The bituminous mixtures of Tall-e Abu Chizan: A Vth millennium BC settlement in southwestern Iran

Various bituminous artifacts were excavated from the Tall-e Abu Chizan, a late prehistoric (Middle Susiana to Middle Uruk) settlement on the middle of the Curvy plain, between the Karun River and the Ram Hormoz Plain. All samples dated from the Vth millennium BC and cover three periods: 5000–4700 BC (Late Middle Susiana), 4700–4200 BC (Late Susiana 1) and 4200–3900 BC (Late Susiana 2). The bitumens were studied using the techniques of petroleum geochemistry and were compared both to the unaltered crude oils produced from the main oil fields in the area and to the famous Mamatain oil seeps. All samples are very rich in bitumen (average 46 wt%) which has been biodegraded and oxidized. Despite these alteration phenomena, δ¹³C of asphaltenes occur within a narrow range of less than 1‰ PDB. Biodegradation affected the steranes, terpanes, dibenzothiophenes and mono- and triaromatic steroids. Molecular characteristics of terpanes, especially the occurrence of 18α (H)-oleanane, suggest that the bitumen from Tall-e Abu Chizan is a mixture generated from Cretaceous Kazdhumi and Eocene Pabdeh petroleum source rocks. In that respect, bitumens from Tall-e Abu Chizan belong to the same oil family as oil from the Naft Safid field, which is in the vicinity of the archaeological site. In fact, the bitumen at Tall-e Abu Chizan likely originated from oil seepages at Naft Safid. These oil seeps have not yet been sampled or analysed.     

俄罗斯贝加尔湖-日本石卷地学断面西段地质-地球物理基本特征

对于贝加尔湖-石卷地学断面(BAMSIP)的西段俄罗斯贝加尔湖-中国满洲里断面城内的地质构造背景、地震剖面波类型和基本特征等研究发现：(1)断面域中贝加尔裂谷带地震波速度结构存在异常地幔带；结晶地壳物质成分基性程度较高；基底顶面和Moho界面未观察到明显的镜象关系；(2)西伯利亚南部的复杂相故基底由古生代和前寒武纪岩层所组构；区域构造由古褶皱系、中生代沉积盆地、裂谷带构成。     

Histopathological effects of waterborne silver nanoparticles and silver salt on the gills and liver of goldfish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Carassius</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">auratus</Emphasis>

This study aimed to compare histopathological effect of waterborne silver nanoparticles and silver salt (AgNO₃) on the gills and liver of Carassius auratus. Therefore, one hundred and five live specimens of goldfish were obtained and treated in five aquariums with 0, 0.01, 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 ppm of AgNO₃ and 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 5 ppm of Ag nanoparticles (mean particle size of 5 nm). Fish were sampled after 14 days of exposure. Results showed that the kinds of pathologies observed with Ag NPs were broadly of the same type as AgNO₃ including hyperplasia, edema and lifting of the gill epithelium, and lamellar fusion of the gills, and hemosiderosis, hemorrhage, hydropic swelling, and pyknotic nuclei of the liver. Overall, the data showed that although Ag nanoparticles and AgNO₃ pathology were similar, but Ag nanoparticles caused less injury than AgNO₃ in the gills and liver of goldfish. Therefore, it is more proper to use nanoform of Ag in industrials.     

Comparative analysis of Lake Urmia and Lake Van water level time series

Recent decline in Lake Urmia water level makes it crucial to consider this issue more seriously. For this purpose, comparison of water level in Lake Urmia with Lake Van in Turkey, which is in relatively similar geographic and climate conditions, can be an effective approach. To follow this objective, trend analysis, regime shift, and coherency analyses are implemented. The results showed negative trend in Lake Urmia water level for the past 20 years, while in Lake Van, the trend is positive. Moreover, correlation of the lake level variations versus the basin rainfall during three common periods, identified by the regime shifts analysis, illustrated a decreasing trend in the correlation. These changes can be attributed to non-climatic factors such as different allocation disciplines in two lake’s catchments. Finally, the coherency analysis showed significant annual and inter-annual frequencies common between the two lake levels. Herein, the short-term period relations are associated with lags, while in long term, they act simultaneously.     

Evidence for the occurrence of hydrogeochemical processes in the groundwater of Khoy plain,northwestern Iran,using ionic ratios and geochemical modeling

Rapid population growth, industrialization, and agricultural expansion in the Khoy area (northwestern Iran) have led to its dependence on groundwater and degradation of groundwater quality. This study attempts to decipher the major processes and factors that degrade the groundwater quality of the Khoy plain. For this purpose, 54 groundwater samples from unconfined and confined aquifers of the plain were collected in July 2017 and analyzed for major cations and anions (Na, K, Ca, Mg, HCO₃, SO_4, and Cl), minor ions (NO₃ and F), and Al. Magnesium and bicarbonate were identified as the dominant cation and anion, respectively. Several ionic ratios and geochemical modeling using PHREEQC indicated that the most important hydrogeochemical processes to affect groundwater quality in the plain were weathering and dissolution of evaporitic and silicate minerals, mixing, and ion exchange. There were smaller effects from evaporation and anthropogenic factors (e.g., industries). Results showed that the high salinity of the groundwater in the northeast area of the plain was due to the high solubility of the evaporitic minerals, e.g., halite and gypsum. Reverse ion exchange and the contribution of mineral dissolution were more significant than ion exchange in the northeastern part of the plain. Elevated salinity of the groundwater in the southeast was attributed mostly to reverse ion exchange and somewhat to evaporation.     

Numerical ANFIS-Based Formulation for Prediction of the Ultimate Axial Load Bearing Capacity of Piles Through CPT Data

This study explores the potential of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) for prediction of the ultimate axial load bearing capacity of piles (P_u) using cone penetration test (CPT) data. In this regard, a reliable previously published database composed of 108 datasets was selected to develop ANFIS models. The collected database contains information regarding pile geometry, material, installation, full-scale static pile load test and CPT results for each sample. Reviewing the literature, several common and uncommon variables have been considered for direct or indirect estimation of P_u based on static pile load test, cone penetration test data or other in situ or laboratory testing methods. In present study, the pile shaft and tip area, the average cone tip resistance along the embedded length of the pile, the average cone tip resistance over influence zone and the average sleeve friction along the embedded length of the pile which are obtained from CPT data are considered as independent input variables where the output variable is P_u for the ANFIS model development. Besides, a notable criticism about ANFIS as a prediction tool is that it does not provide practical prediction equations. To tackle this issue, the obtained optimal ANFIS model is represented as a tractable equation which can be used via spread sheet software or hand calculations to provide precise predictions of P_u with the calculated correlation coefficient of 0.96 between predicted and experimental values for all of the data in this study. Considering several criteria, it is represented that the proposed model is able to estimate the output with a high degree of accuracy as compared to those results obtained by some direct CPT-based methods in the literature. Furthermore, in order to assess the capability of the proposed model from geotechnical engineering viewpoints, sensitivity and parametric analyses are done.     

Prediction of riverine suspended sediment discharge using fuzzy logic algorithms, and some implications for estuarine settings

The ability of fuzzy logic algorithms to model relationships between stream flow and suspended sediment discharge was investigated using daily measurements of stream flow and suspended sediment discharge for the Escanaba River mouth station, situated on the shore of Lake Michigan and operated by the US Geological Survey. Three different configurations of inputs were applied, whereby the inputs were fuzzified into fuzzy subsets of variables by means of triangular membership functions. The relationships between inputs and suspended sediment discharge (output) were represented by a set of fuzzy rule expressed in IF–THEN format. The weighted average method served for defuzzification. The commonly used sediment rating curve was also applied to the data, and its performance compared with that of the three models by means of statistical analyses. For all three models, suspended sediment discharge predicted by the fuzzy logic algorithm was in satisfactory agreement with observations. Furthermore, the fuzzy logic algorithms performed better than the sediment rating curve, particularly at higher rates of suspended sediment discharge (in this study, more than 50  × 10⁶ g/day). Considered collectively, the use of fuzzy logic algorithms is suggested as a simple and effective approach for better prediction of suspended sediment discharge, also for estuaries.     

Nonlinear analysis of laterally loaded rigid piles in cohesive soil

This article presents a method for the nonlinear analysis of laterally loaded rigid piles in cohesive soil. The method considers the force and the moment equilibrium to derive the system equations for a rigid pile under a lateral eccentric load. The system equations are then solved using an iteration scheme to obtain the response of the pile. The method considers the nonlinear variation of the ultimate lateral soil resistance with depth and uses a new closed‐form expression proposed in this article to determine the lateral bearing factor. The method also considers the horizontal shear resistance at the pile base, and a bilinear relationship between the shear resistance and the displacement is used. For simplicity, the modulus of horizontal subgrade reaction is assumed to be constant with depth, which is applicable to piles in overconsolidated clay. The nonlinearity of the modulus of horizontal subgrade reaction with pile displacement at ground surface is also considered. The validity of the developed method is demonstrated by comparing its results with those of 3D finite element analysis. The applications of the developed method to analyze five field test piles also show good agreement between the predictions and the experimental results. The developed method offers an alternative approach for simple and effective analysis of laterally loaded rigid piles in cohesive soil. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Compressibility and collapse characteristics of arid saline sabkha soils

Arid saline soils are well-distributed over the globe, with a variety of nomenclature. Along the seaboard of the Arabian Gulf, these soils exist widely and are known as “sabkhas”. Despite the cemented and saline characteristics of the sabkha matrix, a recent investigation indicated that flooding the saline sabkha with distilled water in the conventional oedometer apparatus was incapable of producing a sudden reduction in volume and/or a significant collapse. This study proposes a modification to the conventional oedometer on undisturbed sabkha specimens to consolidating specimens under a constant head. Tests were, therefore, conducted on undisturbed sabkha specimens to assess their compressibility and collapse potential whereby percolation of water was commenced under two pressures to evaluate the role of sustained pressure on the collapse mechanisms.

Despite the low compressibility of sabkhas, results of these tests indicated that these arid, saline soils possess a high collapse potential attributable primarily to dissolution of sodium chlorides, leaching of calcium ions and soil grain adjustment. The collapse potential increases with an increase in the acting pressure at which percolation of water takes place. In contrast to other typical soils, the collapse of arid, saline soils is not instantaneous but requires sufficient volume of water to percolate in order to enhance the dissolution of the cementing agents.