A Glacier of Salt? The Landsat image below shows a diapir, or salt glacier in the Zagros Mountains o

A Glacier of Salt?The Landsat image below shows a diapir, or salt glacier in the Zagros Mountains of Iran.A salt dome is is a column of salt that has risen toward the earth’s surface due to a lower density than the surrounding rock. A salt glacier occurs when a salt dome breaks through the surface and forms a slowly flowing “glacier” of salt. Because the Zagros Mountains area in Iran is very arid, the salt is not dissolved and carried away by rainwater.Salt glaciers are not common because they require a certain set of events to coincide. A thick layer of salt is required below the surface that forms salt domes. The salt domes need to rise to the surface, and the surface must receive little rainfall. Most salt glaciers are found in the arid regions around the Persian Gulf.-AmyReferences:http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=4168http://geology.com/stories/13/salt-glacier/Landsat Image, credit NASA -- source link

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