Zagros Mountains
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The Zagros Mountains (Persian: رشته كوه زاگرس) make up Iraq's largest and Iran's second largest mountain range. They have a total length of 1500 km from western Iran, specifically the Kurdistan region on the border with Iraq to the southern parts of the Persian Gulf. The range ends at the Straits of Hormuz.
Etymology
The name Zagros زاگرس is possibly derived from the Greek Zagreus, meaning stormy. On the other hand, and more likely the root-word, the name ZaG'R' means 'great land' in the Avestan language.
Type and age of rock
The mountains are divided into many parallel sub-ranges (up to 10, or 250 km wide), and have the same age and orogenesis as the Alps. Iran's main oilfields lie in the western central foothills of the Zagros mountain range. The highest point of the range is Zard Kuh (4548 metres). The southern ranges of the Fars Province have only somewhat lower summits of up to 4000 m. They contain some limestone rocks showing abundant fossils. Special surveyor expeditions sometimes come across fossil snails of 2 kilograms at altitudes of 3000 metres. It is now hard to imagine that these high summits were indeed part of the deep ocean some 50 million years ago. The second highest peak is named Dena. Image:Zagros 1992.jpg The Kuhrud Mountains form one of the parallel ranges at a distance of approx. 300 km to the east. The area between these two impressive mountain chains is home to a dense human population that lives in the intermediate valleys which are quite high in altitude with a temperate climate. Their rivers, which eventually reach salt lakes, create fertile environments for agriculture and commerce.
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