Estimating the rate of salt dissolution of Iranian salt diapirs, the Konarsiah Diapir
Subject Areas :Keywords: Salt diapir salt dissolution rate remediation methods,
Abstract :
There are more than 100 exposed salt diapirs in southern Iran. These salt diapirs are of the most probable sources of salinity in this area and deteriorate the quality of surface and groundwater resources in many cases. About 90 Km south of Shiraz, the Konarsiah salt diapir influences the adjacent aquifers and its brine discharges into the Firouzabad River. In order to estimate the Rate of Konarsiah salt dissolution, total dissolve solid, the concentration of major ions including sodium and chloride were measured in 17 springs, 2 boreholes, 5 exploitation wells and 8 surface water sampling monthly for a period of a hydrological year. In addition, discharge and the concentration of sodium and chloride were measured every two hours during a flood event in the studied year. Using these data, the total mass of salt dissolved from the Konarsiah salt diapir was calculated equal to 146539 tons during the studied year. The main part of this salt, 143269 tons is being dissolved as base flow during the year while the remaining 3272 tons (about 2 percent) dissolves during flood conditions. The rate of total salt dissolved is equal to 1.8 mma-1, which is different from those reported by other researchers. The reasons for these differences are discussed here. Finally, a few remediation methods are proposed to decrease the influence of the Konarsiah salt diapir on the adjacent aquifers and surface water.