Search

Kuh-e-Sabalān; 4,740 m), the highest and spatially most extended volcano in northwestern Iran. SABALĀN MOUNTAIN (Kuh-e-Sabalān; 4,740 m), the highest and spatially most extended volcano in northwestern Iran. The mountain and its surroundings are part of the Armenian-Azerbaijan knot of mountains, where Pontus and Taurus mountain chains have their eastern roots and Alborz and Zagros their starting point. Thus, the whole region is a highly active tectonic and volcanic area stretching over an east-west extension …

Large tracts of central Persia and the adjacent arid plateaus of Afghanistan lie under cloudless skies for most of the year, which contributes to typical “contiꏂnental” climatic conditions. A version of this article is available in print Volume V, Fascicle 8, pp. 870-871 CLOUDS (Skt. abhrá-, Av. aβra-, Sogd. ʾβr, Khot. pyaurā- [< * pari-abrā-, but aurā- “sky”], Pashto wryaj fem. [< * abračī], Pers. abr, etc.; see Bailey, Dictionary, pp. 47a, 256b), masses of condensed water vapor. Four general categories are differentiated: high clouds, clouds at medium elevation…

“salt river.” The name ābšūr is very common in Iran for those rivers with a high salt content. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 3, pp. 247-248 ĀBŠŪR RŪD “salt river.” The name ābšūr is very common in Iran for those rivers with a high salt content. Salt may generally arrive from two sources: firstly, from minerals of the soil which are transported to the surface by the upward direction of groundwater and by soil-water evaporation due to the arid climate of most of Iran (see Kavīr); secondly, from solu…

and ice fields in Persia. Due to Persia’s location in the very center of the arid dry belt, stretching from North Africa in the west to Central Asia in the east, and also due to its very specific topography, glaciers and/or permanent ice fields are restricted and concentrated in a very few locations. A version of this article is available in print Volume XI, Fascicle 1, pp. 7-9 GLACIERS and ice fields in Persia. Due to Persia’s location in the very center of the arid dry belt, stretching from North Africa in the west to Central Asia in the east, and also due to …

a mountain range that forms part of the northern rim of the Khorasan trench in northeastern Iran, to the north of the city of Qūčān. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 8, pp. 890-891 ALLĀHO AKBAR, KŪH-E, a mountain range that forms part of the northern rim of the Khorasan trench in northeastern Iran, to the north of the city of Qūčān. The massif is almost 100 km long and rises to a height of over 3,000 m. It links Kopet-Dag (Qobba Dāḡ) in the northwest with Hazār Masǰed in the southeast and is regarded b…

lit. "plain, open ground"; Persian term for a very specific type of landscape, the extended gravel piedmonts and plains that are almost ubiquitous in arid central Persia. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 1, pp. 94-95 DAŠT (plain, open ground) ,Persian term for a very specific type of landscape. In scientific geographical literature it is applied to the extended gravel piedmonts and plains that are almost ubiquitous in arid central Persia. Sloping down from the upper reaches of the mountains and highlands, dašt areas are built up by more or less c…

a lagoon in the extreme southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 8, pp. 840-841 ASTARĀBĀD BAY, also known as Gorgān Bay or Ḵalīǰ-e Gorgān, is a lagoon in the extreme southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea. It is some 40 km long and only a few meters deep. It is separated from the Caspian Sea proper by the Mīānkāla peninsula, a narrow tongue of land which consists largely of sand dunes and extends almost the length of the lagoon. As a result of the drop in …

(DARYĀČA-ye QOM, or Qom Basin), also called Daryāča-ye Sāva, one of the interior watersheds in northwestern Persia (see DRAINAGE). It is situated between the southern flanks of the western Alborz system and the eastern slope of the northern Zagros, and covers just over 92,000 km². QOM LAKE (DARYĀČA-ye QOM, or Qom Basin), also called Daryāča-ye Sāva, one of the interior watersheds in northwestern Persia (see DRAINAGE). It is situated between the southern flanks of the western Alborz system and the eastern slope of the northern Zagros, and co…

This article is concerned with those aspects of the geology of Persia that are of immediate economic and cultural significance for the country and its inhabitants, primarily (1) geological structure and orohydrographic differentiation of Persia, (2) geology and natural hazards, and (3) geology and natural resources. A version of this article is available in print Volume X, Fascicle 5, pp. 456-460 GEOLOGY. This article is concerned with those aspects of the geology of Persia that are of immediate economic and cultural significance for the country and its i…

the carrying away of excess surface water through runoff in permanent or intermittent streams. Persia can be divided into four main drainage regions: the Caspian region, the Lake Urmia region, the Persian Gulf region, and the interior. Most of it is characterized by endorheic basins, that is, by interior drainage. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 5, pp. 526-529 DRAINAGE, the carrying away of excess surface water through runoff in permanent or intermittent streams. On Persian territory, because of seasonal variations in the …

i. Forests and Forestry in Persia. ii. Forests and Forestry in Afghanistan. A version of this article is available in print Volume X, Fascicle 1, pp. 86-90 FORESTS AND FORESTRY i. In Persia Less than 2 percent of Persia is covered by forests, while another 8 to 9 percent may be regarded as depleted former forest areas. Thus, altogether 150-160,000 km² are, or have been, densely forested areas (FIGURE 1). From a botanical and ecological perspective, Persia’s forest vegetation is not uniform. On the contrary, in line with the country’s ecological differentiation, Ha…

name of a number of mountains in Iran; of Turkish origin, the words mean “colored mountain.” A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 769 ĀLĀ DĀḠ, name of a number of mountains in Iran; of Turkish origin, the words mean “colored mountain.” Many mountains or mountain ranges in Turkey or regions inhabited by Turkman peoples, including Soviet central Asia and Siberia, bear this name. In Iran there are several mountains or smaller massifs known (often only to local inhabitants) as Ālā Dāḡ, especial…

The impressive basin-range-structure of the Baḵtīārī mountains, a result of the geological development of the Zagros system since late Cretaceous time and culminating in the orogenesis of Tertiary upfolding, is accentuated by the complicated and unique drainage system, which itself is the result of geology and topography. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 5, pp. 551-553 BAḴTĪĀRĪ MOUNTAINS, central part of the Zagros mountain range, more or less identical to the settlement area of the Baḵtīārī nomads. The Baḵtīārī mountains…

There is a special kind of spring, the karst spring, in areas which have no consistent water table. The water usually collects in great clefts within chalky formations or flows in a subterranean channel and often includes the best-known springs in Iran. A version of this article is available in print Volume 1, Fascicle 1, pp. 43-46 ĀB-E GARM “warm water”: hot springs and mineral springs in Iran (Figure 10). Springs in general. Springs are defined as places on the earth’s surface where underground water fed by rainfall issues forth either continuously or periodically…

Persian term for those agricultural lands which are irrigated. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 217 ĀBĪ, Persian term for those agricultural lands which are irrigated; unirrigated (i.e., rain-fed) fields are called daymī (see discussion s.v. Agriculture). Cf. also the more specialized term fāyrāb/pāyrāb, applied to lands irrigated by diversion of river water. The two traditional forms of irrigation are diversion of stream water and use of the qanāt; both can be traced to pre-Achaemenid times and may be seen as causes of the early…

(Kuh-e Sahand), With 3710 m the third of the great volcanoes in the volcano province of Eastern Anatolia and Northwestern Iran, the other two being Ararat and Sabalān. SAHAND MOUNTAIN (Kuh-e Sahand), With 3710 m the third of the great volcanoes in the volcano province of Eastern Anatolia and Northwestern Iran, the other two being Ararat and Sabalān (qq.v.). In its geological history and structure comparable to the Kuh-e- Sabalān, the Kuh-e Sahand marks the southern fringe of the highly active volcanic-tectonic geological pr…

the study of organisms, both flora and fauna, in relation to their environments. Five primary ecological regions in Persia each have a characteristic combination of features: Caspian lowlands, Alborz system and mountains in Khorasan, Persian plateau, Zagros system. Makrān mountains, and the Persian Gulf lowlands. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 1, pp. 84-88 ECOLOGY, the study of organisms, both flora and fauna, in relation to their environments. The biosphere generally encompasses the thin outer shell of the earth, w…

older Ašraf, a town situated at 36°41′55ʹ north latitude and 53°32′30ʹ east longitude in the eastern part of central Māzandarān. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 2, pp. 113 BEHŠAHR, older Ašraf, a town situated at 36°41′55ʹ north latitude and 53°32′30ʹ east longitude in the eastern part of central Māzandarān, 35 miles east of Sārī and 43 miles west of Gorgān. It is located halfway between the foothills of the Alborz to the south and the Caspian Sea (Astarābād Bay/Ḵalīj-e Gorgān) which is five mi…

Name of a town and bay on the Makrān coast of Persian Baluchistan facing the coast of Oman. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 6, pp. 642-644 ČĀH-BAHĀR (in Western sources written Chahbar, Charbar, Chobar), name of a town and bay on the Makrān coast of Persian Baluchistan facing the coast of Oman. The bay is a shallow (6-9 fathoms) semicircular inlet eleven by ten miles in area and accessible only to moderate-sized vessels. It is surrounded by lowlands except at the mouth, about eight miles wide…

The tendency to possess not certain, regionally fixed parts of the land but shares of the total, is made possible by the custom of splitting each property or any part of it into “ideal” or “imaginary” shares or allotments. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 6, pp. 613-623 AGRICULTURE in Iran. The rural economy, for millennia the economic and social basis for all Persian governments, is characterized by a series of ecological and economic restraints that have hampered its development. While the natural limitations of …