Drainage

Dezfūl, Iran: Dez River

The few streams emptying into the desiccated central plateau dissipate in saline
marshes. The general drainage pattern is down the outward slopes of the mountains,
terminating in the sea. There are three large rivers, but only one—theKārūn—is
navigable. It originates in the Zagros Mountains and flows south to the Shatt Al-
Arab (Arvand Rūd), which empties into the Persian Gulf. The Sefīd (Safid) River
originates in the Elburz Mountains in the north and runs as a mountain stream for
most of its length but flows rapidly into the Gīlān plain and then to the Caspian Sea.
The Dez Dam in Dezfūl is one of the largest in the Middle East. The Sefīd River Dam,
completed in the early 1960s at Manjīl, generates hydroelectric power and provides
water for irrigation.

Iran: Kārūn River dam

The Zāyandeh River, the lifeline of Eṣfahān province, also originates in the Zagros
Mountains, flowing southeastward to Gāv Khūnī Marsh (Gāvkhāneh Lake), a swamp
northwest of the city of Yazd. The completion of the Kūhrang Dam in 1971 diverted
water from the upper Kārūn through a tunnel 2 miles (3 km) long into the Zāyandeh
for irrigation purposes.

Other streams are seasonal and variable: spring floods do enormous damage, while
in summer many streams disappear. However, water is stored naturally
underground, finding its outlet in springs and tap wells.

The largest inland body of water, Lake Urmia, in northwestern Iran, covers an area
that varies from about 2,000 to 2,300 square miles (5,200 to 6,000 square km).
Other lakes are principally seasonal, and all have a high salt content.

Soils of Iran
Soil patterns vary widely. The abundant subtropical vegetation of the Caspian coastal
region is supported by rich brown forest soils. Mountain soils are shallow layers
over bedrock, with a high proportion of unweathered fragments.
Natural erosion moves the finer-textured soils into the valleys. The alluvial deposits
are mostly chalky, and many are used for pottery. The semiarid plateaus lying above
3,000 feet (900 metres) are covered by brown or chestnut-coloured soil that
supports grassy vegetation. The soil is slightly alkaline and contains 3 to 4 percent
organic material. The saline and alkaline soils in the arid regions are light in colour
and infertile. The sand dunes are composed of loose quartz and fragments of other
minerals and, except where anchored by vegetation, are in almost constant motion,
driven by high winds.
Climate
Iran’s climate ranges from subtropical to subpolar. In winter a high-pressure belt,
centred in Siberia, slashes west and south to the interior of the Iranian plateau, and
low-pressure systems develop over the warm waters of the Caspian Sea, the Persian
Gulf, and the Mediterranean Sea. In summer one of the world’s lowest-pressure
centres prevails in the south. Low-pressure systems in Pakistan generate two regular
wind patterns: the shamāl, which blows from February to October northwesterly
through the Tigris-Euphrates valley, and the “120-day” summer wind, which can
reach velocities of 70 miles (110 km) per hour in the Sīstān region near Pakistan.
Warm Arabian winds bring heavy moisture from the Persian Gulf.