Iranian plateau – Wikipedia

L’ Iranian plateau , also called Persian plateau ^{[first] [2]} (in Persiano Iran Plateau, Falat-e Iran ) and in other similar ways, it is a mountainous region of Asia, between Mesopotamia in the west and Hindukush to the east.

The plateau borders in the north with central Asia, while in the south the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman delimit the area. Despite the name, Iran does not understand only, but also parts of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan ^[3] . It owes the name to the ancient Iranian language peoples known in the past as “Aryans”, that is, that branch of Indo -European that starting from the second millennium BC. colonized and brought agriculture to the region. The term is often equated to the cultural region of Iranian influence, indicated by Encyclopædia Iranica come Iranian cultural continent and by some Iranists ^[4] As “great Iran”, which largely coincides with the Iranian plateau and, in addition to this, with the neighboring regions of Caucasus, Central Asia and Anatolia.

Morphology [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

The plateau consists of a tectonic plate (called Iranian plate) belonging to the Eurasian plate, illed among the Arab and Indian plaques. It belongs to the Alpine corrugations band and flows to the north in correspondence with Kurdistan in the Anatolian plateau and in the Caucasus region and continues east in the Hindukush, Pamir and Himalaya region. Its boundaries are outlined by various mountain corrupts: in the north the Elburz mountains ( Kuh-e alboz ) separate it from the Caspian Sea and the Kopet Dag and Aladagh mountains from the Karakum desert, to the west and south-west the Zagros Mountains separate it from the plains of the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. To the south-east, the plateau merges with the mountain groups of the Kuh-e Jebal Barez, Kuh-e Birag, Kuh-and Taftan and Kuh-I Sultan and the depression of Jaz Murian in the mountainous region of Bellucistan. In itself, the plateau cannot be properly assigned to the alpine orogenesis, but to the series of sums that led to the formation of the urals and the ḥajar mountains (in Oman) ^[5] . Due to tectonic activity, the whole region is subject to earthquakes and shows recent volcanism phenomena. ^[6]

The plateau is in turn divided into various sectors, arranged with north-west/south-east trend, from the mountain ranges of the Zagros, the Kuhrud (Kuh-e Rud), the Kuh-e Davaran and the Kuh-and Banan. The great deserts of the plateau (Lut/Dasht-e Lut, Dasht-E Kavir, Rigestan, Dasht-E Margh, Jaz Murian, Hamum-I Mashkel extend between

Hydrography [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

Given the climatic conditions of the region and the scarcity of the rains, only in the peripheral mountain range can some water courses of some development and non -all -negligible development courses are formed; those of the external slopes reach the sea or the major rivers (such as the tiger to the West and the indoor indoor); Those of the internal slopes form, at the outlet in the alluvial plans, small oasis, but the most are lost in the sands of the closed basins. Generally they are temporary and extremely irregular water courses, but some however offer the possibility of irrigating limited step extensions.

Among the waterways we remember the Murghab and Harīrūd in the north, which, born in Hindu Kush, open the way to the Bassopian Aralo-Capicico, where they are connected to the Karakum channel that comes from the amudarja and reaches Ašgabat. The Harīrūd passes through Herāt (922 m) before going down to the Bassopiano Turanico; And Mashhad, at 974 m, is in the wake dug by a small left tributary of the Harīrūd. Several rivers flow to the caspio: some from Aladagh, such as Atrek and Gorgān; Others, coming from Kaflan-Kuh, like Qezelozan, who at the entrance of the Manjil throat is swelling of the waters of the Shah to form the SEFID. From the Elburz mountains, small short journey and little importance of short -term waterways descend.

Some descend to the Persian Gulf more ; The notable river alone is the Karun, which is formed in the Susiana and descends towards the Shatt al Arab; It is partially navigable and is enlarged by the Dez; passes not far from the ruins of ancient Susa, already magnificent residence of Dario; In its lower pelvis there are large oil deposits that feed the large ābādān refinery.

Further north the Iranian chains send some impetuous streams such as the two Zabs (Great Zab and Piccolo Zab) to Tigris and Diyala, born in western Persia. Pure Torrentizio character has, in the north-eastern Iranian plateau, the Kabul, which is formed in Afghanistan and flows into the Indus. Inside is the Helmand, which ends up in the Sistān swamp, on the bottom of a desert depression. Among the lakes we remember that of Urmia, an internal basin closed, on the border of Armenia. It is a lake with an uncertain revealed shores, whose surface during the rainy season grows from 4 500 a 6 000 km². Place first 294 m, has a depth of just 16 m; It is I feel of emissaries and sprinkled with numerous islands. The waters are very salty (14-23%) and for this reason it does not host fish of any kind. There are numerous other lake basin on the plateau with uncertain banks and with a very variable surface according to the seasons; Such, for example, that of Daryōcheh-E-Namak, south of Tehran, and that of Daryōcheh-and South-east of Shirāz in the Fārs mountains ^[7] .

Climate [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

The Iranian plateau falls into the large area, largely desert and sub -ertic, which extends from the Sahara to central Asia; Here the winds are dry and do not bring rains, also because the plateau is closed within belts of high mountains. However, different climatic regions can be distinguished in immense territory. Particular characteristics have all the low bass cimose coast of the south who have tropical climate, with high temperatures, however mitigated by the presence of the sea, and with poor mainly winter rainfall and clear summer drought. Hot but sprayed by abundant rains is the small cimosa coast of the Caspian, where the Nordic slopes of the Elburz mountains, thanks to the winds that come to you on the winter semester through the Caspian Sea, receive the greater amount of rainfall of the entire Iranian plateau and therefore They are covered with dense humid subtropical vegetation.

The higher and higher interior territories of the plateau have a characteristic type of climate, with little winter rainfall and strong summer aridity and with accentuated contrasts of temperature between winter and summer and between the day and night. Daily variations of 30 ° C are not at all exceptional and in extreme cases you arrive at excursions of 50 ° C. In the internal basins there are summer temperatures up to 50 ° C and winter up to -30 ° C. The basins in the summer are strongly overheated, but also in winter, due to constant serenity, there is a great irradiation.

In the distribution of rainfall, morphology greatly affects; The external slopes of the mountainous reliefs receive greater rainfall of the internal basins. In central depressions, as in the Dasht-e Kavir, in the Dasht-e Lut and in the Belucistan basin, hardly rainfall exceeds 100 mm per year. However, in general, rainfall, although already so scarce throughout the territory, fall in decreasing quantities from the West to the East. This also occurs on the external slopes most influenced by the action of the winds. Thus, while the Elburz mountains and the external slopes of the Zagros Mountains receive rains and snows up to 2 000 MM, on the eastern slopes of the Belucistan mountains the rain reaches just 200 mm.

Precipitation occur only in the winter, except for the coast of the caspio, where the rains also fall into the other seasons. The dry period, which culminates in the summer, can extend from 8 to 9 months, and this is the rule in internal desert territories. In the East, the influence of summer monsoons is also felt, which cause rainfall on the oriental slopes of the chains. Sometimes the snow falls in the winter mountains, which, however, almost always quickly dissolves and immediately the water evaporates in the dry air. Only on the highest peaks of the Elburz is the snow permanent ^[7] .

Flora [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

Due to the warm and dry climate, the vegetation is, in general, very scarce: only on the external sides of the marginal chains are quite rade forests. Instead, along the courses of the rivers and on the irrigated soils, poplar, plane trees, olmi, ashs and salici grow: the fruit plants are very common and widespread (including the peach and the pomegranate that is believed are originally from Iran). But in the plateau, outside the irrigation oasis, the steppe dominates, which for a short period appears covered with rare tufts of herbs and flowers. But very large are the completely desert areas almost always naked and often white of saline deposits. Very different aspect has the northern side of the Elburz mountains that descends towards the caspio, where the Mediterranean flora recalls that of the northern side of the Ponto mountains ^[7] .

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