Diagenesis in the Middle Jurassic Khatatba Formation sandstones in the Shoushan Basin,northern Western Desert,Egypt

The Middle Jurassic Khatatba Formation acts as a hydrocarbon reservoir in the subsurface in the Western Desert, Egypt. This study, which is based on core samples from two exploration boreholes, describes the lithological and diagenetic characteristics of the Khatatba Formation sandstones. The sandstones are fine‐ to coarse‐grained, moderately to well‐sorted quartz arenites, deposited in fluvial channels and in a shallow‐marine setting. Diagenetic components include mechanical and chemical compaction, cementation (calcite, clay minerals, quartz overgrowths, and a minor amount of pyrite), and dissolution of calcite cements and feldspar grains. The widespread occurrence of an early calcite cement suggests that the Khatatba sandstones lost a significant amount of primary porosity at an early stage of its diagenetic history. In addition to calcite, several different cements including kaolinite and syntaxial quartz overgrowth occur as pore‐filling and pore‐lining cements. Kaolinite (largely vermicular) fills pore spaces and causes reduction in the permeability of the reservoir. Based on framework grain–cement relationships, precipitation of the early calcite cement was either accompanied by or followed the development of part of the pore‐lining and pore‐filling cements. Secondary porosity development occurred due to partial to complete dissolution of early calcite cements and feldspar. Late kaolinite clay cement occurs due to dissolved feldspar and has an impact on the reservoir quality of the Khatatba sandstones. Open hydraulic fractures also generated significant secondary porosity in sandstone reservoirs, where both fractures and dissolution took place in multiple phases during late diagenetic stages. The diagenesis and sedimentary facies help control the reservoir quality of the Khatatba sandstones. Fluvial channel sandstones have the highest porosities and permeabilities, in part because of calcite cementation, which inhibited authigenic clays or was later dissolved, creating intergranular secondary porosity. Fluvial crevasse‐splay and marine sandstones have the lowest reservoir quality because of an abundance of depositional kaolinite matrix and pervasive, shallow‐burial calcite and quartz overgrowth cements, respectively. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and their methoxylated analogs in mullet (Mugil cephalus) and sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from Bizerte Lagoon, Tunisia

Concentrations of ten polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and eight methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) in mullet (Mugil cephalus) and sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) collected from the Bizerte Lagoon and the Mediterranean Sea were investigated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of these compounds in marine fishes from Tunisia. The PBDE mean concentrations in fish from Bizerte Lagoon were 45.3 and 96.2 ng g(-1) lw respectively in mullet and sea bass, while the concentrations of these compounds in mullet and sea bass from Mediterranean Sea were 7.80 and 27.9 ng g(-1) lw respectively. MeO-PBDE concentrations in mullet and sea bass from Bizerte Lagoon ranged from 6.46 to 286 ng g(-1) lw and from 49.4 to 798 ng g(-1) lw respectively, while the concentrations of these compounds in mullet and sea bass from Mediterranean Sea ranged from 190 to 401 ng g(-1) lw and from 353 to 578 ng g(-1) lw respectively. The total PBDEs and total MeO-PBDEs concentration in fish from Bizerte Lagoon were similar or slightly lower than those reported for other species from other locations around the world.     

Contemporary 14C radiocarbon levels of oxygenated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (O-PBDEs) isolated in sponge-cyanobacteria associations

Considerable debate surrounds the sources of oxygenated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (O-PBDEs) in wildlife as to whether they are naturally produced or result from anthropogenic industrial activities. Natural radiocarbon (¹⁴C) abundance has proven to be a powerful tool to address this problem as recently biosynthesized compounds contain contemporary (i.e. modern) amounts of atmospheric radiocarbon; whereas industrial chemicals, mostly produced from fossil fuels, contain no detectable ¹⁴C. However, few compounds isolated from organisms have been analyzed for their radiocarbon content. To provide a baseline, we analyzed the ¹⁴C content of four O-PBDEs. These compounds, 6-OH-BDE47, 2′-OH-BDE68, 2′,6-diOH-BDE159, and a recently identified compound, 2′-MeO-6-OH-BDE120, were isolated from the tropical marine sponges Dysidea granulosa and Lendenfeldia dendyi. The modern radiocarbon content of their chemical structures (i.e. diphenyl ethers, C₁₂H₂₂O) indicates that they are naturally produced. This adds to a growing baseline on, at least, the sources of these unusual compounds.     

Groundwater resources assessment using integrated geophysical techniques in the southwestern region of Peninsular Malaysia

Combined geophysical techniques such as multi-electrode resistivity, induced polarization, and borehole geophysical techniques were carried out on volcano-sedimentary rocks in the north of Gemas as part of the groundwater resource’s investigations. The result identifies four resistivity units: the tuffaceous mudstone, tuffaceous sandstone, the tuff bed, and the shale layer. Two types of aquifer systems in terms of storage were identified within the area: one within a fracture system (tuff), which is the leaky area through which vertical flow of groundwater occurs, and an intergranular property of the sandy material of the aquifer which includes sandstone and tuffaceous sandstone. The result also reveals that the aquifer occupies a surface area of about 3,250,555 m² with a mean depth of 43.71 m and a net volume of 9.798?×?10⁷?m³. From the approximate volume of the porous zone (28 %) and the total aquifer volume, a usable capacity of (274.339?±?30.177)?×?10⁷?m³ of water in the study area can be deduced. This study provides useful information that can be used to develop a much broader understanding of the nature of groundwater potential in the area and their relationship with the local geology.     

Hydrous peridotites with Ti-rich chromian spinel as a low-temperature forearc mantle facies: evidence from the Happo-O’ne metaperidotites (Japan)

The Happo-O’ne peridotite complex is situated in the northeastern part of the Hida Marginal Tectonic Zone, central Japan, characterized by the high-P/T Renge metamorphism, and is considered as a serpentinite mélange of Paleozoic age. Peridotitic rocks, being massive or foliated, have been subjected to hydration and metamorphism. Their protoliths are mostly lherzolites to harzburgites with subordinate dunites. We found a characteristic mineral assemblage, olivine + orthopyroxene + tremolite + chlorite + chromian spinel, being stable at low-T, from 650 to 750°C, and high-P, from 16 to 20 kbar, tremolite–chlorite peridotites of the tremolite zone. Olivines are Fo₈₈–Fo_91, and orthopyroxenes (Mg# = 0.91) show low and homogenous distributions of Al₂O₃ (up to 0.25 wt%), Cr₂O₃ (up to 0.25 wt%), CaO (up to 0.36 wt%) and TiO₂ (up to 0.06 wt%) due to the low equilibration temperature. Chromian spinels, which are euhedral and enclosed mainly in the orthopyroxenes, have high TiO_2, 3.1 wt% (up to 5.7 wt%) on average, and high Cr# [=Cr/(Cr + Al) atomic ratio], 0.95 on average but low Fe³⁺ [=Fe³⁺/(Cr + Al + Fe³⁺) atomic ratio, <0.3]. The bulk-rock chemistry shows that the Happo-O’ne metaperidotites with this peculiar spinel are low in TiO₂ (0.01–0.02 wt%), indicating no addition of TiO₂ from the outside source during the metamorphism; the high TiO₂ of the peculiar spinel has been accomplished by Ti release from Ti-bearing high-T pyroxenes during the formation of low-T, low-Ti silicates (<0.1 wt% TiO₂) during cooling. Some dunites are intact from hydration: their olivine is Fo₉₂ and spinel shows high Cr#, 0.72. The Happo-O’ne metaperidotites (tremolite–chlorite peridotites), being in the corner of the mantle wedge, are representative of a hydrous low-T, high-P mantle peridotite facies transitional from a higher T anhydrous peridotite facies (spinel peridotites) formed by in situ retrograde metamorphism influenced by fluids from the subducting slab. They have suffered from low-T (<600°C) retrogressive metamorphism to form antigorite and diopside during exhumation of the Renge metamorphic belt.     

Origin of dyke swarms in Wadi El Redi-Wadi Lahami area,southern Eastern Desert of Egypt

Dykes predominate within the Neoproterozoic rocks, especially granites, of Wadi El Redi-Wadi Lahami area in the southern Eastern Desert of Egypt. The dyke swarms form three major suites: from the oldest to the youngest, they are basaltic andesite—Suite 1 (E-W and ENE-WSW), rhyolite—Suite 2 (NE-SW), and andesite—Suite 3 (NNE-SSW, NNW-SSE, and NW-SE). Despite the wide ranges of the dyke compositions, the feldspar and amphibole are usually the essential forming minerals. The plagioclase arrays between Ab_0.9An_99.10 in the basaltic andesite and Ab_98.80An_0.70 in the rhyolite, while sanidine ranges from Or_44.60Ab_49.70 to Or_98.40Ab_1.60. Amphibole in Suite 1 and 3 (Al₂O₃, TiO₂, Na₂O, and K₂O are the lowest and those of SiO₂ and CaO are the highest) samples are usually magnesio-hornblende, whereas it is edenite and tschermakite in Suite 2 dykes. Despite all parent magmas have calc-alkaline affinity, some elements such as Ni show an erratic behavior against the progressing differentiation from one magma chamber and implying for an assimilation of the country rocks. The high contents of amphibole, the depletion in Ti, and the enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements (such as K, Rb, Ba, Sr, and Ba) compared to the primitive mantle composition are consistent with parent hydrous melts generated due to extension above the subduction zone. The estimated compositions of liquids in equilibrium with amphiboles and the pressures at which they crystallized (4.61–7.8 kbar for the Suite 2 and 1.5–2 kbar for the Suites 1 and 3) are greatly varied. These are indications for a difference in the source regions of the parent magmas of the studied dykes. It is supposed that the Suite 1 and 2 dykes are a conjugate set emplaced due to the NW-SE crustal extension in the Arabian-Nubian shield, whereas the Suite 3 dykes generated due to the rifting along the Red Sea.     

The application of remote sensing data to diagnose soil degradation in the Dakhla depression – Western Desert,Egypt

Dakhla depression in Egypt’s Western Desert is experiencing two soil degradation processes, notably: soil salinization and sand encroachment. The present study aimed to diagnose the severity of these processes using remote sensing. Soil salinity was determined by spectral regression analysis between tasselled cap spectral transform extracted from a Landsat-8 image acquired in September 2013 along with synchronized soil salinity measurements. Assessment of sand advance rate was conducted by temporal change detection of brilliant crescentic sand dune visualized by Google Earth in old (2002) and recent (2013) images. Results showed that salinized soils (dS/m4<) represent 91% of bare lands and salinization is attributed to aridity, topography and poor drainage. Barchan dunes north and south of Abu Tartur escarpment moved at rates of 5.9 and 3.6 m/year, respectively. The escarpment protected the majority of the depression from massive dune invasion. However, sand encroachment is clearly observed west of the depression.     

Spatiotemporal drought variability in northwestern Africa over the last nine centuries

Changes in precipitation patterns and the frequency and duration of drought are likely to be the feature of anthropogenic climate change that will have the most direct and most immediate consequences for human populations. The latest generation of state-of-the-art climate models project future widespread drying in the subtropics. Here, we reconstruct spatially-complete gridded Palmer drought severity index values back to A.D. 1179 over Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The reconstructions provide long-term context for northwest African hydroclimatology, revealing large-scale regional droughts prior to the sixteenth century, as well as more heterogeneous patterns in sixteenth, eighteenth, and twentieth century. Over the most recent decades a shift toward dry conditions over the region is observed, which is consistent with general circulation model projections of greenhouse gas forced enhanced regional subtropical drought.