Geotourism features in Hormuz Island: Main geological factors

The Hormoz Island is always considered as a tourist site in the south of Iran. The existence of various geological phenomena in this island has caused Hormuz to be referred to as the paradise of geologists. This salt-gypsum dome island is located in the Persian Gulf. The Hormuz oval-shaped island covers an area about ۴۱ km۲. This salt dome Island is created as a result of diapirism. This Island is an adult salt dome and its morphological, mineralogical and lithological diversities are significant. Hormuz Island is one of the biggest and most famous salt domes of Persian Gulf. This Island is composed of evaporites rocks (such as salt and gypsum), ferruginous minerals, Miocene-Pliocene sediments and recent alluvial, evaporites, sedimentary and igneous rocks. Red and silver Beach, Salt Goddess and Silence valley, Rainbow Mountain, Yellow/Golden River, Salt caves, Bat cave, Rainbow cave, Statues valley, and Mangrove forests are some of the geotourism sites of the Hormuz Island that were visited by the authors of this paper. In this paper, the role of geological processes in creating the tourist attractions of the region is investigated. Unconformities, fracture networks, faults, cross bedding, ripple marks, mud cracks, stalactite, erosion, weathering, and karstification are significant geological phenomena in this area that play an effective role in the prosperity of this tourist destination.

کلیدواژه ها:

Hormuz Island ، geotourism ، diapirism ، salt caves ، Statues valley