JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

One of the management practices to reduce the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers and to protect soil and water resources is applying a combination of organic and chemical fertilizers that can better than using them separately. Therefore, in order to understand and identify the effectiveness of this management practice, it is necessary to examine runoff and sediment production. This study was carried out in an agricultural sloping land located in the North of Iran, near Sari city. For this purpose, runoff measurement plots of 1 × 5 m were set up under natural rainfall based on a randomized block experimental design. Soil samples were measured at 0-10 and 10-20 cm depths. In this study, parameters such as runoff (volume, nitrate content, sediment yields), soil physical features (porosity and infiltration coefficient), and soil chemical properties (EC, OC, N, CEC, pH) were measured. The results showed that among soil chemical and physical properties, just N, EC and pH significantly influenced the Municipal Solid Waste Compost. A PCA was carried out, showing that these treatments explained 74.35% of the total variance of the results. Accordingly, it could be stated that using soil and water conservation management practices can rapidly significantly improve the soil properties in the sloping lands.

A well healthy environment can quietly affect the life quality and human community. In recent decades the need for and utilizing fossil had increased and thus the environmental pollutions including for soil has also increased. Petroleum contaminated soils are not suitable for agricultural, residential and social usage and cause economical, ecological and agricultural damage. To cope with this challenge, the use of additives such as carbon nanotubes has expanded to soil, but the use of these elements has raised concerns about their risk to biological processes and systems, such as effects on physiology and plant growth, and there have not been much studies on this issue. In order to investigate the interaction of soil petroleum pollution and carbon nanotubes on some plant characteristics such as wet mass, dry matter and plant length, seed and maize seedling were separately treated with 0, 10, 20 and 40 mg/l carbon nanotubes at the beginning. In pots containing soil with three levels of petroleum pollution, 2.43, 2.76 and 4.16% were cultivated with 3 replications. A completely randomized design was used in the form of factorial experiments. Wet mass, dry matter and length of shoot and root of plants were determined. The results showed that petroleum pollution had a negative effect on the growth characteristics. It was also observed that application of carbon nanotubes to maize (whether seed or seedling) depending on the concentration of these materials, could have different effects on plant growth parameters.

Limited information is available on the effect of residues rates and slope direction on dryland wheat
(Triticum aestivum L.) yield.  This study was carried out to determine the effects of residues rates and tillage direction on grain yield and yield components of the Sardary wheat in a dryland region in Zanjan. Five wheat residues rates (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% surface cover) were applied and incorporated into soil in two slope directions (along the slope and on contour lines) using the randomized complete blocks design with three replications in a land with 10% slope steepness. Overall, thirty plots with 2m × 5 m dimensions were installed in the field and wheat grain yield and yield components were determined for growth period from 2015-2016. Results indicated that grain yield and yield components were significantly affected by the residues rates and slope direction and their interaction. In contour tilled plots, wheat grain yield (1.78 to per hectare), thousand grain weight (42.26 kg) and wheat height (55.11 cm) were 5.32, 5.01, 16.19 and 1.36 percent more than the plots tilled along the slope. The highest grain yield was found in 75% of residue (2.45 ton per hectare) under contour line direction which was about 53% bigger than control treatment (0% straw mulch) under along the slope. This study indicated that the application of straw mulch before cultivation and incorporating into soil using contour line tillage are proper soil management methods to obtain higher wheat yield in this dryland region.

In this research, by using FLOW3D, the performance of non-linear (arced) piano key (PKW-NL) in plan and linear piano key weir (PKW-L), with equal length of weir, was compared. Results showed that nonlinearity of the weir caused 20% increase in the discharge coefficient. Investigating the velocity contours for these two weir models also showed that maximum velocity within the PKW-NL weir structure is about 30% lower than the PKW-L weir. Also, the performance of non-linear piano key weir was evaluated under inward (PKW-IC) and outward (PKW-OC) curvatures to the channel. Results showed that in the case of PKW-IC weir, the discharge coefficient was increased by 8% as compared to the PKW-OC weir. Investigating the pressure contours for these two weir models also shows that the average pressure within the PKW-IC weir structure is about 5% higher than the PKW-OC weir. This increase in pressure leads to a decrease in the speed and better distribution of flow over the weir keys.

In arid and semi-arid ecosystems, isolated trees significantly influence the soil properties and can have a great impact on the soil fertility as well as the conservation and improvement of soil quality. This investigation was conducted to examine the influence of wild almond (Amygdalus arabica Olive.) trees having different ages on the physical and chemical soil properties. Soil samples were taken from the depths of 0-20, 40-60, 80-100 and 120-140 cm at two distances from the tree crown including the basal area (referred to as the rhizosphere) and the canopy edge in 3 replications for the 30, 50, and 130 year-old stands and also, in a control site, all in the Anjarak area, southeast of Baft city, Kerman Province. Soil properties including pH, EC, organic matter, calcium carbonate equivalent, available and non-exchangeable potassium and soil texture were measured in all samples. The results indicated that the measured soil properties in different depths in the study area had been influenced by the age and the canopy size of the wild almond trees. The highest and the lowest amount of pH were found in the control soil and the soils covered by 130 year-old trees, respectively. Besides, the electrical conductivity of the soil under the tree crown was more than that of the soil in the canopy edge. The accumulation of C, N, and other nutrients under the tree canopies resulted in the creation of fertility islands surrounding the trees. Furthermore, the soil physical and chemical properties were greatly improved with the increase in the tree age of Amygdalus arabica Olive. As the conclusion, wild almond trees could have very positive effects on soil properties. Therefore, it is essential to protect the trees. Otherwise, the risk of soil quality reduction would be increased and soils might become more susceptible to soil erosion.

In the future, the risk of land subsidence due to water resources shortage crisis and improper water resources management will become more and more dangerous. It is necessary to assess and identify areas susceptible to subsidence risk and take necessary actions to reduce risks related to land subsidence. In this study, first, the risk of land subsidence was identified and evaluated using a radar interferometry method called LiCSBAS. Then, the spatial relationship between the occurrence of land subsidence hazard and effective factors such as ground elevation, slope, slope aspect, lithology, land use, groundwater decline, distance from rivers, distance from faults, topographic moisture index, and arc curvature was investigated using the random forest (RF) model. In the end, the land subsidence hazard sensitivity map was prepared after calibrating the random forest algorithm. The analysis of LiCSBAS interferometric time series data from 2015 to 2022 showed that the center of the Marvdasht-Kharameh plain and adjacent agricultural areas are continuously subsiding and the mean deformation rate map showed a subsidence rate of 11.6 centimeters per year. The results of determining the spatial relationship between subsidence occurrence and effective factors confirmed the positive impact of distance from rivers, urban and agricultural land uses, depth of bedrock (aquifer thickness), groundwater decline, and alluvial and fine-grained formations on this phenomenon. Also, the results of subsidence modeling using the random forest algorithm showed that factors such as bedrock depth, groundwater decline, land use, and geology have the greatest impact on the potential for subsidence occurrence in the study area. Also, based on the results, about 3 to 4 percent of the areas are in the very high and extremely high-risk classes of land subsidence, especially in the center and suburbs of Mervdasht. Therefore, water resources management and control and developing a systematic program to reduce subsidence risk and aquifer recharge conservation in Merudasht-Kharameh Plain is essential.