Channel Adjustments in Iranian Rivers: A Review

Channel adjustments in Iranian rivers have been intense over the last decades due to natural and human factors. Iran has six major basins, all with different climates, from very humid to very arid. This work is a review of the available studies and data about channel adjustments in Iranian rivers, a...

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Main Authors: Somaiyeh Khaleghi, Nicola Surian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-03-01
Series:Water
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/4/672
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spelling doaj-29afacbd8f6a4d518ffd1a226b5ebb922020-11-24T21:44:34ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412019-03-0111467210.3390/w11040672w11040672Channel Adjustments in Iranian Rivers: A ReviewSomaiyeh Khaleghi0Nicola Surian1Department of Physical Geography, School of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 1983969411, IranDepartment of Geosciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, ItalyChannel adjustments in Iranian rivers have been intense over the last decades due to natural and human factors. Iran has six major basins, all with different climates, from very humid to very arid. This work is a review of the available studies and data about channel adjustments in Iranian rivers, and aims to reconstruct a first outline, at a national scale, of types, magnitude, and causes of adjustments. The results show that most of the rivers have undergone incision (1 to 2 m and, in some cases, up to 6 to 7 m) and narrowing (from 19% to 73%), although widening (from 22% to 349%) has occurred in some rivers. Narrowing is due to dams and sediment mining; widening is due to climate change and sediment mining. Incision is due to gravel and sand mining, dams, channelization, with in-channel mining being the main cause of incision. Channel adjustments have occurred in basins with different climates, but it seems that widening has been more intense in arid and semi-arid climates. Such adjustments have several negative effects (e.g., damage to bridges, degradation of river ecosystems, and instability of banks). The comparison between Iran and other countries shows that narrowing and incision have been the dominant processes in most of the rivers, while damming and in-channel mining have been used as the main controlling factors. Data about adjustments in Iranian rivers are neither homogeneous nor complete for all the rivers. This lack of completeness implies that our understanding of channel changes, and their causes, should be improved by further investigation.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/4/672channel adjustmentsincisionnarrowinghuman interventionsIranian rivers
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Somaiyeh Khaleghi
Nicola Surian
spellingShingle Somaiyeh Khaleghi
Nicola Surian
Channel Adjustments in Iranian Rivers: A Review
Water
channel adjustments
incision
narrowing
human interventions
Iranian rivers
author_facet Somaiyeh Khaleghi
Nicola Surian
author_sort Somaiyeh Khaleghi
title Channel Adjustments in Iranian Rivers: A Review
title_short Channel Adjustments in Iranian Rivers: A Review
title_full Channel Adjustments in Iranian Rivers: A Review
title_fullStr Channel Adjustments in Iranian Rivers: A Review
title_full_unstemmed Channel Adjustments in Iranian Rivers: A Review
title_sort channel adjustments in iranian rivers: a review
publisher MDPI AG
series Water
issn 2073-4441
publishDate 2019-03-01
description Channel adjustments in Iranian rivers have been intense over the last decades due to natural and human factors. Iran has six major basins, all with different climates, from very humid to very arid. This work is a review of the available studies and data about channel adjustments in Iranian rivers, and aims to reconstruct a first outline, at a national scale, of types, magnitude, and causes of adjustments. The results show that most of the rivers have undergone incision (1 to 2 m and, in some cases, up to 6 to 7 m) and narrowing (from 19% to 73%), although widening (from 22% to 349%) has occurred in some rivers. Narrowing is due to dams and sediment mining; widening is due to climate change and sediment mining. Incision is due to gravel and sand mining, dams, channelization, with in-channel mining being the main cause of incision. Channel adjustments have occurred in basins with different climates, but it seems that widening has been more intense in arid and semi-arid climates. Such adjustments have several negative effects (e.g., damage to bridges, degradation of river ecosystems, and instability of banks). The comparison between Iran and other countries shows that narrowing and incision have been the dominant processes in most of the rivers, while damming and in-channel mining have been used as the main controlling factors. Data about adjustments in Iranian rivers are neither homogeneous nor complete for all the rivers. This lack of completeness implies that our understanding of channel changes, and their causes, should be improved by further investigation.
topic channel adjustments
incision
narrowing
human interventions
Iranian rivers
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/4/672
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AT nicolasurian channeladjustmentsiniranianriversareview
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