Determination of the potential of mountainous sand and gravel mines, using GIS and geomorphologic models integration, case study: Ferdows and Ghaen Basins

River bed materials are of great importance in construction works as one of the most valuable resources due to their economical costs and ease of extraction. This has caused the rivers to be subjected to profound changes due to excessive, improper and non-standard harvesting by effective activities of human apart from their natural changes. Hence, replacement of river resources with other resources such as mountain mines can be considered as an essential way to protect the rivers. Considering the importance of this issue, the present study has evaluated the potential of sediment production and delivery in Qaen and Ferdows’ rivers sub-basins using a combination of GIS and geomorphological models. The results obtained from the studied basins indicated that the geomorphologic models are capable of identifying areas susceptible to sediment production. According to calculations performed by the geomorphologic model, the southern and south-western parts of Ferdows and northern parts of Qaen Basins in Southern Khorasan Province have good potential for harvesting. Moreover, sediment quality assessment showed that most of materials in these areas are coarse grains and therefore require far less processing.