The efficiency of weathering indices and geochemical elements in sub_basin spatial sediment sources fingerprinting (case study: Alvand watershed, Kermanshah province)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran, Behshahr , Iran

Abstract

Erosion caused by water and sediment transport in watersheds leads to on-site and off-site effects that can cause significant damage to lands and infrastructure. Understanding the source of sediment yield in river systems is essential for effective watershed management. A key challenge in sediment source fingerprinting is the use of appropriate tracers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of weathering indicators and geochemical elements in detrmining the contribution of sub-basin sediment sources in Alvand watershed by using a Bayesian sediment fingerprinting model. First, 27 samples were taken from the outlest of three sub-basins as sediment sources and 9 samples were taken from the outlet of the main basin as sediment target. 9 geochemical elements (Al-Ca-Fe-K-Na-Mg-Si-Ti-P) were measured for the predominant particle size farction (<125 µ) and 42 weathering indices were calculate based on the geochemical elements in sediment source samples and target sediment samples. Using Kruskal-Wallis test and discriminant function analysis three geochemical elements (Na, Mg, Si) and three weathering indices (CPA, ALK, R) were selected as compsite fingerprints. The sediment source apportionment technique was prepared based on the Bayesian model, and the percentage contribution of each sediment source was determined. For the three sediment sources in the Alvand watershed, namely Basin 1 (Ghaleh Shahin), Basin 2 (Patagh), and Basin 3 (Rijab), the estimated percentages were 97.7%, 0.8%, and 1.1%, respectively. The Ghaleh Shahin sub-basin was identified as the dominant sediment source. The results showed that a combination of weathering indicators and geochemical elements can create an appropriate combination of tracers to be used in sediment provenance.

Keywords

Main Subjects

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

 

Introduction

One of the key issues in soil and water management is soil erosion and sediment production in the watershed, which can lead to problems in environmental, economic, and social issues. Every year, over 75 billion tons of soil from the Earth’s surface, equivalent to 134 tons per km2, are exposed to erosion. In Iran, the consequences of soil erosion include accumulation of sediments behind dams, loss of vegetation cover, increased flooding, and soil loss. Sediment fingerprinting is a technical technique that determines the relative contribution of sediment sources through field sampling, analysis, and statistical modeling and has predominated by indirect tracing methods. Sediment source tracing methods are increasing worldwide, and the scope of conventional sediment tracing methods needs further examination. One possible method is using tracers to identify sediment sources and quickly deliver sediments, responsible for detecting and investigating chemical substances.

Data and research methods

The study area in this research includes the Alvand watershed located in the southwest of Kermanshah province. The study area ranges between latitudes 33 degrees 57 minutes to 34 degrees 34 minutes and longitudes 45 degrees 32 minutes to 46 degrees 28 minutes, situated between the Tigris and Iran Plateau. The four main sub-catchments of the Alvand watershed include Chelh-Gilan Gharb, Koferavor-Sagan, Sar Pol Zohab, and Qasr-e Shirin. Due to the vastness of the Alvand watershed, this study focused on the Sar Pol Zohab sub-catchment, which includes three sub-catchments: Qale Shahin, Reijab, and Patagh. This watershed, with an area of 1671.93 square kilometers, follows the general direction of the Zagros, running from northwest to southeast. Its maximum elevation is 2474 meters, and its minimum elevation is 486 meters at the watershed outlet. The study area has a Mediterranean climate with a rainy season corresponding to the cold season. The average annual precipitation in the watershed is about 600 millimeters, with an average annual temperature of 13 degrees Celsius. Generally, in the eastern mountainous regions of the watershed, there is more precipitation and lower temperatures, while in the lower western regions, precipitation is less, and temperatures are higher.

Sampling is done in two ways, one based on sediment sources and the other based on the target sediment or basin output. In other words, in sediment provenance, samples should be taken from sediment sources and sediment outputs. All sediment and source samples were dried at 60 degrees temperature and for 24 hours. They were sieved using a sieve smaller than 125 micrometers. XRF analysis was performed on 36 sediment samples. 20 grams of each sample were taken for this purpose, and the concentrations of important geochemical elements including Al, Ca, Fe, K, Na, Mg, Si, Ti, P, and LOI were measured using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) equipment. In order to assess the efficiency of air pollution indices computable using the measured geochemical elements, 42 air pollution indices (Table 1) were calculated to provide useful tracers for inclusion in sediment provenance. All elements were converted to oxide percentages, and then the molecular weights of the oxide forms were calculated using molar mass.

For investigating the proportion of each source of sediment in tributary, three main steps were used. First, the non-conservative behavior of tracers and a mass conservation test was performed. Second, a two-stage statistical procedure identified the optimum set of source material properties to use as composite fingerprints. The abilities of individual properties to discriminate among sources were tested via the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, and those properties that return a P value >0.05 were excluded. Then, a stepwise discriminant function analysis (DFA) was performed to determine the proportion of samples that were accurately classified into the correct source groups. Third the mixture sampling-Importance-Resampling (Mix SIR) Bayesian model was used to estimate source proportion.

Results

The results of the standard bracket test showed that in the erosion units under the sub-basins, 11 trace elements (WIP, PI, KR, IR, WI-1, WI-2, SSAF, STI, SF, Birkeland, LOI) were not conservative and were excluded from further analysis. For the sediment sources erosion, among 9 geochemical elements and 42 air pollution indices that passed the Kruskal-Wallis test, 3 elements (Na, Mg, Si) and 3 pollution indices (CPA, ALK, R) were selected for the composite fingerprintd, which separated and classified 96.6% of the sample sources correctly.

Discussion

This research looked into how much sediment each sub-basin contributes using sediment fingerprinting approach based on geochemical elements and weathering indices. The results revealed that the Qaleh Shahin sub-basin had the highest sediment yied (97%) among other sub-basins, with three chemical elements (Na, Mg, Si) and three weathering indices (CPA, ALK, R) identified as the best tracers out of 9 elements and 42 indices examined, as they had the highest ability to discriminate sediment sources.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, K.N. and R.D.; methodology, K.N. and P.R.; software, P.R.; validation, K.N., P.R. and R.D.; formal analysis, P.R.; investigation, K.N., P.R. and R.D.; resources, K.N.; data curation, P.R.; writing—original draft preparation, P.R.; writing—review and editing, K.N. and P.R.; visualization, K.N., P.R. and R.D.; supervision, K.N.; project administration, K.N.; funding acquisition, K.N. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Data Availability Statement

Data is available on reasonable request from the authors.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the support of Grant number 600.871 funded by the research council of Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

Ethical considerations

 The authors avoided data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and misconduct.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

References

Babechuk, M. G., Widdowson, M., & Kamber, B. S. (2014). Quantifying chemical weathering intensity and trace element release from two contrasting basalt profiles, Deccan Traps, India. Chemical Geology, 363, 56-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2013.10.027
Blanco, H. and Lal, R. (2008). Principles of soil conservation and management, Springer Verlag, 601p, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-8709-7
Buggle, B., Glaser, B., Hambach, U., Gerasimenko, N., & Marković, S. (2011). An evaluation of geochemical weathering indices in loess–paleosol studies. Quaternary International, 240(1-2), 12-21 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2010.07.019
Cao, Z., Zhang, Z., Zhang, K., Wei, X., Xiao, S., & Yang, Z. (2020). Identifying and estimating soil erosion and sedimentation in small karst watersheds using a composite fingerprint technique. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 294, 106881, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.106881.
Chen, F. X., Fang, N. F., Wang, Y. X., Tong, L. S., & Shi, Z. H. (2017). Biomarkers in sedimentary sequences: Indicators to track sediment sources over decadal timescales. Geomorphology, 278, 1-11, , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.10.027.
Chen, F., Wang, X., Li, X., Wang, J., Xie, D., Ni, J., & Liu, Y. (2019). Using the sediment fingerprinting method to identify the sediment sources in small catchments with similar geological conditions. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 286, 106655, , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2019.106655.
Chetelat, B., Liu, C., Wang, Q., Zhang, G., (2013). Assessing the influence of lithology on weathering indices of Changjiang river sediments. Chem. Geol. 359: 108 115, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2013.09.018.
Collins, A., Walling, D., Webb, L., & King, P. (2010). Apportioning catchment scale sediment sources using a modified composite fingerprinting technique incorporating property weightings and prior information. Geoderma, 155(3-4), 249-261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2009.12.008
Collins, A., Blackwell, M., Boeckx, P., Chivers, C.A., Emelko, M., Evrard, O., et al., (2020). Sediment source fingerprinting: benchmarking recent outputs, remaining challenges and emerging themes. J. Soil. Sediment. 20 (12): 4160–4193,  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02755-4
Davis, C.M., Fox, J.F. (2009). Sediment fingerprinting: review of the method and future improvements for allocating nonpoint source pollution. J. Environ. Eng. 135: 490–504, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9372(2009)135:7(490)
 
Derakhshan-Babaei, F., Nosrati, K., Tikhomirov, D., Christl, M., Sadough, H., Egli, M. (2020). Relating the spatial variability of chemical weathering and erosion togeological and topographical zones. Geomorphology 363: 107235, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107235.
Derakhshan-Babaei, F., Nosrati, K., Fiener, P., Egli, M., & Collins, A. L. (2024). Source fingerprinting sediment loss from sub-catchments and topographic zones using geochemical tracers and weathering indices. Journal of Hydrology, 633: 131019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131019.
Dey, S., Ali, S.Z., (2019). Bed sediment entrainment by streamflow: state of the science. Sedimentology 66: 1449–1485. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12566.
Efthimiou, N., Lykoudi, E. and Karavitis, C. (2014). Soil erosion assessment using the RUSLE model and GIS. European Water., 47: 15-30.
Gaspar, L., Blake, W.H., Smith, H.G., Lizaga, I., Navas, A. (2019a). Geoderma testing the sensitivity of a multivariate mixing model using geochemical fingerprints with artificial mixtures. Geoderma 337: 498–510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.10.005
Guo, Y., Yang, S., Su, N., Li, C., Yin, P., Wang, Z. (2018). Revisiting the effects of hydrodynamic sorting and sedimentary recycling on chemical weathering indices Geochim. Cosmochim. 227: 48–63, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.02.015
Habibi, S., Gholami, H., Fathabadi, A., Desmond,W. (2018). Origin of sediments deposited in the dam reservoir using fingerprinting method (Case study: Laverfin dam catchment, Hormozgan province). Journal of Environmental Erosion Research, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 1-15.(in persian).
Haddadchi, A., Nosrati, K., Ahmadi, F., (2014). Differences between the source contribution of bed material and suspended sediments in a mountainous agricultural catchment of western Iran. CATENA 116, 105–113, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2013.12.011.
Harnois, L., & Moore, J. M. (1988). Geochemistry and origin of the Ore Chimney Formation, a transported paleoregolith in the Grenville Province of southeastern Ontario, Canada. Chemical Geology, 69(3-4), 267-289, https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2541(88)90039-3.
Issaka, S., Ashraf, M.A. (2017). Impact of soil erosion and degradation on water quality : a review.Geol. Ecol. Landscapes 9508, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/24749508.2017.1301053.
Institute for Studies and Research on Planning and Agricultural Economics. Seminar on Water and Agriculture, Conference on Challenges and Prospects of Iranian Development (2001). Institute for Management and Planning, Education and Research, affiliated with the Iranian Management and Planning Organization, pp. 28-49.(in persian).
Koiter, A.J., Owens, P.N., Petticrew, E.L., Lobb, D.A. (2013). The behavioural characteristics of sediment properties and their implications for sediment fingerprinting as an approach for identifying sediment sources in river basins. Earth-Sci. Rev https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.05.009
Krisnayanti, D.S., Bunganaen, W., Frans, J.H., Seran, Y.A., Legono, D. (2021). Curve number estimation for ungauged watershed in semiarid region. Civ. Eng. J. 7, 1070–1083. https://doi.org/10.28991/cej-2021-03091711.
Laceby, J.P., Evrard, O., Smith, H.G., Blake, W.H., Olley, J.M., Minella, J.P.G., Owens, P.N., (2017). The particle size characteristics of fluvial suspended sediment in the humber and tweed catchments. UK. Earth-Sci. Rev. 169, 85–103, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(00)00384-3.
Malhotra, K., Lamba, J., Shepherd, S. (2020). Sources of stream bed sediment in an urbanized watershed. Catena 184, 104228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2019.104228
Mc Carney-Castle, K., Childress, T.M., Heaton, C.R. (2017). Sediment source identification and load prediction in a mixed-use Piedmont watershed, South Carolina. J. Environ. Manag. 185, 60–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.10.036.
Minella, J. P., Walling, D. E., & Merten, G. H. (2008). Combining sediment source tracing techniques with traditional monitoring to assess the impact of improved land management on catchment sediment yields. Journal of Hydrology, 348(3-4), 546-563, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.10.026.
Mohammadi, Sh., Karimzadeh, H., Alizadeh, M. (2018). Spatial estimation of soil erosion in Iran using the RUSLE model, Journal of Ecohydrology, Volume 5, Number 2, Summer 2018, pp. 551-569.(in persian).
Morgan, R. P. C. (2009). Soil erosion and conservation. John Wiley & Sons.
Moquet, J.-S., Crave, A., Viers, J., Seyler, P., Armijos, E., Bourrel, L., Chavarri, E. Lagane, C., Laraque, A., Casimiro, W.S.L., Pombosa, R., Noriega, L., Vera, A. Guyot, J.-L. (2011). Chemical weathering and atmospheric/soil CO2 uptake in the Andean and Foreland Amazon basins. Chem. Geol. 287, 1–26.
Moosdorf, N., Hartmann, J., Lauerwald, R., Hagedorn, B., Kempe, S. (2011). Atmospheric CO2 consumption by chemical weathering in North America. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 75, 7829–7854, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.10.026.
Navas, A., Lizaga, I., Gaspar, L., Latorre, B., Dercon, G. (2020). Unveiling the provenance of sediments in the moraine complex of aldegonda glacier (Svalbard) after glacial retreat using radionuclides and elemental fingerprints. Geomorphology 367, 107304, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107304.
Nosrati, K., Govers, G., Semmens, B. X., & Ward, E. J. (2014). A mixing model to incorporate uncertainty in sediment fingerprinting. Geoderma, 217, 173-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2013.12.002.
Nosrati, K., Collins, A. L., & Madankan, M. (2018). Fingerprinting sub-basin spatial sediment sources using different multivariate statistical techniques and the Modified MixSIR model. CATENA, 164, 32-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2018.01.003.
Nosrati, K., Collins, A.L. (2019). Investigating the importance of recreational roads as a sediment source in a mountainous catchment using a fingerprinting procedure with different multivariate statistical techniques and a Bayesian un-mixing model. J. Hydrol. 569, 506–518. , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.12.019.
Nosrati, K., Mohammadi-Raigani, Z., Haddadchi, A., Collins, A.L. (2021c). Elucidating intra-storm variations in suspended sediment sources using a Bayesian fingerprinting approach. J. Hydrol. 596, 126115.
Raymo, M.E., Ruddiman, W.F. (1992). Tectonic forcing of late Cenozoic climate. Nature 359, 117–122.
Price, J.R., Velbel, M.A. (2003). Chemical weathering indices applied t weatherin profiles developed on heterogeneous felsic metamorphic parent rocks. Chem. Geol. 202 (3), 397–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126115.
Ranjbar Jafarabadi, A., Riyahi Bakhtiyari, A., Shadmehri Toosi, A., Jadot, C. (2017). Spatial distribution, ecological and health risk assessment of heavy metals in marine surface sediments and coastal seawaters of fringing coral reefs of the Persian Gulf, Iran. Chemosphere 185, 1090–1111.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.07.110
Ruxton, B.P. (1968). Measures of the degree of chemical weathering of rocks. J. Geol. 76 (5), 518–527.
Sherriff, S.C. Rowan, J.S., Fenton, O., Jordan, P., (2018). Sediment fingerprinting as a tool to identify temporal and spatial variability of sediment sources and transport pathways in agricultural catchments. Agr Ecosyst Environ 267, 188–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2018.08.023.
Sobhani, B. 2001. Comparison of two modified FAO and Psiak methods to calculate erosion and sedimentation using geographic information system, Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, 8( 4):15-28.(In Persian)
Walling, D.E. (2005). Tracing suspended sediment sources in catchments and river systems. Sci. Total Environ. 344: 159–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.02.011.
Walling, D. E., Golosov, V., & Olley, J. (2013). Tracer Applications in Sediment Research, Melbourne, Australia, July 2011. Hydrological Processes, 27(6): 775-974. 10.1002/hyp.9701
Zhang, Y., Chu, C., Li, T., Xu, S., Liu, L., Ju, M. (2017). A water qualitymanagement strategy for regionally protected water through health risk assessment and spatial distribution of heavy metal pollution in 3 marine reserves. Sci. Total Environ. 599–600: 721–731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.232.
Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research
Volume 56, Issue 1
April 2025
Pages 1-16

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics