Zoning of surface karst development in Fakhr Davood catchment (southern slope of Binalood)

Karst transformation process is a complex process and is affected by various variables. Due to the inherent sensitivity of the karst system, today in the planning related to karst areas, an attempt is made to study the rate of evolution and sensitivity of the karst within the framework of appropriate models. The southern slope of Binalood has an evolving karst due to the extent of calcareous formations, the presence of tectonic lines and climatic conditions. The main tools of this research are topographic, geological, soil type and land use maps along with meteorological data. In the present study, 9 environmental factors were examined as independent variables and karst forms as dependent variables. Closed holes were identified as the most developed karst landforms in the region and based on the characteristics of these landforms, each of the effective factors in the development of karst was assigned an expert weight. Then, using entropy model and GIS, zoning of surface karst development has been done. Finally, in Arc GIS10/4 environment, overlapping maps were prepared and standardization of factors and final correction was done with the help of entropy model and the final zoning map was prepared and the factors influencing the karst evolution of the region were identified. The purpose of this study is to identify areas prone to karst development, the result of which is to identify groundwater resources and karst springs. Among the nine factors, lithology, altitude, precipitation, distance from fault and temperature have the most effect, respectively, and factors such as soil type, land use, slope direction and slope have no effect