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COMETS EARTH JUPITER KUIPER BELT MARS MERCURY METEORITES NEPTUNE OORT CLOUD PLUTO SATURN SOLAR SYSTEM SPACE SUN URANUS VENUS ORDER PRINTS
PHOTO CATEGORIES SCIENCEVIEWS AMERICAN INDIAN AMPHIBIANS BIRDS BUGS FINE ART FOSSILS THE ISLANDS HISTORICAL PHOTOS MAMMALS OTHER PARKS PLANTS RELIGIOUS REPTILES SCIENCEVIEWS PRINTS
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The diapirs, or salt plugs, in this image are a few of over 200 similar features scattered about this part of the Zagros Mountains in southern Iran. This region of folded rocks is the result of the collision between the Asian landmass and the Arabian platform. The deeper underlying deposits of salt have been reformed into ascending fluid-like, plastic plumes of salt. In some places these plumes have pushed through the overlying rock units, like toothpaste extruding from a tube, and are now visible as darkish irregular patches. Gravity has caused the salt to flow into adjacent valleys; the resulting tongue-shaped bodies, more than 5 km long, resemble glaciers, with arcuate ridges separated by crevasse-like gullies and with steep sides and fronts. The darker tones are due to clays brought up with the salt, as well as the probable accumulation of airborne dust. This ASTER perspective view was created by draping a band 3-2-1 (RGB) image over an ASTER-derived DEM (2x vertical exaggeration), and was acquired on August 10, 2001. |
