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A recent scenario of mass wasting and its impact on the transportation in Alborz Mountains, Iran using geo-information technology

سيناريو حديث لضعف الكتلة وأثره على وسائل النقل في جبال البرز، ايران باستخدام تكنولوجيا المعلومات الجغرافية

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Abstract

Mass movements or mass wasting is being considered as one of the severe forms of natural disasters. Iran is geographically located in the Alps–Himalaya seismicity belt. It has a high potential to mass wasting. This seismic phenomenon creates landslides and rock falls in the high mountains of Alborz and Zagros. These mass movements and various types of slides can be systematically assessed and mapped through traditional mapping frameworks using geo-information technologies. The geo-information-based technology offers the earth scientist to study and map various types of mass movement and stability of slopes. In this study, we used field data coupling with the tectonic-related factors to provide a solution for slope-related hazards. Firstly, various geological and geomorphological factors such as lineaments and faults, vegetation, lithology, slope, drainage, land use/land cover, seismicity and roads network were extracted and compiled using geo-information technology. This is because the factors mentioned above play important role in the instability of the region. Then, the study area was divided into four regions based on the rate of mass wasting and its degree of vulnerability. The results of this study showed that the erosion in Karaj formation is severe. Additionally, this research also reveals that the hydrothermal solutions caused by the erosional activities have influenced the glassy element of tuffs and subsequently changed into the clays. This change has caused the tuffs to be relatively unstable. Further, it is evident that the chemical and physical weathering has had a big impact on it whilst most of the mass wasting has occurred within the unstable tuffs of Karaj formation. Finally, the paper concluded that the recent construction of the new roads in the region has increased the potential danger for generating the mass wastes and thus makes the region more unstable.

الملخص

تعتبر تحركات الكتلة أو ضعف الكتلة واحدة من الأشكال الوخيمة للكوارث الطبيعية. تقع إيران فى الحزام الزلزالى لجبال الهيمالايا - الألب والذى يتميز بارتفاع قدرتها على إضعاف الكتلة. حدوث الزلازل تسبب إنزلاقات أرضية وتساقط الصخور فى جبال البرز وزاجروس المرتفعة. تحركات الكتلة والأنواع المختلفة من الإنزلاقات يمكن تقديرها ورسمها بشكل منتظم خلال إطارات التخريط التقليدية باستخدام تكنولوجيات المعلومات الجغرافية. تكنولوجيا المعلومات الجغرافية تتيح للعلماء دراسة ورسم الأنواع المختلفة لتحركات الكتلة واستقرار المنحدرات. استخدمنا فى هذه الدراسة البيانات الحقلية وعلاقتها بالعوامل التكتونية لتمدنا بحلول للمخاطر المرتبطة بالمنحدرات. فى البداية فإن مختلف العوامل الجيولوجية والجيومورفولوجية مثل الفوالق، والغطاء النباتي، وعلم الصخور والمنحدرات، والصرف، استخدام الأراضي/الغطاء الأرضي، والزلزالية، وشبكة الطرق تم استخراجها وتجميعها باستخدام تكنولوجيا المعلومات الجغرافية لأن هذه العوامل تلعب دورا هاما فى عدم استقرار المنطقة. بناءا على ذلك تم تقسيم المنطقة لأربعة أقاليم حسب درجة ضعف الصخور وقابليتها للانهيار. أوضحت نتائج هذه الدراسة التآكل الحاد لمتكون كرج. بالإضافة لأن البحث يبين أن المحاليل الحارة التى حدثت بأنشطة التآكل أثرت على العنصر الزجاجى فى الأحجار البركانية وتحولها إلى الطين. هذا التحول أدى لعدم ثبات الأحجار البركانية، شاهدا على أن التعرية الكيميائية والفيزيائية كان لها تأثير كبير عليها، بينما الجزء الغالب من ضعف الكتلة حدث فى الأحجار البركانية داخل متكون كرج. وفى النهاية نستنتج من هذه الدراسة أن الإنشاءات الحديثة للطرق الجديدة فى المنطقة زاد من الخطر المحتمل لتوليد ضعف الصخور، الأمر الذى يجعل المنطقة غير مستقرة أكثر.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is a part of Ph.D. thesis of Alireza Farrokhnia, Islamic Azad University/Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran. The authors are thankful to Dr. Khosro Tehrani head of the Geology Department of Islamic Azad University science and research branch. Thanks are due to Dr. Ali Sorbi the head of Department of Geology Islamic Azad University Karaj Branch and Mr. Saman Mozafari for their valuable feedback in this research. This article is greatly benefited from very helpful reviews by two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Tehran, Iran

    Alireza Farrokhnia & Mehrdad Arian

  2. Institute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia, Sendang, Malaysia

    Saied Pirasteh & Biswajeet Pradhan

  3. Institute for Cartography, Faculty of Forest, Geo and Hydrosciences, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

    Biswajeet Pradhan

  4. Department of Geology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

    Mohamad Pourkermani

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  1. Alireza Farrokhnia
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  2. Saied Pirasteh
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  3. Biswajeet Pradhan
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  4. Mohamad Pourkermani
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  5. Mehrdad Arian
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Correspondence to Biswajeet Pradhan.

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Farrokhnia, A., Pirasteh, S., Pradhan, B. et al. A recent scenario of mass wasting and its impact on the transportation in Alborz Mountains, Iran using geo-information technology. Arab J Geosci 4, 1337–1349 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-010-0238-7

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