Iran's folded rocks are millions of years old, formed when the Eurasian and Arabian tectonic plates collided. Satellite image from 2023. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory)
These folded rocks form distinct mountain ranges and valleys southwest of the Caspian Sea. They are an extension of the Greater Caucasus mountain belt, which also extends along Russia's border with Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The folded rocks are located at the juncture of Asia and Europe, where major tectonic forces meet. The rocks are made up of many sedimentary layers that were uplifted and folded into the landscape we see today during the initial collision of the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The timing of this collision is a matter of intense debate, with estimates ranging from 10 to 50 million years ago.
“The tectonic collision of Eurasia and Arabia over millions of years compressed these bright rock layers, bending them into large folds,” NASA officials said at the X platform in January 2024.
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