Everything about Iranian Plateau totally explained
The
Iranian plateau also known as the
Persian plateau is a
geological formation in
Southwest,
Southern Asia and
Caucasus . It is the part of the
Eurasian Plate wedged between the
Arabian and
Indian plates, situated between the
Zagros mountains to the west, the
Caspian Sea and the
Kopet Dag to the north, the
Hormuz Straight and
Arabian Sea to the south and and
Hindu Kush to the east.
As a historical region, it includes
Parthia,
Media and eastern
Persia, the heartlands of
Greater Persia (mainly
Iran,
Afghanistan, and
Pakistan).
The
Zagros mountains form the plateau's western boundary, and its eastern slopes may be included in the term. The
Encyclopedia Britannica excludes "lowland
Khuzestan" explicitly and characterizes
Elam as spanning "the region from the Mesopotamian plain to the Iranian Plateau".
From the Caspian in the northwest to Baluchistan in the south-east, the Iranian Plateau extends for close to 2,000 km. It encompasses the greater part of
Iran and significant parts of both
Pakistan and
Afghanistan, an area roughly outlined by the quadrangle formed by the cities of
Tabriz,
Shiraz,
Karachi and
Kabul
containing some 3.7 million square kilometers (1.5 million square miles). In spite of being called a "plateau", it's far from flat but contains several mountain ranges, the highest peak being
Damavand in the
Alborz at 5610 m, and the
Lut basin east of
Kerman in Central Iran falling below 300 m.
Geology
In geology, the plateau region of
Iran primarily formed of the
accretionary Gondwanan
terranes between the Turan
platform to the north and the Main Zagros Thrust, the suture zone between the northward moving Arabian
plate and the Eurasian continent, is called the Iranian plateau. It is a geologically well-studied area because of general interest in continental collision zones, and because of Iran's long history of research in
geology, particularly in
economic geology (although Iran's major
petroleum reserves are not in the plateau).
Geography
The Persian
plateau in geology refers to a geographical area north of the great folded mountain belts resulting from the collision of the
Arabian plate with the
Eurasian plate. In this definition, Iranian plateau doesn't cover Kurdistan and southwestern Iran.
It extends from
East Azerbaijan Province in northwest of
Iran (Persia) to southern
Afghanistan and
Pakistan. It also includes smaller parts of the
Republic of Azerbaijan and
Turkmenistan. Its mountain ranges can be divided into five major sub-regions:
- Northwest Iran Ranges
- Elburz
- Central Iranian Plateau
- Eastern Iranian Ranges
- Kopet Dag
- Kuh-e Siah Khvani 3314 m. 10,873 ft.
- Eshdeger Range
- Baluchistan
- Sikaram 4755 m. 15,600 ft.
- Kuh-e Taftan 3941 m, 12,930 ft.
- Zargun 3578 m, 11,739 ft.
Rivers and plains:
Kavir Desert
Lut Desert
Lake Hamun
Gavkhouni
Sistan Lake
History
Elam stretched across the Zagros mountains, connecting Mesopotamia and the Iranian Plateau. The kingdoms of Aratta known from cuneiform sources may have been located in the Central Iranian Plateau.
In classical antquity the region was called Arana (Āryānā), meaning "land of the Aryans", which in Middle Persian was Erān, which became Irān in Modern Persian. The Old Persian form of the word was Aryānām Xšaθra "Kingdom of the Aryans", the Avestan for was Airyanem Vaejah.
Archaeology
Archaeological sites and cultures of the Iranian plateau include:
Central Iranian Plateau ("Jiroft culture")
Zayandeh River Civilization
Tappeh SialkFurther Information
Get more info on 'Iranian Plateau'.
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