Dasht-E-Lut

Dasht-i-Lut, Dasht-e-Lut

a desert plateau in central and E central Iran

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Dasht-E-Lut 

a desert in the central part of the Iranian plateau, in Eastern Iran. It is 550 km long, with a width ranging from 100 km to 200 km and an elevation of 500-600 m. It consists of a number of flat-bottomed drainless depressions (at an elevation of 200-500 m) and mountain commissures having an elevation of 1,000-2,000 m (highest elevation 2,992 m). There are barchan sands 100-200 m in height and ridgy-hummocky sands weakly fastened by saxaul and saltwort. In the south these formations are the largest in Iran. Wind erosion has created many “pillars,” “mushroom” rocks, and similar landforms. Large parts of the desert are covered by takyrs or pebble and rock-debris surfaces of the hammada type, as well as by solonchaks. On the periphery of the desert are several oases.