The Salt Dome and Salt Glacier are two unique geological formations in the Zagros Mountains of Iran.
The Salt Dome is a large block of tightly compressed salt that has risen and surfaced due to the immense pressure from the Earth’s crust. The Salt Glacier, on the other hand, is a slow-moving flow of salt that resembles a glacier and is also a result of the pressure and movement within the Earth’s crust. Both of these formations are fascinating natural wonders and draw visitors from around the world to witness their beauty and geological significance.
Before millions of years, the Persian Gulf was much larger than it is today and overflowed over the Arabian Peninsula in the south and Iran in the west.
There was a lot of salt left there when the water vanished and the see shores tumbled.
The salt layers were encrusted with sediments that arrived from the rocks by the water from the rain and the layer of sediments has gotten thick over time.
After that, they became dense and weighed down on salt layers.
Nowhere else in the world such cumulative salt domes can be seen, according to UNESCO.
The site is not yet a World Heritage Site but is being considered for inclusion.
In the southern part of the Zagros Mountains alone, there are more than 130 salt domes which affected the structure of Zagros Mountains as one of the most significant simple folded systems in the world.
