Grain size and mineralogy of Al Batinah beach sediments,Sultanate of Oman

The nature of Al Batinah coast beach sediments in the Sultanate of Oman was investigated by the analysis of grain size and mineralogy. The beach sediments, mostly light-medium gray green, were predominantly fine sands, with the average grain size of all samples about 200 μm. Some of the particles were gravel (2–16 mm), and some were even larger pebble-size particles (16–256 mm). Some mud (sediment <63 μm) was present, mostly in the sub-tidal sediments. The majority of the samples were skewed to the coarse size with coarse tail partly due to the presence of shell fragments. Approximately 50 % of the beach sediments were quartz with different varieties based on shape and size. The second major component of beach sediment was calcium carbonate which varied from 10 to 65 %. The other components in decreasing order consisted of microbreccia, feldspar, pyroxene, igneous rock fragments, biotite flakes, and heavy minerals. The levels of carbonate were lower in NW Al Batinah coast from Harmul to Al Khaburah but were higher in the SE from Al Khaburah to Al Ghubrah. This could be attributed to either lower carbonate production or more sediment input by wadis along the north-western part of Al Batinah coast. The unique and complex nature of these sediments is largely due to the geology of the terrestrial source area in the Hajar Mountains which contains the famous Samail ophiolite complex and the weak sorting along the shoreline in these tide-modified beaches.     

Toward reliable calibration of aquifer hydrodynamic parameters: characterizing and optimization of arid groundwater system using swarm intelligence optimization algorithm

Despite advanced development in computational techniques, the issue of how to adequately calibrate and minimize misfit between system properties and corresponding measurements remains a challenging task in groundwater modeling. Two important features of the groundwater regime, hydraulic conductivity (k) and specific yield (S _y), that control aquifer dynamic vary spatially within an aquifer system due to geologic heterogeneity. This paper provides the first attempt in using an advanced swarm-intelligence-based optimization algorithm (cuckoo optimization algorithm, COA) coupled with a distributed hydrogeology model (i.e., MODFLOW) to calibrate aquifer hydrodynamic parameters (S _y and k) over an arid groundwater system in east Iran. Our optimization approach was posed in a single-objective manner by the trade-off between sum of absolute error and the adherent swarm optimization approach. The COA optimization algorithm further yielded both hydraulic conductivity and specific yield parameters with high performance and the least error. Estimation of depth to water table revealed skillful prediction for a set of cells located at the middle of the aquifer system whereas showed unskillful prediction at the headwater due to frequent water storage changes at the inflow boundary. Groundwater depth reduced from east toward west and southwest parts of the aquifer because of extensive pumping activities that caused a smoothening influence on the shape of the simulated head curve. The results demonstrated a clear need to optimize arid aquifer parameters and to compute groundwater response across an arid region.     

Earthquake preparedness: the case of Eastern UAE

During the last 30 years, UAE witnessed earthquakes that ranged from minor to moderate, with maximum magnitude of 5.1 that occurred in the Masafi area (eastern UAE, on March 11, 2002). Recent earthquakes that hit Iran such as on May 11, 2013, caused tremors and mild shaking of buildings in some UAE cities. Although the tremors are small in magnitude, their sequences apparently become an important research topic and deserve more assessment from different perspectives such as geographical, geological, engineering, and social. This is because low risk does not equal no risk. This study is concerned with public perceptions of earthquake preparedness (reduction of disaster impact) that can be measured by various variables such as developing an emergency plan, preparation of disaster supply kits, and training. The methodology consists of a survey of 470 people who live around the Masafi area, near Fujairah city, UAE. GIS and GPS were used for site selection in conducting the survey, and remote sensing was used as an aid in identification of buildings’ ages. Results show that around 90% of the people surveyed have water tanks that can support them up to 3 days, and 60% of them normally buy food that can support them up to 2 days. Thirty percent of the respondents were familiar with storing first-aid kits and tools such as flashlights. The findings point to a need for more research regarding public awareness about earthquakes. The findings of this study may be useful for people who are involved in the four cornerstones of disaster risk reduction: community participation, public policy actions, safer construction and urban development, and development of a culture of prevention.     

Ground penetrating radar and 2D electric resistivity studies for tracing hydrocarbon leakage site,close to Abha City: a case study

This work presents the application of the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) method and electric resistivity tomography (ERT) technique in outlining a zone of contamination due to the light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) plume underground in the area of an impacted fuel station, close to Abha City. The GPR has been performed using SIR3000 unit with the 100 and 400 MHz antennas. The main objective of the GPR survey was to evaluate the lateral extension of contamination. The complex GPR signature of the plume was well characterized. Low reflectivity zone corresponds to hydrocarbon vapor phase in the vadose zone. Enhanced reflections are associated with free and residual products in the fractured saturated zone directly above the water table. An electric resistivity tomography (ERT) survey was performed on four profiles within the site to investigate the vertical and horizontal extent of the contamination plume and to define the bottom of the landfill. The 2D electric profiles show the presence of low-resistivity (4O to 37 Ω m) anomalies that refers to the presence of accumulated hydrocarbons. From the interpretation of the GPR and ERT profile, it was possible to locate the top and bottom of the contamination plume of the waste disposal site. The radar signal penetrated deep enough and enabled the identification of a second reflector at approximately 10-m deep, interpreted as the hard basement surface which causes the strong amplitude reflection in the GPR profile. The results of GPR and ERT showed good agreement.     

Causes of the great mass extinction of marine organisms in the Late Devonian

The second of the five great mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic occurred in the Late Devonian. The number of species decreased by 70–82%. Major crises occurred at the Frasnian–Famennian and Devonian–Carboniferous boundary. The lithological and geochemical compositions of sediments, volcanic deposits, impactites, carbon and oxygen isotope ratios, evidence of climate variability, and sea level changes reflect the processes that led the critical conditions. Critical intervals are marked by layers of black shales, which were deposited in euxinic or anoxic environments. These conditions were the main direct causes of the extinctions. The Late Devonian mass extinction was determined by a combination of impact events and extensive volcanism. They produced similar effects: emissions of harmful chemical compounds and aerosols to cause greenhouse warming; darkening of the atmosphere, which prevented photosynthesis; and stagnation of oceans and development of anoxia. Food chains collapsed and biological productivity decreased. As a result, all vital processes were disturbed and a large portion of the biota became extinct.     

Viruses,bacteria, and heterotrophic nanoflagellates in Laptev Sea plankton

The paper considers the concentrations and functional characteristics of viruses, bacteria, and heterotrophic nanoflagellates determined for the first time in the Laptev Sea in August-September, 2014. The abundance of bacteria, viruses, and heterotrophic nanoflagellates varied from 110.1 × 10³ to 828.4 × 10³ cells/mL, from 384.2 × 10³ to 2932.8 × 10³ particles/mL, and from 108 to 651 cells/mL, respectively. The daily bacterioplankton production varied from 4.2 × 10³ to 381.7 × 10³ cells/mL, with an average of 117.6 × 10³ cells/mL. Electron transmission microscopy has for the first time shown that the frequency of visibly infected bacterial cells varied from 0.2 to 2.0% (0.8% on average) of N_B. The average virus-induced mortality of bacteria was 6.3% of bacterioplankton production, with variations ranging from 1.4 to 16.9%. Grazing on bacteria by heterotrophic nanoflagellates contributed more to bacteria mortality than virus-induced bacterial lysis. By grazing on bacteria, heterotrophic nanoflagellates consumed large quantities of viruses located on the surface and inside bacterial cells.     

Sea surface wind and Sea ice in the Barents Sea using microwave sensing data from Meteor-M N1 and GCOM-W1 satellites in January–March 2013

Application of satellite passive microwave sensing for the retrieval of key climatic parameters in the Barents Sea is considered. Fields of surface wind, atmosphere water vapor content and cloud liquid water content were found from MTVZA-GY radiometer onboard the Meteor-M N1 satellite and AMSR2 onboard the GCOM-W1 satellite with the use of original algorithms. The fields are in a good agreement with the ancillary remote and in situ measurements, which follows from the analysis of the evolution of the extra tropical and polar cyclones and cold air outbreaks with storm winds leading to intense air-sea interaction, and the formation and drift of sea ice.     

Experimental studies of thermal radiation intensity dependence on near-water wind speed for rough sea surface

The results of in situ measurements of the characteristics of intrinsic microwave radiation from the sea surface are presented. The studies were carried out on the oceanographic platform of the Experimental Department of Marine Hydrophysical Institute during the summer–fall periods for 3 years, which made it possible to accumulate a significant amount of information on the change in the radiation intensity of under different meteorological conditions. Attention is primarily focused on the construction of wind-radiation dependences and their steepness analysis based on the measurement data obtained by a radiometer-polarimeter with a central frequency of received radiation equal to 37.7 GHz. The results are compared with the previous experimental studies and the model estimates of this effect.     

Results of test experiment comparing measurement data of three adjacent ADCP bottom stations

The results of a test experiment comparing quasi-synchronous data of three adjacent acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) deployed on the shelf bottom of the Black Sea in September 2014 are considered. The direct aim of the experiment was quantitative comparison of data from different ADCPs placed in maximally similar conditions to simultaneously measure the sea current parameters at one geographic point. The goals and the scheme of the experiment, methods for processing the measurement results, main results, and their interpretations and analysis, including practical results and conclusions, are described.