An international research team says new subsurface imaging of a 515-foot formation near Mount Ararat has detected layered, right-angled structures deep underground, findings they argue match the biblical dimensions of Noah's Ark.

The Durupınar Formation, a boat-shaped geological feature roughly 18 miles south of Turkey's highest peak in the country's far east, has drawn curiosity and skepticism in nearly equal measure since a Kurdish shepherd stumbled across it after heavy rains and earthquakes stripped away surrounding mud in May 1948. For most of the decades since, mainstream geologists dismissed it as a solidified mudflow, an oddly shaped but entirely natural mass of rock. Now a team led by Dr. Khosrow Bakhtar and organized through the research group Noah's Ark Scans says a specialized radar system has picked up anomalies that solid rock alone cannot explain.

The system, called BakhtarRadar, was developed through U.S. Air Force research, according to the team. It detected what researchers describe as distinct subsurface layers and strong anomalies beneath the formation's surface. Andrew Jones, the founder of Noah's Ark Scans who has investigated the site since 2016, said the radar revealed a series of right angles approximately 20 feet below ground, angular structures he says are inconsistent with random geological processes.

Jones put the stakes in plain terms in an interview with The Christian Broadcasting Network:

"This is not what you'd expect to see if the site were simply a solid block of rock or the result of random mudflow debris. But it is exactly what you'd expect to find if this were a man-made boat, consistent with the biblical specifications of Noah's Ark."

Soil chemistry inside the formation diverges sharply from the surrounding ground

The radar data arrived on top of soil analysis that the team collected in 2024, when Jones and his colleagues gathered 88 samples from inside and outside the formation. Those results, as Fox News reported, showed organic matter three times higher inside the boat-shaped boundary than in the soil just beyond it. Potassium levels, a chemical marker associated with wood ash, ran 38 percent higher inside the formation. The pH difference between interior and exterior samples was eightfold.

Jones described the chemical gap as far beyond what chance variation would produce.

"The differences between the inside and outside samples are statistically staggering. Organic matter was three times more inside the boat shape versus the soil just right outside."

The formation stretches 515 feet, a measurement that aligns closely with the biblical description of the Ark at 300 cubits long, which converts to approximately 515 feet. Scripture places the vessel's width at 50 cubits, or about 86 feet, and its height at 30 cubits, roughly 52 feet. The Book of Genesis specifies construction from "gopher wood" sealed with pitch, and some biblical chronologies date the 150-day flood to more than 4,300 years ago.

That convergence between the formation's length and the biblical measurement is one reason the site continues to draw investigation. Researchers working with historical maps and modern radar scans have noted the overlap between ancient cartographic references to the Ararat region and the physical location of the Durupınar site.

Underground tunnels follow a pattern, team member says

Beyond the chemical data, the team's ground-penetrating radar work has identified what Jones calls subsurface tunnels, voids running beneath the formation that he says are not random. William Crabtree, a member of Noah's Ark Scans, stated that one tunnel appears to run from the tip of the formation toward its center and is large enough for a person to walk through.

Jones described the layout to GB News:

"What's interesting is that these voids are lining up below the ground, and they're not just random. These tunnels also follow a pattern. GPR is just a way to look below the soil using radar."

A 2019 ground-penetrating radar scan had already detected rectangular shapes roughly 22 feet below the surface, potentially indicating buried chambers or construction elements, the New York Post reported. Jones told the Post that the soil results suggest the formation "isn't simply part of the surrounding mud flow, it's a distinct object."

The team also used infrared thermography, a heat-mapping technique, and noticed that the grass growing within the boat-shaped formation is a different color from the vegetation just outside its boundary. Jones said the color difference suggests the soil composition inside the formation is distinct enough to affect plant growth, a visible surface indicator that mirrors the chemical findings below.

Discoveries of physical evidence tied to biblical and early Christian history have drawn renewed public attention in recent years. Archaeologists working in Turkey believe they identified the church where Christianity defined its creed in A.D. 325, adding to a pattern of finds that give material weight to scriptural accounts.

Jones reframes the central question from shape to structure

For decades, the debate over the Durupınar Formation centered on its appearance, whether a boat-shaped rock formation in the mountains of Ararat was anything more than a geological coincidence. Jones argues the new data shifts the question entirely. He told Fox News:

"We've moved from asking Does it look like a boat? to Why is there a three-layered, right-angled inside structure, carbon-rich boat formation the exact length of Noah's ark given in the Bible buried in the middle of a mountainside in the mountains of Ararat?"

The team's stated goal is to move from non-invasive scanning to physical sampling. Dr. Bakhtar said his team is evaluating the collected subsurface data to plan a core drilling pattern at the site. He emphasized BakhtarRadar's ability to distinguish preserved petrified wood, specifically "man-worked timbers", from the natural minerals in the surrounding rock.

Jones told Patterns of Evidence that core drilling represents the next critical step:

"The ultimate goal is not just soil test, which is great, or GPR scans, but to get inside the ship somehow. Core drilling, getting samples deep inside of it to where we see the substructure, these voids, put a camera in it. This is an opportunity coming up that possibly will allow us to do that next season."

Noah's Ark Scans posted on X that the formation's extreme climate may have worked as a natural preservative. The group wrote that "due to the extremely cold climate, many parts of the Ark are still intact and petrified," noting the site spends almost six months of each year completely frozen. The team expects to release a preliminary technical report in coming weeks identifying the strongest anomalies, the underlying geology, and the best locations for drilling.

Broader interest in physical evidence supporting biblical narratives has grown alongside these findings. Fossilized trees standing upright through multiple rock layers have reignited debate over the Genesis flood account, while scholars continue to examine how ancient non-biblical sources corroborate scriptural records.

Key questions remain unanswered before drilling begins

For all the data the team has gathered, significant gaps remain. No peer-reviewed publication of the findings has been announced. Independent geologists and archaeologists not affiliated with Noah's Ark Scans have not weighed in publicly on the radar results or the soil chemistry, at least not in any reporting available so far. The team describes itself as international, but the institutional affiliations of its members beyond the Noah's Ark Scans organization are not specified.

The status of Turkish government permits for core drilling is also unclear. Jones has framed the next field season as the window for physical sampling, but whether Turkish authorities will authorize invasive work at the site remains an open question. Jones acknowledged the uncertainty in characteristically faithful terms: "Whatever happens, whenever God opens doors, we will continue working on the site."

The formation has been known to the modern world for less than a century. In that time it has survived cycles of excitement and dismissal. What separates this round of investigation from earlier ones is the specificity of the claims, not just a shape that resembles a boat, but measured chemical gradients, mapped angular structures at depth, and a radar system with a military research pedigree aimed at distinguishing worked timber from natural stone.

Historical and documentary evidence for foundational Christian claims has drawn serious scholarly attention for centuries, from Roman-era historians to modern archaeology. The Durupınar investigation sits in that tradition, an effort to subject faith claims to empirical testing rather than retreat from scrutiny.

Whether the core samples confirm worked timber or close the book on the Ark theory, the team is asking the right kind of question: not "Do you believe?" but "What does the evidence show?" That instinct, test the claim, drill the hole, show the data, deserves respect regardless of where the answer lands.