C, O, S and Sr isotope studies on the genesis of Fe-carbonate and barite mineralizations in the Attepe iron district (Adana, Southern Turkey)

The Attepe district consists of Precambrian, Lower–Middle Cambrian, Upper Cambrian–Lower Ordovician and Mesozoic formations. It contains several iron deposits and occurrences. Three types of iron-mineralizations can be distinguished in the area; (i) Sedimentary Fe-sulfide in Precambrian bituminous metapelitic rocks, and Fe-oxides in Precambrian metasandstones (SISO), (ii) vein-type Fe-carbonate and oxides composed of mainly siderite, ankerite and hematite including barite in Lower–Middle Cambrian metacarbonates of the Çaltepe Formation (HICO), (iii) karstic Fe-oxides and hydroxides essentially in the Lower–Middle Cambrian metacarbonates and the unweathered Fe-carbonates (KIO). The latter type is more widespread and located at the upper parts of the most important mineable iron deposits like Attepe deposit.

Oxygen-, carbon-, sulfur- and strontium-isotope studies have been performed on siderites and barites in the vein-type ores, and on calcites in the recrystallized Çaltepe Limestones to investigate the sources and formation mechanism of primary ore-forming constituents. The δ¹³C values of siderites and calcites in limestones of the Çaltepe Formation range from −10.10‰ to −8.20‰, and from −0.8‰ to 2.30‰. Both carbonate minerals show δ¹⁸O values between 17.50–18.30‰ and 16.20–23.00‰, respectively. The δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O isotopic variations do not indicate any direct or linear relations between siderites and limestones. However, it is possible that the carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of carbonate minerals could be changed to some extent, when limestones were subjected to hydrothermal processes or thermal alterations during metamorphism.

The isotopic values of barites display 32.40–38.30‰ for δ³⁴S and 12.20–14.70‰ for δ¹⁸O. The strontium isotope ratios (0.717169–0.718601) of barites and the sulfur isotope compositions of barites and pyrites suggest that there are no direct linkages of ore-forming compounds neither with a magmatic source nor with sedimentary pyrite formations in the Precambrian bituminous shales of the Attepe formation.

According to the field observations and the stable isotope data, siderites and ankerites should be formed by interaction between iron-rich hydrothermal fluids and Çaltepe limestones, whereas isotope ratios of barites indicate that they were formed by mixing of sulfur-rich meteoric waters and deeply circulated hydrothermal solutions.     

A field application for lime stabilization

This study presents the improvements achieved as a result of the lime stabilization application conducted by the joint effort of the Turkish Association of Lime Industrialists and the General Directorate of Rural Services on the 200 m long section of the Ankara Province Yukar? Yurtçu Village road where green and brown clays are dominant. The study also numerically demonstrates the impacts of these improvements on the road section based on the results of various laboratory and field tests. The lime stabilization in field conditions was performed with 5% lime for both clays and was applied as a 30 cm thick single layer. In the soaked California bearing-ratio (CBR) tests conducted in the laboratory, increases that reach up from 16 and 21 times compared to initial soaked CBR values were observed in green and brown clays, respectively, at the end of 28 days. The high increases observed in soaked CBR values would reduce the upper layer thickness of the roads. The similar improvements are also achieved in unconfined compression and plate loading tests. The comparisons performed with the plate loading tests clearly demonstrated the behavior of the surface to lime and its cure impact.     

Landslide susceptibility mapping using Bayesian approach in the Sultan Mountains (Akşehir,Turkey)

Landslides cause heavy damage to property and infrastructure, in addition to being responsible for the loss of human lives in many parts of the Turkey. The paper presents GIS-based spatial data analysis for landslide susceptibility mapping in the regions of the Sultan Mountains, West of Akşehir, and central part of Turkey. Landslides occur frequently in the area and seriously affect local living conditions. Therefore, spatial analysis of landslide susceptibility in the Sultan Mountains is important. The relationships between landslide distributions with the 19 landslide affecting parameters were analysed using a Bayesian model. In the study area, 90 landslides were observed. The landslides were randomly subdivided into 80 training landslides and 10 test landslides. A landslide susceptibility map was produced by using the training landslides. The test landslides were used in the accuracy control of the produced landslide susceptibility map. Approximately 9% of the study area was classified as high susceptibility zone. Medium, low and very low susceptibility zones covered 8, 23 and 60% of the study area, respectively. Most of the locations of the observed landslides actually fall into moderate (17.78%) and high (77.78. %) susceptibility zones of the produced landslide susceptibility map. This validates the applicability of proposed methods, approaches and the classification scheme. The high susceptibility zone is along both sides of the Akşehir Fault and at the north-eastern slope of the Sultan Mountains. It was determined that the surface area of the Harlak and Deresenek formations, which have attained lithological characteristics of clayey limestone with a broken and separated base, and where area landslides occur, possesses an elevation of 1,100–1,600 m, a slope gradient of 25°–35° and a slope aspect of 22.5°–157.5° facing slopes.     

Noether gauge symmetry approach in quintom cosmology

In literature usual point like symmetries of the Lagrangian have been introduced to study the symmetries and the structure of the fields. This kind of Noether symmetry is a subclass of a more general family of symmetries, called Noether gauge symmetries (NGS). Motivated by this mathematical tool, in this paper, we study the generalized Noether symmetry of quintom model of dark energy, which is a two component fluid model with quintessence and phantom scalar fields. Our model is a generalization of the Noether symmetries of a single and multiple components which have been investigated in detail before. We found the general form of the quintom potential in which the whole dynamical system has a point like symmetry. We investigated different possible solutions of the system for diverse family of gauge function. Specially, we discovered two family of potentials, one corresponds to a free quintessence (phantom) and the second is in the form of quadratic interaction between two components. These two families of potential functions are proposed from the symmetry point of view, but in the quintom models they are used as phenomenological models without clear mathematical justification. From integrability point of view, we found two forms of the scale factor: one is power law and second is de-Sitter. Some cosmological implications of the solutions have been investigated.     

Predictability performance enhancement for suspended sediment in rivers:Inspection of newly developed hybrid adaptive neuro-fuzzy system model

Reliable modeling of river sediments transport is important as it is a defining factor of the economic viability of dams, the durability of hydroelectric-equipment, river susceptibility to pollution, suitability for navigation, and potential for aesthetics and fish habitat. The capability of a new machine learning model, fuzzy c-means based neuro-fuzzy system calibrated using the hybrid particle swarm optimization-gravitational search algorithm（ANFIS-FCM-PSOGSA） in improving the estimation accur...     

Geomorphology of the Alluvial Sediments and Bedrock in an Intermontane Basin: Application of Variogram Modeling to Electrical Resistivity Soundings

The study describes a methodology used to integrate legacy resistivity data with limited geological data in order to build three-dimensional models of the near subsurface. Variogram analysis and inversion techniques more typically found in the petroleum industry are applied to a set of 1D resistivity data taken from electrical surveys conducted in the 1980s. Through careful integration with limited geological data collected from boreholes and outcrops, the resultant model can be visualized in three dimensions to depict alluvium layers as lithological and structural units within the bedrock. By tuning the variogram parameters to account for directionality, it is possible to visualize the individual lithofacies and geomorphological features in the subsurface. In this study, an electrical resistivity data set collected as part of a groundwater study in an area of the Peshawar basin in Pakistan has been re-examined. Additional lithological logs from boreholes throughout the area have been combined with local outcrop information to calibrate the data. Tectonic activity during the Himalayan orogeny has caused uplift in the area and generated significant faulting in the bedrock resulting in the formation of depressions which are identified by low resistivity values representing clays. Paleo-streams have reworked these clays which have been eroded and replaced by gravel–sand facies along paleo-channels. It is concluded that the sediments have been deposited as prograding fan-shaped bodies and lacustrine deposits with interlayered gravel–sand and clay–silt facies. The Naranji area aquifer system has thus been formed as a result of local tectonic activity with fluvial erosion and deposition and is characterized by coarse sediments with high electrical resistivities.     

Effect of helix bending deflection on load settlement behaviour of screw pile

A screw pile has higher end bearing capacity than any other straight pipe piles due to its larger helix with respect to central shaft. However, larger helices are not frequently used as it will bend and may reduce the actual bearing capacity of the ground. In the present study, the effect of helix bending deflection on the load settlement behaviour and ultimate bearing capacity is investigated. To achieve the objectives, model scale pile load tests were conducted. The effect of helix bending on the load settlement behaviour at higher stress level was also investigated in this research. The helices with different helix-to-shaft-diameter ratios and thicknesses were used, so that clear difference of deformed and non-deformed screw piles in the load settlement behaviour can be observed. Dry Toyoura sand in dense state was used as a model ground. It is observed from test results that the helix bending deflection starts affecting the load settlement behaviour of the ground if it is more than the critical helix bending deflection. The ratio of critical helix bending deflection to outstand length decreases with increase in helix-to-shaft-diameter ratio, and its relationship is presented in this study. It is also observed that the Roark’s formula for flat circular plate having uniform load over a very small circular area with fixed outer edges showed good agreement with the measured helix bending deflection. In order to estimate the optimum helix thickness, the well-agreed equation is also modified with respect to critical helix bending deflection.

     

Assessment of Air Temperature Trends in the Source Region of Yellow River and Its Sub-Basins,China

Changes in climatic variables at the sub-basins scale (having different features of land cover) are crucial for planning, development and designing of water resources infrastructure in the context of climate change. Accordingly, to explore the features of climate changes in sub-basins of the Source Region of Yellow River (SRYR), absolute changes and trends of temperature variables, maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin), mean temperature (Tavg) and diurnal temperature range (DTR), were analyzed annually and seasonally by using daily observed air temperature dataset from 1965 to 2014. Results showed that annual Tmax, Tmin and Tavg for the SRYR were experiencing warming trends respectively at the rate of 0.28, 0.36 and 0.31°C (10 yr)^?1. In comparison with the 1st period (1965-1989), more absolute changes and trends towards increasing were observed during the 2nd period (1990-2014). Apart from Tangnaihai (a low altitude sub-basin), these increasing trends and changes seemed more significant in other basins with highest magnitude during winter. Among sub-basins the increasing trends were more dominant in Huangheyan compared to other sub-basins. The largest increase magnitude of Tmin, 1.24 and 1.18°C (10 yr)^?1, occurred in high altitude sub-basins Jimai and Huangheyan, respectively, while the smallest increase magnitude of 0.23°C (10 yr)^?1 occurred in a low altitude sub-basin Tangnaihai. The high elevation difference in Tangnaihai probably was the main reason for the less increase in the magnitude of Tmin. In the last decade, smaller magnitude of trend for all temperature variables signified the signal of cooling in the region. Overall, changes of temperature variables had significant spatial and seasonal variations. It implies that seasonal variations of runoff might be greater or different for each sub-basin.