Dali Desert

The Dasht-e Kavir, or great salt desert, is a 500 mile long by 200 mile wide, area SE of the Elburz mountains in north-central Iran, approximately350 km SE of Tehran. It is a huge basin of interior drainage named after the kavirs (saltmarshes) located there. An almost rainless climate with strong surface evaporation has created a crust of salt over the marsh and mud lands. Chemical salts balance the evaporation by drawing moisture from the substrata and the atmosphere. Because its kavirs have properties similar to quicksand, travel in the Dasht-e Kavir is extremely dangerous. "This image was acquired in August 1999 by the Landsat ETM satellite. The image is located at 34.88722, 55.0911.