Hamun-e Jaz Murian ( fa, هامون جازموریان) is an inland basin or depression in southeast

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 ...

, straddling the provinces of

Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in 221,389 households, ma ...

and Sistan and Baluchistan. The area of Hamoon and Jazmourian basin stretches to 69,600 square kilometers, with the western part of 35,600 square kilometers in Kerman province and the eastern part of 34,000 square kilometers in Sistan-Baluchestan province. Jazmurian wetland is located in an endorheic basin at the southern edge of the Dasht-e-Lut. Several factors such as high evaporation, overexploitation of groundwater, dam construction on the rivers feeding the wetland, and the effect of drought and climate changes have caused this wetland to dry out during the recent years. At the center of the basin is a "seasonal lake," or ''

hamun A hamun (or hamoun) ( fa, هامون ''hāmūn'') refers to inland desert lakes or marshlands, formed as natural seasonal reservoirs in areas adjoining the Helmand basin, found across eastern Iran, southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. They ...

''. The lake can remain almost totally dry during dry years, while in wetter years it can have water year around. The most recent flooding of the basin took place in June 2007, when

Cyclone Gonu Super Cyclonic Storm Gonu was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that became the strongest cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea. The second named tropical cyclone of the 2007 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Gonu developed from a persis ...

dumped over 5 inches of rain over the basin. That ended years of unusual drought, which had seen the lake in the central basin remain dry for several years. Jaz Murian now has a large lake at its lowest point. Jaz Murian is an oblong shape, east to west, surrounded by high mountain ranges reaching peaks in excess of 6500 feet (2000 m). The lowest elevations are to the extreme west of the basin towards the towns of

Kahnuj Kahnuj ( fa, كهنوج, also Romanized as Kahnūj) is a city and capital of Kahnuj County, Kerman Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It i ...

and

Minab Minab ( fa, ميناب, also Romanized as Mīnāb) is a city and capital of Minab County, Hormozgan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It i ...

Two principal rivers flow into the basin: from the west, the

Halil Rud Halil Rud ( fa, هليل رود, also Romanized as Halīl Rūd; also known as Deh-e Halīl Rūd) is a village in Javaran Rural District, Hanza District, Rabor County, Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 238, in 50 fam ...

, and from the east, the Bampur River . However, neither river brings much water to the central parts of the basin to feed the lake, as their waters are largely or totally removed for agriculture on the way. After

Jiroft Dam Jiroft Dam is a hydroelectric dam in Iran with an installed electricity generating capability of 85 MWh situated in Kerman Province. The fifth concrete dam built in the country, it was begun in 1975 and completed in 1992 (6 Daymah 1370 in Persian ...

was built on the

and went under operation in 1992, the perennial river at the downstream did not receive its environmental flow and appeared as an ephemeral river since then, this affected the Jaz Murian seriously. Due to its isolation, distinct communities live in the basin, ranging from native Bashkardi speakers to immigrant

Somalis The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...

. In the scriptures of the

Zoroastrian religion Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic o ...

, the basin has a holy character, similar to that of

Hamun-e Helmand Lake Hāmūn ( fa, دریاچه هامون, ''Daryācheh-ye Hāmūn''; ps, هامون ډنډ), or the Hamoun Oasis, is a seasonal lake and wetlands in the endorheic Sīstān Basin in the Sistan region on the Afghanistan–Iran border. In Iran, ...

. These scriptures call the basin by its

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...

name, "Chitro Mêyân."

References

{{Reflist *J. V. Harrison, "The Jaz Murian Depression, Persian Baluchistan," The Geographical Journal, Vol. 101, No. 5/6 (May - Jun., 1943), pp. 206–225. *N. L. Falcon Frs, "From Musandam to the Iranian Makran," The Geographical Journal, Vol. 141, No. 1 (Mar., 1975), pp. 55–58. Depressions (geology) Endorheic basins of Asia Landforms of Iran Landforms of Kerman Province Landforms of Sistan and Baluchestan Province