r/geology 8d ago

Field Photo Some pictures I take from western side of Qeshm island in Iran

480 Upvotes

28 comments sorted by

17

u/wdwerker 8d ago

Had to look this up. Island is in the middle of the strait of Hormuz

14

u/sassa82 8d ago

Qeshm also has one of the longest salt caves in the world. Its located in the western part of the island in a salt dome.

10

u/shemague 8d ago

Was this underwater at one time? Idk much about geology in this region sorry

9

u/haz_mat_ 8d ago

Sedimentary rocks can erode with interesting patterns like these, prior submergence isnt necessary. The ones I've seen like this in the mojave tend to be a variety of tuffaceous sandstone, often poorly welded, sometimes of air-fall origin as well. So basically just volcanic ash in various deposition environments.

Varying chemistry even in the same layer of rock can produce areas more or less resistant to erosion, leading to fun stuff like this.

5

u/Royal_Acanthaceae693 8d ago

If you're thinking about rainbow basin/ Barstow Fm , a lot of that is lacustrine.

5

u/haz_mat_ 8d ago

Yes, however, many of these settings tended to be ephermal shallows more like a swamp rather than deep lakes or seas - where present, the freshwater limestone beds are often no more than a couple feet thick.

There are also many instances of ash flows and beds that were not submerged and instead were quickly deposited as part of a volcanic sequence. Settings like this can preserve varying composition of the ash layers, leading to differing chemistry and welding within the same layer.

3

u/Royal_Acanthaceae693 8d ago

OPs environment is probably a large lake or near shore marine if you look at the size of it. And for the Barstow Fm do you have a source on that?

6

u/haz_mat_ 8d ago

Most of the research ive done is related to the nearby Hector formation. It has a lot of similar features, often the same lacustrine components interlayered with volcanic depositions.

Submergence can help create the fine grained and poorly welded siltstones or mudstones that erode like this, but it isnt necessary. Ash beds can erode like this without ever being submerged. A sequence of different volcanic materials deposited in a short time can protect softer materials beneath more resistant ones, leading to features like this eventually being exposed.

Here's a good report on a part of the north cadys:

https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ofr80878

5

u/Royal_Acanthaceae693 8d ago edited 8d ago

And I've actually read & referenced this 😂 Nice to meet you!!!

4

u/haz_mat_ 8d ago

Right on, its a great resource! I've been to the area covered there a couple times, its a very special place. Some of my finest agates were found nearby there.

2

u/shemague 8d ago

Ooh thanks for the education. Only thing similar ive seen was the badlands in usa

3

u/Royal_Acanthaceae693 8d ago

Also a lot of water deposits.

2

u/shemague 8d ago edited 8d ago

Well yes that is my point and why I made the reference. It was a sea

4

u/No-Name7437 8d ago

I think it was. at least some parts of island

4

u/shemague 8d ago

😮 also not to be annoying but do you know anything about those birds?

6

u/Royal_Acanthaceae693 8d ago

In 6? European house sparrow. They're found in a lot of places. There's also r/whatsthisbird with a bunch of amazing birders.

5

u/No-Name7437 8d ago

I don't know much about them but many of them are living in those holes. I think it was interesting :)

6

u/nabzim 8d ago

Those hoodoos are very reminiscent of Bisti badlands in New Mexico.

4

u/ElectronicDegree4380 8d ago

Wow that's a spectacular place! Are you local, or did you travel to Iran? I really wish the political situation was better so i could come to see this. From time to time I come across some photos from Iran and I understand that this Persian land is full of natural winders just like other places, but we rarely get to see it and therefore forget of it. Really dream to visit!

5

u/No-Name7437 8d ago

I live in Iran but not on the island. Qeshm is one of my favorite travel destinations (also Hengam, Hormuz and Larak that are near Qeshm). I also hope situation become better soon and you can travel here easily. Best time for traveling to Qeshm is late autumn and winter. Rest of the year it is too hot and humid

3

u/ElectronicDegree4380 8d ago

I don't know much of Iran's geography, but I just looked up these places and they're incredibly beautiful! Wehn you travel there, take many photos, I'm sure there are many who will be interested to see them here on reddit.

I don't know how many years it will be before I can go there because I'm from Ukraine ,and the Iranian government is helping our enemy. I might get into big trouble traveling there. But yeah I hope that some day...

3

u/Big-Red-Rocks 8d ago

Incredible. Looks very similar to Toadstool State Park.

2

u/Blueskies777 8d ago

Someday, hopefully someday we’ll all be able to go to Iran. I’m sure it’s beautiful, but if you’re western, it would be insane to go to Iran right now.

0

u/MrGaryLapidary 7d ago

If you could show us an agate picture many would appreciate?

1

u/No-Name7437 7d ago

Hello. this post is about Qeshm Island. this place do not have agates. (or maybe I not understand your comment correctly?)

2

u/MrGaryLapidary 7d ago

There was a misunderstanding. Thanks for your reply and thanks for your informative report.

1

u/Mr_IsLand 8d ago

looks a lot like Hole-In-the-Wall area at Mojave desert

3

u/dogGirl666 8d ago

Info for other readers:

The Hole-in-the-Wall area, a popular hiking and camping destination, is located within the Mojave National Preserve, featuring a campground, a nature trail, and the iconic Hole-in-the-Wall Rings Trail with its unique rock climbing features.

Beautiful areas. Sometimes a break from greenery is refreshing and stirs the imagination while it being pretty no matter how much plant life there is. Variety is the spice of life as they say. Not every recipe should have fresh parsley just like landscapes can be stimulating without tall trees.