Compensatory growth response of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum following short starvation periods

This sixty-day study was performed to determine the effects of short-term starvation and refeeding cycles on growth, feeding performances and body composition of rainbow trout(O ncorhynchus mykiss). Three hundred trout fingerlings with an average initial weight of 17.5±0.06 g were randomly distributed in 15 circular fiberglass tanks. The fish were exposed to 5 different feeding regimes; control: continuously fed twice daily to apparent satiation; T1 : starved for 1 day and re-fed for 2 days; T2 : starved for 1 day and re-fed for 4 days; T3 : starved for 3 days and re-fed for 12 days; T 4 : starved for 4 days and re-fed for 16 days. At the end of the experiment, growth performance, feed utilization, whole body ash and moisture contents were not significantly(P 0.05) different among the treatments. However, whole body protein content in T3 was significantly higher than other treatments(P 0.05). A significant difference in whole body fat content was observed between T3 and the control group at the end of the experiment(P 0.05). In conclusion this experiment suggests that feeding schedules involving starvation(1–4 days) and re-feeding cycles are a promising feed management tool for rainbow trout culture.     

Earth surface deformation analysis of 2005 Qeshm earthquake based on three-dimensional displacement field derived from radar imagery measurements

We derived the 3D vector displacement field due to the 5.9 Mw Qeshm island (Iran) earthquake using ascending and descending interferograms and azimuth offsets obtained from ENVISAT ASAR data. The pick-to-pick estimated displacement was 10 cm in west, 69 cm in south and 22 cm in vertical directions. We then used strain analysis to study coseismic surface deformation of the earthquake. Finite differences and finite element as two numerical solutions were applied in order to compute the strain tensors. Furthermore, dilation and shear parameters were derived using the strain tensors. Finite differences results showed the maximum expansion of 0.002 and maximum contraction of 0.003. The amounts of maximum shear in xy, xz and yz planes were estimated using finite differences method as 0.05, 0.1 and 0.049, respectively. The maximum expansion and contraction were computed as 0.006 and 0.005, respectively, using finite element approach. Moreover, the maximum shear in xy, xz and yz planes obtained by finite element method was 0.2, 0.4 and 0.19, respectively.     

Evaluating the effect of ocean-atmospheric indices on drought in Iran

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - This study investigated the relationship between ocean-atmospheric indices and drought in Iran. Using > 30-year precipitation data from 37...     

Petrochemical Characteristics and Timing of Middle Eocene Granitic Magmatism in Kooh-Shah, Lut Block, Eastern Iran

The Kooh-Shah region located in a Tertiary volcanic-plutonic belt of the Lut Block in eastern Iran comprises several subvolcanic intermediate to acidic intrusive rocks, diorite to syenite in composition, which have intruded into volcanic rocks. The Kooh-Shah granitoid rocks are characterized by enrichment in large ion-lithophile elements (LILE: e.g. Sr, Ba, Rb) and depletion in high field-strength elements (HFSE: e.g. Nb, Ta, Ti). The chondrite-normalized REE patterns are characterized by moderate LREE enrichment (La/Yb)N=6.01-10.01, medium-heavy REE enrichment, and absence of Eu anomalies. The Kooh-Shah intrusive rocks are metaluminous, shoshonitic with calc-alkaline affinity and high values of magnetic susceptibility, and classified as the magnetite-series of oxidant I-type granitoids. The age of Kooh-Shah granitoid rocks based on zircon U-Pb age dating is 39.7±0.7 Ma (=Middle Eocene) and the ranges of their initial 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd ratios are from 0.704812 to 0.704920 and 0.512579 to 0.512644, respectively, when recalculated to an age of 39 Ma. The initial ?Nd isotope values for the Kooh-Shah intrusive rocks range from -0.18 to 1.09. This geochemical data indicates that the Kooh-Shah granitoid rocks formed from depleted mantle in an island arc setting. The geochemical signature of the studied granitoid rocks represents a characteristic guide for future exploration of copper-gold porphyry-type deposits in the Lut block.     

Zonation of coastal sediments based on the effective properties on the accumulation of heavy metals using the IDW and kriging method (case study: SW Iran)

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of some physicochemical properties of sediments on the accumulation of heavy metals in portions of the Musa creek coasts (Jafari and Petrochemical creeks). Effective properties such as pH, EC, texture, G_S, γ_d, n, CaCO₃ and OM were determined. All variables showed a normal distribution and general trends of NW–SE and NE–SW. After detrending the variables, ordinary kriging was used for modelling. The C₀/σ₂, C₀/σ_2, and search radius criteria were used to select the best semivariogram. All the variables displayed a spatial structure with different intensities. The IDW method was also used for estimation. The cross-validation showed that the results of both IDW and kriging methods are almost similar. Distribution of the sand particle, G_S, n and OM decreases with distance from the waterways, whilst clay–silt deposits. In the center of the studied area, CaCO₃ has the highest value and EC has the lowest value.     

Investigating the Promotion Possibility of No-Hunting Areas to the Protected Areas- a Case Study

Protected areas are established to conserve unique features and biodiversity of the nature. Accordingly, wherever has one of the natural, ecological and/or cultural values it should be considered a protected area. Kave-Deh No-hunting Area is located on extremely east of Tehran Province in an area of 94,961 ha. Due to rich and diverse land cover, distinctive wildlife species, and unique monuments the area was selected as a case study to examine the possibility of its promotion to the protected area using Spatial Multi Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) Method. For this purpose, the relevant criteria were identified by Delphi method. After finalization of the most important criteria by Delphi panelists, the map layers were prepared at the scale of 1:100000, in the environment of GIS Software. Afterwards, the map layers were divided into factors and constraints of which factors were standardized by S-shaped membership functions of fuzzy logic. The dimensionless factor maps were weighted using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) Method in the environment of Expert Choice Software. Subsequently, a mathematical equation was extracted to conduct the land suitability analysis. The Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) Method was applied to overlay the map layers and obtain the final ‘nature conservation’ land use map. The final land suitability map showed that 34,687 ha of whole study area (equal to 37 %) have the potentiality for promotion to the protected area.     

Application of Spectral Angle Mapper Classification to Discriminate Hydrothermal Alteration in Southwest Birjand,Iran, Using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Image Processing

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classification method for determining the optimum threshold (maximum spectral angle) to unveil the hydrothermal mineral assemblages related to mineral deposits. The study area indicates good potential for Cu-Au porphyry, epithermal gold deposits and hydrothermal alteration well developed in arid and semiarid climates, which makes this region significant for Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) image processing analysis. Given that achieving an acceptable mineral mapping requires knowing the alteration patterns, petrochemistry and petrogenesis of the igneous rocks while considering the effect of weathering, overprinting of supergene alteration, overprinting of hypogene alteration and host rock spectral mixing, SAM classification was implemented for argillic, sericitic, propylitic, alunitization, silicification and iron oxide zones of six previously known mineral deposits: Maherabad, a Cu-Au porphyry system; Sheikhabad, an upper part of Cu-Au porphyry system; Khoonik, an Intrusion related Au system; Barmazid, a low sulfidation epithermal system; Khopik, a Cu-Au porphyry system; and Hanish, an epithermal Au system. Thus, the investigation showed that although the whole alteration zones are affected by mixing, it is also possible to produce a favorable hydrothermal mineral map by such complementary data as petrology, petrochemistry and alteration patterns.     

Investigating the influence of soil conditions and surcharge mass on seismic responses of ground surface

Journal of Seismology - Earthquake is always known as a natural phenomenon with complex and unpredictable characteristics. One of the parameters which affects the ground motion properties is soil....     

Interaction between tachyon dark energy and modified Chaplygin gas

In the present work we assume that the universe is dominated with a two component mixture which do not evolve separately but interact non-gravitationally with one another. we consider the issue of the tachyon as a source of the dark energy and modified Chaplygin gas as background fluid. So we study the interacting between tachyon field and modified Chaplygin gas in different forms of interactions term Q in both flat and non-flat FRW universe. Then we reconstruct the potential and the dynamics of the tachyon field which describe tachyon cosmology. Also we find a equivalence potential for MCG in this model. Next we study two dark components respect to redshift and we find the conditions that are required for the stability of this model.     

Spatiotemporal shoreline change in Boushehr Province coasts,Iran

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - Since coastal areas have highly dynamic nature and are one of the most beneficial regions of civilizations, it is of great significance to understand their...