Journal of Range and Watershed Managment

Estimating uncertainty and sediment yield contribution of forest roads in Ziarat Drainage Basin, Gorgan Province using geochemical tracers Estimating uncertainty and sediment yield contribution of forest roads using geochemical tracers (case study: Ziarat drainage basin, Gorgan Province) Estimating uncertainty and sediment yield contribution of forest roads using geochemical tracers (case study: Ziarat drainage basin, Gorgan Province)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

kazem Nosrati 1
Saeedeh Jalali 2

1 Associate Professor, Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran.

2 MSc Graduate Student, Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jrwm.2016.61515
Abstract
Identifying sediment sources is one of important factors in selecting of appropriate method of erosion control and soil conservation. The main objective of this study is to estimateuncertainty and contribution of forest roads to sediment yield in Ziarat Drainage Basin, Gorgan city using geochemical tracers. For this purpose, 47 soil samples were collected from different sources with different land uses and 14 suspended sediment samples collected from basin outlet. In order to identify sources of basin sediment yield and determine individual contribution of each source, 11 geochemical tracers including OC (Organic Carbon), Sr, Ni, Na, K, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg, and Pb were measured in sediment and suspended-sediment samples. By comparing the tracers in the sediment sources and using statistical analyses of Kruskall-Wallis test and discriminant function analysis (DFA), three tracers of OC, Cu, and Fe were selected as optimum set of tracers in separating sediment sources. Eventually, using Bayesian model, land uses of agriculture, road construction and forest with 67.1(61.6-71.8), 31.4(27.1-35.9), and 1.2(0.1-5.1) percent, respectively were determined as the relative contribution from each source in sediment yield, and the highest uncertainty is related to the agricultural land use. The results of this study can be used to select the best appropriate method of erosion control in the study area and similar areas.

Keywords

Ziarat basin
Geochemical tracers
Bayesian Model
uncertainty
sediment tracing
Journal of Range and Watershed Managment
Volume 69, Issue 3
Autumn 2016
Pages 753-764

  • Receive Date 15 November 2014
  • Revise Date 09 May 2017
  • Accept Date 09 May 2017
  • Publish Date 21 November 2016

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