An area of 2,278,015 hectares of bare land covering a vast area in the south-east of Iran is occupied by the Lut Desert. Some of the highest land surface temperatures in the earth have been scored in parts of this hyper-arid area. Strong currents of wind from June to October cause erosion and result in the creation of continuous high aeolian yarding landforms, also called kaluts, and dune fields of various shapes and enormous height. Other kinds of desert landforms include salt landforms of a large variety, stony desert pavements or reg, stones faceted by wind called ventifacts, badlands and alluvial fans. The Lut Desert was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.
