Investigation of the Relationship between Sediment Organic Carbon and Hydrogeomorphological Characteristics of the Watershed (Case Study: Ardabil Province)

Recognition of effective Parameters in sediment Production has an important role in understanding the phenomenon of erosion and its consequences and is one of the important principles of optimal management of a watershed. In the study of the relationship between watershed environmental and hydro geomorphological parameters with erosion and sediment, the quantity and amount of sediment has been considered so far, while in this research, has been studied the relationship between important climatic parameters including average annual rainfall, average annual temperature, altitude, slope, aspect and geological factor (formation) with sediment organic carbon as an important parameter and qualitative indicator in some of the Ardabil province watersheds. 98 samples of sediment after collecting from the study area, were analyzed in the laboratory by Walkley - Black method to extract the amount of organic carbon, then performed statistical analyze on samples using stepwise regression and partial least squares regression (PLSR) models. Findings showed that among the hydrogeomorphological parameters, slope and formation with regression coefficients of - 0.293 and -0.078, respectively, were identified as factors affecting the sediment organic carbon, so that both parameters have an inverse correlation with the sediment organic carbon and aspect parameter is more effective than the formation and output of both regression models is almost the same. Therefore, sediment organic carbon, in addition to the quantity and amount of sediments, can be considered as an important indicator for studying the degradation processes, watershed erosion and loss of soil organic carbon.