Neor Lake (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: دریاچه نِئور) is a shallow lake located in 48 km from

Ardabil Ardabil (, ) is a city in northwestern Iran. It is in the Central District (Ardabil County), Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil province, Ardabil province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The ...

in Ardabil Province in the Baghru mountain range in North West Iran. This lake was formed due to two fault zones during the Eocene period.

Geography

The lake is situated at the lower slopes of Baghru Heights of the Talysch Mountains. Elevation of the lake is above mean sea level. It is to the south east of

on Khalkhal Road out of which is a hill section. The lake emerged during the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

geologic time scale The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochro ...

. The Neor fault and another fault on the western part of the lake, which were active from the Eocene period, have contributed to the emergence of this lake. The basin receives an annual rainfall of with cold mountainous climate.

Features

The lake has a water spread area of and is a "seasonally recharged body of water formed over a tectonic depression on the leeward flank of the Talesh (Alborz) Mountains in North West Iran". It is formed of two lakes, one small and another large, which merge during the rainy season when the depth of the lake is . The average depth of the lake is about . Heavy siltation has occurred in the lake due to high rainfall incidence, irrigation releases, the physio-chemical reactions, and slope gradient of less than 35%, causing erosion; these factors have resulted in a tropic state of the lake. The lake contains fish species of

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

; fingerlings were introduced with the objective of practicing commercial and sports fishing. Fingerlings are introduced into the lake every year to promote fishery practices. The fish feed on the '' Gammarus fasciatus'' found in the lake bed and grow into robust pink-coloured fish. Among the fauna species found in the lake area are

ruddy shelduck The ruddy shelduck (''Tadorna ferruginea''), known in India as the Brahminy duck, is a bird species in the family Anatidae. It is a distinctive waterfowl, in length with a wingspan of . It has orange-brown body plumage with a paler head, whil ...

, and

swallows The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The t ...

which are the migrant species.

Research findings

A sample of

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

deposit ( in diameter core sample) from the bed of the lake, from its northeastern corner, was taken by coring. This was subject to studies to determine the age of the stratification and the type of biodiversity which existed when it was formed. The pollen spectra revealed a 6,500 year old sequence comprising remnants of

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

and

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

Coprophagous Coprophagia ( ) or coprophagy ( ) is the consumption of feces. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek "feces" and "to eat". Coprophagy refers to many kinds of feces-eating, including eating feces of other species (heterospecifics), of o ...

and coprophilous species of pollen were identified. The studies indicated an "open steppe landscape", akin to the present day Irano-Turanian (IT) floristic region in the highlands, in respect of agro-pastoral cultural vocations and the closeness to the eastern mesic temperate Hyrcanian forest. The insect and pollen evidence conforms to the archaeological evidence in the region. Chironomid and geochemical analyses on the lake Neor highlight hydrologic variations on the lake since the Lateglacial with alternation of drier and wetter period.Aubert C, Gandouin E, Brisset E, Naderi-Beni A, Lahijani H, Pourmand A, Sharifi A, Alinejad K, Ramezani E, Ponel P, Andrieu-Ponel V, Marriner N, Djamali M (In prep.) A chironomid record of hydroclimatic variability during mid-late-Holocene from Lake Neor in NW Iran. The Holocene.

Gallery

Neor1.jpg, Neor.jpg,

References

{{Ardabil Province Lakes in Ardabil province Lakes of Iran Landforms of Ardabil province