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Sand Dune Systems in Iran - Distribution and Activity

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Sand Dune Systems in Iran - Distribution and Activity Sand Dune Systems in Iran - Distribution and Activity. Wind Regimes, Spatial and Temporal Variations of the Aeolian Sediment Transport in Sistan Plain (East Iran) Dissertation Thesis Submitted for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Natural Science (Dr. rer. nat.) i to the Fachbereich Geographie Philipps-Universität Marburg by M.Sc. Hamidreza Abbasi Marburg, December 2019 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Christian Opp Physical Geography Faculty of Geography Phillipps-Universität Marburg ii To my wife and my son (Hamoun) iii A picture of the rock painting in the Golpayegan Mountains, my city in Isfahan province of Iran, it is written in the Sassanid Pahlavi line about 2000 years ago: “Preserve three things; water, fire, and soil” Translated by: Prof. Dr. Rasoul Bashash, Photo: Mohammad Naserifard, winter 2004. Declaration by the Author I declared that this thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. Hamidreza Abbasi iv List of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 1 1. General Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 7 1.1 Introduction and justification ......................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Wind erosion in Iran ....................................................................................................................... 9 1.3 Problem statement ....................................................................................................................... 12 1.4 Thesis Aims and Objectives .......................................................................................................... 13 1.5 Thesis structure ............................................................................................................................. 14 1.6 References ..................................................................................................................................... 16 2. Physical Setting ............................................................................................................................... 19 2.1 Study area ...................................................................................................................................... 19 2.2 Iran deserts.................................................................................................................................... 19 v 2.2.1 Climate ............................................................................................................................. 19 2.2.2 Deserts and sand dunes in Iran ........................................................................................ 21 2.3 Sistan Plain .................................................................................................................................... 25 2.3.1 Location ........................................................................................................................... 25 2.3.2 Climate ............................................................................................................................. 26 2.3.3 Geological setting ............................................................................................................ 26 2.3.4 Sand transport and dunes ............................................................................................... 27 2.4 References ..................................................................................................................................... 30 3. Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………. 33 3.1 Data and methods ...................................................................................................................... 33 3.2 Sand dunes activity ....................................................................................................................... 33 3.2.1 Climatic data .................................................................................................................... 33 3.2.2 Sand transport calculations ............................................................................................. 34 3.3 Sand dunes activity ....................................................................................................................... 37 3.3.1 Sand dunes distribution ................................................................................................... 37 3.3.2 Sand dunes activity .......................................................................................................... 37 3.4 Wind regime and sand transport in Sistan and Registan ............................................................ 42 3.5 Spatial and temporal variations of the aeolian transport in Sistan ............................................ 43 3.6 Geostatistical analysis ................................................................................................................... 45 3.7 References ..................................................................................................................................... 47 4. Assessment of the Distribution and Activity of Dunes in Iran based on Mobility Indices and Ground Data ........................................................................................................................................ 49 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 50 4.2 Material and methods .................................................................................................................. 55 4.3 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 56 4.3.1 Spatial variability of sand drift potential .......................................................................... 56 4.3.2 Lancaster mobility index .................................................................................................. 58 4.3.3 Tsoar mobility index......................................................................................................... 62 4.3.4 Yizhaq mobility index (YMI) ............................................................................................. 64 4.3.5 Comparison of the three models and development of a new model .............................. 66 4.4 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 72 vi 4.5 References ..................................................................................................................................... 74 5. Wind regime and sand transport in the Sistan and Registan regions (Iran/Afghanistan) ........... 81 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 82 5.2 Study area ...................................................................................................................................... 83 5.3 Materials and methods ................................................................................................................. 85 5.4 Results and discussion .................................................................................................................. 86 5.4.1 Wind velocity ................................................................................................................... 86 5.4.2 Wind direction ................................................................................................................. 89 5.5 Spatial variability of Sand transport ............................................................................................. 91 5.6 Temporal variability of Sand transport ........................................................................................ 93 5.7 Morphology of dunes ................................................................................................................... 96 5.8 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 98 5.9 References ...................................................................................................................................100 6. Spatial and temporal variation of the aeolian sediment transport in the ephemeral Baringak Lake (Sistan Plain, Iran) using field measurements and geostatistical analyses ............................104 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................105 6.2 Research Area .............................................................................................................................106 6.3 Material and methods ................................................................................................................108 6.4 Results and discussion ................................................................................................................110
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