Development of calcrete of the Late Cretaceous carbonate platform,northern Jordan,and its tectonic implications

A calcrete horizon, 3–10 m thick, is found exposed in northern Jordan in three localities, Rumman, Marsa’, and Wasfi At Tal forest (WTF). It is situated at the base of the dominantly limestone, Late Cenomanian Hummar Formation, separating it from the underlying marly Fuheis Formation. The calcrete horizon exhibits all the diagnostic features characteristic of calcrete, such as diagenetic pisoids; a mottled or clotted texture; circumgranular cracks around grains in a nodular texture; pendant or microstalactitic cement; meniscus cement; plant roots or rhizogenic structures, both longitudinal and transverse; exfoliation on boulder and cobbles; alagally laminated hard pans; and abundant dissolution of cracks and vugs. Consequently, it represents a subaerial erosional unconformity and type 1 sequence boundary (SB) that was not previously noticed. The Hummar Formation is considered as a third-order sequence with the SB at the base of the calcrete horizon, while the calcrete horizon itself forms the lowstand system tracts (LST). The transgressive systems tracts (TST) involve the lower two third of the Hummar Formation ending with peloidal grainstone representing the maximum flooding surface (MFSs). The rest of the formation is the falling highstand systems tracts (HST). The next SB is not seen due to a thick soil-covered gap. The calcrete horizon formed due to the formation of a paleohigh, in the study area, associated with the compression produced by the initial subduction of the Afro-Arabian Plate under the Eurasian Plate during the Late Cenomanian, slightly earlier than the previously known Turonian subduction and compression.     

Data‐based analysis of bivariate copula tail dependence for drought duration and severity

In recent decades, copula functions have been applied in bivariate drought duration and severity frequency analysis. Among several potential copulas, Clayton has been mostly used in drought analysis. In this research, we studied the influence of the tail shape of various copula functions (i.e. Gumbel, Frank, Clayton and Gaussian) on drought bivariate frequency analysis. The appropriateness of Clayton copula for the characterization of drought characteristics is also investigated. Drought data are extracted from standardized precipitation index time series for four stations in Canada (La Tuque and Grande Prairie) and Iran (Anzali and Zahedan). Both duration and severity data sets are positively skewed. Different marginal distributions were first fitted to drought duration and severity data. The gamma and exponential distributions were selected for drought duration and severity, respectively, according to the positive skewness and Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. The results of copula modelling show that the Clayton copula function is not an appropriate choice for the used data sets in the current study and does not give more drought risk information than an independent model for which the duration and severity dependence is not significant. The reason is that the dependence of two variables in the upper tail of Clayton copula is very weak and similar to the independent case, whereas the observed data in the transformed domain of cumulative density function show high association in the upper tail. Instead, the Frank and Gumbel copula functions show better performance than Clayton function for drought bivariate frequency analysis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regional flood frequency analysis using residual kriging in physiographical space

In this article, an approach using residual kriging (RK) in physiographical space is proposed for regional flood frequency analysis. The physiographical space is constructed using physiographical/climatic characteristics of gauging basins by means of canonical correlation analysis (CCA). This approach is a modified version of the original method, based on ordinary kriging (OK). It is intended to handle effectively any possible spatial trends within the hydrological variables over the physiographical space. In this approach, the trend is first quantified and removed from the hydrological variable by a quadratic spatial regression. OK is therefore applied to the regression residual values. The final estimated value of a specific quantile at an ungauged station is the sum of the spatial regression estimate and the kriged residual. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, a cross‐validation procedure is applied. Results of the proposed method indicate that RK in CCA physiographical space leads to more efficient estimates of regional flood quantiles when compared to the original approach and to a straightforward regression‐based estimator. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local groundwater governance in Yemen: building on traditions and enabling communities to craft new rules

Local groundwater management in Yemen and the means by which stakeholders can work together to improve water governance are discussed. In the last few decades the discourse on groundwater management in Yemen has increasingly been cast in terms of crisis, triggered by rapidly declining water tables around cities and in the main agricultural areas. However, in some places in Yemen, communities have responded by implementing local rules that have reduced conflict and provided more reliable and equitable access to water. This trend towards development of local groundwater governance is described, and could make a major contribution in realizing the goals of national water-sector policies and strategies. Twenty-four cases have been identified from different parts of the country and five cases are presented in detail. The article discusses how the process of local management could be nurtured and how it could contribute to rebalancing water use in several parts of Yemen.     

Effect of soil hydraulic properties model on slope stability analysis based on strength reduction method

Soil hydraulic properties models which have been proposed were derived based on the empirical fitting curve such as Brooks-Corey model (BC) and Van Genuchten model (VG), or based on soil pore radius distribution such as Lognormal model (LN). Each model has different accuracy for predicting soil moisture distribution. In the analysis of rainfall-induced slope failure, the soil hydraulic properties model was needed to describe the physical phenomena of behavior characteristic of water in unsaturated soil. As moisture content has an effect on soil strength, it is vital to select the suitable soil hydraulic properties model for predicting Factor of Safety (FOS) especially in forecasting landslide hazard. In this study, a numerical model of seepage finite element analysis using BC, VG, and LN model were used and compared in order to analyze the soil moisture distribution, water movement phenomenon, and slope stability characteristic in unsaturated soil slope based on the strength reduction method (SRM). The results showed that the variations of the parameters predicting the moisture content of soil leads to differences of FOS in some cases. The parametric study showed that for the unsaturated soil condition, BC model has the greatest FOS value than the other model, while VG model has the lowest. On the other hand, the FOS of all models have the same result for the saturated condition. Other than that, it was found that the increasing of ESP value in the surface layer has significant effect in the sub-surface layer.     

Predicting the geotechnical performance of Lisan Marl using finite element analysis,Dead Sea area

This paper investigates the changes in Lisan Marl properties upon leaching the soluble minerals and collapse potential. Finite element method was used to model dike construction and the relationships between soil parameters. To validate the chosen model and obtain the required input data, one dimensional oedometer and drained direct shear tests were carried out. The models were further validated by comparing the results with available published data. The results proved that the chosen model is efficient in assessing the geotechnical behavior of the studied soil.     

Geochemical heterogeneity in a small, stratigraphically complex moraine aquifer system (Ontario, Canada): interpretation of flow and recharge using multiple geochemical parameters

The Waterloo Moraine is a stratigraphically complex system and is the major water supply to the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Despite over 30?years of investigation, no attempt has been made to unify existing geochemical data into a single database. A composite view of the moraine geochemistry has been created using the available geochemical information, and a framework created for geochemical data synthesis of other similar flow systems. Regionally, fluid chemistry is highly heterogeneous, with large variations in both water type and total dissolved solids content. Locally, upper aquifer units are affected by nitrate and chloride from fertilizer and road salt. Typical upper-aquifer fluid chemistry is dominated by calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate, a result of calcite and dolomite dissolution. Evidence also suggests that ion exchange and diffusion from tills and bedrock units accounts for some elevated sodium concentrations. Locally, hydraulic “windows??cross connect upper and lower aquifer units, which are typically separated by a clay till. Lower aquifer units are also affected by dedolomitization, mixing with bedrock water, and locally, upward diffusion of solutes from the bedrock aquifers. A map of areas where aquifer units are geochemically similar was constructed to highlight areas with potential hydraulic windows.     

Grain Dust as an Energy and Food Resource

Grain dust is a by-product produced in large quantities from grain storage and milling facilities but as of yet is treated as waste locally and regionally. Based on the conviction that material properties determination is a necessary first step for the efficient handling, processing, and use of materials, this work was initiated with the purpose of characterizing grain dust in terms of its physicochemical and thermal properties. Grain dust as a special waste material is a complex, dry, grey powder, composed mainly of grain chips, soil, whole wheat and barley seeds, and straw. The material was found to have a bulk density of 362 kg/m³, specific heat, thermal conductivity, and gross calorific value were 1540 J/kg K, 0.27 W/m K, and 4120 kJ/kg, respectively. Nutritional composition showed low concentrations of protein, and ether extract, and high concentrations of carbohydrates, ash, and crude fiber. Mineral analysis showed that Ca, Fe, and K were available in significant amounts ranging from 30 to 135 ppm. The as-received material is dry enough to be stored very safely and burned for energy production in either its loose form or as pellets. Moreover, adjustments to the ash content and C:N ratio of the material deems it a promising candidate as an animal feed and as a substrate for composting and biogasification.     

An analysis of River Derwent pollution and its impacts

As the major water catchment in Hobart city, the River Derwent provides water services to Hobart residents; however, water quality of the River Derwent is becoming unreliable. The aims of this paper are to identify the major water issues in the river and to reveal its impacts on Hobart residents and ecosystem. A methodology of secondary data analysis has been involved; which covers a wide range of existing dissertations. Through all the analysis of data, heavy metals, contaminated sediment and overload nitrogen can be regarded as three main causes of the water pollution. Moreover, the impacts of the water pollution are proved to be significant and perennial. On the basis of the analysis result, water pollution tends to be a tough issue that requires a great amount of time and efforts to deal with.