Low-cost seismic geophysical methods for the detection of karez

A case study on the Erbil Plain (Kurdistan Region of Iraq)

Bibliographic Data

ID7514705
AuthorsJordan Brown (0000-0002-1818-1503, University of California, Berkeley, corresponding author), Mehrnoush Soroush (0000-0002-9420-7824, University of Chicago), James W Rector (University of California, Berkeley), Aram Mohammed Amin Ahmed, Nisha Kumar (Harvard University Press), Parsa Kheirandish Zidehsaraei, Jason A Ur (Harvard University Press)
Year2026
Volume189
Pages106519
Publication date2026-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Archaeological Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-4403 • E-ISSN: 1095-9238
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.jas.2026.106519
OpenAlexW7134973588
LanguageEN
References cited33

Underground gravity-flow channels ( karez ; also qanat ) have been an important technology for accessing subterranean water resources and supplying the water needs of (esp. agricultural) communities throughout the Middle East and North Africa and elsewhere for many centuries, but in the past several decades have suffered the effects of groundwater mining and mechanized agriculture. Study and conservation of these hydraulic systems typically depends on the persistence of surface traces of the buried components (e.g., preserved maintenance shaft openings). These traces are easily erased by intensive agriculture, so that many of the regions where karez have been important but which are heavily cultivated today have a major barrier to detection, biasing archaeological research to karez landscapes under a narrow range of taphonomic conditions and limiting prospects for the revitalization of these hydraulic systems by local communities. We demonstrate here a user-friendly technique for geophysical survey using smartphone accelerometers to sense surface-wave energy from an active seismic source, enabling the efficient and low-cost detection of relatively deeply-buried (∼20 m) karez systems without surface traces. We discuss the application of this technique particularly to the rapid characterization and study of karez landscapes on the Erbil Plain in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Archaeomagnetic dating · Geophysical Imaging · Ground-Penetrating Radar · Seismic refraction · Seismic Tomography · earthquake and tectonic studies · Geophysical and Geoelectrical Methods · Seismic Waves and Analysis

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