress stays in your own browser. It plays in 11 languages.