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 volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

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), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

period and is made up of

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

s and

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...

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 Samsari Samsari, Mount Samsari, Mount {{georgia-geo-stub