Lake Urmia: A Hypersaline Waterbody in a Drying Climate (The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, 123)

This book provides a holistic review of the environmental status of Lake Urmia in terms of its hydrodynamic, chemical, and ecological properties. Lake Urmia is a shallow landlocked hypersaline water body located in the northwest part of Iran, and it is known as one of the largest continental salt lakes in the world. Divided into 16 chapters, the book gathers leading experts from various scientific disciplines, and it covers past and current characteristics of the lake and traces projections on how the water quantity, quality, chemical, and ecological state of Lake Urmia Basin can develop in the future. The book outcomes are based on the analyses of the data of observations and unique models that were elaborated for the Lake Urmia system development studies. Particular attention is given to the basin drought in response to anthropogenic drivers and environmental pressures such as climate variability and climate change and their impact on the aquatic environment. The impact of water conveyance on Lake Urmia to improve the physical, chemical, and biological natural state is also discussed in this book, where an intensive and challenging observation plan in this harsh environment is combined with uniquely coupled and adopted hydrodynamical-biogeochemical models. Given its scope, the book offers an invaluable source of information for researchers, students, and environmental managers interested in the Lake Urmia environment. Series Preface Preface Contents Introduction: Lake Urmia - A Hypersaline Waterbody in a Drying Climate References Seasonal Variation of Evaporation from Hypersaline Basin of Lake Urmia 1 Introduction 2 Methodology 3 Study Area and Measurements 4 Seasonal Variation of Atmospheric and Oceanic Parameters 4.1 Temperature 4.2 Air Pressure 4.3 Wind 4.4 Humidity 4.5 Precipitation 4.6 Heat Fluxes 4.7 Elevation 4.8 Salinity 4.9 Evaporation 5 Discussion 6 Summary and Conclusions References Sediment Distribution Pattern in Lake Urmia 1 Introduction 2 Materials and Methods 2.1 Field Campaign 2.2 Laboratory Analysis 3 Result 3.1 Lithology and Magnetic Susceptibility 3.2 Geochemistry 3.2.1 Core UL03 3.2.2 Core UL08 4 Interpretation 5 Conclusion References The Vanishing of Urmia Lake: A Geolimnological Perspective on the Hydrological Imbalance of the World ́s Second Largest Hypersa... 1 Introduction 2 Study Area 3 Materials and Methods 3.1 Sediment Sampling 3.2 Sediment Analyses 3.2.1 Grain-Size Analysis 3.2.2 Sediment Microscopy 3.2.3 Major and Trace Element Analyses 3.2.4 Heavy Metals 3.2.5 Total Organic Matter 3.2.6 Calcimetry 3.3 Water Sampling and Analysis 4 Results 4.1 Grain-Size Distribution 4.2 Sedimentary Components 4.2.1 Authigenic Components Aragonite Micrite Fecal Pellets Carbonate Crusts Coated Grains Gypsum 4.2.2 Detrital Components Siliciclastics Carbonates 4.3 Sediment Geochemistry 4.3.1 Major Oxides and Trace Elements 4.3.2 Heavy Metals 4.3.3 Carbonate Content and Organic Matter 4.4 Modern Hydrogeochemistry of Urmia Lake 5 Discussion 6 Summary References Modelling Biogeochemical and Physicochemical Regime Changes During the Drying Period of Lake Urmia 1 Introduction 2 Model Description 2.1 Transport Model 2.2 Chemical Transformation 2.3 Boundary Conditions and Forcing 2.3.1 Model Setup 2.4 Code Availability 3 Results 4 Discussion 5 Conclusions References A Review of Tectonics and Seismotectonics of Urmia Lake, NW Iran 1 Introduction 2 Geological and Structural Situation of the Urmia Lake 2.1 Active Faulting Within the Northern Compartment of the Urmia Lake 2.2 Active Faulting Within the Western Compartment of the Urmia Lake 2.3 Active Faulting Within the Eastern Compartment of the Urmia Lake 2.4 Active Faulting Within the Southern Compartment of the Urmia Lake 3 Discussion and Conclusions References Local Changes in Meteorological Parameters Caused by Desiccation of the Lake Urmia 1 Introduction 2 Weather and Climate of the Study Area 2.1 Temperature 2.2 Wind Speed 2.3 Relative Humidity 2.4 Precipitation 3 Methodology 3.1 WRF-Lake Coupling Model 3.2 Setup for Model Simulations 4 Results 5 Summary and Conclusions References Analysis of the Long-Term Trend of Temperature, Precipitation, and Dominant Atmospheric Phenomena in Lake Urmia 1 Introduction 2 Data and Methodology 3 Results 3.1 Satellite Images 3.2 The Climate in the Lake Urmia Basin 3.3 Synoptic Pattern and Extreme Precipitations 3.4 Prevailing Meteorological Phenomena in the Lake Urmia Basin 3.5 Trends of Minimum and Maximum Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies 3.6 Trends in Meteorological Phenomena 4 Conclusion References Hydroclimate of the Lake Urmia Catchment Area: A Brief Overview 1 Introduction 2 Study Area 3 Materials and Methods 3.1 Hydroclimate Data 3.2 Land Surface Data 3.3 Time Series Analyses 4 Results 5 Discussion 6 Summary References Global and Regional Signals in the Water Level Variation in Hypersaline Basin of the Lake Urmia 1 Introduction 2 Materials and Methods 3 Results and Discussion 4 Concluding Remarks Appendix References Comparative Study of the Major Ion Composition in Eurasian Salt Lakes: Lake Urmia, Lake Issyk-Kul, Aral Sea, and Dead Sea 1 Introduction 2 Data, Methods, and Equipment 3 Results and Discussions 3.1 Ionic Compositions of the Lake ́s Samples Obtained in 2017 3.2 Density Determination in 2017 3.3 The Density and Salinity Ratios 4 Conclusion References Hydro-Meteorological Observations in Hypersaline Basin of Lake Urmia 1 Introduction 2 Observatories 2.1 Installation Area 2.2 Deep Water Platform 2.3 Shallow Water Platform 3 Sensors 3.1 Temperature Sensor 3.2 Current Sensor 3.3 Weather Station 3.4 Water Level Sensor 3.5 Salinity Sensor 3.6 Salt Trap 4 Digital Solution 5 Field Campaign 6 Results and Discussion 6.1 Salinity 6.2 Vertical Distribution of Salt 6.3 Density Meter 7 Concluding Remarks References Lake Urmia Brine Evolution from 2007 to 2019 1 Introduction 2 Characteristics of Lake Urmia 3 Methods 4 Result 5 Discussion 5.1 Surface Water Chemical Quality 5.2 Ground-Water Chemical Quality 5.3 Lake Urmia Brine Type 5.4 Lake Urmia Brine Evolution 6 Conclusion References Salt Load Impact on Lake Urmia Basin Volume 1 Introduction 2 Lake Urmia Water Level and Salt Load 3 Concluding Remarks References How Climate Change and Human Interaction Alter Chemical Regime in Salt Lakes, Case Study: Lake Urmia, Aral Sea, the Dead Sea, ... 1 Introduction 2 Data, Methods, and Equipment 3 Setting of Lake Urmia, Lake Issyk-Kul, the Aral Sea, and the Dead Sea 3.1 Lake Urmia 3.2 Aral Sea 3.3 Dead Sea 3.4 Lake Issyk Kul 4 Results 4.1 Lake Urmia Salt Composition Changes 4.2 Aral Sea Salt Composition Changes 4.2.1 The Large Aral Sea 4.2.2 The Small Aral Sea 4.3 Dead Sea Salt Composition Changes 4.4 Issyk-Kul Salt Composition 5 Discussion 5.1 Compare Evolution Changes of Major Ion Compositions of Salt Lakes Understudy 5.2 Comparative Analysis of the Present Chemical Composition of the Lakes Understudy 6 Conclusions References Modelling Physical and Chemical Processes of the Hypersaline Lake Urmia: Water Level Decline and Restoration by Water Conveyan... 1 Introduction 2 The Model 2.1 Salt Dynamics 2.2 Equation of State 2.3 Evaporation 2.4 Sensible Heat Flux and Solar Heating 2.5 Wetting-Drying Scheme 3 Model Setup 4 Simulation Results 1993-2016 5 Simulating Effects of Water Conveyance from the Caspian Sea 6 Discussion and Conclusion References Conclusions 1 Overview of Lake Urmia 2 Biogeochemical and Physicochemical Features of Lake Urmia 3 Hydroclimate and Hydrodynamic Features of Lake Urmia 4 Geological Features of Lake Urmia 5 Final Words About Lake Urmia