Karstic spring wetlands of the Persepolis Basin, southwest Iran: unique sediment archives of Holocene environmental change and human impacts

Karstic spring wetlands in the Persepolis Basin, southwest Iran, serve as unique sediment archives that record Holocene environmental changes and human impacts. These wetlands, characterized by their anastomosing structure and formation under specific geological conditions—such as karstic limestone aquifers, gentle slopes, and semiarid climate fluctuations—offer valuable insights into past environmental dynamics. The study highlights the significance of these ecosystems in collision-related basin-and-range settings dominated by karstic limestones. Additionally, the wetlands have played a crucial role in attracting human settlements, with archaeological materials embedded in their stratigraphy providing evidence of successive civilizations from the Elamites to early Islamic entities. However, many of these ecosystems have been lost due to recent intensive human activities.

Djamali, M., Gondet, S., Ashjari, J., Aubert, C., Brisset, E., Longerey, J., Marriner, N., Mashkour, M., Miller, N. F., Naderi-Beni, A., Pourkerman, M., Rashidian, E., Rigot, J.-B., Shidrang, S., Thiéry, A., & Gandouin, E. (2018). Karstic spring wetlands of the Persepolis Basin, southwest Iran: unique sediment archives of Holocene environmental change and human impacts. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 55(10), 1158–1172. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2018-0065