The Geography of Iran: October 2014

Iran has several volcanoes that are spread out across the nation. One volcano that is located in Iran is Mount Damavand. It is the tallest peak in the Middle East and the second tallest volcano in Asia. It has a height of 5,670 meters from sea level and a volume of 400 cubic kilometers. It is located in northern Tehran on the thrust and fold belt of the Alborz mountains. It was formed on a 9-kilometer wide caldera (massive crater). Mount Damavand is a stratovolcano, which explains why it is so tall. Stratovolcanos are some of the tallest volcanoes on Earth. The volcano has produced volcanic rocks like pumice and tuff. It has also produced a lot of sediment and lahar (volcanic mudflow). Mount Damavand created the Lar Lake by closing off the Lar River route with lava.

Mount Damavand typically has an effusive eruption style, which creates extensive lava flows of low viscosity (a substance’s ability to resist flow). This means that Damavand’s eruptions are a lot less dangerous and violent than explosive eruptions produced by some other volcanoes. Damavand started erupting 1.78 millions years ago. Its current cone has created eruptions from 7,000 to 600,000 years ago. Despite the fact that a new cone has formed on Mount Damavand, the volcano’s eruption style has stayed the same.

Although it has been a very long time since Mount Damavand last erupted, fumaroles (holes in volcanic regions where hot gases and vapors are released) located at the summit crater of the mountain suggest that it is still active. The existence of sulfuric and hot water springs near Mount Damavand also suggests that the volcano may be active because it shows that there is internal heat around the mountain. As of now, the volcano is considered to be semi-active. No one is sure when it will erupt again.