Iran's Mass Wasting Hazards

Mass wasting is a term used for any type of down slope movement of earth materials. It is a significant part of the process or erosion because it moves materials from high elevations to lower elevations. There are various types of mass wasting distinguished by the type of earth material moving down- slope, the speed in which it moves, and sometimes the mechanics involved in its motion. Common examples are creep, earthflows, landslides, mud and debris flows, rockfalls, rock and debris avalanches, rock slides, rock topple, and slumps. The primary cause for mast wasting is the steepness of slope. Gravity is the driving force but it can also be triggered by other natural events like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and flooding. Climate can also have a great influence. Certain human activities are known to affect mass wasting as well. Many potential problems can be avoided by sufficient planning techniques and engineering solutions. 

Mass wasting is being considered as one of the severe forms of natural disaster. Iran is geographically located in the Alps- Himalayas seismicity belt. It has a high potential to mass wasting. This creates land slides and rock fall in the Alborz and Zagros Mountains. Iran's scientists started mapping and studying various types of mass movement and stability of slopes. In the study, they used field data coupling with tectonic- related factors to provide a solution for slope related hazards. They first looked at geological factors such as lineaments and faults, vegetation, lithology, slope, drainage, land/use, land cover, seismicity and road networks. The study was divided into four regions based on the rate of mass wasting and its degree of vulnerability. The results showed how severe the erosion was in Karaj formation. The research also showed hydrothermal solutions caused by the erosional activities had influenced the glassy element of the tuffs and subsequently changed into the clays. Resulted in making the tuffs relatively unstable. It was found evident that most of the mass wasting has occurred in the unstable tuffs on the Karaj formation. Iran realized their road construction has increased the potential danger for generating the mass waste. They are trying to figure out a way to build roads that create the least amount of unstability. 

Works Cited: 

"What Causes Avalanches, Landslides, Flow, and Creep?" About. com. Education. Web. 26 Mar, 2016. 

"A Recent Scenario of Mass Wasting and Its Impact on the Transportation in Alborz Mountains, Iran Using Geo-information Technology." ResearchGate. Web. 26 Mar. 2016.

Iran's Volcanic Activity

     Iran lies between the Eurasian and Arabic tectonic plate that is known as the collision zone. Iran consists of a few intraplate volcanoes. Most notable is the stratovolcano, which is also the highest mountain in the Middle Eastern region. Mount Bazman is the youngest volcano of Iran. It is located 115 km away from northwest of Iranshahr and and 120 km away from Westrern Kash. This semi- active volcano has a height of 3490 meters from sea level. Bazman is made of pumice, lava and breccia, alternately. It was known to appear during the Quaternary period. Through observation, there has been a couple of small cones, made of basalt lava, spotted around the main peaks; the known rocks are made of acidic lavas seen in western flanks known as andesite and dacite. It's biggest crater has a diameter of 5000 meters. Mount Sabalan is a point type volcano bearing a stratavolcano cone. It's located in the western part of Ardebil with a height of 4800 meters. This mountain includes three cones along with each other and it's lava distribution indicates huge explosion and discharge of lava high volume. Geologically, it' s region is at the Oligocene big horst. Mount Sabalans only sign of activity is various sulfuric and hot water springs indicating post- volcanism phenomenon. Iran's third volcano is Mount Sahand. It has 12 cones separated a couple meters apart from one another. Sahand is located in southeastern region of Tabriz and has a height of 3600 meters. It's cones are made of tuff an ash. Existence of high volume of ash and pume pieces in far distanced indicates vigorous explosion. Mount Taftan is a semi- active volcano being the highest mount of Baluchestan, 450 meters from sea level, located near Khash city. Andestic is it's type of lava. It is an active volcano due to the various sulfuric springs surrounding the mount and gas emission from its highest peak. In 1970 to 1971, it was reported that molten materials came out of Taftan. Mount Damavand is a stratovolcano, as well as the highest mountain in the Middle Eastern region. It is placed 70 km northeast of Tehran and 70 km south of Caspian Sea. Mount Damavand' s first eruption was about 1. 78 million years ago in the Pleistocene. There were several known eruptions around 600, 000 and 280, 000 years ago, until it finally erupted 7, 300 years ago in the Holocene. It' s steep cone is formed by ash and lava flow made of trachyte, andesite, and basalt. Mount Damavand can be considered a potentially active volcano considering July 6, 2007 where fumaroles near the summit crater were emitting sulfur. Unfortunately, I could not find much information on Iran warning people of volcanoes. I believe since their volcanoes due not have extreme activity, the Iranian people are not extremely concerned and do not have it at the top of their priority list. Although, one fact I found interesting is a proposal has been made by the Iranian mountaineers to register Mount Damavand as a national heritage site. The department of Mazandaran Cultural Heritage and Tourism has accepted the proposal. I think it is a great idea for Iran to have an educational and research institution, especially of a volcano.

Works Cited 

"Damavand." Volcano, Iran. Volcano Discovery, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

"Damavand Volcano Iran." Damavand Volcano Iran. Damawand.de, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

"Volcano World." Damavand. Oregon State University, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Seismicity

Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world due to ninety percent of the country crossing over several major fault lines. It is positioned in a 1000- km- wide zone of compression between the colliding Eurasian and Arabian continents. From 1918- 2004, more than 2000 earthquakes were recorded in Iran. Most earthquakes in the continental lithosphere take place in the upper crust. Continental collision creates a shortening in the crust, resulting in thickening and distributed deformation. In the Zagros Mountains, nearly all earthquakes have a depth less than 20 kilometers (km) since they take place in the upper crust; this is where earthquakes occur the most frequent. On the other hand, in Southeastern Iran, where the Arabian seafloor is subducted beneath the Makran coast, low- level earthquakes occur from the upper crust to depths of at least 150 kilometers. Close to the Oman line, between Zagros and Makrain, seismicity reaches to depths of 30 to 45 km in the crust. In North- Central Iran, along the Aborz mountain belt, there is seismic activity in both the upper and lower crust, although mostly upper. The band across central Caspian consists of earthquakes with depths of 30 to 100 kilometers that deepen northwards. From the early 1900's to the late 1990's, there has been many earthquakes with a magnitude higher than 7. For example, in 1978 quake Tabas consisted of a 7. 7 magnitude which is highly destructive. Luckily, the Zagro's region has not faced any in the 20th century with a magnitude higher than 7.0. But earthquakes with magnitudes over 7.0 have shocked Central and Eastern Iran. Unfortunately, these earthquakes have been catastrophic and lead to the loss of human life and wide spread damage. 
 Due to the devastating earhtquake, Bam, the U.S. offered assistance in return the state promised to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran agreed with the U.S. and focused on rebuilding their country. Testing, analyzing, and other methods were used by scientists, as well, to monitor activity. For example, the seismic hazard assessment of Iran was created by the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology so that it could indicate the earthquakes hazard of Iran.

Works Cited:
Geofisica, Annali. "Seismic Hazard Assessment of Iran." International Institution of Earthquake  Engineering and Seismology. Vol 42, N. 6. 6 December, 1999. Web. 18 Feb 2016.

"Relocation and Assessment of Seismicity in the Iran Region." Geophys. J. Int. 4 April. 2006. Web. 18 Feb 2016.

Blog 2- Plate boundaries

Plate tectonics are known as a large- scale geographic process that deform Earth's lithosphere resulting in land forms such as ocean basins, continents, and mountains. Plate boundaries are defined as the relative movement of the plates on either side of the boundary. Iran has a micro plate called the Iranian Plate. A micro plate is grouped with an adjacent major group and contains an area less than 1 million square kilometers. The Iranian Plate surrounds Iran and Afghanistan and even parts of Pakistan and Iraq. It is pressed between the Arabian Plate to the south and the Eurasian Plate to the north. Its boundaries are continental- continental. Subduction of ocean lithosphere ultimately leads to convergence of continents. Because continents are too buoyant to subduct, high mountains develop as the continents are forced upwards in the collision zone. This compression causes a great of mountains in its terrain such as the Zagros Mountains, that are continuing to get higher and higher. Unfortunately it creates earthquakes, a life threatening hazard. A subduction zone quake was the strongest earthquake to hit Iran in 50 years. The Khash earthquake ranged 51 miles, where the Arabian plate dives under the massive Eurasian plate. Dozens of people were known to be killed due to the collision of business. Since it is a convergent (collision) flooding and mass wasting can occur.

Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes

Many dangerous circumstances can occur in the world. They are mostly categorized as either hazards, disasters, or catastrophes. Hazards are defined as a danger or risk. A disaster is a sudden event, such as an accident or a natural catastrophe, that causes great damage or loss of life. Catastrophes, on the other hand, are even more severe. I found a few definitions for catastrophe. One, it could be the final event of the dramatic action especially of a tragedy. Second, a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to ruin. Third, a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth or destructive natural event. A hazard is known as a threat to anything living on the earth. Global warming for example is a well known hazard. There are a few different kinds of hazards known as physical, chemical, biological. Disasters are known to have a greater affect on human population. Natural disasters can cause very drastic problems. Some examples of a natural disaster are floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and fires. These are incidents that have a direct impact on the earth. Natural catastrophes and disasters can be very similar except catastrophes have a much greater impact and result.