Kabudan Desert

In the northeast of Oromiyeh Lake stretches a rather extensive desert which is surrounded by a developing wasteland. On the northeast corner, between Sharaf Khaneh Port in the north and the hamlet of Dash Kasan in the south, beyond the lake there is a broad desert plain which extends towards east and stretches up to Tabriz.
The desert plain has no special name. The people from the nearby villages call it salt land or swamp. It encompasses an area of over 51,900 square km. Almost 848 square km of it are exposed to outbursts of the lake. The length of the desert measures about 50 km and its direction goes from northeast to southwest.
Its average width is 32 km and the absolute height of the desert is 1,300 m on the east corner and the center of the desert which is at the sea level is about 25 m lower than the eastern part. The lake is 1,275 m above sea level. Kabudan Desert has created the most amazing contrast not only in the basin of Oromiyeh Lake but also throughout the land of Azerbaijan.
The waters of the rivers which originate in the east heights, Sahand pile, join Talkhe Rud River and pour directly into the lake or the swamps on the shores near Azar Shahr.
So, no river reaches the desert from the east. The rivers which flow from north towards south, divide into several branches on the alluvial cones before reaching the desert and are consumed for watering gardens and farm lands.
The waters from all the rivers which run from north and northeast to the catchment area contain abundant salt. Aji Chai, the largest river in the area, creates salt dome-like structures on its path and is mostly the main cause of the formation of salty soils and even makes the lake remarkably salty.
On the west side of Bonab, the deposits of the lake including silica, salt and clay have covered the region and considering the low penetration of superficial waters, the swamps and salt lands are formed in the area. The river is one of the most abundant in the basin of the lake. From this river 12 currents flow across the Bonab field and supply the water for almost all hamlets of the place.
The surplus water pours into Oromiyeh Lake through the village of Gharachigh. The lands in the village can't transfer the entire water due to low penetration level. As a result, most lands are in the form of swamps and salt lands. The fields of Maraghe and Bonab cover an area of almost 340 square km of which about 40 square km are swamps and salt lands.
The salt lands surrounding the lake are of no value in terms of agriculture and water storage.
Ajab Shir field extends in an area of nearly 80 square km of which 10 square km are swamps and salt lands. Malak Kandi field, too, covers an area of about 380 square km of which 80 square km contain swamps and the rest is used for agricultural purposes.