ramin sarikhani

The salty running water from Gachsaran Formation in Robat Namaki region, north of Khorramabad city, has caused salt weathering of some rocks in the region. Salt weathering due to the salty running waters of the region is one of the reasons for changing the geomechanical properties of rocks, and as a result reducing their durability. In current research, the effect of salty running waters on the geomechanical properties of outcropping rocks in Robat Namki region has been studied by conducting salt weathering tests. For this purpose, two samples of limestone and sandstone have been prepared and salt weathering tests have been performed on them for 30 cycles in salty running water, spring water and saturated salt solution. After every 5 cycles, the point load index and porosity of the samples were determined. Fitting curves between salt weathering test cycles with point load index and porosity were developed for all three test solutions, and parameters of decay constant and half-life were obtained from them. The effect of the three test solutions on the samples has been evaluated using these parameters, as well as the percentage of changes of the point load index and porosity. The results show that saturated salt solution, spring water and salty running water had the greatest to least effect on the changes of point load index and porosity of the samples, respectively. Also, data analyses shows that sandstone is more affected by salt weathering due to its higher porosity and layered than limestone.

Contamination of water sources by pesticides is considered as one of the environmental problems which are on growth due to agricultural development and the variation of herbal pesticides. The present study aims at making a Biotite absorber to omit the organic pollutant of water. In the current study, Biotite, which is found naturally in Boroujerd, west of Iran, is used to absorb pesticides including Permethrin, Diazinon, and Malathion. The effect of concentration, pH, and contact time on pesticide absorption was studied. The findings revealed that the aforesaid absorber has had the appropriate return to absorb the mentioned pesticides. The highest percentage of permethrin absorption by Biotite took place in the concentration of 4 ppm, pH= 7, and contact time of 20 minutes, while the highest percentage of Malathion by Biotite occurred in the concentration of 4 ppm, pH= 7 and contact time of 40 min. The findings indicated that the process of diazinon absorption follows isotherms like Langmuir and Freundlich. However, the process of permethrin and Malathion absorption follows Langmuir isotherm and Freundlich isotherm respectively. Generally, the findings from the present study can be used to plan various ways to control contamination in the industrial scale, decreasing destructive environmental effects in the waters contaminated by pesticides.

Today, the pollution of Rangeland soils by various destructive pollutants has become one of the human-environmental problems. Lacking proper management of organic matter discharge can also increase the concentration of salts, heavy metals, and pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, to investigate and measure the concentration of toxic elements, 128 soil samples of Chadegan region were selected to distinguish the concentration extent of these metals and also high-risk and polluted areas. Based on the obtained results in the sampled points, the average soil pollution by cobalt, copper, and chromium elements was observed which its origin can be considered as pollution with a geologic origin. The other elements observed in the soil have little enrichment or no pollution.

Soil pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of synthetic chemicals or other changes in the soil environment. The heavy metal pollution of soils has been very widespread and there is a risk of transmission of these toxic and accessible metals to humans, animals, and agricultural products. Heavy metals due to their non-degradability and physiological effects on living organisms are also very important in low concentrations. The soil pollution from toxic elements is different from water or air pollution because the toxic elements remain in the soil longer than the other parts of the biosphere and are more durable in the soil. The objectives of this study are to investigate the distribution of toxic elements and to assess the environmental pollution of a part of Chadegan’s soil which has been tried to be studied by using the accumulation land indices, pollution coefficient, pollution load, enrichment coefficient, heavy metals pollution zoning, and the statistical analyses.

In order to conduct this study, in-field inspections, 128 samples from the soil of the studied area have been taken from a depth of 30cm. After doing the initial preparation process, the samples up to the dimensions of less than four millimeters were firstly crushed by using the crusher machine in the laboratory and then pulverized in the disk mill up to 75 microns size (200 meshes). To weigh the samples, Teflon pipes were used in the 4-Acids Digest method.After weighing the samples in a Teflon tube; hydrochloride, pre chloridic, nitric, and chloride acids each added up to a certain amount and then all of them were placed in the Hot Box. After performing the complete digest operation, the samples were cooled at the ambient temperature and reached to sufficient volume with distilled water, and finally, the chemical analysis performed in the ICP-MS method by using Agilent Series 4500 machine made in the United Stutes. Due to the changes in the concentration of the elements in the soil of the region; Ba, Co, Sc, Pb, Y, Cu, B, Zn, Ni, Sr, Cr metals were selected. To determine and construe the extent of pollution of the soil samples studied; the enrichment factor, the pollution load index has been used here due to the concentration of the elements. The ArcGIS software was used to prepare the spatial distribution. Because Kriging methods (normal, simple, and discrete) have high potentials for determining the spatial distribution of the heavy metals of soil; hence they have been proposed as appropriate methods for interpolation and preparing the pollutants map.

The result of calculating the accumulation land index for the soil samples taken from different station show that Igeo extent of all elements is less than one or less than one or less than zero thus have little or no pollution. The result of the pollution coefficient analysis indicates that pollution is law and soil is non-polluted in all sampled areas except for some station that has low and average pollution in terms of cobalt, copper, and chromium elements. Regarding the pollution load index and due to the standard values of P.L.I; the soil of the studied area is free of pollution. The obtained results of calculating the enrichment coefficient of the studied soil samples show that apart from cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc elements which have average enrichment and its origin can be considered as pollution with anthropogenic pollution; the rest of the present elements have low enrichment and are non-polluted. The zoning map of the concentration of the toxic elements from the area soil indicates that the elements of cobalt, nickel, copper, and strontium in the southwest of the region and also boron, barium, and yttrium elements in the southeast of the area have average to low concentration and the other elements have very low concentration. Based on histogram diagrams, the elements of boron, chromium, nickel, lead, strontium, and yttrium have symmetrical distribution and the elements of barium, cobalt, copper, and scandium have asymmetrical distribution and positive skewness.

According to the result of the accumulation land index, it was found that the studied soils have little or no pollution. The results of the pollution coefficient suggest that except for the elements of cobalt and lead which have average enrichment in some stations, the other elements have poor enrichment. The pollution load index shows that the studied samples have no pollution and also have appropriate concentration and this is while that the enrichment extent of cobalt, chromium, copper, and lead is near average and this enrichment extent can be considered as pollution with an anthropogenic origin.

Soils are discontinuous cover at the surface that may be composed of rocks and sediments in situ or by material transport. Heavy metals are one of the most important soil pollutants that can have a major impact on the health of living things and, above all, humans. Heavy metals, which enter the human body, can accumulate in the tissues and affect the nervous system and circulation. These metals also impair the normal functioning of the internal organs or may be auxiliary to other diseases. Elements such as mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel, zinc, selenium and the like are elements that are highly resident in the soil and have low mobility, so they may remain in the soil for many years. Such contaminants in the soil are caused by the addition of sludge, phosphate fertilizers, atmospheric sinks, color wastes and smoke from natural fuels, coal and other sources. Numerous studies have been carried out on the distribution of heavy metals in various soils such as urban, industrial, etc. Considering the importance of heavy metal contamination in soil and its effect on the health of living organisms, especially humans, this study was conducted to evaluate the concentration and contamination of heavy metals in soils north of Fereydoon Shahr (Isfahan province) using environmental indices; Geoaccumulation index, pollution load index, enrichment factor and pollution index were performed. The spatial distribution of heavy metal concentrations in the study area is also investigated.

Groundwater salinization in semiarid regions is a limiting factor of use with strategic importance. In this study, the sources of salinity, chemistry, and quality of groundwater in Robat (Khorramabad plain, Iran) were identified through the geochemical methods. Using data analysis, the concentration of cations and anions were recognized with the order of Ca2+>Na+ >Mg2+>K+ and HCO3-> Cl-> SO42+> NO3-> F-, respectively. The high concentration of Na+, Cl-, and EC in some places is attributed to the gypsum and salty formations. In the study area, the salinization processes are identified by natural and artificial activities. The salinization mechanisms are identified by the natural dissolution of gypsum and salt from Gachsaran formation and man-made sources including boreholes drilled through Gachsaran Formation, salt mining, and agricultural activity. Also, the high concentration of nitrate is related to agricultural fertilizers and karstification effects. It is seen that the atmospheric NO3-. HCO3-, Ca2+, and Mg2+ concentration exceeded the standard limit in a few samples probably due to the calcareous formation. Besides, hydrochemical facies of the groundwater are Ca- HCO3 and Na-K-HCO3. Due to the presence of calcareous and salt bearing formations, 46%, 26%, and 20% of all samples show a higher concentration of Ca2+, Na+, and Mg2+, respectively, which exceed the permissible limits. Sulfate and fluoride concentrations are less than the permissible limits. However, due to the presence of calcareous formation, salt bearing formation, and use of agricultural fertilizers, 100%, 26%, and 20% of all samples show a higher concentration of HCO3-, Cl-, and NO3- than the permissible limits.

Oil products are considered to be life-threatening factors in the ecosystem due to their contents of organic compounds, sulfide, sulfur, heavy metals, and various circular hydrocarbons, organic solvents, aromatic compounds, linear formaldehyde, fats, and grease. The present study aimed to investigate the soil surrounding Kermanshah Refinery, Iran and estimate the density of various heavy metals and their pollution sources, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), scandium (Sc), and vanadium (V). The geoaccumulation index indicated that the intensity of the refinery soil had variable degrees of pollution, ranging from no pollution to average pollution with chromium and nickel. In addition, the enrichment index showed average enrichment for cadmium (station 14), copper (stations two, 11, 13, and 14), lead (stations six and 13), zinc (stations two, six, 11, and 13), and chromium (stations 6-15). On the other hand, the pollution bar index of chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, and lead was estimated to be higher than one, which confirmed unacceptable soil quality and the presence of soil pollution in the region. According to the results of Pearson's correlation-coefficient, nickel pollution was significantly correlated with chromium and scandium pollution, while cobalt pollution was associated with vanadium and chromium pollution. Moreover, a significant correlation was observed between zinc and copper pollution, which indicated the equal pollution source or similar geochemical behaviors of these elements toward each other. Since vanadium is considered to be an oil pollution index, it could be concluded that high pollution with this element and chromium may arise from petroleum in the studied region.

Surface water quality is largely influenced by physical processes, chemical and biological processes such as weathering of minerals, rocks, climate and precipitation amount. Human activities (domestic and industrial wastewater, atmospheric sediment, irrigation return flow, etc.) also can reduce the quality of surface water and disrupt using it for drinking, industrial and agricultural consumption. The investigation of saturation index changes is useful to determine the different stages of the evolution of hydro chemical and chemical reactions to control the water chemistry. The control processes of water chemistry including physical, chemical and biological processes, structural, geological and mineralogical composition of the host rocks, and human activities such as household and industrial wastes, excessive use of chemicals and pollution emissions of wastewater tanks can effectively affect the surface water chemistry. Hierarchical clustering methods are appropriate methods for data analysis of water samples which are applied to assess the water quality data and the possibility of sample hydrochemical grouping having the highest importance of the statistical viewpoint in hydrology, hydrogeology and geology. In this study, Azna river water quality has been investigated based on the major elements and heavy metals. Results showed that the reactions due to area formations are the factor that affects the major elements and heavy metal in the surface waters of area.

The statistical methods are used for investigation of water quality in different area that such as univariate and multivariate statistics methods. In the study area, according to cluster diagrams of groundwater quality parameters are plotted in two cluster that due to formations and geological factors. Principle component analysis methods are shown that effective factors such as electrical conductivity, material solution, HCO3-, Mg2+, Cl-, Na+ and total hardness in groundwater quality. According to major parameters and its source, groundwater quality related to geological formation, limestone and evaporated rocks in the study area. The coefficient factor of groundwater parameters in the study area are shown that high relationship between electrical conductivity with SO42-, Na- and Cl- due to halite solution from Ghachsaran formation and high correlation between electric conductivity and SO42- ,Na+,Cl- due to sulfate salt and sulfate calcium especially. Also correlation between HCO3- and Mg2+ can be considered for role of dolomite rocks solution in increasing Ca2+ concentration in water. The GQI of groundwater quality in the study area is evaluated that indicated groundwater quality of region are between 73% to 81%, which indicate the groundwater quality placed in suitable to acceptable class of quality that may be affected by geological factors such as lithology, current direction in the area. The correlation between groundwater quality index and quality parameters are shown that total hardness, bicarbonate and dissolved solids had the highest impact on groundwater quality in the study area.

In this study, marls ofsouth of Hassan Abad and Varamin in Tehran Province, including the marls of Upper Red Formation unit M3 and Pliocene marls of unit Plm in slopes of five5, 20 and 40 percents were evaluated in terms of shape and intensity of erosion, physical, chemical, engineering and dispersion features. Accordingly, 20 samples were taken from mentioned marl formations. To achieve predetermined goals, granulometry, Atterberg limits, chemical analysis such as cations and anions, SAR, TDS, EC and double hydrometery and pinhole were tested. Results of double hydrometery tests on 18 samples indicated that only three have low dispersion degree Which are related to marls of unit M3 in undisturbed samples of station 1 with the form of gully erosion, station 2 with 40% slope and surface erosion and station 5 with 5% slope and channel erosion. According to the pinhole test, from 17 samples, 12 samples were classified as non dispersive and five samples as low to moderate dispersive classes. In this test, the majority of the samples with channel erosion and some samples with gully erosion showed low to moderate dispersion rate. Other erosion forms such as surface and rill erosion showed non-dispersive behavior. Based on chemical properties of the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Sodium Percentage (PS), in Casagrande chemical graph, the majority of samples are clssified as dispersive soil, one sample with surface erosion in the boundary of dispersion and one sample with rill erosion as dispersive with the probability of 50%. In modified Sherard chemical method, all samples are classified as non dispersive soils. These results have no conformity with other physical and chemical methods so this classification is not acceptable. African chemical method showed better results compared to other chemical methods. In this method, half of the samples were classified as dispersive and the other half as non-dispersive. According to chemical and physicalstandards, dispersion phenomenon has been seen in all forms of surface, rill, gully and channel erosion. It has been concluded that marl soils are potentially dispersive under the influence of chemical and physical factors, even if they show surface and rill erosion forms, at the time of sampling. In other words, if the necessary conditions such as slope sleepness and runoff concentration occure in these soils, surface and rill erosion forms can be developed to dispersive forms such as channel and gully erosion types.

In the present study, the water quality of Silakhor River, located in Rahim Abad hydrometric station, was analyzed based on Boron, Iron, Nickel, Fluorine, Manganese, Chromium, Cadmium, Aluminum, Copper, Zinc and Lead pollution. The samples were collected from Silakhor River in Rahim Abad hydrometric station during a one-year period, from December 2012 to November 2013. In addition, metal index (MI) and heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) were applied to evaluate the amount of heavy metal pollution of water resources in the study area. The aforemention indices determined the origin of contamination of water resources, drinking or non-drinking. The findings from the samples showed that the amount of some heavy metals, such as Lead, Chromium, Cadmium and Manganese was higher than permissible limit of WHO standard. However, metal index (MI) and heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) proved that all samples are non-potable. In the present study, statistical studies (correlation coefficient, factor analysis and cluster analysis) were employed to determine the probable origin of the area’s elements. The findings indicated a multiple source of pollutants for the region water resources including two major sources; one is associated with the region lithology (the natural factor) while the other is caused by human activity in the region (anthropogenic factors).

In recent decades, soil pollution with petroleum hydrocarbons in oil-rich countries (such as Iran) has been one of the most challenging issues. In these countries with petroleum industries, mines of oil exploration, refineries, etc., leakage from tanks or pipelines of oil transmission due to corrosion and damage bring about oil pollution for the soil. This study aimed at evaluating and measuring the amount of heavy metals in the soil of Kermanshah Refinery and statistical analysis in order to locate high-risk areas in terms of pollution caused by oil leaks, extraction, refining, and transportation. Therefore; 15 samples of surrounded soil of Kermanshah Refinery were analyzed to determine soil pollution with petroleum compounds. According to results of ICP-MS analysis of soil samples, the process of heavy metal changes in the soil of Kermanshah Refinery was Cr>Zn>Ni>V>Cu>Pb>Co>Sc>As>Cd. Geo accumulation index indicated that the intensity of the refinery soil is classified in the range of no pollution to average with reference to chromium and nickel. Besides, the finding from enrichment factor indicated the average enrichment of the region soil by chromium and lead. Moreover, it confirmed that enrichment in lead and copper has anthropogenic origin. Pollution load index of chromium, nickel, zinc, copper, and lead showed soil pollution to these metals. Zoning map of heavy metal density in the region soil demonstrates that high density of the elements in some stations is related to the petroleum leakage from installations and storage tank.

Water pollution in recent decades is as serious threat to the human and natural ecosystem so that assessing changes water quality are one of the most important topics for desirable use . In this investigation has been studied the Azna river quality in Chamzaman Hydrometric station that used for dry period (April to September) and wet period (October to March).To evaluate the water quality were used the Piper, Schoeller, Wilcox and time-series diagrams. Results water river Azna in Piper diagram indicative water type is calcic bicarbonates. In studied river, according to the graph Schuler is evaluated good and desirable for drinking. According to statistical studies, the methods of data analysis led to be determined 11 principal components for the data set, the first three components with more than 70% variability, statistical population interpret. Also according to the graph plotted cluster the samples is plotted in four clusters contains: the first cluster SO4-2 and pH, second cluster K,third cluster Ca2 and in the fourth cluster TDS, EC, Cl-, Mg2, HCO3-, Na and TH. The highest correlation between the total dissolved solid and chloride is observed. According to meaningful level of 0/05 in Kolmogorov – Smirnov, all ions of Azna River have normal distribution. Linear regression analysis of cations, anions and electrical conductivity as the dependent variableversus of total dissolved solids as the independent variable show high correlation between TDS with EC and Cl.

This research aims to examine underground water of delfan city in terms of geochemical characteristicsTo this end,the main elements of underground water were analyzed.Based on which all parameters were lower than allowed limit.As the saturation index can be an important factor to understand solvation –setllement of mineral available in underground water ,the saturation index was calculated using computerized code phreeqc.The saturation index of the studied minerals in all water specimens was negative and all considered minerals can be solving.Also ,based on ionic exchange diagrams,sodium and cholor have two different origins and Calcite,Dolomit and Gypsum solvations have occurred from which Calcite and Dolomit solvations were higher.According to the HCA,samples are in two main clusters which Anions-Kations concentration in one cluster samples were higher .According to the clusters stiff diagram the region water type is Bicarbonate –Casic .To find main factor of underground water chemistry ,rotational Varimax method has been used which is the most common PCA,because it gives more interpretable elements.By this method,the limestones and Dolomit,s solvation and rock-water interaction are the most important factors of the region,s underground water chemistry

One of the applications of remote sensing in geology is mapping of lineaments, which is considered as one of the most important issues in geological studies in different areas. The purpose of this research is extraction of the lineaments of Khorramabad watershed from LANDSAT 8 and ASTER sensors images using manual and automatically digital methods. The detection techniques including filtering and spatial principle component analysis were applied on the images. For the extraction of lineaments from the images as manually and automatically digital methods were applied. The lineaments extracted by automatically digital method were compared with the faults on the regional geological map. They were then validated using Google earth and finally lineament map and Rose diagram was prepared. The Rose diagram shows Northwest-Southeast and Northeast-Southwest trends and Northwest-Southeast is the one prevailing in the area. Lineament density map shows the highest density of lineaments in West, Southwest, and Northeast areas. The lowest amount of density was observed in central parts of the study area. After checking the extracted lineaments, the results showed that lineaments extracted by automated methods were less accurate than ones extracted by manual methods regarding compatibility with the faults on the geological maps. The automatically digital method, because of its low accuracy is not recommended for geological studies, since this kind of study deals with methods which have high accuracy. As a result, the best method for geological and structural studies in large areas and areas with difficult access is the extraction of lineaments using visual and manual digital methods.