Iranian Plateau: geographical location, coordinates, minerals and features

The highland, which will be discussed in this article, is the driest and largest of all the Near Asian. It is framed on all sides by tall, ridged ridges, converging in the west and east, forming the Pamir and Armenian knots of congestion.

About where the Iranian plateau lies, about the features of its relief, about the vegetation and animal life of these places, as well as other information can be found in this article.

General geological information

Geologically, the Iranian Plateau is one of the parts of the Eurasian plate, which was sandwiched between the Hindustan plate and the Arabian platform.

The folded mountains here alternate with the plains and hollows of the intermontane mountains. Depressions between the mountains are filled with huge strata of clastic loose material, which got there from the mountains around them. The lowest areas of the basins once occupied lakes that had long dried up and left large thicknesses of gypsum and salt.

Geographical position of the Iranian Plateau

Iranian is the largest highland in the area of the strike in the Near East. And most of it is located within Iran, and in Afghanistan and Pakistan it comes from the east.

The northern part extends to the south of Turkmenistan, and the southern part takes the border with Iraq. Large expanses occupies the Iranian highlands. Its coordinates are: 12.533333 ° - latitude, 41.385556 ° - longitude.

Landscapes

For the described highland is characterized by a successive alternation of mountainous vast plateaus and lowlands with mountain ranges, a rather dry climate and the predominance of semi-desert and desert landscapes. Chains of mountains located on the outskirts, separate the inner parts of the plateau from the lowlands of the coastal. The latter also enter partially into the limits of the given region.

These outlying mountain ranges converge in the Armenian Highlands (in the north-west) and in the Pamirs (in the northeast), forming huge mountain nodes. And within the highland itself, the circumferential chains are considerably removed from each other, and in the areas between them there are numerous depressions, mountain massifs and plateaus.

Origin of the name of the Highlands

The Iranian highlands are located on a vast territory, the area of which is about 2.7 million square meters. Kilometers, and its length is from the West to the East 2500 kilometers, from the North to the South - 1500 km. The largest part of it is located on the territory of Iran (it occupies about 2/3 of the area), which is why it has such a name for the highlands. The rest covers some parts of the territories of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Its small northern margin lies within the Turkmeno-Khorasan Mountains (part of the Kopetdag mountain), and its western sections are in the territories of Iraq.

Relief

Huge territory occupies the Iranian highlands. Its highest point is in its inner regions.

Almost the whole system of southern marginal areas has characteristic, almost identical features of relief and structure. The mountains here have approximately the same heights (from 1500 to 2500 meters) and only in the central part (Zagros) reach a height of more than 4000 m.

The ridges are parallel mountain chains, folded by folded Cenozoic and Mesozoic rocks, between which are wide depressions (heights from 1500 to 2000 meters).

Also there are numerous gorges located transversely, but they are so wild and narrow that it is almost impossible to get through them. But there are such transverse through valleys that are wider and more accessible, through which the paths pass, communicating the coast and the inner regions of the highlands.

The inner part of the highlands is clearly delimited by mountain arcs. Elbrus is located in the northern arc together with the Demavend volcano (its height is 5604 m). Also here are the Turkmen-Khorasan Mountains (including Kopetdag), Paropamiz, Hindu Kush (Tirichmir with a peak height of 7,690 m is the highest peak of the Iranian plateau).
Some of the numerous highest peaks of the highlands are formed from extinct or dying volcanoes.

Minerals of the Iranian Plateau

The reserves of minerals in the uplands are poorly understood and poorly used, but, judging by everything, they are very large. The main wealth of the region is oil, large reserves of which are concentrated and are being developed in Iran (south-west). These deposits are confined to the Mesozoic and Miocene sediments of the foothills of the foothills (Zagros). It is also known about the existence of hydrocarbon reserves in the north of Iran, in the lowland areas of the South Caspian (the province of Iranian Azerbaijan).

The Iranian plateau has in its deposits and coal (in the basins of the marginal mountains of the northern part). There are deposits of lead, copper, iron, gold, zinc, etc. They are located in the inner areas and in the marginal ridges of the Iranian uplands, but their development is still insignificant.

Huge reserves of salt: cookery, Glauber and potash. In the southern part, the salt has a Cambrian age and is located in the form of powerful salt domes emerging on the surface. There are salt deposits in many other areas, and they are also deposited along the banks of numerous salt lakes in the central parts of the highlands.

Climatic conditions

Almost completely, the Iranian highlands lie within the subtropical belt. Its internal parts, as noted above, are surrounded by mountains. This determines the climate of the Iranian Plateau and its features - dryness, high temperatures in summer, and its continentality.

Most of the precipitation falls within the highlands during the winter and spring periods of time along the polar front along which air from the Atlantic enters along with the cyclones. Due to the fact that most of the moisture is intercepted by ridges, the total mass of precipitation is low in these places.
For example, the inner regions (Deshte-Lut, etc.) receive less than 100 mm of precipitation during the year, the western mountain slopes - up to 500 mm, and the eastern ones - no more than 300 mm. Only the coast of the Caspian Sea and Elbrus (its northern slope) receive up to 2 thousand mm of precipitation, which are brought by the northern winds from the Caspian Sea areas in the summer. In these places, there is a large air humidity, which is difficult even for the local population.

The Iranian plateau has an average July temperature in large areas of the territory - within 24 ° C. In lowland areas, especially in the south, it usually reaches 32 ° C. There are also areas where the summer temperature reaches 40-50 degrees, which is due to the formation of tropical air above these sites. The winter period in most of the region is cold. Only the South Caspian lowlands (the extreme south) have an average January temperature of 11-15 ° C.

Vegetable world

The amount of precipitation, the periods and the duration of their fallout on the highlands determine the characteristics of soils and the natural vegetation growing on them. The Iranian highlands have forests that are common only in some areas on mountain slopes, on the sides facing the wet winds.

Especially dense and rich in its composition, broadleaf forests grow in the lowland of the South Caspian and on the slopes of Elbrus adjoining it to heights of about 2000 m.

Most of all, there are chestnut-shaped oaks and its other species, hornbeam, beech, glacial Caspian, ironseeds (endemic South Caspian), evergreen boxwood. Shrubs (undergrowth) - hawthorn, pomegranate, cherry plum. Crocheted plants are a wild vineyard, ivy, blackberries and clematis.

Low-lying forests alternate with plots of swampy, overgrown reeds and sedge. Near the settlements are gardens, citrus plantations, rice fields (in the more humid areas).

On the southern slopes of Zagros grows oak, ash, maple alternating with myrtle and pistachios. Pistachio forests and tree-like junipers are also found on the well-irrigated slopes of the Turkmeno-Khorasan Mountains, in the Suleymanov and Paropamiza Mountains. The level above is mainly dominated by thickets of bushes and beautiful alpine meadows.

Animal world

The Iranian plateau in its fauna has elements of the Mediterranean, as well as neighboring areas: South Asia and Africa.

In the north, some representatives of the Central Asian fauna also live. In addition to such inhabitants of the northern forests as roe deer and brown bear, there are predators of the tropics here - leopards and tigers. Inhabitants and wild boars live in marshy thickets.
On the inner part of the highlands, sheep and mountain goats, antelope gazelle, wild cats, various rodents and jackals live on its plains. On the southern territories there are mongooses and gazelles.

A huge number of birds found their abode in these places, especially in lakes and riverine thickets and marshes: ducks, geese, flamingos, seagulls. And in the forests you can meet pheasants, in more open desert areas - jay, hazel and some predatory birds.

In conclusion about some problems of the highland territories

Virtually the whole region suffers from a lack of water. Only a few sections are provided by it. The rivers are deep, flowing into the Caspian Sea, flow only in the north. The bulk of the watercourses on the territory of the Iranian Plateau has no constant current and is replenished with water only during rains or downpours.

Some of the rivers in their upper reaches have a constant watercourse, and in the middle and lower reaches they dry up for a rather long time. Several small rivers flow into the gulfs (Oman and Persian). The main part of the rivers of the highland (including the largest, Helmand, its length is 1000 km) refers to the basins of the internal drain, they flow into saline lakes or end in solonchaks or swamps of plains. Their role is not great: they are not navigational, they are practically not sources of energy.

These watercourses are widely used for irrigation. Along the rivers, as well as in the territories when water sources come out of the mountains, magnificent oases are green.