Environmental Erosion Research Journal

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Extended abstract
1- Introduction
    The desert area, the world's widest ecosystem, covers more than one-third of its surface, and much of Iran is affected by climatic conditions. Wind erosion due to the persistence and extent of erosion in time and space, especially in arid areas with high damage potential. In fact, the morphodynamic boundaries affected by climate change have changed from past to present, leading to the expansion of the territory of wind erosion, and in recent years the dust hazard has also become an environmental issue in these areas. One of the natural occurrences and challenges for sustainable development and management in arid and semiarid areas is wind erosion. Also, wind erosion is one of the causes of soil loss and due to its wide range of activities it usually has less destructive performance than other erosions. This study was in Damghan basin. Haj Ali Gholi Playa is affected by wind erosion.
2- Methodology
    The data used are library data, meteorological statistics, maps, satellite imagery, field and laboratory data. Initially based on geomorphological, geological, soil, vegetation, slope, land use information, geomorphologic facies of the identified area and using 9 effective erosion potential determination models. This process was studied and the erosion class of each facies (sedimentation rate) was determined. Also, the wind as a motiving factor for wind erosion was studied using the hourly data of synoptic stations over the period (2003-2019) of the Meteorological Organization of the four stations in the basin and the annual windrose was plotted to determine its direction and velocity. After partial understanding of the wind process status to determine its rotational and local pattern system, the features of the evidence of wind erosion landforms (orientation and dispersion distribution) such as barchan, Erg, sand arrows, etc. used in field visits. Then, to determine the influence of particle size on wind erosion and dust erosion performance in this hole, 38 samples from Playa marginal areas were taken from Quaternary sediments for sedimentary experiments.
3- Results
    According to the results of implementation of the Erifer model for determining wind erosion potential in Damghan basin, seasonal lake bed facies, lakes and sand masses in high erosion class and seasonal mud facies and alluvial plain in middle erosion class and the coniferous facies and rough mountain slopes are in a low erosion class. This indicates that the lakeside facies have the highest potential for wind erosion due to the sediment type and the environment. This indicates that the lakeside facies have the highest potential for wind erosion due to the sediment type and the environment. In the study of wind erosion potential, it is the motiving factor of wind erosion that was intercepted and analyzed. The existence of a convective cyclone corresponding to the lowest and hottest point of the plain in the region was found to be counterclockwise in the cyclone, with converging motion toward the center. The wind cyclonic swirl pattern to the ground screw and removal of sediments in the west and southwest prevail hole. This moves eastward from the surface of the Earth, causing sand to be deposited in the southeastern half of the hole as we observe the wells of the Damghan Basin in the southeast of Playa, and in the eastern part of the wind deposits. We don't have. In fact, the movement of wind particles is a function of wind strength and erosion, surface resistance to erosion and erosion.  The analysis of 38 sediment samples showed that sediments above 63 microns in the southwestern range of 66.18%, southeast of 76.33%, northwest of 93.62% and north of 97.85%.
4- Discussion & Conclusions
The major causes of erosion on the surface, especially in arid and semi-arid wind erosion, to prevent damage is necessary to study their properties. As the Quaternary lakes declined in volume and volume and groundwater levels declined, large areas of the older lakes, including Playa Damghan, were exposed to wind and wind erosion. The results show that a thermal cyclonic system causes the distribution of wind sands along the playa border. Also based on wind data and particle size the sediment movement in the region was then mutated and suspended in creep and wind erosion has led to the creation of landforms, and the dust hazard in the area is poorer than that. The results show that in the Damghan Playa area, due to studies of wind erosion and various forms over time, more dust has been created than the landform evidence we see today in the Playa border.

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Extended abstract
1- Introduction
In this century, wind erosion as one of the most important processes in arid and semi-arid regions has affected about one-sixth of the world's land area. Wind erosion is usually attributed to the process of soil particles being removed and displaced by the wind. Wind is one of the dominant processes in arid, semi-arid, and sub-arid regions and is the result of wind dynamics, transport of soil or sediment particles, and the development and evolution of desert roughness based on erosion and sedimentation intensity.The risk of wind erosion and dust is also more severe in areas where the soil is loose, dry, and bare, with high winds and high repetition. This study was conducted in Jazmourian basin and its playa. Jazmurian Playa has been studied as the most important area affected by wind erosion and the source of dust hazard in the south-east of the country; because these two hazards are often found in closed basins of old lakes or playa that contain loose sediments, and they are disconnected, they are happening.
2- Methodology
Data used are library data, meteorological statistics, maps, field, and laboratory data. At first, using the (Eriffer) model, nine effective factors in determining the wind erosion potential in the geomorphological facies of the basin were investigated, and their sedimentation rate was determined. The annual windroses were plotted with hourly data from the synoptic stations over the period (2009-2019) for six stations, and the wind situation of the area was analyzed. Then, 20 surface sediment samples were taken from the area to determine the effect of particle size on the performance of wind processes, and Granulometry was performed. And the position of the sand-dune as the end point of wind erosion and the areas affected by the dust were also identified.
3- Results
According to the results of the implementation of the Eriffer model for determining the wind erosion potential in the Jazmourian basin of high and diverse sandstone facies - very high erosion class and seasonal litter lithofacies, seasonal muddy salt marsh, terraces lakes and alluvial plain. There is a lot of erosion in the classroom. Also, alluvial facies are in middle erosion grade and uneven mountain slopes in low erosion grade. In fact, in the Jazmourian basin, there are scattered sandy masses, but the highest distribution is in the southeast of Playa, with 44.49% of sedimentation of the whole basin. The wind Baft situation in the area indicates that the maximum velocity at the station is 2.10 to 3.60 m / s. The highest wind speed at this station is in the range of 5.70 to 8.80, which accounts for about 2 percent of all winds. The Bam Station Wind in different directions at speeds below 4.5 m / s. Khash Station is about 2 percent of the winds in the speed range of 8.80-70.70, and about 80 percent is between 0.50 to 3.60 m / s. Jiroft Station is about 1 percent of the winds in the speed range of 8.80-70. Nikshahr Station At this station, about 2% of the winds blow at a speed of 5.70 to 3.70 / 60 and the Other at lower speeds. Iranshahr Station about 80% of the winds in this station are northeast to southeast and are classified at speeds of 0.50 to 3.60 m / s. Annual windrose show at stations in the area Local winds can create local dust. The results of the analysis of the samples show that 74.75% of the eastern Playa sediments, 76.25% of the southern Playa sediments, 67.50% of the northern sediments, and 95% of the Playa center sediments are below 63 microns in size. Surface sediments are the environment for the production of dust.
4- Discussion & Conclusions
The results show that the low and flat topography, the presence of fine particles in the sediments, and the dominant winds during the dry season, with the dominant northwest and west direction, caused the sediment to move suspended, then jump and creep. And the dust hazard has Extensive performance on the playa and its margins, and more importantly, the Jazmourian playa is one of the main sources of dust in the south-east of the country. Also, the areas covered by dust hazards are greater in the central, southern and, western margins of the hole than in other areas.

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1- Introduction
Sustainable management of soil and land resources requires the identification of factors affecting their development or degradation. Accurate and reliable determination of the distribution of soil and landscape properties is the basis of such identification. In this regard, it is necessary to prepare continuous location maps. In soil surveying, soils are generally collected by a point-by-point sampling method and soil properties between these points are estimated by interpolation methods. Soil salinity is one of the most common challenges in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran, which leads to land degradation by declining soil quality. Therefore, monitoring soil salinity is needed to overcome the aforementioned problem. The accuracy and precision of Kriging, as one of the major geostatistical methods, depend on the size, distribution as well as density of soil samples. Due to the use of these maps in soil planning and management for the future, their accuracy and precision are of great importance. This study aims to evaluate the role of grid sampling patterns on the quality and efficiency of final soil salinity maps.
2- Methodology
The study was conducted in Shamlou region with an area of about 155 ha. It is located in Heris County, East Azerbaijan Province comprising abandoned cultivated lands. The dominant soils across the study area were Inceptisols and Aridisols. Based on the main objective of this research, five sampling patterns were designed: I) uniform grids of 100 m; II) uniform grids of 200 m; III) offset grids of 200 m; IV) rectangular grids (100×200 m) with vertical direction; V) rectangular grids (100×200 m) with the horizontal direction. A total of 155 disturbed samples (0-20 cm) were taken in the study area. All the collected samples were transferred to the laboratory for analysis. After providing the soil extracts, EC_e was measured. The Kriging method was also employed to predict the spatial distribution of soil salinity according to the above-mentioned patterns. The accuracy of prepared maps in a classified mode was also evaluated. Finally, the efficiency of each map was evaluated using the Average Size Delineation (ASD), Index of Maximum Reduction (IMR), and Delineation Density (DD) criteria.
3- Results
The maximum EC_e in the study area was reported to be 36.5 dS.m^-1. The provided maps based on the use of various sampling patterns showed that the salinity of the west part of the area was higher than the east one. Geostatistical analysis revealed that the spherical model can be identified as the best-fitted model for a 100×200 m rectangular grid with vertical direction, while the exponential model was the best one for the rest patterns. The results demonstrated that the least and the highest values of nugget and range were observed for 100 and 200 m uniform grids, respectively. Since the index of nugget/sill illustrates the spatial dependence of soil salinity, it was found that management has no role in the spatial distribution of salinity using all studied patterns except 100×200 m rectangular grid with the vertical direction. The t-test results indicated that there is no significant difference between the predicted and actual values. According to the R² values, the best sampling pattern was found to be uniform grids of 100 m, followed by, rectangular grids with horizontal direction, offset grids, rectangular grids with vertical direction and uniform grids of 200 m. The next step was to assess the maps (with a scale of 1:13337) efficiency indices. It was found that the maximum location accuracy, minimum legible delineation (MLD), optimum legible delineation (OLD) and optimum legible area (OLA) were 1.33 m, 7115 m², 1.6 cm² and 2.84 ha, respectively. The lowest average size delineation (ASD) was found for uniform grids of 100 m while the highest one was for rectangular grids with vertical directions patterns. A similar trend was also observed in terms of index maximum of reduction (IMR). Furthermore, the optimum delineation density (DD) was found to be 4.59 for the offset grids of 200 m pattern.
4- Discussion & Conclusions
The results showed that sampling point distribution had a more important role than sampling point density in selection of the optimum model for interpolation. In terms of nugget and range, this role was demonstrated in an inverse manner. Since the nugget/sill index (taken by all studied sampling patterns in the same results) revealed that salinity has a strong spatial distribution, the density and distribution of sampling points did not play an important role. Although the distribution of sampling points had a role in the accuracy of interpolation, the sampling point density was more effective. The results showed that preparation of high resolution maps with many details does not always require a large density of sampling, but in patterns with the equal densities, the efficiency of maps depends on the distribution of sampling points. Also, there was no direct relation between optimum delineation density and specific density as well as distribution of sampling points. Therefore, prior to the selection of suitable distribution for soil sampling patterns, it is recommended to find the optimum sampling density for the project.
 

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1- Introduction
Wind erosion is one of the main crises in arid and semi-arid areas' lands with many destructive environmental consequences; this phenomenon has caused the transformation of natural environments and human living conditions in these areas. Wind erosion causes the loss of soil and organic material, and consequently leads to its destruction (Mahmoud Abadi and Rajabpour, 2017; Dastrani et al., 2008), which is directly related to the physical and chemical properties of soil. Soil texture and in particular the percentage of primary particles of clay, silt, and sand influence soil erodibility by affecting bulk density, aggregate stability, porosity, adhesion, shear strength, and threshold velocity. According to the study conducted by Nagisi et al. (2016), the size and stability of soil aggregates are among the factors affecting wind erodibility. Pasteur et al. (2016) also mentioned soil texture as a very important factor affecting soil and wind erodibility. According to the findings of Kolazo and Buchiazo (2010), sandy soils are inherently more erodible than fine-textured soils because due to the low amount of silt and clay in these soils, they cannot form physical ridges or aggregates. Therefore, to control wind erosion, it is necessary to determine various environmental factors such as determining the direction and speed of erosive winds, determining the erosion threshold speed, and identifying the harvesting, transportation, and sedimentation areas in arid and desert areas as the effective factors in creating wind erosion and formation of desert lands. In desert areas, the amount of wind energy and its changes in different directions have a great impact on the morphology and deformation of wind erosion facies. Therefore, one of the best methods to determine wind erosion is to use Golbad (Parsamehr et al., 2016). A review of the stabilization situation also provides local managers and politicians with broad perspectives on controlling this source of particular importance. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to identify crisis centers in creating wind erosion by examining the mineralogical characteristics of desert lands in Kermanshah province, and finally, the research results will be used to control the identified crisis centers.
2- Methodology
In the present study, the potential of active sand dunes was identified by examining their physical and chemical properties, types of sand dunes, their active parts in susceptible parts of the study area, and the origin of active sand dunes identified for conducting management measures and desertification procedures. By conducting field visits and using IRS satellite images, the range and shapes of sand roughness in the study area were extracted. After determining the range and shapes, criteria such as height, color, presence or absence of vegetation, and the shape of sand roughness, their active or inactive conditions were measured from different units of sand roughness that were separated in the previous step. Physical, chemical, and mineralogical tests were taken and analyzed in the laboratory. Then, by using granulation and granulometry results (measuring particle diameter), the abundance of sand minerals in the country was determined.
3- Results
The results showed that the direction of the prevailing winds in Qasr Shirin meteorological station during the statistical period was generally south and then the prevailing wind was west, which, in addition to carrying quicksands, caused dust in these areas. In all the sands harvested in the study area, the acidity was between 7.5 and 8, which is in the alkaline range. Salinity in all desert lands is less than 4 dS/m, which is in the group of non-saline soils. In the other quality parameters examined, all quality factors are in the normal range. According to the field observations, the studied areas are semi-active and unstable in terms of activity conditions. The sorting coefficient is 1.87 and the particle skewness coefficient is 0.11. Therefore, its sorting is weak and its skewness is slightly symmetrical. In terms of shape, the grains are in the group of low-abrasive grains (low erosion). In this case, the grains are angular, but the corners are not sharp, indicating that destructive agents acted on the grain to a small extent. They also indicate that the distance between the harvesting area and sedimentation is short
4- Discussion & Conclusions
By identifying areas prone to wind erosion and controlling these areas many of the environmental concerns can be alleviated. According to the obtained results, there are 7 sand distribution areas in Kermanshah province, which are located in the west of the province and Qasr Shirin city, and often in the vicinity of Iraq. The total area of ​​semi-active sand areas is estimated at 2333 hectares. According to the studies done, the sands of Kermanshah province are scattered in the Qasr Shirin region in seven areas: 1- Qasr Shirin, 2- Parviz Khan, 3- Ahmadi Tower, 4- valedkoshteh, 5- Naftshahr, 6- Seyed Sohrab, and 7- Chaghamham. As mentioned, the most important shape is in the form of an arrow of sand, which is the result of the accumulation of sand behind plants and the unevenness of the ground. The primary origin of these sands is from Aghajari Formation spread in the region, which is first shaken by water erosion and then by the wind entering some sands into agricultural and rangeland lands every year. Agricultural activities such as bed preparation for planting have increased wind erosion and the composition of the resulting sand has changed the texture of surface soil (Jafari et al., 2009). The wind is an important and fundamental factor in creating sand roughness (Kok et al., 2012). Based on the results of laboratory studies on the collected samples, the pH of the sands fluctuates from 7.18 to 7.95 and the EC value varies between 0.32 and 3.18 mhos. The effect of electrical conductivity on wind erosion depends on the type and concentration of soluble cations. Due to the small amount of organic carbon in the soils of arid and semi-arid regions, the presence of co₃ as a source of non-aqueous carbon is of great importance in controlling the intensity of wind erosion (Shahabi Nejad, 2019). Therefore, control erosion by creating vegetation in the upward areas will be possible when the identification of harvesting areas is prioritized in the implementation of quicksand stabilization plans (Ahmadi et al, 2005). Creating and strengthening vegetation is also effective in improving soil characteristics, which, as a result, improves the process of soil protection (Mohseni et al, 2020).
 

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1- Introduction
Urmia Lake, which has been located in the northwest of Iran, is the largest saltwater in the Middle East. Unfortunately, nowadays various factors have exposed it to dryness and wind erosion, the result of which is the increase in soil salinity, the thinning of solute crystals, and the occurrence of dust storms. If this lake becomes dry, the climate of the area will change to hot climate and salt storms will start. Therefore, we must find new ways to control and prevent the occurrence of wind erosion. Identifying the nature of these dusts, especially their morphology, is important in providing solutions to deal with the crisis. Investigating the characteristics and morphology of dusts in the region is also useful in predicting ways and controlling factors to reduce their damages, and dust morphology is a practical method to determine their origin. Investigation of the properties and characteristics of rising dusts from this area can be useful in predicting and controlling ways to contrast/withstand their damages.
2- Methodology
For this purpose, three flat sites without vegetation and prone to fine dust production were selected from the eastern shore of Urmia Lake. Each site was divided into 3 layers based on the height from sea level, but the first layer was omitted from the studying areas because of the high soil moisture due to low distance to lake, which results in decreasing dust production by this layer, and eventually 2 random samples (0-5 cm) were picked up from each layer. This research study was carried out based on 12 selected soil samples from 3 sites and their layers. The soil samples from 0 to 5 cm depth, as a surface soil of layers, were transferred to trays with dimensions of 3 x 40 x 30 cm in the wind tunnel of agriculture faculty of Tabriz University, with 370cm length, 50cm width and 70cm height. Subsequently, wind erosion was simulated by applying the maximum wind speed of 45 meters per second for 15 minutes at each height. Then, the dust particles released at 2 heights of the wind tunnel (10 and 30 cm from the floor of the device) and the control soil sample were sent to SEM to get their images. After processing these row images, the quantitative amounts of morphological properties were obtained. Finally, the statistical analyses were performed on these properties. Using a nested design to find the effect of factors such as the location, layer and height of the wind tunnel on the morphological characteristics of soils in the windblown dust.
3- Results
The images which had been adopted from SEM were analyzed in Image J application and 5 parameters (perimeter, circularity, roundness, accept ratio and solidity) were calculated for each particle in samples and the average of these parameters for each soil sample was listed. The presented data were analyzed in Minitab application by using the fully nested method and for conducting these analyses, the test of normality of data was performed on data list. The results for each parameter were presented in a table which showed the effect of site, layer and location height of the sediments in wind tunnel.
4- Discussion & Conclusions
The obtained results in this research (Table 3) revealed the significant effect of site (5%) on circularity and solidity properties. Also, the effect of height in wind tunnel from floor was significant in 5% just on roundness, and the effect of other factors on morphological properties were not significant. In other words, the size of particles, the area and their parameter in soil samples did not have significant differences and even the wind erosion with given speed in explained time duration didn’t act optional on the size of particles. There were no significant differences between size of diameter, area and parameters of particles before and after the wind erosion. The reason of these results can be dependent on the preparing method of samples for SEM study, in which the samples were rubbed on pin of device and the great grains were separated. Also, the effect of site and height of wind tunnel on roundness and circularity were significant, respectively. As for other morphological properties, the effects of site, layer and the wind tunnel height were not significant and there were no significant differences between the samples.