Lameck Azaria Stephano, Rotich Brian, Ahmed Abdalrahman, Kipkulei Harison K, Akos Peto, Boros Emil
Doctoral School of Environmental Science, The Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly u. 1, Gödöllő, 2100, Hungary.
Department of Earth Science, Mbeya University of Science and Technology, PO BOX 131, Mbeya, Tanzania.
Heliyon. 2025 Jan 3;11(2):e41691. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e41691. eCollection 2025 Jan 30.
This study employed Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems to explore the influence of environmental factors and human-induced land use/land cover changes on the chemistry of soda-saline lakes in Northern Tanzania. Satellite-based rainfall data were sourced from the Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) datasets, and temperature data were obtained from MERRA-2. Monthly precipitation, temperature, and drought conditions in lake watersheds were analyzed from 1981 to 2022, while land use and land cover changes were assessed for 2000, 2014, and 2023. Soil types were acquired from the FAO Digital Soil Map of the World, while geological characteristics were sourced from the US Geological Survey database. The findings revealed that the region's climate is ideal for enhancing evapotranspiration, leading to mineral precipitation, and altering the chemistry of soda-saline lakes. The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index revealed increased drought events in the lake basins since 1987, with prolonged drought occurrence between 2000 and 2017. The results also showed that the region is characterized by a variety of soil types, including ferric acrisols, chromic cambisols, calcic cambisols, entisols, inceptisols, eutric fluvisols, distric nitisols, humic nitisols, mollic andosols, ochric andosols, and pellic vertisols. Furthermore, the region is distinguished by diverse geological processes, from Precambrian-Cambrian to tertiary intrusive, triggered by volcanic and tectonic activity. Land use/land cover changes results indicated dynamics in the various classes with an overall decrease in areas under water bodies (-39.80 %), forests (-22.57 %) and bareland (-36.18) while agricultural land (111.01 %) built-up areas (434.72 %), shrubs and grasses (72.77 %) increased in area coverage over the 23 years study period (2000-2023). This study underscores the complex interplay between environmental variables and human activities in shaping the chemistry of soda-saline lakes.
本研究采用遥感和地理信息系统，以探究环境因素和人为引起的土地利用/土地覆盖变化对坦桑尼亚北部苏打盐湖化学性质的影响。基于卫星的降雨数据来自气候灾害组红外降水与地面站数据集（CHIRPS），温度数据则取自MERRA-2。对1981年至2022年湖泊流域的月降水量、温度和干旱状况进行了分析，同时评估了2000年、2014年和2023年的土地利用和土地覆盖变化。土壤类型取自粮农组织世界数字土壤图，地质特征则来自美国地质调查局数据库。研究结果表明，该地区的气候有利于增强蒸散作用，导致矿物质沉淀，并改变苏打盐湖的化学性质。标准化降水蒸散指数显示，自1987年以来湖泊流域干旱事件增加，2000年至2017年干旱持续时间延长。结果还表明，该地区有多种土壤类型，包括铁铝土、暗色始成土、石灰性始成土、新成土、雏形土、富铁土、强风化粘磐土、腐殖质强风化粘磐土、暗沃火山灰土、淡色火山灰土和粘质变性土。此外，该地区以多样的地质过程为特征，从寒武纪前寒武纪到第三纪侵入，由火山和构造活动引发。土地利用/土地覆盖变化结果表明，各类别存在动态变化，在23年的研究期（2000年至2023年）内，水体面积（-39.80%）、森林面积（-22.57%）和裸地面积（-36.18%）总体减少，而农业用地（111.01%）、建成区面积（434.72%）、灌木和草地面积（72.77%）有所增加。本研究强调了环境变量与人类活动在塑造苏打盐湖化学性质方面的复杂相互作用。
