Shkol’noe gold deposit, the Russian Northeast

The Shkol’noe deposit is localized in a small granitoid stock, the root portion of which is traced using geophysical data to a depth of 5–8 km. The high-grade gold ore (33 gpt Au) is enriched in silver and principally differs in ore composition from the previously studied mesothermal gold-quartz and epithermal gold-silver deposits in the Russian Northeast. The main reserves of the Shkol’noe deposit concentrate in bonanzas (20% of the total volume of orebodies). The internal deformation is related to the rearrangement of matter in freibergite; exsolution structures in fahlore and native gold are related to postmineral metamorphism. It is suggested that the ore of the Shkol’noe deposit occupies a transitional position between porphyrytype and epithermal levels of ore deposition.     

The microstructural properties and deformation environments of the Kugarchi folded complex,Southern Urals

The Kugarchi folded complex is located on the western slope of the Southern Urals; it is a region of complex disharmonic folding in the Lower Carboniferous limestones. We revealed and studied two systems of mineral veins and accompanying veinlets in limestones. The microstructural analysis was used to recognize several deformation stages and orientations of the principal strain directions. This folded complex is interpreted to have formed under conditions close to uniaxial compression accompanied by a progressive change in the extensional strain direction from vertical to horizontal.     

Modeling approaches and strategies for data-scarce aquifers: example of the Dar es Salaam aquifer in Tanzania

Management of groundwater resources can be improved by using groundwater models to perform risk analyses and to improve development strategies, but a lack of extensive basic data often limits the implementation of sophisticated models. Dar es Salaam in Tanzania is an example of a city where increasing groundwater use in a Pleistocene aquifer is causing groundwater-related problems such as saline intrusion along the coastline, lowering of water-table levels, and contamination of pumping wells. The lack of a water-level monitoring network introduces a problem for basic data collection and model calibration and validation. As a replacement, local water-supply wells were used for measuring groundwater depth, and well-top heights were estimated from a regional digital elevation model to recalculate water depths to hydraulic heads. These were used to draw a regional piezometric map. Hydraulic parameters were estimated from short-time pumping tests in the local wells, but variation in hydraulic conductivity was attributed to uncertainty in well characteristics (information often unavailable) and not to aquifer heterogeneity. A MODFLOW model was calibrated with a homogeneous hydraulic conductivity field and a sensitivity analysis between the conductivity and aquifer recharge showed that average annual recharge will likely be in the range 80–100 mm/year.     

Inverted basin analysis and geological modeling, Razzak Oil Field, Western Desert, Egypt

This paper deals with a geological modeling based on seismic and well data of the Razzak Oil Field, located in northwestern desert of Egypt aimed mainly at improving the knowledge on inversion tectonics in the sedimentary basin corresponding to the oil field. Contour maps of significant seismic horizons corresponding to the top of Meso-Cenozoic formations which represent the stratigraphic traps of the oil field (top Apollonia, top Abu Roash “G,” top Bahariya, and top Alamein) are presented. The final model consists of geological cross-sections showing the inversion basin in the Razzak Oil Field. From the seismic data interpretation and modeling, we have different results matching with regional tectonic and transcurrent motion model. There are two main fault trends: the first one was northeast–southwest matching the Jurassic rift where the Jurassic is characterized by normal faults that formed in conjunction with the opening of the Neo-Tethys, and the other fault trend is northwest–southeast matching with Cretaceous faults. This is followed by a period of compressive tectonism (Syrian Arc deformation) in which two of the Jurassic normal faulted blocks (one at the northern part and the other at the southern part of the Qattara–Alamein ridge in the Razzak field) are reactivated as reverse faulted by Eocene–Early Oligocene time.     

夏季副高与海温的相互关系及副高预测

通过分析夏季西太平洋副高与前期12月至后期11月的赤道太平洋和北太平洋海温的相关系数分布图,综合比较副高面积指数、西伸脊点和脊线位置与海温的相关关系,讨论副高对海温的反馈作用以及海温与夏季副高的物理联系模型,为副高预测提供依据.     

Spatial crime distribution and prediction for sporting events using social media

ABSTRACT

Sporting events attract high volumes of people, which in turn leads to increased use of social media. In addition, research shows that sporting events may trigger violent behavior that can lead to crime. This study analyses the spatial relationships between crime occurrences, demographic, socio-economic and environmental variables, together with geo-located Twitter messages and their ‘violent’ subsets. The analysis compares basketball and hockey game days and non-game days. Moreover, this research aims to analyze crime prediction models using historical crime data as a basis and then introducing tweets and additional variables in their role as covariates of crime. First, this study investigates the spatial distribution of and correlation between crime and tweets during the same temporal periods. Feature selection models are applied in order to identify the best explanatory variables. Then, we apply localized kernel density estimation model for crime prediction during basketball and hockey games, and on non-game days. Findings from this study show that Twitter data, and a subset of violent tweets, are useful in building prediction models for the seven investigated crime types for home and away sporting events, and non-game days, with different levels of improvement.     

Studies and characterizations of the Al Zarnkh meteorite

Abstract— A newly fallen Sudanese meteorite named Al Zarnkh was investigated using room and liquid nitrogen temperature Mössbauer measurements, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) in conjunction with energy dispersive X‐ray microscopy. The Mössbauer spectra exhibited strong paramagnetic doublets with magnetic sextets. The doublets are assigned to olivine and pyroxene, while the magnetic sextets are assigned to troilite and kamacite. Based on microprobe analyses and textural studies, olivine is the most abundant phase and occurs as fine to medium grained laths both in the groundmass and in barred olivine chondrules. Both orthopyroxenes and clinopyroxenes are present and these tend to be granular. Plagioclase is an abundant interstitial groundmass phase. Chromites were detected in some groundmass olivine and are highly chromiumand iron‐rich with no Fe³⁺ detected. The kamacite contains small amounts of Co. The mole fraction of the Fe end‐member of olivine (fayalite) and orthopyroxene (ferrosilite) are found to be about 28% and 23%, respectively. These values are compared with that obtained from two chondritic meteorites. Based on these results, the studied meteorite is classified as an ordinary LL5 chondrite.     

Weathering of meteorites from Oman: Correlation of chemical and mineralogical weathering proxies with 14C terrestrial ages and the influence of soil chemistry

Abstract— Fifty‐four fragments of ordinary chondrites from 50 finds representing all searched areas in central Oman and all weathering stages were selected to compare the physical, chemical, and mineralogical effect of terrestrial weathering with ¹⁴C terrestrial ages. ¹⁴C ages range from 2.0 to >49 kyr with a median value of 17.9 kyr. The peak of the age range, which is between 10–20 kyr, falls in an arid climate period. A comparison of the chemical composition of Omani chondrites with literature data for unweathered H and L chondrites demonstrates a strong enrichment in Sr and Ba, and depletion in S during weathering. Water contents in H chondrites increase with terrestrial age, whereas L chondrites show a rapid initial increase followed by nearly constant water content. Correlating Sr, Ba, and H₂O with age indicates two absorption trends: i) an initial alteration within the first 20 kyr dominated by H₂O uptake, mainly reflecting Fe‐Ni metal alteration, and ii) a second Ba‐and Sr‐dominated stage correlated with slower and less systematic weathering of troilite that starts after H₂O reaches ?2 wt%. Sulfur released from troilite partly combines with Ba and Sr to form sulfate minerals. Other parameters correlated with ¹⁴C age are degree of weathering, color of powdered meteorites, and the Ni/Fe ratio. Chemical analyses of 145 soils show a high degree of homogeneity over the entire interior Oman Desert, indicating large‐scale mixing by wind. Soil samples collected from beneath meteorite finds typically are enriched in Ni and Co, confirming mobilization from the meteorites. High Cr and Ni concentrations in reference soil samples, which decrease from NE to SW, are due to detrital material from ultramafic rocks of the Oman Mountains.     

Source parameters of March 10 and September 13, 2007, United Arab Emirates earthquakes

On March 10 and September 13, 2007 two earthquakes with moment magnitudes 3.66 and 3.94, respectively, occurred in the eastern part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two events were widely felt in the northern Emirates and Oman and were accompanied by a few aftershocks. Ground motions from these events were well recorded by the broadband stations of Dubai (UAE) and Oman seismological networks and provide an excellent opportunity to study the tectonic process and present day stress field acting in this area. In this study, we report the focal mechanisms of the two main shocks by two methods: first motion polarities and regional waveform moment tensor inversion. Our results indicate nearly pure normal faulting mechanisms with a slight strike slip component. We associated the fault plane trending NNE–SSW with a suggested fault along the extension of the faults bounded Bani Hamid area. The seismicity distribution between two earthquake sequences reveals a noticeable gap that may be a site of a future event. The source parameters (seismic moment, moment magnitude, fault radius, stress drop and displacement across the fault) were also estimated from displacement spectra. The moment magnitudes were very consistent with waveform inversion. The recent deployment of seismic networks in Dubai and Oman reveals tectonic activity in the northern Oman Mountains that was previously unknown. Continued observation and analysis will allow for characterization of seismicity and assessment of seismic hazard in the region.