Semi-Detailed Mapping of the Playa Surfaces in the West of Lake Urmia and their Contribution to Aerosols

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 هیئت علمی

2 soil science department, faculty of agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

The recession of the lake shores, including Lake Urmia (LU), and later exposure of the lake bed sediments to wind erosion, as a consequence of climate change and drought is an increasingly dangerous phenomenon in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. When salt particles remain unconsolidated, and uncovered on soil surface, they can be moved by wind easily, generating salt dust. These fine-grained salt particles cause salinization of agricultural lands, accelerate deforestation leading to health, and economic problems in lives neighboring residents.  The aims of the present research were to study Urmia Lake Playa (ULP) geomorphic surfaces in its western shores, and their vulnerability to dust generation. All lands from Urmia Lake recession from its western shores were selected. Different playa surfaces in the study area were identified and mapped using satellite images and Google Earth software. Then, boundaries of the mapped surfaces were checked by field observations. Later 130 soil samples from depth 0-5 cm of different surfaces were collected during spring to autumn 2019 and physicochemical analysis, mean weight diameter (MWD) and loose erodible material (LEM) were determined and finally geomorphic map of the study area was prepared in ARCGIS software. Based on the results from present study, seven geomorphic surfaces were identified in western part of ULP including clay flats, salt crusts, clay flats- salt crusts; sandy salt crusts, beach sands, sand sheets and fan delta. Each of these surfaces were subdivided to different map units based on the variation in vegetation cover and density, stability of surficial crusts and some other physicochemical properties. Among studied surfaces, sand sheets located in northern parts of the study area, next to Jabal Kandi village, had the highest LEM with 89.7 % equal to 53.8 ton.ha- soil. The study of the correlation between LEM and several soil physicochemical properties showed that high sand content and low calcium carbonate, MWD (which is also dependent of soil properties) and also low organic matter in soils of sand sheets have made these areas vulnerable to wind erosion and prone to dust generation.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Ahmady-Birgani H., Ravan P., Schlosser J.S., Cuevas-Robles A., AzadiAghdam M., and Sorooshian A. 2020. On the chemical nature of wet deposition over a major desiccated lake: Case study for Lake Urmia basin. Atmospheric Research, 234: 104762.
Ahmady-Birgani H., and Feiznia S. 2016. Chemical Composition of TSP Dust-Sized as an Indicator in Geochemical Fingerprinting of Sediments. Journal of Natural Environment, 69(2): 283-301.
Ahmadi A., Ghalibaf M.A., Ekhtesasi MR., and Ebrahimi Z. 2010. Evaluation of the erodibility of evaporate solutes of Tabas playa facies. Proceedings of the 2nd National Conference on Wind Erosion and Dust Storms, Yazd, Iran. pp. 110-116.
Ahmed M., Al-Dousari N., and Al-Dousari A. 2016. The role of dominant perennial native plant species in controlling the mobile sand encroachment and fallen dust problem in Kuwait. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 9: 1-4.
Aminfar R., Landi A., and Hojati S. 2021. Source Identification and Distribution Mapping of some Heavy Metals in Dust Particles Collected Around the Hoveyzeh-Khorramshahr Dust Center. Applied Soil Research, 9(4): 1-14.
Avery B.W. 1987. Soil survey methods: a review. Technical Monograph No. 18. Silsoe: Soil Survey and Land Resources Center. 86p.
Boroughani M., Hashemi H., Hosseini S.H., Pourhashemi S., and Berndtsson R. 2019. Desiccating Lake Urmia: a new dust source of regional importance. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 17(9), 1483-1487.
Bowen M.W. and Johnson W.C. 2015. Holocene records of environmental change in High Plains playa wetlands, Kansas, US. The Holocene, 25(11): 1838-1851.
Bronick C.J., and Lal R. 2005. Soil structure and management: a review. Geoderma, 124: 3-22.
Chaney K. and Swift R.S. 1984. The influence of organic matter on aggregate stability in some British soils. Journal of Soil Science, 35(2): 223-230.
Duiker S.W., Flanagan D.C. and Lal R. 2001. Erodibility and infiltration characteristics of five major soils of southwest Spain. Catena, 45(2): 103-121.
Farokhnia A., and Morid S. 2014. Assessment of the effect of temperature and precipitation variations on the trend of river flows in Urmia Lake watershed. J. Water Wastewater. 25(91): 86-97. (In Persian)
Farpoor M.H., Neyestani M., Eghbal M.K. and Borujeni I.E. 2012. Soil–geomorphology relationships in Sirjan playa, south central Iran. Geomorphology, 138(1): 223-230.
Gee G.W., and Or D. 2002. 2.4 Particle‐size analysis. Methods of soil analysis: Part 4 physical methods, 5: 255-293.
Ghadimi F., and Ghomi M. 2013. Geochemical and sedimentary changes of the Mighan Playa in Arak, Iran. Iran Journal of Earth Science, 5: 25-32.
Gholampour A., Nabizadeh R., Hassanvand M.S., Nazmara S. and Mahvi A.H. 2017. Elemental composition of particulate matters around Urmia Lake, Iran. Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry, 99(1): 17-31.
Goudarzi G., Shirmardi M., Naimabadi A., Ghadiri A. and Sajedifar J. 2019. Chemical and organic characteristics of PM2. 5 particles and their in-vitro cytotoxic effects on lung cells: The Middle East dust storms in Ahvaz, Iran. Science of the Total Environment, 655: 434-445.
Halleaux D.G., and Rennó N.O. 2014. Aerosols–climate interactions at the Owens “Dry” Lake, California. Aeolian Research, 15: 91-100.
Hamzehpour N., Eghbal M.K., Abasiyan S.M.A., and Dill H.G. 2018. Pedogenic evidence of Urmia Lake's maximum expansion in the late Quaternary. Catena, 171: 398-415.
Hamzehpour N., Marcolli C., Pashai S., Klumpp K., and Peter T. 2022. The Urmia Playa as source of airborne dust and ice nucleating particles–Part 1: Correlation between soils and airborne samples. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 22: 14905-14930.
Jackson M. L. 2005. Soil Chemical Analysis: Advanced Course. UW-Madison Libraries parallel press, USA. 210p.
John R.N. and Kim S. P. 2002. Aggregate stability and size distribution. (pp. 201-414), In: Jacob, H.D., and Clarke Topp, G (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 4. Physical Methods. Soil Science Socienty of America, Madison, WI., USA.
Kemper W.D., and Chepil W.S. 1965. Size distribution of aggregates. In: Sparks, D.L. (Ed.), Methods of soil analysis- Part 1. physical and mineralogical properties, including statistics of measurement and sampling. SSSA Book Series No.9. Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp. 499-510.
Kim D., Chin M., Kemp E.M., Tao Z., Peters-Lidard C.D. and Ginoux P. 2017. Development of high-resolution dynamic dust source function-A case study with a strong dust storm in a regional model. Atmospheric Environment, 159: 11-25.
Khazaee A., Mosaddeghi M.R., and Mahboubi A.A. 2008. Structural stability assessment using wet sieving method and its relations with some intrinsic properties in 21 soil series from Hamadan Province. Agricultural Research: water, soil ad plant in agriculture, 8(1): 171-181.
Kohler J., Caravaca F. and Rolan A. 2010. An AM fungus and a PGPR intensify the adverse effects of salinity on the stability of rhizosphere soil aggregates of Lactuca sativa. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 42: 429-434.
Krinsley D. 1970. A geomorphological and paleoclimatological study of the playas of Iran. US Geol. Surv. Rep.
Lal R. 1990. Soil erosion and land degradation: the global risks. Advances in Soil Science: Soil Degradation, 11: 129-172.
Middleton N.J. 2017. Desert dust hazards: A global review. Aeolian research, 24: 53-63.
Morgan R.P.C. 2009. Soil erosion and conservation. John Wiley & Sons. 100p.
Moridnejad A., Karimi N. and Ariya P.A. 2015. Newly desertified regions in Iraq and its surrounding areas: Significant novel sources of global dust particles. Journal of Arid Environments, 116: 1-10.
Motaghi F.A., Hamzehpour N., Abasiyan S.M.A. and Rahmati M., 2020. The wind erodibility in the newly emerged surfaces of Urmia Playa Lake and adjacent agricultural lands and its determining factors. Catena, 194: 104675.
Nelson D.W., and Sommers L.E. 1996. Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In: Sparks, D.L. (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis—Part 3. Chemical Methods—SSSA Book Series No. 5. Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp. 1123–1184.
Nimmo J.R. and Perkins K.S. 2002. 2.6 Aggregate stability and size distribution. In: Sparks, D.L. (Ed.), Methods of soil analysis- part 4 physical methods-, SSSA Book Series No. 5.4. Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp. 317-328.
Prospero J.M., Ginoux P., Torres O., Nicholson S.E. and Gill T.E. 2002. Environmental characterization of global sources of atmospheric soil dust identified with the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) absorbing aerosol product. Reviews of geophysics, 40(1): 2-1.
Raei B., Ahmadi A., Neyshabouri M.R., Ghorbani, M.A., Asadzadeh F. 2020. Determination of Soil Wind Erodibility in Eastern Urmia Lake and its Relationship with Soil Physicochemical Properties. Applied Soil Research, 8(2): 82-92.
Rashki A., Eriksson P.G., Rautenbach C.D.W., Kaskaoutis D.G., Grote W., and Dykstra J. 2013. Assessment of chemical and mineralogical characteristics of airborne dust in the Sistan region, Iran. Chemosphere, 90(2): 227-236.
Reynolds R.L., Bogle R., Vogel J., Goldstein H., and Yount J. 2009. Dust emission at Franklin Lake Playa, Mojave Desert (USA): Response to meteorological and hydrologic changes 2005-2008. Natural Resources and Environmental Issues, 15(1):18-30.
Rhoades J.D. 1996. Salinity: electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids. In: Sparks, D.L. (Ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis—Part 3. Chemical Methods—SSSA Book Series No. 5. Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp. 417–435.
Rodríguez A.R., Arbelo C.D., Guerra J.A., Mora J.L., Notario J.S., and Armas C.M. 2006. Organic carbon stocks and soil erodibility in Canary Islands Andosols. Catena, 66: 228-23.
Rossiter D.G. 2000. Methodology for Soil Resource Inventories, 2nd revision, Soil Science Devision, International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Science (ITC). 132p.
Santos F.L., Reis J.L., Martins O.C., Castanheira N.L. and Serralheiro R.P. 2003. Comparative assessment of infiltration, runoff and erosion of sprinkler irrigated soils. Biosystems Engineering, 86(3): .355-364.
Schepanski K. 2018. Transport of mineral dust and its impact on climate. Geosciences, 8(5): 151.
Shadkam S., Ludwig F., van Oel P., Kirmit Ç., and Kabat P. 2016. Impacts of climate change and water resources development on the declining inflow into Iran's Urmia Lake. J. Great Lakes Res. 42(5): 942-952.
Shahryary A. 2014. Assessment of Tasoki-Rigchah critical area in wind erosion production in Sistan plain. Int. J. Advanced Biol. Biomed. Res., 2(2): 463-472.
Sotoudeheian S., Salim R., and Arhami M. 2016. Impact of Middle Eastern dust sources on PM10 in Iran: Highlighting the impact of Tigris‐Euphrates basin sources and Lake Urmia desiccation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 121(23): 14-018.
Van Bavel C.H.M. 1950. Mean weight-diameter of soil aggregates as a statistical index of aggregation. Proceedings. Soil Science Society of America, 14: 20-23.
Wurtsbaugh W.A., Miller C., Null S.E., DeRose R.J., Wilcock P., Hahnenberger M., Howe F., and Moore J. 2017. Decline of the world's saline lakes. Nature Geoscience, 10(11): 816-821.
Zobeck T.M. 1991. Abrasion of crusted soils: Influence of abrader flux and soil properties. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 55: 1091-1097.
Zoratipour A., baranpour M., Moghadam B.Kh., and Bagheri R. 2022. Predicting the Land Degradation Changes in the Dust Center Under the Influence of Climate Change Phenomenon (Case study: Southeast Dust Center of Ahvaz). Applied Soil Research, 10(4): 25-44.
Applied Soil Research
Volume 11, Issue 4 - Serial Number 4
February 2024
Pages 142-157

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 10 February 2023
  • Revise Date: 17 April 2023
  • Accept Date: 29 April 2022

Share

How to cite

Statistics