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Modeling relationships between catchment attributes and river water quality in southern catchments of the Caspian Sea

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Abstract

Increasing land utilization through diverse forms of human activities, such as agriculture, forestry, urban growth, and industrial development, has led to negative impacts on the water quality of rivers. To find out how catchment attributes, such as land use, hydrologic soil groups, and lithology, can affect water quality variables (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, Cl−, HCO −3 , pH, TDS, EC, SAR), a spatio-statistical approach was applied to 23 catchments in southern basins of the Caspian Sea. All input data layers (digital maps of land use, soil, and lithology) were prepared using geographic information system (GIS) and spatial analysis. Relationships between water quality variables and catchment attributes were then examined by Spearman rank correlation tests and multiple linear regression. Stepwise approach-based multiple linear regressions were developed to examine the relationship between catchment attributes and water quality variables. The areas (%) of marl, tuff, or diorite, as well as those of good-quality rangeland and bare land had negative effects on all water quality variables, while those of basalt, forest land cover were found to contribute to improved river water quality. Moreover, lithological variables showed the greatest most potential for predicting the mean concentration values of water quality variables, and noting that measure of EC and TDS have inversely associated with area (%) of urban land use.

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Acknowledgments

It is acknowledged the initial datasets in our study were supplied by WRMC, Forest, Ranges and Watershed Management Organization, Geological Survey of Iran, and Soil and Water Research Institute. Our special thanks to Drs. S. Feiznia and F. Sarmadian, as well as Mr. Hamid Barzegari, for their valuable assistance in lithological and soil type classifications. The authors wish to thank Dr. Jan Adamowski for English proofreading of the manuscript and the anonymous reviewer whose comments and views helped improve this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Tehran, 31587-77878, Iran

    Mohammad Hasani Sangani, Bahman Jabbarian Amiri, Afshin Alizadeh Shabani, Yousef Sakieh & Sohrab Ashrafi

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  1. Mohammad Hasani Sangani
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  2. Bahman Jabbarian Amiri
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  3. Afshin Alizadeh Shabani
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  4. Yousef Sakieh
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  5. Sohrab Ashrafi
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Correspondence to Bahman Jabbarian Amiri.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Hasani Sangani, M., Jabbarian Amiri, B., Alizadeh Shabani, A. et al. Modeling relationships between catchment attributes and river water quality in southern catchments of the Caspian Sea. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 4985–5002 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3727-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3727-5

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