Wetting Induced Deformation of Soils Triggering Landslides in Pakistan

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Shallow and deep seated landslides in natural slopes are often induced by rainfall. The cause of the failure is usually considered to be due to the...     

First evidence of Middle to Late Triassic radiolarians in the Garba mountains,South Sumatra,Indonesia

A Middle to Late Triassic (Ladinian–Carnian) radiolarian fauna was discovered in cherts of the Situlanglang Member of the Garba Formation, South Sumatra, which is generally regarded as of Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous age. This fauna is characterized by the presence of Annulotriassocampe sulovensis, Triassocampe postdeweveri, Spongotortilispinus tortilis, Poulpus piabyx, Canoptum levis and others. This evidence possibly indicates that the deposition of the Situlanglang cherts took place after the collision of the Sibumasu and East Malaya blocks recorded in the Bentong–Raub Suture in Peninsular Malaysia in Late Permian–Early Triassic times. During the Middle–Late Triassic Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia consisted of submarine horst and graben structures. It is possible that a submarine graben, the Tuhur basin, whose southern boundary was formerly undefined, extends into South Sumatra, to the area in which the Situlanglang cherts were deposited. The Situlanglang Member is proposed to be a rock unit stratigraphically contemporaneous with those of the Middle–Upper Triassic Kualu and Tuhur Formations in North and Central Sumatra.     

Population synthesis of cataclysmic variable star: I. A new methodology and initial study on the post common-envelope stage

We report the results of our population synthesis for post common-envelope binaries by following the evolution of each system in detail. Our main focus is a comparison with the white dwarf mass distribution of post common-envelope systems from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We employ a Monte Carlo method to choose the initial parameters of the progenitors (primary mass, mass ratio and orbital period). Then the evolution of the progenitor binary system is followed up to the onset of the common-envelope phase, which usually occurs near the tip of the giant branch or asymptotic giant branch. An approximate post-Helium flash evolution for primary masses ${\leq}2.25 \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ is included. The binary parameters before and after common-envelope phase are calculated using the energy budget argument. In this paper we address the case of α _CE=1.0, which is the commonly adopted value to calculate the common-envelope ejection. We consider a hydrogen-exhausted core to define the core mass of the primary (white dwarf mass, M _WD) at the onset of common envelope phase. To obtain the present-day M _WD distributions, we assumed a constant star formation rate. The distribution resulting from our population synthesis shows a double peak profile for M _WD, similar to previous population syntheses and recent observational data. Our present synthesis result could not reproduce the location of the low and high mass peaks from the observations, but shows how a future synthesis can be made to produce an M _WD distribution which is closer to observational data.     

The effects of ditch dams on water-level dynamics in tropical peatlands

A significant proportion of tropical peatlands has been drained for agricultural purposes, resulting in severe degradation. Hydrological restoration, which usually involves blocking ditches, is therefore a priority. Nevertheless, the influence of ditch blocking on tropical peatland hydrological functioning is still poorly understood. We studied water-level dynamics using a combination of automated and manual dipwells, and also meteorological data during dry and wet seasons over 6 months at three locations in Sebangau National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia. The locations were a forested peatland (Forested), a drained peatland with ditch dams (Blocked), and a drained peatland without ditch dams (Drained). In the dry season, water tables at all sites were deeper than the Indonesian regulatory requirement of 40 cm from the peat surface. In the dry season, the ditches were dry and water did not flow to them. The dry season water-table drawdown rates — solely due to evapotranspiration — were 9.3 mm day⁻¹ at Forested, 9.6 mm day⁻¹ at Blocked, but 12.7 mm day⁻¹ at Drained. In the wet season, the proportion of time during which water tables in the wells were deeper than the 40 cm limit ranged between 16% and 87% at Forested, 0% at Blocked, and between 0% and 38% at Drained. In the wet season, water flowed from the peatland to ditches at Blocked and Drained. The interquartile range of hydraulic gradients between the lowest ditch outlet and the farthest well from ditches at Blocked was 3.7 × 10⁻⁴ to 7.8 × 10⁻⁴ m m⁻¹, but 1.9 × 10⁻³ to 2.6 × 10⁻³ m m⁻¹ at Drained. Given the results from Forested, a water-table depth limit policy based on field data may be required, to reflect natural seasonal dynamics in tropical peatlands. Revised spatial designs of dams or bunds are also required, to ensure effective water-table management as part of tropical peatland restoration.     

Thermal structure of hot events and their possible role in maintaining the warm isothermal layer in the Western Pacific warm pool

Ocean Dynamics - The short-lived events of high SST are called hot events (HEs) and can only be generated under the conditions of large daily heat gain due to strong solar radiation and weak wind....     

Radio frequency interference measurements in Indonesia

We report the first measurements of radio frequency spectrum occupancy performed at sites aimed to host the future radio astronomy observatory in Indonesia. The survey is intended to obtain the radio frequency interference (RFI) environment in a spectral range from low frequency 10 MHz up to 8 GHz. The measurements permit the identification of the spectral occupancy over those selected sites in reference to the allocated radio spectrum in Indonesia. The sites are in close proximity to Australia, the future host of Square Kilometre Array (SKA) at low frequency. Therefore, the survey was deliberately made to approximately adhere the SKA protocol for RFI measurements, but with lower sensitivity. The RFI environment at Bosscha Observatory in Lembang was also measured for comparison. Within the sensitivity limit of the measurement equipment, it is found that a location called Fatumonas in the surrounding of Mount Timau in West Timor has very low level of RFI, with a total spectrum occupancy in this measured frequency range being about 1 %, mostly found at low frequency below 20 MHz. More detailed measurements as well as a strategy for a radio quiet zone must be implemented in the near future.     

Sedimentary Features of Tsunami Deposits in Carbonate-Dominated Beach Environments: A Case Study from the 25 October 2010 Mentawai Tsunami

This study provides a case history of tsunami deposition in a carbonate-dominated environmental setting. We present the results of a sedimentological investigation conducted on deposits formed by the 25 October 2010 Mentawai Island Tsunami and report on deposits analyzed at three sites on North Pagai Island: Sabeu Gunggung, Macaroni Resort, and Tumalei. The deposits are mainly composed of medium to coarse sand-sized fragments of corals, shells and foraminifera, with thickness ranging from 3 to 26 cm. The deposits consist of two to five layers, with fining-upward trends dominating. Local topography noticeably affects the thickness, number of layers, and distribution of tsunami deposits. The foraminiferal assemblage and diversity vary at each sample point, along transect and between different transects. Based on the foraminiferal content, most of the deposit material likely came from shallower depths. In addition, density distribution of the tsunami deposit material exhibits some degree of variability in terms of the range of densities in each sample and the trend of the overall density along each transect. In contrast to heavy mineral-dominated deposits, the density of carbonate grains as a function of size may be an important consideration when carbonate-dominated deposits are used to interpret hydraulic conditions that created a particular tsunami deposit. Since there are relatively few studies of tsunami deposits in carbonate-dominated environmental settings such as the Mentawai Islands, our study provides a useful case history of tsunami deposition in such an environmental setting.     

Multivariate statistical analysis for characterization of sedimentary facies of Tarakan sub-basin,North Kalimantan

A study of sediment dynamics has been conducted on the Tarakan sub-basin, North Kalimantan, Indonesia using multivariate analysis. Multivariate statistical techniques can be used to determine sediment with similar characteristics and be a good proxy to recognize sedimentary facies and depositional environment. These methods have been applied to characterize the sedimentary facies at Tarakan sub-basin. A total of 23 samples were taken from several locations on the different depths of 56–2554?m that represent varieties of environment. The study is interpreted using compositional data analysis associated with a grain size trend analysis (GSTA), principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis (CA). The GSTA value showed the dominance of poorly sorted silt indicating that the sediment is mostly deposited in low-energy depositional. The CA and the PCA determined three distinct sedimentary facies: shelf facies, upper bathyal facies, and lower bathyal facies. The facies were grouped as similar sediment and depositional environment. Sedimentological variables applied in the characterization were described to be an important tool for the interpretation of depositional environments – indirectly showing hydrodynamic energy.     

Spatial distribution of grain size and depositional process in tidal area along Waikelo Beach,Sumba

A study of characteristics and distribution of sediment along Waikelo Beach, Sumba, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), Indonesia has been conducted using grain size train analysis. Grain size train analysis aims to determine physical properties and textural parameters such as mean, sorting, skewness, and kurtosis. Samples were taken from several locations on the beach that represent high-tide, transition, and low-tide areas. The observation of two physical characteristics has concluded two points: (1) changing in textural pattern that shows physical differences of sediments is a result of interaction between deposition process and marine activities; (2) the abundance of coarse to medium sand demonstrates general process of sediment deposition along Waikelo Beach deposited at moderate to low energy. Linear discriminate function indicates aeolian, shallow marine, and fluvial environments. CM diagram (C?=?one percentile in micron, M?=?median in micron) describes the mechanism of sediment deposition on the beach in rolling and ground suspension. These all conditions are supported by the plotting results in the Stewart diagram that shows the influence of current either from waves or from river.     

Can self-organized critical accretion disks generate a log-normal emission variability in AGN?

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), such as Seyfert galaxies, quasars, etc., show light variations in all wavelength bands, with various amplitude and in many time scales. The variations usually look erratic, not periodic nor purely random. Many of these objects also show lognormal flux distribution and RMS–flux relation and power law frequency distribution. So far, the lognormal flux distribution of black hole objects is only observational facts without satisfactory explanation about the physical mechanism producing such distribution in the accretion disk. One of the most promising models based on cellular automaton mechanism has been successful in reproducing PSD (Power Spectral Density) of the observed objects but could not reproduce lognormal flux distribution. Such distribution requires the existence of underlying multiplicative process while the existing SOC models are based on additive processes. A modified SOC model based on cellular automaton mechanism for producing lognormal flux distribution is presented in this paper. The idea is that the energy released in the avalanche and diffusion in the accretion disk is not entirely emitted instantaneously as in the original cellular automaton model. Some part of the energy is kept in the disk and thus increase its energy content so that the next avalanche will be in higher energy condition and will release more energy. The later an avalanche occurs, the more amount of energy is emitted to the observers. This can provide multiplicative effects to the flux and produces lognormal flux distribution.