Jashak salt dome, «in Persian : Kuh-e-Namak» means mountain of salt in the Zagros Mountains, in southwestern Iran. This salt dome is a large area in the on the Southern slope of Zagros Mountains, in Bushehr province. It is one of the largest and most beautiful salt domes Iran the Middle East and the natural attraction of Bushehr province. Jashak salt dome was added to the list of Iran natural heritage in 2010.
Jashak mountain is 1350 m above the surrounding plain. The mountain range is about 12 km long and 4.5 kilometers wide. Dome area is about 3666 hectares and its height is 1350 meters above sea level. Scientists say that the dome has been formed in the late Precambrian and early Palaeozoic era. Jashak salt dome appeared due to high evaporation salt residue on the soil surface and the underlying salt region. The Salt Mountain Jashk characteristics and different salts on the mountain salt domes and unique caves, waterfalls, crystal, etc. can be mentioned. There’re nearly 114 salt domes in southern Iran, especially in the provinces of Hormozgan and Bushehr.
Jashak salt dome phenomena are:
- White salts of the dome make it look like a beautiful snowy mountains in the eastern plains from far away. Some parts of the dome look like ice glacier.
- Beautiful salt waterfalls is another tourist attraction of the salt dome. The waterfalls that flow naturally along the dome appear when water vaporizes in hot and dry weather. This phenomenon can be seen in mid-spring to summer and early autumn.
- Another feature of the dome is salt caves. The caves are created by the dissolution of salt deposits around the dome. Beautiful stalagmites and stalactites in the form of salt crystals can be seen inside these caves.
- Water erosion caused some stunning patterns on the salt dome. It can be called as one of the most beautiful geo-morphological erosion creations.
- The non-silicate minerals such as pyrite and fluorine, and many salt crystals with metallic and non-metallic luster color variations can be found in this area. Various colors, like red, brown, white, yellow, black and orange .
- Erosion slowly undermines the dome’s height. One of the most beautiful phenomena, “Div Plato” column, appeared as the result of attrition.
