Lut Desert

{{Short description|Desert in Iran}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox valley | name = Lut Desert | other_name = Dasht-e Lut | photo = Dasht-e Lut Desert in Kerman Province 02.jpg | photo_caption =  | map = Iran | map_image = | map_caption = Location within Iran  | location = | country = Iran | region = | state = | district = | city = | relief = true | label = | label_position = | coordinates = {{coord|30.60500001|59.0677777878|region:IR_scale:2500000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_ref =  | elevation = | elevation_m = 108 | elevation_ft = 354 | elevation_ref = <ref>{{cite web|title=Lut desert map|website=Google Map|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/30%C2%B023'56.6%22N+58%C2%B029'35.9%22E/@30.3990507,58.491685,491m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m7!1m2!2m1!1sdasht+e+lut!3m3!8m2!3d30.399049!4d58.493317}}</ref> | length = | length_mi = | length_km = 480 | length_orientation = | length_note = | width = | width_mi = | width_km = 320 | width_orientation = | width_note = | area = | area_mi2 = | area_km2 = 51800 | depth = | depth_ft = | depth_m = | type = | age = | border = | topo = | traversed = | river =  | embed = | footnotes = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site | WHS =  | Official_name = Lut Desert | Criteria = vii, viii | ID = 1505 | Year = 2016 | Website = www.lutDesert.ir | child = yes }} }}

'''Lut Desert''' ({{langx|fa|دشت لوت|Dasht-e Lut|Plain of Emptiness}}) is a desert with both extensive salt flats and dunes located in the provinces of Kerman and Sistan-Baluchestan, Iran. It is the world's 33rd-largest desert, and was included in UNESCO's World Heritage List on July 17, 2016.<ref name="WHS listing">{{cite web|title=Lut Desert|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1505|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|access-date=17 July 2016|language=en}}</ref>

The name is derived from {{translit|fa|Lut}} which means {{gloss|bare, empty}} in Persian<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vajehyab.com/moein/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AA|title=معنی لوت | فرهنگ فارسی معین|website=www.vajehyab.com|accessdate=Feb 4, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vajehyab.com/dehkhoda/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AA-2|title=معنی لوت | لغت‌نامه دهخدا|website=www.vajehyab.com|accessdate=Feb 4, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vajehyab.com/dehkhoda/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AA-4|title=معنی لوت | لغت‌نامه دهخدا|website=www.vajehyab.com|accessdate=Feb 4, 2023}}</ref> and {{translit|fa|dasht}} which means {{gloss|plain}} in Persian.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abadis.ir/fatofa/%DA%A9%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AA/ |title = کویر لوت - معنی در دیکشنری آبادیس}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://abadis.ir/fatofa/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AA/ |title = لوت - معنی در دیکشنری آبادیس}}</ref>

The surface of its sand has been measured at temperatures as high as {{convert|70.7|°C|°F}}, the highest-known land surface temperature.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mildrexler|first=D. |author2=M. Zhao |author3=S. W. Running|title=Where Are the Hottest Spots on Earth?|journal=EOS|date=October 2006|volume=87|issue=43|pages=461, 467|doi=10.1002/eost.v87.43}}</ref><ref name=BAMS/>

==Description== [[File:Iran provinces in Abbasid Caliphate.jpg|thumb|Map showing the Lut Desert during the time of the Abbasid Caliphate as part of a continuum with the Kavir Desert.]] Iran is climatically part of the Afro-Asian belt of deserts, which stretches from Mauritania all the way to Mongolia.

Iran's geography consists of a plateau surrounded by mountains and divided into drainage basins. Dasht-e Lut is one of the largest of these drainage basins, {{convert|480|km|mi|sp=us}} long and {{convert|320|km|mi|sp=us}} wide.<ref name="RD">{{cite book |publisher = The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.|title=Natural Wonders of the World| year = 1980| isbn = 978-0-89577-087-5| page = 117 |editor1=Richard L. Scheffel|editor2=Susan J. Wernert|author=Oliver E. Allen|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

The area of the desert is about {{Convert|51800|km2}},<ref name=nyt>{{cite book | editor-first=John W. | editor-last=Wright | year=2006 | title=The New York Times Almanac | url=https://archive.org/details/newyorktimesalma00john_2 | url-access=registration | edition = 2007 | publisher=Penguin Books | location=New York, NY | isbn=978-0-14-303820-7 | page=[https://archive.org/details/newyorktimesalma00john_2/page/456 456]}} </ref> the largest in Iran after Dasht-e Kavir. During the spring wet season, water briefly flows down from the Kerman mountains, but it soon dries up, leaving behind only rocks, sand, and salt.

The eastern part of Dasht-e Lut is a low plateau covered with salt flats with lowest elevations around 110 m above sea level (30.398609 N, 58.493041 E). In contrast, the center has been sculpted by the wind into a series of parallel ridges and furrows, extending over {{convert|150|km|mi|abbr=on}} and reaching {{convert|75|m|ft}} in height.<ref name="RD" /> This area is also riddled with ravines and sinkholes. The southeast is a vast expanse of sand, like a Saharan erg, with dunes {{Convert|300|m|ft}} high, among the tallest in the world.<ref name="RD" />

[[File:Lut Desert Yardangs by Hadi Karimi.jpg|thumb|center|x168px|Yardangs in Lut Desert, Kerman Province, Iran]]

== Geology == According to one study, more than half of the desert's surface is covered by volcanic rocks. Evaporites can be observed during hot periods.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

== Archaeology == Around 2500 BC, a flourishing civilization, the Jiroft culture, existed in this area. The ancient city of Shahdad was located on the western edge of the Lut desert. And on the eastern side, there was a large, 200 ha (490 acres), ancient city today called Shahr-e Sukhteh or Burnt City, on the former, now dry, Helmand River.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Archaeologists tracing Bronze Age settlements in southeast Iran |date=18 September 2024 |newspaper=Tehran Times |url=https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/503856/Archaeologists-tracing-Bronze-Age-settlements-in-southeast-Iran |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240919145528/https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/503856/Archaeologists-tracing-Bronze-Age-settlements-in-southeast-Iran |archive-date=19 September 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Lut area is an important region for Iranian archaeology. Recently{{when?|date=September 2025}}, an extensive archaeological survey was conducted on the eastern flank of Kerman range and close to the western fringes of Lut Desert.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}} As a result, eighty-seven ancient sites dating from the fifth millennium BC to the late Islamic era{{what?|date=September 2025}} were identified. Twenty-three of these sites are assigned to the Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eskandari|first1=N|last2=Mollasalehi|first2=H|year=2017|title=Prehistoric Settlement Trends on the West of Lut Desert, Southeastern Iran|journal=Journal of Archaeological Studies|volume=8|issue=2|pages=1–15|doi=10.22059/jarcs.2017.61722|doi-broken-date=1 October 2025}}</ref>

== Climate == [[File:STS-2 Lut Desert.jpg|thumb|Namak-Zar region of Dasht-e-Lut, from space]] The hottest land surface on Earth recorded by the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer installed on NASA's Aqua satellite from 2003 to 2010 was in Dasht-e Lut, with land surface temperatures reaching {{Convert|70.7|C|F}} in 2005,<ref name=BAMS>{{cite journal|title=Satellite Finds Highest Land Skin Temperatures on Earth|first1=DJ|last1=Mildrexler|first2=M|last2=Zhao|first3=SW|last3=Running|journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society|volume=92|issue=7|year=2011|pages=855–860|doi=10.1175/2011BAMS3067.1|bibcode=2011BAMS...92..855M }}</ref><ref name="csmonitor.com">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1102/p16s01-sten.html|title=Satellites seek global hot spots|accessdate=Feb 4, 2023|journal=Christian Science Monitor}}</ref> although the air temperature at that time could have be anywhere from {{convert|30|to|54|C}}.<ref name=BAMS/> The precision of these measurements was between 0.5 K and 1 K.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/dataprod/dataproducts.php?MOD_NUMBER=11|title=MOD 11 - Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity|work=MODIS|publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/atbd/atbd_mod11.pdf|first=Zhengming|last=Wan|date=April 1999|title=MODIS Land-Surface Temperature Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document|id=LST ATBD, Version 3.3|work=MODIS|publisher=NASA}}</ref> In 2019, authors reported a land surface temperature of {{convert|80.83|C|F}}, based on newer MODIS data.<ref name=Azarderakhsh/>

As of 2020, there are no permanent weather stations in Dasht-e Lut, which makes the exact climate uncertain. Based on neighboring stations, Dasht-e Lut likely receives less than {{convert|30|mm|in}} of precipitation a year.<ref name=Azarderakhsh>{{cite journal|journal=IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters|title=Satellite-Based Analysis of Extreme Land Surface Temperatures and Diurnal Variability Across the Hottest Place on Earth|first1=Marzi|last1=Azarderakhsh|first2=Satya|last2=Prakash|first3=Yunxia|last3=Zhao|first4=Amir|last4=AghaKouchak|date=2020 |volume=17 |issue=12 |pages=2025–2029 |doi=10.1109/LGRS.2019.2962055|bibcode=2020IGRSL..17.2025A }}</ref> In comparison, the Atacama Desert receives an average of {{cvt|15|mm|in}} of precipitation per year,<ref name=ucmp>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/deserts.php|title=The desert biome|publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology}}</ref> with some areas receiving as little as {{cvt|1|to|3|mm|in|2}} a year.<ref name=nasa>{{cite web|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=51312|title=Rare snow in the Atacama Desert: Image of the Day|publisher=NASA|date=13 July 2011}}</ref>

==Further reading== *Sykes, Percy. ''[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7307/ A History of Persia]''. Macmillan and Company: London (1921). pp. 60–62.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons and category|Dasht-e Lut}} * "Hottest Place on Earth" spoken article * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061001061133/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17226 NASA image and info] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070802014650/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17470 NASA survey on temperatures around the globe]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dasht-E Lut}} Category:Deserts of Iran Category:Ergs Category:Physiographic sections Category:Articles containing video clips Category:World Heritage Sites in Iran Category:Salt flats of Iran Category:Geography of Kerman province Category:Geography of Sistan and Baluchestan province de:Wüsten Afghanistans und des Iran#Lut