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Iran’s folded rocks: The crumpled mountains at the intersection of Asia and Europe

QUICK FACTSName: “Folded rocks” of the Aladaghlar MountainsLocation: Northwest IranCoordinates: 37.126276036681965, 47.61930020667193Why it’s incredible: The landscape looks crumpled and folded from above.Iran’s folded rocks are rugged mountain ridges and valleys to the southwest of the Caspian Sea. They are an extension of the Greater Caucasus mountain belt, which also stretches along Russia’s border with Georgia and Azerbaijan.The folded rocks sit at the intersection of Asia and Europe, where major tectonic forces converge. The rocks are formed of countless sedimentary layers, which were upturned and creased into the landscape we see today during the initial collision between the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The timing of this collision is hotly debated, with estimates ranging from 10 million to 50 million years ago.”A tectonic collision between Eurasia and Arabia over millions of years compressed these colorful rock layers, bending them into large folds,” NASA officials wro…