This article provides a background for scientists interested in a general overview of the geology and geomorphology of Turkmenistan. The basement of Turkmenistan is a complex amalgamation of arc-related terranes developed in the Asiatic and northern Paleotethys oceanic domains during Late Paleozoic to Triassic times. A major part of the country coincides with the Turan Platform, where a thick s...

the coastal areas of the caspian sea are geographically unique and provide habitats for different flora and fauna. one of the remarkable inhabitants of this area is the european pond turtle, emys orbicularis (linnaeus, 1758), about which very little is known. in our study thirty seven (37) adult males of e. orbicularis have been identified in the golestan, mazandaran, ardebil, and east azerbaij...

14,849 affected cases of beta thalassemia have been registered in 1995 in all provinces of iran. it is estimated that there are about three million carriers in iran. the provincial distributions of the affected cases show that the highest incidence in 100 thousand individuals was in mazandaran (71.29) and gilan (57.61), respectively, both near the caspian sea (north), followed by hormozgan (50....

Three areas in the world have a high prevalence of cancer of the oesophagus. Two lie at the extremes of the old silk routes pioneered by Marco Polo around the shores of the Caspian Sea in northern Iran and in the Henan and Shanxi provinces of China. The third area, with the highest prevalence, is the Homeland state of Transkei in South Africa. Cancer of the oesophagus here is 14 times more comm...

Iran’s security is affected by a broad region that includes the Caspian Basin, Central Asia, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf states, Pakistan, Turkey, and the Middle East. However, an increased focus on the countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), as well as Iraq, on the one hand, and with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (including Yemen) on the other, provides a na...

The Caspian Sea is heavily polluted due to industrial and agricultural effluents as well as extraction of oil and gas reserves. Microbial communities can influence the fate of contaminants and nutrients. However, insight into the microbial ecology of the Caspian Sea significantly lags behind other marine systems. Here we describe microbial biomass, diversity and composition in sediments collect...

S U M M A R Y The Rudbar-Tarom earthquake of 1990 June 20 (M0 = 1.4 × 1027 dyn cm), the largest one in Iran over the past 35 yr, was accompanied by a small tsunami in the Caspian Sea, which produced run-ups of up to 2 m, and inundations of 1 km, reaffirming the existence of tsunami hazard along the Caspian shoreline, as suggested by historical reports. We present the results of a field survey, ...

In the framework of collection and determination of coastal sand dune plants of S Caspian Sea in Gilan and Mazandaran provinces (N Iran), a new species of the family Poaceae,Cenchrus longispinus (Hack.) Fernald, was determined in coastline of Babolsar, Mazandaran. Cenchrus longispinus is closely resembles C. spinifex and C. echinatus. From the latter it is best distinguished by the absence of a...

Three areas in the world have a high prevalence of cancer of the oesophagus. Two lie at the extremes of the old silk routes pioneered by Marco Polo around the shores of the Caspian Sea in northern Iran and in the Henan and Shanxi provinces of China. The third area, with the highest prevalence, is the Homeland state of Transkei in South Africa. Cancer of the oesophagus here is 14 times more comm...