The Geography of Iran: Final Blog Post

Iran is an arid (dry) and semi-arid (receiving little rainfall) nation, except down the Caspian coast where the climate is mostly subtropical. Iran is mostly dry because its mountains form a barrier that prevents humid clouds from reaching certain parts of the country. Two-thirds of Iran is either mountains or desert. Despite the fact that a lot of Iran is dry, the nation has four distinguished seasons. Iran’s temperature, humidity, and levels of precipitation vary from place to place depending on the season. Iran’s physical geography is very diverse. This is why the nation’s landscape is so unique.

The landscape of Lar, Iran

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/49490104

I believe that Iran will be even drier than it already is 10,000 years from now. I think this way because of the fact that the nation is running out of its water supply. Iran gets more than half of its water supply by drawing from underground aquifers. Public usage is rapidly draining the reservoirs. If Iran keeps overusing its water supply, more than one-third of its provinces will drain the groundwater reserves in the future. Most of Iran’s rivers are closed, meaning that its renewable water supply is already almost used up. Many of the nation’s rivers have also dried up because of droughts. Investigators believe that this is due to local climate change in Iran. Unless something drastic happens that causes Iran’s water supply to increase, the nation will be a lot drier 10,000 years from now.

The Euphrates River in Iran
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-content/photos/000/854/cache/85483_990x742-cb1415029889.jpg

I believe that Iran’s landscape will gradually become more deformed 1,000,000 years from now. By observing Iran’s tectonic activity, one can see that the Arabian plate is converging with the Eurasian plate. It is doing this at a rate of approximately 20 mm/yr. This will cause crustal shortening in the Alborz Mountains and Kopet Dag. It may also close off the Persian Gulf and make the Red Sea wider because the Arabian plate is moving counter-clockwise as a result of the convergence. This is why I believe that Iran’s landscape will become more deformed in the next 1,000,000 years.

Diagram that shows the convergence between the Arabian and Eurasian plates
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/28/4/355/F1.large.jpg

I believe that tectonic activity will continue to change Iran’s landscape over the next 100,000,000 years. As the Arabian and the Eurasian plates keep on colliding into each other, the tectonic activity in Iran will increase. This will cause more earthquakes and volcanoes to occur in the nation. It may even cause Mount Damavand, a semi-active volcano in Iran, to erupt. This will create pyroclastic flows that will wipe out animals and vegetation in the nation. The collision between the two plates will also cause the Zagros Mountains to uplift. As the Eurasian and the Arabian plates continue to collide, the Zagros Mountains will grow larger. This is why I believe that tectonic activity will greatly affect Iran’s landscape over the next 100,000,000 years.

Mount Damavand
http://www.snow-forecast.com/system/images/10008/large/Damavand.jpg?1309534708

The Zagros Mountains
http://i-cias.com/e.o/slides/zagros02.jpg

I believe Iran’s landscape will experience significant changes in the future. The nation will be greatly affected by tectonic activity and the loss of its water supply. The Earth is a very dynamic planet that is constantly going through different phases. This is ultimately why Iran’s landscape will change in the distant future.