ABSTRACT
Covering an area of 750 square kilometers and hosting a population of almost 8 million in 2006, Tehran is located in the north central part of Iran at the southern Alborz mountain range piedmont. The city is bordered by volcanic and carbonate formations in the northwest, north, northeast and east, and by quaternary alluvium deposits and the Iranian Kavir (desert) plain to the south (Figure 1). The boundary conditions i.e. mountainous climate and morphology to the north, and dry desert to the south, together with eight north-south rivers cutting the northern part of the city, mean that hills play an outstanding role in the formation and evolution of geomorphology of the area and its groundwater recharge process.
