Sulaiman Mountains

Coordinates: 30°30′N 70°10′E / 30.5°N 70.167°E / 30.5; 70.167

Satellite image of a part of the Sulaiman Range.

The Sulaiman Mountains are a major geological feature of northern Balochistan province of Pakistan and Zabul province of Afghanistan. It is the bordering region between the Iranian Plateau and the Indian subcontinent, located to the east of the Lut Desert and to the west of the Indus River. Bordering the Sulaiman Range to the north are the arid highlands of the Hindu Kush, with more than 50 percent of the lands there lying above 2,000 m (6,500 feet). The highest peak of Sulaiman Mountains is Takht-e-Sulaiman, 3,487 m (11,437 feet) in Balochistan, Pakistan.

The Sulaiman Range, and the high plateau to the west and southwest of it, helps form a natural barrier against the humid winds that blow from the Indian Ocean, creating arid conditions across Southern Afghanistan to the north. In contrast, the relatively flat and low-lying Indus Delta is situated due east and south of the Sulaiman Mountains. This lush delta is prone to heavy flooding and is mostly uncultivated wilderness.

Range

Takht-e-Sulaiman (3,487 m or 11,085 feet), Kaisargarh (11,300 feet), Takatu and Giandari are some of the mountain peaks in the Sulaiman range. The mountain range approaches the Indus river near Mithankot in Rajanpur district of Punjab.

The Sulaiman Foldbelt, a north-south trending mountain chain is situated in the middle of Pakistan with threefold physiographic division; namely the Sulaiman Foldbelt in the west, the Indus Foredeep in the middle and Punjab Platform in the east (Figure 1). The Sulaiman Foldbelt consists of shale, limestone, and sandstone strata of Mesozoic and younger age. Zindapir Anticlinorium is an integral part of the Sulaiman Foldbelt. It is marked by low altitude rocks, which are built up of Paleocene through Plio-Pleistocene marine sediments of the South Asian Plate and is overlying by thick Siwalik. Alluvial deposits brought by Indus River and its tributaries cover the Indus Foredeep and the adjoining west dipping Punjab Platform.

Field observations indicate that the structures style of Zindapir Anticlinorium is characterized by high angle faults. These faults are generally north-south trending. Additionally at places en-echelon features and splay faults, which truncate the regional fault obliquely are noticeable.

Legends

The legend of the Sulaiman mountain range is east of Quetta (Pakistan), overlooking the plain of the Indus river. One of the highest peaks (11,085 feet) is called Takht-i Sulaiman, meaning Solomon's Throne. Ibn Battuta names it Koh-i Sulaiman. Of this it is related, that the Prophet of God, Hazrat Sulaiman climbed this mountain and looked out over the land of South Asia, which was then covered with darkness - but he turned back without descending into this new frontier, and left only the mountain which is named after him. (From Ibn Battuta)

Al-Biruni writes of this mountain range in his memoirs as being the western frontier mountains of South Asia and the homeland of the people known as the Afghans or Pashtuns.

See also

• Mountain ranges of Pakistan
• List of mountain ranges of the world
• List of mountains in Pakistan
• List of highest mountains (a list of mountains above 7,200m)
• Fort Munro

References

• Original entry was from the NASA Earth Observatory; [1]

External links

• NASA Earth Observatory page
• Sulaiman Range at multimap