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Engineering geological and geoenvironmental evaluation of UNESCO World Heritage Site of Meymand rock-hewn village, Iran

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Abstract

Meymand, a historic 2000-year-old village, is an important heritage site in Iran that was included on the World Heritage List in 2015 by UNESCO. The village is located in a volcanic terrain, and its structures, such as houses, a mosque, a public bath, and a fire temple, have been carved in to the pyroclastic rocks of the Masahim volcano. In the present study, the engineering geological and geoenvironmental aspects of the Meymand village were investigated, including the geomorphology and landscape of the village, the technical classification of the pyroclastic rocks and their geomechanical properties, and the geoenvironmental characteristics and problems of the village. The engineering geological characteristics of the Meymand site were also compared with those of similar sites of the Cappadocia region in Turkey and the Kandovan village in Iran, which were widely studied by earlier researchers. The results of the present study indicated that the erosion of massive volcanic rocks free from systematic structural discontinuity has formed the unique landscape of the village, which is different from similar other sites. According to technical classification, the Meymand pyroclastic rock is a lithic tuff of a low degree of welding that has very weak strength and low durability. Accelerated weathering tests that artificially simulated the Meymand site conditions suggested that the Meymand tuff is prone to atmospheric conditions as its strength and deformability are drastically reduced when it becomes wet or saturated. Laboratory tests and field evidence show that the Meymand village is under threat of erosion due to natural and anthropogenic agents that gradually destroy the landscape and structures of this significant World Heritage Site. Therefore, conservation projects should be planned and applied that ensure the preservation of the village.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their appreciation to Mr. Davod Aliasl for his kind help with laboratory investigations and to Dr. Makizadeh for his assistance with optical microscopy studies. Special thanks are also offered to two anonymous reviewers for carefully reading the manuscript and their critical comments, which have significantly improved the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

    Morteza Hashemi

  2. Department of Engineering Geology, Abroft Pey Azhand Consulting Engineers, Tehran, Iran

    Amir Khabbazi Basmenj & Mehrdad Banikheir

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  1. Morteza Hashemi
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  2. Amir Khabbazi Basmenj
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  3. Mehrdad Banikheir
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Correspondence to Morteza Hashemi.

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Hashemi, M., Khabbazi Basmenj, A. & Banikheir, M. Engineering geological and geoenvironmental evaluation of UNESCO World Heritage Site of Meymand rock-hewn village, Iran. Environ Earth Sci 77, 3 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-7184-6

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