Spatial analysis of water quality and its suitability in farming giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in Negeri Sembilan region,Peninsular Malaysia

Finding potential sites for resilient prawn production in the tropical environment that also prevents wastage of natural resources is not an easy task. The purpose of this study is to evaluate water quality suitability for prawn farming in Negeri Sembilan of Peninsular Malaysia based on Geographic Information System (GIS). To achieve this goal, numerous criteria including sources of water, water temperature, water pH, sources of pollution, salinity, soil texture and availability of phytoplankton criteria were considered for the modelling process. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique was performed to standardize the criteria and the weighting process. The weighted overlay of indicators and results were accomplished by applying the Multi‐Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method in GIS. It was indicated that the Negeri Sembilan area has potential for prawn farming. The results showed that about 25 per cent (163 056.93 ha) of the area was most suitable for prawn farming, about 58 per cent (384 656.88 ha) was considered moderately suitable, while 18 per cent (117 633.49 ha) was regarded as least suitable. The study concluded that the multi‐criteria decision analysis of water quality for prawn farming is vital for regional economic planning in the Negeri Sembilan area and also significant when establishing a model for aquaculture development.     

Distribution of diagenetic alterations within depositional facies and sequence stratigraphic framework of fluvial sandstones: Evidence from the Petrohan Terrigenous Group,Lower Triassic,NW Bulgaria

Sequence stratigraphy of fluvial deposits is a controversial topic because changes in relative sea level will eventually have indirect impact on the spatial and temporal distribution of depositional facies. Changes in the relative sea level may influence the accommodation space in fluvial plains, and hence have impact on types of fluvial system, frequency of avulsion, and style of vertical and lateral accretion. This study aims to investigate whether depositional facies and changes in the fluvial system of the Lower Triassic Petrohan Terrigenous Group sandstones (NW Bulgaria) in response to changes in the relative sea level have an impact on the spatial and temporal distribution of diagenetic alterations.     

Multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) for seismic site characterization using 2D genetic algorithm at Bahrah area,Wadi Fatima,Saudi Arabia

The present study deals with the seismic site classification of Bahrah area, Wadi Fatima, to characterize the local site conditions. The dynamic behavior of sediments was studied by the application of surface wave inversion. The multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) shallow geophysical technique was utilized for site classification. MASW survey was carried out at 66 sites along with 13 seismic refraction profiles at suitable localities. MASW and seismic refraction profiles were processed and compared with the available borehole data. The integration of MASW techniques with seismic refraction and borehole data progressively enhanced the subsurface visualization and reliability of the shear wave velocity estimation in the subsurface in the study area. The subsurface shear-wave velocity model was achieved by the solution of an inverse problem-based dispersion of surface waves and propagation in a vertically heterogeneous medium. The 2D genetic algorithm was employed for the inversion of dispersion curves to obtain velocity and thickness of subsurface layers. The depth to engineering bedrock and velocity of shear waves in the first 30 m was deciphered and mapped. The depth of bedrock in study area varies from 4 to 30 m, and V _{S 30} ranges from 320 to 800 m/s. The most of study area falls in B and C class categories in addition to few sites of D class according to the NEHRP guidelines.     

Leachability of trace elements from two stabilized low lime Indian fly ashes

Fly ash is a waste by-product obtained from the burning of coal by thermal power plants for generating electricity. When bulk quantities are involved, in order to arrest the fugitive dust, it is stored wet rather than dry. Fly ash contains trace concentrations of heavy metals and other substances in sufficient quantities to be able to leach out over a period of time. In this study an attempt was made to study the leachabilities of a few selected trace metals: Cd, Cu, Cr, Mn, Pb and Zn from two different types of class F fly ashes. Emphasis is also laid on developing an alternative in order to arrest the relative leachabilities of heavy metals after amending them with suitable additives. A standard laboratory leaching test for combustion residues has been employed to study the leachabilities of these trace elements as a function of liquid to solid ratio and pH. The leachability tests were conducted on powdered fly ash samples before and after amending them suitably with the matrices lime and gypsum; they were compacted to their respective proctor densities and cured for periods of 28 and 180 days. A marked reduction in the relative leachabilities of the trace elements was observed to be present at the end of 28 days. These relative leachability values further reduced marginally when tests were performed at the end of 180 days.     

Geological and geophysical investigation of Kamil crater,Egypt

Abstract– We detail the Kamil crater (Egypt) structure and refine the impact scenario, based on the geological and geophysical data collected during our first expedition in February 2010. Kamil Crater is a model for terrestrial small‐scale hypervelocity impact craters. It is an exceptionally well‐preserved, simple crater with a diameter of 45 m, depth of 10 m, and rayed pattern of bright ejecta. It occurs in a simple geological context: flat, rocky desert surface, and target rocks comprising subhorizontally layered sandstones. The high depth‐to‐diameter ratio of the transient crater, its concave, yet asymmetric, bottom, and the fact that Kamil Crater is not part of a crater field confirm that it formed by the impact of a single iron mass (or a tight cluster of fragments) that fragmented upon hypervelocity impact with the ground. The circular crater shape and asymmetries in ejecta and shrapnel distributions coherently indicate a direction of incidence from the NW and an impact angle of approximately 30 to 45°. Newly identified asymmetries, including the off‐center bottom of the transient crater floor downrange, maximum overturning of target rocks along the impact direction, and lower crater rim elevation downrange, may be diagnostic of oblique impacts in well‐preserved craters. Geomagnetic data reveal no buried individual impactor masses >100 kg and suggest that the total mass of the buried shrapnel >100 g is approximately 1050–1700 kg. Based on this mass value plus that of shrapnel >10 g identified earlier on the surface during systematic search, the new estimate of the minimum projectile mass is approximately 5 t.     

Estimation of the Land Surface Emissivity in the Hinterland of Taklimakan Desert

An accurate accounting of land surface emissivity(ε) is important both for the retrieval of surface temperatures and the calculation of the longwave surface energy budgets.Since ε is one of the important parameterizations in land surface models(LSMs),accurate accounting also improves the accuracy of surface temperatures and sensible heat fluxes simulated by LSMs.In order to obtain an accurate emissivity,this paper focuses on estimating ε from data collected in the hinterland of Taklimakan Desert by two different methods.In the first method,ε was derived from the surface broadband emissivity in the 8–14 μm thermal infrared atmospheric window,which was determined from spectral radiances observed by field measurements using a portable Fourier transform infrared spectrometer,the mean ε being 0.9051.The second method compared the observed and calculated heat fluxes under nearneutral atmospheric stability and estimated ε indirectly by minimizing the root-mean-square difference between them.The result of the second method found a mean value of 0.9042,which is consistent with the result by the first method.Although the two methods recover ε from different field experiments and data,the difference of meanvalues is 0.0009.The first method is superior to the indirect method,and is also more convenient.     

Is the age problem resolved?

The cosmological, astrophysical, and nucleocosmochronological methods for estimating the age of the universe and the corresponding uncertainties are comparatively studied in the present paper. We are led to the conclusion that the new measurements of cosmological parameters, and the recent estimates of the age of globular clusters have led to the gradual disappearance of the age problem from the arena of modern cosmology.     

Compressive and rarefactive double layers in non-uniform plasma with $$-nonextensive distributed electrons

Electrostatic solitary waves and double layers (DLs) formed by the coupled ion acoustic (IA) and drift waves have been investigated in non-uniform plasma using \(q\)-nonextensive distribution function for the electrons and assuming ions to be cold \(T_{i}< T_{e}\). It is found that both compressive and rarefactive nonlinear structures (solitary waves and DLs) are possible in such a system. The steeper gradients are supportive for compressive solitary (and double layers) and destructive for rarefactive ones. The \(q\)-nonextensivity parameter \(q\) and the magnitudes of gradient scale lengths of density and temperature have significant effects on the amplitude of the double layers (and double layers) as well as on the speed of these structures. This theoretical model is general which has been applied here to the \(F\)-region ionosphere for illustration.     

A Comparative Study of Landsat‐7 and Landsat‐8 Data Using Image Processing Methods for Hydrothermal Alteration Mapping

Comparing spaceborne satellite images of Landsat‐8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Landsat‐7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) was undertaken to investigate the relative accuracy of mapping hydrothermal alteration minerals. The study investigated the northern part of Rabor, which contains copper mineralization occurrences, and is located in the Kerman Cenozoic magmatic assemblage (KCMA), Iran. Image processing methods of band ratio, principal component analysis (PCA), and spectral angle mapper (SAM) were used to map the distribution of hydrothermally altered rocks associated with the porphyry copper mineralization. The band ratio combination of both sensors for mapping altered areas showed similar outcomes. PCA exposed variations in the spatial distribution of hydroxyl‐bearing minerals. The representation of hydrothermal areas using OLI data was more satisfactory than when using ETM+ data. SAM analysis found similar results for mapping hydroxyl‐bearing zones. Verification of the results came through ground investigation and laboratory studies. Rock samples (n = 56) were collected to validate results using thin sections, X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and spectral analyses. Field observations and laboratory analysis revealed that phyllic and propylitic alterations dominate the alteration zones in the study area. Argillic and iron oxides/hydroxides alterations were observed to a lesser degree. The results indicate that alteration maps prepared by OLI data using PCA for visual interpretation are more suitable than those of ETM+ due to a higher radiometric resolution and lower interference between vegetation and altered areas. As the spectral bandwidth of ETM+ band 7 covers absorption feature of propylitic alteration, better mapping of propylitic alterations is achieved using ETM+ data.