A three-dimensional drift pushover method for unsymmetrical plan buildings

The drift pushover analysis method for tall and regular buildings is extended in this paper to the third dimension. The focus of study is on the structures with important torsional response. For this purpose, 10, 15, 20 and 30-story steel moment frame buildings having unsymmetrical plans with 5–30% eccentricity ratios are studied. For evaluation of accuracy, nonlinear dynamic response of the buildings is determined under a consistent suit of earthquake ground motions. The maxima of the story drifts and shears and cumulative plastic hinge rotations of stories are calculated under the ground motions and their averages along with those of the modal pushover procedure are compared with the results of the presented method. The comparative analysis establishes the good accuracy of the three dimensional drift pushover method.     

Algal community and pollution indicators for the assessment of water quality of Ismailia canal,Egypt

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment - The phytoplankton community structure is affected by both ecological and spatial factors. Influences of these two factors on phytoplankton...     

Multi scenario seismic hazard assessment for Egypt

Egypt is located in the northeastern corner of Africa within a sensitive seismotectonic location. Earthquakes are concentrated along the active tectonic boundaries of African, Eurasian, and Arabian plates. The study area is characterized by northward increasing sediment thickness leading to more damage to structures in the north due to multiple reflections of seismic waves. Unfortunately, man-made constructions in Egypt were not designed to resist earthquake ground motions. So, it is important to evaluate the seismic hazard to reduce social and economic losses and preserve lives. The probabilistic seismic hazard assessment is used to evaluate the hazard using alternative seismotectonic models within a logic tree framework. Alternate seismotectonic models, magnitude-frequency relations, and various indigenous attenuation relationships were amended within a logic tree formulation to compute and develop the regional exposure on a set of hazard maps. Hazard contour maps are constructed for peak ground acceleration as well as 0.1-, 0.2-, 0.5-, 1-, and 2-s spectral periods for 100 and 475 years return periods for ground motion on rock. The results illustrate that Egypt is characterized by very low to high seismic activity grading from the west to the eastern part of the country. The uniform hazard spectra are estimated at some important cities distributed allover Egypt. The deaggregation of seismic hazard is estimated at some cities to identify the scenario events that contribute to a selected seismic hazard level. The results of this study can be used in seismic microzonation, risk mitigation, and earthquake engineering purposes.     

Time-dependent seismic hazard analysis for the Greater Tehran and surrounding areas

This study presents a time-dependent approach for seismic hazard in Tehran and surrounding areas. Hazard is evaluated by combining background seismic activity, and larger earthquakes may emanate from fault segments. Using available historical and paleoseismological data or empirical relation, the recurrence time and maximum magnitude of characteristic earthquakes for the major faults have been explored. The Brownian passage time (BPT) distribution has been used to calculate equivalent fictitious seismicity rate for major faults in the region. To include ground motion uncertainty, a logic tree and five ground motion prediction equations have been selected based on their applicability in the region. Finally, hazard maps have been presented.     

Evaluation of WaPOR V2 evapotranspiration products across Africa

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) portal to monitor water productivity through open-access of remotely sensed derived data (WaPOR) offers continuous actual evapotranspiration and interception (ETIa-WPR) data at a 10-day basis across Africa and the Middle East from 2009 onwards at three spatial resolutions. The continental level (250 m) covers Africa and the Middle East (L1). The national level (100 m) covers 21 countries and 4 river basins (L2). The third level (30 m) covers eight irrigation areas (L3). To quantify the uncertainty of WaPOR version 2 (V2.0) ETIa-WPR in Africa, we used a number of validation methods. We checked the physical consistency against water availability and the long-term water balance and then verify the continental spatial and temporal trends for the major climates in Africa. We directly validated ETIa-WPR against in situ data of 14 eddy covariance stations (EC). Finally, we checked the level consistency between the different spatial resolutions. Our findings indicate that ETIa-WPR is performing well, but with some noticeable overestimation. The ETIa-WPR is showing expected spatial and temporal consistency with respect to climate classes. ETIa-WPR shows mixed results at point scale as compared to EC flux towers with an overall correlation of 0.71, and a root mean square error of 1.2 mm/day. The level consistency is very high between L1 and L2. However, the consistency between L1 and L3 varies significantly between irrigation areas. In rainfed areas, the ETIa-WPR is overestimating at low ETIa-WPR and underestimating when ETIa is high. In irrigated areas, ETIa-WPR values appear to be consistently overestimating ETa. The relative soil moisture content (SMC), the input of quality layers and local advection effects were some of the identified causes. The quality assessment of ETIa-WPR product is enhanced by combining multiple evaluation methods. Based on the results, the ETIa-WPR dataset is of enough quality to contribute to the understanding and monitoring of local and continental water processes and water management.     

Chemometric Differentiation of Oil Families and Their Potential Source Rocks in the Gulf of Suez

Natural Resources Research - An oil–oil and oil–source rock correlation study was carried out using chemometric methods applied to geochemical data for 123 Upper Cretaceous—Lower...     

Investigation of hydraulics transport time scales within the Arvand River estuary,Iran

Transport time scales are key parameters for understanding the hydrodynamic and biochemical processes within estuaries. In this study, the flushing and residence times within the Arvand River estuary have been estimated using a two‐dimensional hydrodynamic model called CE‐QUAL‐W2. The model has been calibrated and verified by two different sets of field data and using the k‐ε vertical eddy diffusivity scheme. Flushing time has been estimated using different methods such as the tidal prism and fraction of freshwater methods. Moreover, residence times have been investigated using pulse residence time, estuarine residence time and remnant function approaches. The results have shown that different methods yield different time scales, and freshwater inflow has the greatest impact upon estimation of residence time, whereas tidal circulation hardly contributes to residence time at all. It has also been shown that the neap‐spring circulation and start phase of simulations have negligible effects on the Arvand's time scales. The investigation of bathymetry showed that two sills of the estuary tend to significantly increase residence time. Understanding the applicability of these time scales and their estimation approaches helps us to evaluate the water quality management of estuaries. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geology and geochemistry of the granitic rocks and associated dykes, East Gabal Nuqra, South Eastern Desert, Egypt

A crescent-shape granitic stock and associated dykes is located to the East Gabal Nuqra at the extreme western part of Wadi Natash,South Eastern Desert,Egypt.The examined granites are classified as alkali-feldspar granites and mainly consist of quartz,potash feldspars,plagioclases,and aegirine-augite.Xenotime,zircon,apatite and allanite are accessories representing the source of Y,U,Th and REEs in these rocks.These granites are characterized by high K2O,Na2O and Zn contents and Rb/Sr ratio.Also,they are highly enriched in high field strength elements(HFSE),especially Zr(1529×10-6),Nb(100×10-6),Hf(91×10-6) and Y(624×10-6) and light rare-earth elements(LREE,141×10-6) concentrations and strongly depleted in Ca,Mg,Sr and Eu contents.These features suggest that they are similar to A-type granites(type-2).The rhyolite dykes and granites have similar geochemical characteristics whereas the chondrite-normalized REE patterns show a LREE enriched feature with strong negative Eu-anomaly,whereas the REE pattern of trachydacites show slightly fractionated pattern with no Eu-anomaly.It is suggested that the trachydacites were generated by small degree of partial-melting deep-seated basic source.Such liquid,when subjected to fractional crystallization involving separation of plagioclases as residue,generated the alkali-feldspar granites.And further fractional crystallization gave rise to the alkali rhyolites.The igneous rock suite originated from metaluminous to alkaline trachytic magma,and was developed in a within-plate tectonic environment.The extension caused by NW-SE right-lateral shear in area led to the emplacement of the alkali-feldspar granites.The later extrusion of the alkali rhyolite and trachydacite dykes was due to cauldron subsidence.