Dasht-e Lut
Dasht-e Lut, also spelled Dasht-i-Lut, is a large salt desert in southeastern Iran and is the world's 25th largest desert.
Iran is climatically part of the Afro-Asian belt of deserts that stretch from the Cape Verde islands off West Africa all the way to Mongolia near Beijing, China. The patchy, elongated, light-colored feature in the foreground (parallel to the mountain range) is the northernmost of the Dasht dry lakes that stretch southward 300 kilometers (190 mi). In near-tropical deserts, elevated areas capture most precipitation. As a result, the Dasht-e Lut is generally considered to be an abiotic zone.
Iran's geography consists of a plateau surrounded by mountains and divided into drainage basins. Dasht-e Lut is one of the largest of these desert basins, 480 kilometers (300 mi) long and 320 kilometers (200 mi) wide,[1] and is considered to be one of the driest places on Earth.[2][3][4]
Area of the desert is about 51,800 square kilometers (20,000 mi²).[5] The other large basin is the Dasht-e Kavir. During the spring wet season, water briefly flows down from the Kerman mountains, but it soon dries up, leaving behind only rocks, sand, and salt.
The eastern part of Dasht-e Lut is a low plateau covered with salt flats. In contrast, the center has been sculpted by the wind into a series of parallel ridges and furrows, extending over 150 km (93 mi) and reaching 75 m (250 ft) in height.[1] This area is also riddled with ravines and sinkholes. The southeast is a vast expanse of sand, like a Saharan erg, with dunes 300 m (1000 ft) high, among the tallest in the world.[1]
Hottest land surface
Measurements of MODIS (Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) installed on NASA's satellite "Aqua" from 2003 - 2005 testify that the hottest land surface on Earth is located in Dasht-e Lut and land surface temperatures reach here 70.7 degrees C (159 degrees F)[6][7][8][9][2][3][4]. Precision of measurements is 0.5 - 1 degrees K[10][11].
The hottest part of Dasht-e Lut is Gandom Beryan - approximately 480 km² large plateau covered with dark lava[12]. According to local legend this name (in translation from Persian - "Toasted wheat") originates from an accident where load of wheat left in the desert was scorched by the heat in a few days time[13].
See also
References
- ^ a b c editors, Richard L. Scheffel, Susan J. Wernert ; writers, Oliver E. Allen ...; et al. (1980). Natural Wonders of the World. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-89577-087-5.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help); Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1102/p16s01-sten.html
- ^ a b http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/earth/temperature-of-earth/
- ^ a b http://www.redorbit.com/images/images-of-the-day/img/13205/hottest_spot_on_earth/index.html
- ^ Wright, John W. (ed.) (2006). The New York Times Almanac (2007 ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books. p. 456. ISBN 978-0-14-303820-7.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=7149
- ^ http://www.weather.ir/english/
- ^ http://www.climatetemp.info/iran/
- ^ http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=58252§ionid=351020108
- ^ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/dataprod/dataproducts.php?MOD_NUMBER=11 MOD 11 - Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity, MODIS Website
- ^ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/atbd/atbd_mod11.pdf Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land-Surface Temperature Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (LST ATBD) Version 3.3. April 1999
- ^ http://www.iranreview.org/content/view/1067/51/ A Journey To Earth's Hottest Point
- ^ "Gandom Beryan in Lut Desert - hottest place on Earth" (Document). Wondermondo. 1 November 2010Template:Inconsistent citations
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External links
