The volcano, which is mostly known for being near the supposed wreck site of Noah's Ark, is very large; its lava flows cover roughly 650 km2 (251 sq mi) across a swath of flat land.

The volcano is part of a volcanic group surrounding Lake Van that includes Nemrut Caldera and Mount Ararat.

The volcano is located northeast of Lake Van and roughly 25 km (16 mi) from Doğubeyazıt, which is the largest town in the vicinity.

[9] The earliest collision volcanism in the region is thought to have occurred southwest of Erzurum near Solhan in the middle-late Miocene as northward subduction parallel to the Bitlis Thrust Zone (northwest-southeast directed).

This subduction, over the next few million years, resulted in the formation of multiple volcanic centers, including Mount Tendürek.

The intermediate lavas—lavas with a higher silica rate—contain large, zoned plagioclase (oligoclase-andesine), glomerocrysts of clinopyroxene and magnetite, both in a plagioclase-rich groundmass.

[2] Volcanic activity at Mount Tendürek began roughly 250,000 years ago with fissure eruptions out of transtensional fault lines.

Erupted mobile tephrite and basalt lava from these cinder cones covered 1,000 km2 (386 sq mi) on the Doğubayazıt and Çaldıran plains.

[2] 150,000 years ago, immediately before the cone-building phase started, volcanic activity at Mount Tendürek shifted to one central spot, where it remains.

[14][2] Later, a new cone—the eastern crater Lesser Tendürek—started erupting trachytic and benmoreite lava flows that spread equally along the plain on which the cone was located.

This first episode of cone-building activity concluded with more effusive eruptions, varying from trachytic to basaltic lavas that formed a radial flank to this central cone with shallow angles of between 20 and 40 degrees.

Because the crater of this cone was blocked, an internal collapse may have occurred in the volcano's structure, causing faults and fractures trending circularly to form in the flanks close to the summit of the complex.

[14][15] This new cone began erupting voluminous and fast-moving trachyte and benmoreite lava flows that reached a thickness of 250 m (820 ft).

[19] The summit region of Tendürek has been subsiding since 1993 as the result of a sill contracting at a depth of 4.5 km (3 mi), indicating upcoming dormancy.

[23] The Tendürek region is home to endemic plant species including Fritillaria michailovskyi, Centaurea demirizii, Campanula coriacea and Calamintha caroli-henricana.

[24] East of Mount Tendürek is the Durupınar site, which due to its size, ship-like shape and big aggregate structure is considered by some, without evidence, to be the remains of Noah's Ark.