Impact assessment of land cover changes on the runoff changes on the extreme flood events in the Kelantan River basin

In the current years, changing the land cover/land use had serious hydrological impacts affecting the flood events in the Kelantan River basin. The flood events at the east coast of the peninsular Malaysia got highly affected in the recent decades due to several factors like urbanisation, rapid changes in the utilisation of land and lack of meteorological (i.e. change in climate) and developmental monitoring and planning. The Kelantan River basin has been highly influenced due to a rapid change in land use during 1984 to 2013, which occurred in the form of transformation of agricultural area and deforestation (logging activities). In order to evaluate the influence of the modifications in land cover on the flood events, two hydrological regional models of rainfall-induced runoff event, the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC)-Hydrologic Modeling System (HMS) model and improved transient rainfall infiltration and grid-based regional model (Improved TRIGRS), were employed in this study. The responses of land cover changes on the peak flow and runoff volume were investigated using 10 days of hourly rainfall events from 20 December to the end of December 2014 at the study area. The usage of two hydrological models defined that the changes in land use/land cover caused momentous changes in hydrological response towards water flow. The outcomes also revealed that the increase of severe water flow at the study area is a function of urbanisation and deforestation, particularly in the conversion of the forest area to the less canopy coverage, for example, oil palm, mixed agriculture and rubber. The monsoon season floods and runoff escalate in the cleared land or low-density vegetation area, while the normal flow gets the contribution from interflow generated from secondary jungle and forested areas.     

Stochastic groundwater modeling of a sedimentary aquifer: evaluation of the impacts of abstraction scenarios under conditions of reduced recharge

A transient finite difference groundwater flow model has been calibrated for the Nasia sub-catchment of the White Volta Basin. This model has been validated through a stochastic parameter randomization process and used to evaluate the impacts of groundwater abstraction scenarios on resource sustainability in the basin. A total of 1500 equally likely model realizations of the same terrain based on 1500 equally likely combinations of the data of the key aquifer input parameters were calibrated and used for the scenario analysis. This was done to evaluate model non-uniqueness arising from uncertainties in the key aquifer parameters especially hydraulic conductivity and recharge by comparing the realizations and statistically determining the degree to which they differ from each other. Parameter standard deviations, computed from the calibrated data of the key parameters of hydraulic conductivity and recharge, were used as a yardstick for evaluating model non-uniqueness. All model realizations suggest horizontal hydraulic conductivity estimates in the range of 0.03–78.4 m/day, although over 70 % of the area has values in the range of 0.03–14 m/day. Low standard deviations of the horizontal hydraulic conductivity estimates from the 1500 solutions suggest that this range adequately reflects the properties of the material in the terrain. Lateral groundwater inflows and outflows appear to constitute significant components of the groundwater budgets in the terrain, although estimated direct vertical recharge from precipitation amounts to about 7 % of annual precipitation. High potential for groundwater development has been suggested in the simulations, corroborating earlier estimates of groundwater recharge. Simulation of groundwater abstraction scenarios suggests that the domain can sustain abstraction rates of up to 200 % of the current estimated abstraction rates of 12,960 m³/day under the current recharge rates. Decreasing groundwater recharge by 10 % over a 20-year period will not significantly alter the results of this abstraction scenario. However, increasing abstraction rates by 300 % over the period with decreasing recharge by 10 % will lead to drastic drawdowns in the hydraulic head over the entire terrain by up to 6 m and could cause reversals of flow in most parts of the terrain.     

Landslide susceptibility zonation using GIS and evidential belief function model

The main goal of this paper is to generate a landslide susceptibility map through evidential belief function (EBF) model by using Geographic Information System (GIS) for Qianyang County, Shaanxi Province, China. At first, a detailed landslide inventory map was prepared, and the following ten landslide-conditioning factors were collected: slope angle, slope aspect, curvature, plan curvature, profile curvature, altitude, distance to rivers, geomorphology, lithology, and rainfall. The landslides were detected from the interpretation of aerial photographs and supported by field surveys. A total of 81 landslides were randomly split into the following two parts: the training dataset 70 % (56 landslides) were used for establishing the model and the remaining 30 % (25 landslides) were used for the model validation. The ArcGIS was used to analyze landslide-conditioning factors and evaluate landslide susceptibility; as a result, a landslide susceptibility map was generated by using EBF and ArcGIS 10.0, thus divided into the following five susceptibility classes: very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. Finally, when we validated the accuracy of the landslide susceptibility map, both the success-rate and prediction-rate curve methods were applied. The results reveal that a final susceptibility map has the success rate of 83.31 % and the prediction rate of 79.41 %.     

Application and performances of unconstrained optimization methods in seafloor AVO inversion

Seafloor elastic parameters are important for seafloor engineering and geophysical detection beneath the seafloor. We have proposed to use AVO (amplitude variation with offset) theory to estimate seafloor elastic parameters. However, the previous inversion methods are time-consuming. To improve the computing efficiency, we try to solve the inverse problem as an unconstrained optimization problem in this paper. Three kinds of classical unconstrained optimization methods are applied to seafloor AVO inversion, including the steepest descent method, the Newton’s method, and the conjugate gradient method. Then, we design different initial models to test the convergence behaviors of the three methods. Numerical tests show that the perturbation level of the initial models and the noise level of the observed data have a significant effect on the convergence performances of the three methods. Even for the same perturbation and noise levels, the convergence performances differ with different combinations of the perturbed initial elastic parameters. All three methods have higher computing efficiency than the previous methods. This research also offers a strategy to choose a proper optimization method for a specific case in real seafloor AVO inversion.     

Effect of different soil data on hydrological process modeling in Weihe River basin of Northwest China

Hydrological process modeling depends on the soil data spatial resolution of the watershed. Especially, in a large-scale watershed, could a higher resolution of soil data contribute to a more accurate result? In this study, two soil datasets with different classification systems FAO (World Reference Base) and GSCC (the Genetic Soil Classification of China) were used as inputs for the SWAT model to study the effects of soil datasets on hydrological process modeling in Weihe River basin, China. Results show that the discharge simulated using FAO soil data was better than one simulated using GSCC soil data before model calibration, which indicates that FAO soil data needed less effort to calibrate. After model calibration, discharges were simulated better by both of FAO and GSCC soil data but statistical parameters demonstrate that we can make a relatively more accurate estimation of discharge using the GSCC rather than FAO soil data. Soil water content (SW) simulated using GSCC soil data was statistically significantly higher than those simulated using FAO soil data. However, variations in other hydrological components (surface runoff (SURQ), actual evapotranspiration (ET), and water yield (WYLD) were not statistically significant. This might be because SW is more sensitive to soil properties. For studies aiming to simulate or compare SW, merely calibrating and validating models using river discharge observations is not enough. The hydrological modelers need to identify the key hydrological components intrinsic to their study and weigh the advantages and disadvantages before selecting suitable soil data.     

A sensitivity study on the numerical model of displacement and deformation of embedded brittle rock bodies in extension environment during salt tectonics

Many salt bodies contain large rock inclusions (called stringers) such as carbonate or anhydrite bodies. Mostly, large rock inclusions embedded in salt bodies have different ways of movement and deformation, including displacement, folding and fracturing. A finite element model with adaptive remeshing has been built for downbuilding simulation. The standard model set-up is constrained by observations from the South Oman Salt Basin. Based on the generic model in the previous research which shows the fracture, overtrusting or folding deformation during downbuilding process, a sensitivity study has been conducted on the numerical model of the deformation and displacement of brittle rock bodies, including the parameters such as the initial depth and the distance between them. The results of simulation are analyzed based on the data from SOSB and Zechstein salt basin. The study shows that the frequency of the break and the size of stringer fragments are strongly affected by the initial depth and thickness of stringers and the basement configuration.     

Sedimentology of the Baluti Formation in the Galley Derash,Amadiya, North Iraq: insight on carbonate turbidite facies and their depositional environmental

The Baluti Formation is exposed succession of the Rhaetian age (Upper Triassic). These strata are interpreted herein for the first time to redeposit in a deep marine setting (distally steepened carbonate ramp/medial to distal slope) on the northwestern margin of the Neo-Tethys. The Galley Derash section is apparently continuous with no evidence for either subaerial exposure or submarine erosion. The absence of erosional scours in the study area confirms emplacement of these strata below both fair-weather and storm wave base. Event beds, particularly those resulting from sediment gravity flows, dominate the Rhaetian interval. The Upper Rhaetian strata are primarily assigned to the Galley Derash Valley. It records an upward transition from moderate-scale, olistolith-bearing debris flow deposits (debrite) to medium-/thin-bedded turbidites remobilized as sediment slumps/slides. The succession is dominated by medium- to thin-bedded calcareous turbidites and hemipelagic suspension deposits. Very low fossil assemblages, particularly stromatolite fragments, and planktonic bivalves occur within some intervals in the section. Rapid and relatively continuous sedimentation is attested to by the thickness of the section, the abundance of calcareous turbidites, and the thin nature of the intercalated hemipelagic beds. Low content of badly preserved fossils and evidence of continuous and rapid sedimentation refer to alteration by tectonic disturbances or diagenesis. This makes the Baluti Beds as a supplementary section for the Rhaetian successions in Iraq.     

Textural evidences for dissolution of silica-rich rocks of the Ypresian phosphatic series,Gafsa-Metlaoui basin,southwestern Tunisia: implication of biogenic silica supply on genesis of fibrous clays

The present work aimed to determine the mineralogical composition of Ypresian series and to clarify the influence of the dissolution of siliceous frustules on the genesis of fibrous clay minerals. The specimens sampled from CPG trench are mainly constituted of silica-rich rocks at Mides area located at the western part of Gafsa-Metlaoui basin. The samples were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to determine texture of constituents. The data obtained indicate that the bulk rock samples are mainly made up of opal CT and clay minerals. The latter consists of palygorskite-sepiolite minerals associated with smectite and few amount of illite. The trend of mineralogical composition indicates that fibrous clay minerals are more concentrated at the upper part. SEM observations indicated that palygorskite mineral appears as thread-like facies, which surround foliated texture of smectite in the lower part of the Mides section, although with the low Mg activity confirmed by the absence of dolomite. But, at the upper part of the Mides section, SEM observations revealed the occurrence of siliceous frustules, which have numerous dissolved areas and replacement of carbonate tests by silica. The dissolution saturated the depositional environment with silica which is required for the formation of palygorskite and sepiolite minerals, in addition to high Mg activity confirmed by the presence of dolomite in the bulk rock, which is required basically for the formation of sepiolite. Although the genesis mode of palygorskite and sepiolite is similar with very little difference, the genesis of sepiolite needs a high alkalinity than the formation of palygorskite.     

Textural characteristics of sediments along the southern Red Sea coastal areas,Saudi Arabia

A lack of understanding exists of the origin and textural characteristics of Saudi Arabian Red Sea coastal sediments. This paper concerns the southern coastline of Jizan on the Saudi Red Sea. It is some 160 km long characterised by either narrow rocky headlands with intermittent pocket beaches or wide low-lying beaches dissected by wadis. Granulometric testing of samples from 135 locations showed that beach sand size was mainly very fine to medium grained (M _z = 3.93 Ø), sorting ranged from 1.65 to 0.41 and skewness values from ?051 to 0.39, being mainly negative; dune sands were medium to fine grained (M _z = 1.13 Ø; average sorting 2.8), while skewness variations within dune samples indicated symmetrical to fine skewed values (б _Ι = 0.55 to 0.89). Most foreshore samples were derived from wadis. Wadi mud levels can be high, e.g. Baysh (84%), and wadi Samrah (90%) with mean grain size ranging from very fine to medium sand (M _z = 3.9 Ø), sorting being well to poor (0.45 to 1.52) due to sediment influxes. Sabkha had a wide range of sand/mud and significantly higher carbonate percentages than other environments. Sediment source differences and littoral reworking contributed to grain size variation. The carbonate content varied between 1.5 and 31.5% due to hinterland contributions, and spatial analysis showed increasing quantities of carbonate minerals towards the south. On the wider geographical front, findings from Jizan are similar to those of the Northern United Arab Emirates (UAE), including sabkhas, being composed of sand, skeletal carbonate, fine fluvial material and wind-blown silt and clay components of wadi origin. Further work on the northeastern Red Sea edge can hopefully confirm these findings.