THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF LANDSCAPES IN WESTERN IRAQ FROM SPACE IMAGERY

Space photography at 1:2,400,000 scale from the “Salyut-6” space station was used to compile maps on the evolution of arid landscapes in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in western Iraq. The imagery made it possible to trace the development of many ancient natural features and to formulate an interpretation key of landscape elements—formed under a variety of past climatic environments, but subsequently evolving under common, somewhat similar natural conditions. This provides a basis for improved understanding the present state, history of formation, and future transformations of arid landscapes. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Izvestiya Vsesoyuznogo Geograficheskogo Obshchestva, 1990, No. 3, pp. 255–260.