Investigating aeolian deposits in Hamun Lake located in east of Iran during Holocene period

Lakes provide high-sensitivity and high-resolution documents and evidence, which are required for studying climatic changes and sedimentary environments at the global level. Furthermore, aeolian deposits in lacustrine environments, because of recording drought periods and dust storms, are valuable archives of paleoenvironmental conditions. In the present study, besides collecting the previous data, it was attempted to sample three intact sedimentary cores with the maximum depth of 7.3 m and total depth of above 20 m, from the sediments of the lakebed by auger. Sedimentary facies were separated based on their color, grain size; sedimentary composition, grain shape, and type of evaporate minerals. The existence of brown-colored coarse-grained pneumatic sand particles during the early to mid-Holocene period (8.2 ka BP) indicated the occurrence of intense storms in Sistan Basin. Sequence of the fine- and very fine-grained pneumatic sands at the depth of 2.5 m represented the presence of the winds similar to the current 120 day winds in Sistan plain. Moreover, in this study, two major drought periods (8.2 and 4.5 ka BP) were identified in Holocene sediments of the lakebeds of Hamun-e-Helmand and Hamun-e-Sabari, which indicated drying and expansion of the aeolian sediments on Hamun's lakebed.

Automated summary

This study investigates the importance of lakes as high-resolution documents for studying climatic changes and sedimentary environments globally. It identifies the valuable information provided by aeolian deposits in lacustrine environments, which serve as archives of paleoenvironmental conditions. The study collects sedimentary cores from lakebeds in order to analyze their composition, color, grain size, and evaporate minerals. It highlights the occurrence of intense storms and winds in the Sistan Basin during the Holocene period. Additionally, it identifies major drought periods in the Holocene sediments of two lakes, indicating the drying and expansion of aeolian sediments.