Geopedology Reports Historical Changes in Climate and Agroecology: A Case Study from Northwestern Iran

Author
ITC, Enschede, The Netherland
Abstract
Global warming is claimed to be the cause of climate change, which is often held responsible for water shortage. Let geopedology represents the complex process of soil formation, out of which much can be learnt about paleoecology; soil formation being a dynamic interaction between the atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and the hydrosphere. In a multidisciplinary sustainability-oriented study in northwestern Iran, geopedologic data were analyzed and cross-referenced with some historic and archaeological information to reconstruct paleoecologic conditions in several time periods, through which the changes both in climate since upper Pleistocene, and in landuse and their consequences in terms of land degradation could be concluded. The occurrence of a (sub-) surface layer of travertine, dated 27,000 y BP that is coated by a thin organic layer with traces of rancienite (mineral), dated 13,000 y BP, implies a humid environment, corresponding with the pluvial uppermost Würm. The geopedologic survey, supported by soil micromorphology, revealed that between 6,000 and 2,600 years ago the area was subject to cycles of erosion and sedimentation that have led to glacis formation. A type of climate that is characterized by the alternation of wet and dry periods is also supported by the occurrence of Petrocalcic and Argillic horizons in the soils. Cultivating rice, tobacco and cotton, which was practiced until over a century ago, also implies relatively wetter conditions. The study concludes that aridification has never been as degrading as it is today, due to the over-exploiting of the non-renewable fossil groundwater.
Keywords

Bullock, P., Federoff, N. Jongerius, A. Stoops. G. and Tursina, T. Handbook for Soil Thin Section Description. Waine Research Publication, Wolverhampton, UK. 1985; 152P.
Buol, S.W., Hole, F.D. and McCracken, R.J. Soil genesis and classification. The Iowa State University Press, Ames., 1973; 494P.
Cullen, H.M., deMenocal, P.B.,Hemming, S., Hemming, G., Brown, F.H., Guilderson, T. and Sirocko, F.Climate change and the collapse of the Akkadian empire: Evidence from the deep sea. Geological Society of America. Geology.2000; 28(4): 379-382.
Del Giudice, M. A glorious past inspires a conflicted nation; Persia, an ancient soul of Iran. National Geographic (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. COM/ MAGAZINE), the August volume. 2008. (http://ngm. nationalgeographic.com/print/2008/08/iran-archaeology/del-giudice-text).
Djamab. Various reports on a general study of water resources at the national level. Published by the Ministry of Power of Iran, Tehran, Iran. 1990. (In Persian)
FAO. Guidelines for Soil Profile Description. Soil Resources, Management and Conservation Service, Land and Water Development Division. Rome. 1990; 70P.
Farshad, A. Analysis of Integrated Soil and Water Management Practices within different Agricultural Systems under Semi-Arid Conditions of Iran and Evaluation of their Sustainability. ITC publication No. 57. 1997; 395P.
Farshad, A. Reconstruction of the evolution of the past agrarian landscape as clue to assessing sustainability: A case study of Iran. In: Dick van der Zee and Isaak S. Zonneveld. Landscape Ecology Applied in Land Evaluation, Development and Conservation. ITC publication number 81 and IALE publication MM-1. 2001; 412P.
Farshad, A. and Zinck, J.A. Traditional irrigation water harvesting and management in semiarid western Iran: A Case study of the Hamadan region. Water Int., 1998; 23: 146-154.
Farshad, A. Zinck, J.A. and Stoops, G. Computer assisted image analysis to assess soil structure degradation: A case study of Iran. A paper presented at Geoinformatics: Beyond 2000, March 9-11, in Dhradun, India. Final Proceedings. 1999; 221-229.
Farshad, A. and Zinck, J.A. Assessing Agricultural Sustainability using the six-pillar model: Iran as a case study. Chapter 9 in: Stephen R. Gliessman. Agroecosystem Sustainability, Developing Practical Strategies. CRC Press, 2001; 137-151.
Farshad, A. and Barrera-Bassols, N. Historical anthropogenic land degradation related to agricultural systems: Case studies from Iran and Mexico. Geografiska Annaler. 2003; 85A (3-4): 277-286.
Farzaneh, A. Alvand, A research on Zagros Mountain peaks using Satellite images (including DVD, a multimedia product). Printed by: www.ShayanGostar.ir. 2011.
Jalali, M. Chemical characteristics of groundwater in parts of mountainous region, Alvand, Hamadan, Iran. Environmental Geology. 2006; 51(3): 433-446.
Jenny, H. Factors of soil formation. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York. 1944: 281P.
Karami, E. and Hayati, D. Rural poverty and sustainability: The case of groundwater depletion in Iran. Environmental Science and Resources Conservation and Recycling. 2005; 2(2): 51-61.          
Kiani, M.Y. (ed.). Iranian cities Vol. 3. Djahad-e-Sazandegi, Tehran, Iran. 1989. (In Persian),
Krinsley, D.B. A geomorphological and paleoclimatological study of the playas of Iran. Part II. Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, washington, D.C. 1970; 486P.
Mohr, E.C.J., Van Baren, F.A. and J. van Schuylenborgh. Tropical soils, A comprehensive study of their genesis. Third and revised enlarged edition. Mouton - Ichtiar Baru-Van Hoeve, The Hague, Paris. 1972; 481P.
Stuiver, M. The software in use in the Centre for Isotope Research, Groningen (C.I.O.), for radiocarbon age calibration. Groningen University, Groningen, The Netherlands. 1993.
Terradaily, News about Planet Earth: Stockholm, Sweden (SPX). 2006. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/A_Third_of_The_World_Population_Faces_Water_Scarcity_Today_999.html
University of Tehran, Institute of Geography. Historical Atlas of Iran. Tehran University Press, Tehran, Iran. 1971.
USDA. Soil Taxonomy. Handbook No. 436. 1975; 754P.
USDA. Soil Survey Manual. Handbook No. 18. 1993; 437P.
 USDA. Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 8th edition, U.S. Governmental Printing Office, Washington, D.C. USA. 1998; 330P.
Van der Plicht, J. and Mook, W.G. Calibration of radiocarbon ages by computer. Radiocarbon.1989; 31(3): 805-816.
Van Wambeke, A. Hastings, P. and Tolomeo, M. Newhall Simulation Model. A BASIC Programme for the IBM PC. Dept. of Agronomy Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. 1986.