Qualla: Badab-e Surt

Badab-e Surt: Introduction

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Samaee, CC BY 3.0. Two springs emerge from the same mountainside, but they could not be more different. One produces salty water that locals believe cures rheumatism and skin conditions. The other runs sour and orange, stained by heavy iron oxide deposits at its outlet. Where their mineral-laden waters have flowed downhill and cooled over thousands of years, they have built something astonishing: a natural staircase of travertine pools in shades of orange, red, and yellow, terraced across the mountainside at 1,840 meters above sea level. This is Badab-e Surt, hidden in northern Iran's Mazandaran province, 95 kilometers southeast of the city of Sari.

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Image: Samaee | CC BY 3.0

Badab-e Surt: What the Name Tells You

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit ninara, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Persian name encodes the geology. 'Badab' is a compound of 'bad' meaning gas and 'ab' meaning water -- 'gassed water,' a reference to the carbonated mineral springs that create the terraces. 'Surt' is an old name for the nearby village of Orost, derived from a Persian word me...

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Image: ninara | CC BY-SA 2.0

Badab-e Surt: Chemistry Written in Stone

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mohammad Soltani محمد سلطانی, CC BY 4.0. The terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock that forms when mineral-saturated water reaches the surface and releases dissolved carbon dioxide into the air. As the gas escapes, calcium carbonate and iron carbonate can no longer remain dissolved. They precipitate out of...

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Image: Mohammad Soltani محمد سلطانی | CC BY 4.0

Badab-e Surt: A Staircase of Colored Pools

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Samaee, CC BY 3.0. The visual effect is of a naturally formed staircase descending the mountainside, each step holding a shallow pool of mineral water in a different shade. From above, the terraces resemble the contour lines of a topographic map rendered in warm earth tones. The surrounding landsca...

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Image: Samaee | CC BY 3.0

Badab-e Surt: Fragile Beauty at Altitude

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mohammad Soltani محمد سلطانی, CC BY 4.0. Despite its visual drama, Badab-e Surt is a fragile formation. The travertine terraces are actively growing, but the rate of mineral deposition is slow measured against the pace of human visitation. Foot traffic on the terraces can damage the soft, newly deposited mineral surface...

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Image: Mohammad Soltani محمد سلطانی | CC BY 4.0