Gahar Lake is a lake found in the highlands of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and is located in the southeast of

Dorud Dorud ( fa, دورود, also Romanized as Dorūd, Dūrūd, and Dow Rūd) is a city in and capital of Dorud County, Lorestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 121,638 persons. Protests in 2017 At least 5 people were kille ...

among Oshtrankooh in Lorestan province protected zone at the height of 2400 meters above the sea level. The lake is known as the jewel of Oshtarankooh and due to the lack of roads and lower use of cars and automobiles, it is basically free from being damaged and polluted by humans. About 70,000 tourists visit the area annually.

Geographical location

Ownership

During the past several years, tensions over the ownership of the lake has been raised by the cities around it, which a lawsuit has been sent by the Dorud city's governor and municipality to the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. In response to the lawsuit, the Ministry of Interior sent a letter with a map and

geographical location In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

of Gahar Lake to the neighboring governorates and municipalities of Dorud, reminding them that the lake is completely located in the territory of Dorud city, and it belongs to the city. Gahar consists of two parts. It includes upper Gahar (the small one), and the lower Gahar (the big one) lakes. The upper Gahar is about 1700 meters long, 400 to 800 meters wide, and 4 to 28 meters deep. The shore of this lake, except for the entrance part of the lake (west side) and the opposite part (east side), which has a sandy shore and is suitable for swimming, has a rocky shore that is not suitable for swimming. At the lower and upper parts of the lake, there is a dense forest that is on the verge and danger of extinction. From the top, blue water flows into the lake, which continues to other lakes. It takes about 40 minutes to walk to from the upper Gahar to the lower Gahar. The depth of the lake is shallow therefore you can see the fish at the bottom of the lake clearly. The inflow of the lake water is 10 cubic feet per second and the outflow is about 20 cubic feet per second. The reason for the increase in the volume of water leaving the lake is the presence of springs in its lower part. The main water supply of the lake is through its creek, Tapleh River, which has a very cool, clear, and sparkling water with a bed full of pebbles and stones, which enters the lower lake without falling and with a little acceleration it enters the upper lake after a short expanse.

Rainfall in the region

Annual rainfall in Gohar region is about 933 mm, which is mostly

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

fall. During the snowy years, the surface of the lake freezes. Vegetation The vegetation of this region includes trees and plants such as

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

, almond,

terebinth ''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous tree species of the genus ''Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and s ...

(wild pistachio),

European pear ''Pyrus communis'', the common pear, is a species of pear native to central and eastern Europe, and western Asia. It is one of the most important fruits of temperate regions, being the species from which most orchard pear cultivars grown in Eur ...

plane trees ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ...

infectoria,

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

European ash ''Fraxinus excelsior'', known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Albo ...

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

, hawthorn,

prunus dulcis The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

, Gahar’s ziziphus spina-christi,

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

, gaz, and vinifera (wild grapes). Flowers include:

Fritillaria ''Fritillaria'' (fritillaries) is a genus of spring flowering herbaceous bulbous perennial plants in the lily family (Liliaceae). The type species, ''Fritillaria meleagris'', was first described in Europe in 1571, while other species from the ...

anemone ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all continents except Australia, New Zealand an ...

lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

tulip Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...

, amaranth, and Indian shot.

History

Most Europeans and tourists know this lake as Iran Lake, which is the result of the introduction of an English woman named Isabella Lucy Bishop, who in 1890 was able to explore the area for 3 months and walk a thousand kilometers, but according to documents historically, the first person to discover Lake Gahar was an Austrian geologist named A-Rudler, who in 1888 made history as the discoverer of Lake Gahar. When he discovered the lake, he had walked from the heights of Oshtarankooh in Dorud. The first and oldest documentary image of the lake was taken in 1891, belonging to a French tourist named Jean-Jacques Dumergané.

Formation

Gahar Lake was most likely caused and formed by a large earthquake. The lake is located on the main fault of modern Zagros; Therefore, a landslide is probably formed as a result of fault movement and event.

References

{{coord, 33, 18, 20, N, 49, 17, 02, E, type:waterbody_region:IR, display=title Lakes of Iran