Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T06:42:23.504Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - SOILS

from PART 1 - THE LAND

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

M. L. Dewan
Affiliation:
United Nations, Rome
J. Famouri
Affiliation:
Soil Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Iran
Get access

Summary

Iran is covered to a large extent by the mountains which surround the saline, sandy, and rocky deserts of the central plateau, thus making the plateau a closed basin. Over 50 per cent of the total land surface is mountainous and highly broken in topography. There could be said to be four main physiographic areas in Iran, each with a distinctive character. These are:

  1. The great Zagros and Alburz mountain ranges, which together form a great V-shape;

  2. The area within the V, which begins as a high plateau with its own secondary ranges, and gradually levels towards the interior deserts;

  3. The low-lying plain of Khūzistān, which is a continuation of the Mesopotamian plain; and

  4. The Caspian coast, which lies below the sea-level and forms a separate climatic zone.

The major part of the country is arid or semi-arid; rainfall is restricted to the winter months, and is small in amount everywhere but on the northern flanks of the Alburz mountains, where it varies from 40 to 80 in. annually. On the plateau the average annual rainfall of over 8 in. in the north decreases to less than 5 in. in the south and south-east. At the head of the Persian Gulf the amount is somewhat greater. Snow is common in the high areas above 4,000 ft.

Vegetation varies according to climate. The climax-vegetation consists of oak and beech in the more humid sections of the north (of these trees a considerable number still remain), and a thin cover of grasses and/or scattered shrubs in the semi-arid and arid interior.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1968

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×