ABSTRACT
Karst areas are important in providing water resources, so that about 27
percent of the world population is using karst water resources. Palangan zone
is located in the northwest of Iran and in Zagroos zone. According to the
particular geological conditions, suitable climatic conditions, existing
network of faults and fissures, this area is changed to a karst area. Due to
the importance of this region in providing water, observing and studying that
seems necessary. The present study is based on the field, tools and library
methods. In present study, to observe the factors of expanding Karst in
Palangan zone, 8 lithology factors such as: faults, slope, slope direction,
elevation, river, vegetation cover and climate have been used. The method is as
following: after providing the data layers, the coefficients and determination
value by using ANP, in overlap GIS, unification and also providing fuzzy Logic
with the help of fuzzy map are done. At the end, the studied region is divided
in to four sections regarding the development. The gained results indicated:
the southern and the western studied sections are having the highest expansion according
to the fact that formed in pillar-less formation and also due to the existence
of fault network and various seams and very humid climatic conditions, but the
northern and the eastern sections are having the lowest development, due to
unavailability of limestone formations, southern direction, the unavailability
of seams and fractures and also semi-humid climate conditions.