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Geochemistry of quaternary sediments of Haji-Arab river catchment, Qazvin Plain, Northwestern Iran: provenance and source rock weathering

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Abstract

Quaternary sediments of the Haji Arab River catchment located in Qazvin Plain, northwestern Iran, were studied in terms of sedimentology and geochemistry to determine the sedimentary environment and rock weathering. Discrimination diagrams show that the source rock of these sediments is granite and their tectonic setting is the active continental margin. These rocks show a negative Eu anomaly and a high ratio of light rare earth elements to heavy rare earth elements, suggesting that these sediments are originated due to the weathering of felsic rocks. Regarding the descending trend of chemical index of weathering, chemical index of alteration values, and the increase in coarse-grained particles, it was concluded that the sediments from the depth of 6 to 2.6 m formed under arid and high-energy conditions; however, this trend for sediments from 2.6 m depth to surface changes slightly toward semi-humid up to semiarid climate. Hence, it can be stated that the conditions of sedimentation environments in the Haji Arab basin are not constant at least in the Upper Holocene (Schmidt et al. in Holocene, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683610385961) and this has led to changes in river sedimentation. These results indicate the changes in river regime conditions probably because of the changes in weather conditions during the Quaternary.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Archeology Department of Tehran University for accepting the proposal in order to study geology in the ancient area of Sagzabad and also for digging the boreholes. Also, they thank Dr Bahman Bohloli for review of earlier versions of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Sciences and Researches Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    M. Khakestari

  2. Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

    S. Feiznia

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Sciences and Researches Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    M. Aleali

  4. Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    M. Dehpahlavan

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  1. M. Khakestari
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Khakestari, M., Feiznia, S., Aleali, M. et al. Geochemistry of quaternary sediments of Haji-Arab river catchment, Qazvin Plain, Northwestern Iran: provenance and source rock weathering. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 2425–2442 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03342-x

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