Earth is fantastically beautiful.
On this channel, we have mainly focused on planets in our solar system, and have seen
spectacular flyovers of the Moon and Mars.
But our endeavour to discover and understand new worlds may have meant we have neglected
what is probably the most beautiful planet that we know of, our home.
And after some of the views I’m about to show you, I am a little worried that you may
never want to look at another planet again!
I’m Alex McColgan, and you’re watching Astrum, and in this first episode we will
look at some of the most spectacular mountains in the Middle East with real time lapses seen
from the perspective of the International Space Station, and I will explain the context
to these images to give you a true appreciation for what it is you are looking at.
Let’s start with an impressive look at some mountain ranges either side of the Red Sea.
We are orbiting Earth at an altitude of roughly 350km, currently heading in a southwardly
direction with Egypt is to our left, and Saudi Arabia is to our right.
It may seem like we are only looking at a small area, but in reality, this view is 400km
across.
The mountains to our right are the Sarawat Mountains, a large range that covers over
180,000 square kilometres and rises well above 3,000m.
You will notice riverbeds running down the mountains.
Although these riverbeds dry in this video, this range sees the most rain in the whole
Arabian Peninsula, they just tend to get it all in one go.
Have a look at this enormous crater here, this is not an impact crater, but rather the
remnants of a volcanic crater.
This whole region is actually formed from volcanic activity, with some volcanoes still
being active today.
These white dots here are not a city, but rather a huge cement factory.
Just under these clouds is the famous city of Mecca, and just overlooking it are some
fantastic mountains and winding roads.
As you can see, this area is extremely arid, although in other parts of the mountains,
vegetation can be found.
Let’s speed up our journey a bit now, heading towards the tip of the peninsula.
To the far right is the edge of the Arabian desert with its famous Seif, or longitudinal
dunes.
These dunes stretch for hundreds of kilometres around the Arabian Peninsula, following the
direction of the wind which is a constant in this area.
Seen just at the border of the desert and the mountains seems to be a scar in the landscape.
This is not a valley as it may appear, but a raised ridge with a sand dune following
along the side of it.
You can just about see a dam with its reservoir by here, and to the east of the dam in the
middle of the sand is a farming town.
The harsh environments humans can grow crops astounds me.
Also found in this region is Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb, the tallest mountain on the Arabian
Peninsula reaching 3,700m tall.
Let’s start heading west from here now.
Underneath us is the east side of the Arabian desert, individual Seif dunes just about visible
from this angle.
The Euphrates and the Tigris rivers are flowing from the north towards the Persian Gulf in
the south.
You can see how these rivers visibly nourish the ground of Iraq, with most of Iraq’s
towns and settlements found within this region.
This is known as an alluvial plain, a flat region of land where these rivers have flooded
over time, creating fertile soil.
Beyond Iraq and to the left, you see the mountain range running through Georgia and Azerbaijan
separating Europe and Asia, called the Caucasus Mountains.
These mountains are the result of a tectonic plate collision between the Arabian plate
moving northwards into the Iranian plate, folding the ground upwards into the peaks
you see today under the pressure.
Found in this range is the highest peak in Europe, Mount Elbrus, which reaches 5,642m
tall.
Unlike most of what we’ve seen today, this area is lush in vegetation, and the mountains
feed hundreds of glaciers into the valleys below.
In stark contrast to these green mountains all in a line, in Iran, to our right, we have
an almost surreal looking set of mountains, surreal because the peaks are poking out of
the cloud cover or fog.
These are all part of the same range, called the Zagros mountains.
As you can see, they are vast, spanning 1,600km in length.
Let’s have a closer look at what makes these mountains so interesting.
These mountains were also formed due to plate tectonics, although in a different process
to the Caucasus mountains we looked at earlier.
One big visible difference you’ll notice is that the vast region has linear mountains,
but not just a single row, but rather it it has many peaks and troughs like corrugated
iron.
The fault that these mountains formed on is called a fold and thrust belt, through collisions
with the Arabian Plate moving into the Iranian Plate.
But let’s zoom out to the wide angled view again, if this is all the Zagros Mountains,
then why do these mountains in the south look so different to the one’s in the
north?
This is due to it being comprised of different types of rock.
In the south, sedimentary layers are deforming over a rock salt layer, meaning folding happens
a lot easier in this type of rock, whereas to the north, the rock salt layer is either
very thin or missing altogether.
The rock layer that does exists here is not as ductile or plastic as the rock salt, meaning
the landscape is only deformed along a much narrower band along the fault line.
Interestingly, it is around the parts of the exposed rock salt layer that most of Iran’s
oil reserve is found, as the salt structures are impermeable, meaning vast pockets of oil
can be retained.
Salt domes and glaciers can be found exposed to the surface, and I must say they form some
of the most bizarre landscapes I have ever seen of Earth.
They are visible from space, here is a giant salt dome 14km across, are here are some salt
glaciers.
Yes, these structures flow down into the valley in a similar fashion to a water ice glacier
on Earth.
A close-up inspection of the salt shows layering and erosion from the rain, and looking out
over the landscape shows an otherworldly view.
The Zagros mountains to the north are a lot more normal looking, but that’s not to say
they aren’t beautiful in their own right.
Beyond the Zagros mountains but just before the coast of the Caspian Sea, we can see a
lake, called Lake Urmia.
This lake used to be the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth largest saltwater
lake in the world, with a surface area of 5,200 sq km.
However, since the 1980s it has shrunk to only 10% of its former size, as dams have
stopped the flow of rivers into the lake.
If the lake ever dries up completely, this could adversely affect the climate in the
area, and plans are in motion to refill it.
Next to the lake though is an old volcano, which is easily visible against the lighter
coloured ground around it.
But zooming out a bit, we see that this volcano is tiny in comparison to this mammoth, known
as Sahand, at 3,707m tall.
This means that even though it is found in the Middle East, it’s tall enough for there
to be a ski resort on it during the winter.
Heading further east, we come to another large range of mountains bordering the Caspian Sea,
called the Alborz Mountains.
As you can see, Iran is actually a very mountainous country, and although we have such a wide
field of view from this shot, the largest mountain in Iran, Damavand, is easily visible.
Just south of it is the capital of Iran, Tehran.
But let’s have a closer look at Damavand.
This impressive volcano is the tallest in Asia, at 5,609m, and it is still active, although
it hasn’t seen an eruption in an estimated 8000 years.
Although it hasn’t erupted for so long, it’s considered active because it still
emits sulphur regularly.
It even has a volcanic crater at the top, and what’s really impressive about this
volcano is how high it rises in comparison to anything around it.
The Alborz Mountains make an impressive sight for those living in Tehran too, rising high
above the city with snow-capped peaks.
Moving beyond Iran we start to leave the Middle East, and also the scope of this video.
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Thanks for watching!
I hope you enjoyed the sights of our beautiful planet from a few different perspectives.
A big thank you to Seán Doran for helping acquire some of these stunning time lapses
you saw today.
Check out his channel for more here.
Thank you as well to my Patreons, and those of you that like and share my videos, it really
helps support the channel.
All the best!
And see you next time.