IDENTIFICATION AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF KOTRAL CAVES, SARDASHT, NORTH WEST OF IRAN

  • SAEED KHEZRI Dept. of Geomorphology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj-Iran
  • PARISA MOLOUDI Dept. of Geomorphology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj-Iran
Keywords: Kotral caves, Geomorphology, Water pollution, Natural hazards, Sardasht.

Abstract

Kotral caves are the natural caves in Sardasht and Piranshahr area. These caves are located in the direction of the bottom line of a high valley in Ghandil Mountain and have two separate parts. The upstream cave is actually a blind valley with a river that led to the formation of the cave. The downstream cave is located in the thalweg line of the valley and has an icy tongue. The distance between these two caves is less than one hundred meters. The above caves are located in the northwest of Sardasht, at a distance of 30 km from Mirabad city. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the geomorphological characteristics of Kotral caves. In this research, documentary method along with field studies, mapping and cartography, sampling and laboratory methods have been used to collect and analyze the relevant data. In addition, various soft wares have been used in the analysis part of the research. The characteristics and morphology of the Kotral caves were also scientifically interpreted and the pollution sources of running water in both surface and underground of was investigated and the parameters and chemical elements of the water and ice samples were analyzed. After examining the concentration of chemical elements, the results of the samples were compared with the standard table of global drinking water health. Through laboratory analysis of the samples, it was found that the amount of arsenic and lead in the measuring stations is high and the water is not drinkable. However, the concentration of other elements in the collected samples, compared to the world standard table of drinking water, has shown the normal limit in the two seasons of the year

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

REFERENCES
Bogli A. (1980). Karst hydrology and physical speleology. New York: Sprinser verlag.
Gillison D. (1996).Caves: Processes. Development, Management, Blackwell publishers.
Khezri S. (2006). Explaining and analyzing of hydro morphological characteristics of the Zab river basin by GIS. PHD thesis, Iran: Tabriz University.
Khezri S. (2000). Physical geography of Mokriyan Kurdistan. 1st print, Iran: Naghoos press.
Martinez-Lopez, J., Rey, J., Duenas, J., Hidalgo, C., & Benavente, J. (2013). Electrical tomography applied to the detection of subsurface cavities. Journal of cave & karst Studies, 75(1).
Ólafsdóttir, R., & Tverijonaite, E. (2018). Geotourism: a systematic literature review. Geosciences, 8(7), 234.
Ríos-Reyes, C. A., Manco-Jaraba, D. C., & Castellanos-Alarcón, O. M. (2018). Geotourism in caves of Colombia as a novel strategy for the protection of natural and cultural heritage associated to underground ecosystems. Biodiversity Int J, 2(5), 464-474.
Valente, E., Santo, A., Guida, D., & Santangelo, N. (2020). Geo tourism in the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni UNESCO Global Geopark (Southern Italy): The Middle Bussento Karst System. Resources, 9(5), 52.
White W. B. (1988). Geomorphology and hydrology of Karst Terrains. Oxford University press.
N. G. O. (1997). Topography maps. 1/50000 scale of Sardasht, Mirabad, and Rabat & Sartkeh, Iran: National Geography Organization press.
National Geology Organization. (2001). Geology maps. 1/250000 scale of Mahabad & 1/100000 scale of Sardasht & Alowt, Iran: National Geology press.
Published
2022-07-07
How to Cite
KHEZRI , S., & MOLOUDI, P. (2022). IDENTIFICATION AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF KOTRAL CAVES, SARDASHT, NORTH WEST OF IRAN. Journal of Duhok University, 25(1), 405-410. https://doi.org/10.26682/hjuod.2022.25.1.23
Section
Humanities and Social Sciences