Contact: Sean Bettam
s.bettam@utoronto.ca
416-946-7950
University of Toronto

Zagros Mountains in Western Iran

Caption: This is the Zagros mountain belt in western Iran as seen from the space shuttle Atlantis. The range forms part of the most extensive belt of water-soluble gypsum on Earth, stretching from Oman to Pakistan, and well into Western India. Scientists suggest that the dissolution of ancient salt deposits caused drastic changes in seawater chemistry, which may have triggered long-term global cooling.

Credit: Photo courtesy of NASA

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