Laboratory Investigation of the Influence of Geotextile on the Stress–Strain and Volumetric Change Behavior of Sand

This paper presents the results of triaxial tests conducted for the investigation of the influence of geotextile on both the stress–strain and volumetric change behavior of reinforced sands. Tests were carried out on loose sand. The experimental program includes drained compression tests on samples reinforced with different values of both geotextile layers (1 ≤ Ng ≤ 3) and confining pressure (\(\upsigma_{\text{c}}^{\prime }\)) varying from 50 to 200 kPa. Tests show that the contribution of geotextile is negligible until an axial strain threshold that range between 2.5% for a confining pressure of 50 kPa to lower than 1% for 100 and 200 kPa confining pressure. At higher values of ε_a, geotextile induces a quasi-linear increase in the stress deviator (q) and volume contraction in the reinforced sand. Tests show a negligible influence of the number of geotextile layers (Ng) on the contribution of geotextile to both stress–strain and volumetric change, when normalized with Ng. Tests also show that the contribution of geotextile to the stress–strain mobilization augments with the increase in the confining pressure, while its contribution to the volume contraction decreases with the increase in the confining pressure. The reinforced soil becomes contracting in the case of 2 and 3 geotextile layers.     

Quantifying land use/land cover spatio-temporal landscape pattern dynamics from Hyperion using SVMs classifier and FRAGSTATS®

This study aims to quantify the landscape spatio-temporal dynamics including Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) changes occurred in a typical Mediterranean ecosystem of high ecological and cultural significance in central Greece covering a period of 9 years (2001–2009). Herein, we examined the synergistic operation among Hyperion hyperspectral satellite imagery with Support Vector Machines, the FRAGSTATS^® landscape spatial analysis programme and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for this purpose. The change analysis showed that notable changes reported in the experimental region during the studied period, particularly for certain LULC classes. The analysis of accuracy indices suggested that all the three classification techniques are performing satisfactorily with overall accuracy of 86.62, 91.67 and 89.26% in years 2001, 2004 and 2009, respectively. Results evidenced the requirement for taking measures to conserve this forest-dominated natural ecosystem from human-induced pressures and/or natural hazards occurred in the area. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind, demonstrating the Hyperion capability in quantifying LULC changes with landscape metrics using FRAGSTATS^® programme and PCA for understanding the land surface fragmentation characteristics and their changes. The suggested approach is robust and flexible enough to be expanded further to other regions. Findings of this research can be of special importance in the context of the launch of spaceborne hyperspectral sensors that are already planned to be placed in orbit as the NASA’s HyspIRI sensor and EnMAP.     

Adsorption of Congo red and crystal violet dyes onto cellulose extracted from Egyptian water hyacinth

Natural Hazards - The present investigation has highlighted the utility of floating aquatic Egyptian hyacinth, which is considered as a significant reason for environmental problems in Nile River,...     

Contribution of remote sensing and GIS to analysis of the risk of flooding in the Zat basin (High Atlas-Morocco)

Natural Hazards - Despite the controversy regarding their use, school buildings are often assigned as emergency evacuation shelters, temporary accommodation and aid distribution hubs following...     

Biotic response to the latest Cenomanian drowning and OAE2: A case study from the Eastern Desert of Egypt

The changes in macrofauna and microfauna, before, during and after the latest Cenomanian global Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE2), from the Eastern Desert of Egypt are documented, along with an inferred paleoenvironment. The age of the studied OAE2 interval is constrained by the last occurrence of the marker calcareous nannofossils species Axopodorhabdus albianus along with the previously identified positive δ¹³C excursion from the coeval ammonite Vascoceras cauvini Zone (= Neocardioceras juddii Zone), enabling correlation with the peak ‘b’ of the OAE2. Based on the studied microfaunal assemblages, a warm shallow restricted lagoonal environment with mesotrophic conditions and strong seasonality is inferred. The presence of a rare ammonite (and ostracods) attest to the intermittent introduction of marine waters within this inner ramp setting. In terms of sequence stratigraphy, two 3rd order depositional sequences are recorded. The top surface of the first depositional sequence, at the sequence boundary, SB Ce 5 (the start of the OAE2), is marked by an abrupt faunal change with reduced abundances of the macrofaunal elements. This is in tune with other Egyptian records of relatively smaller loss (10 %) at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary, as compared to much higher numbers (53–79% of species), globally. This faunal (biotic bottleneck) and lithological change (from siliciclastic-dominated deposits to a largely carbonate-dominated one) at the SB Ce 5 is attributed as a response to the latest Cenomanian drowning (the highest sea-level during the Phanerozoic), that also resulted in the formation of carbonate platform.     

Red Sea faulting and salt diapirism as a potential geotechnical hazard in Jazan,southwest Saudi Arabia: inferences from gravity data

Natural Hazards - The main objective of this study is to detect the subsurface extension of salt diapirs and structural deformations in the city of Jazan and its suburbs using gravity data. Salt...     

Mineralogy and geochemistry of fine-grained Dahab stream sediments,Southeastern Sinai,Egypt: emphasis on the intergrowths of Fe–Ti oxides

Acta Geochimica - Mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of stream sediments collected from 30 stations in the Dahab-Wadi Kid area (southeastern Sinai, Egypt) are presented. The studied...     

Geology and Mineral Chemistry of Uranium- and Thorium-bearing Minerals in Rare-Metal (NYF) Pegmatites of Um Solimate,South Eastern Desert,Egypt

The garnet muscovite granitic pegmatite of Um Solimate, in southern Egypt, represents a promising asset for strategic and economic metals, especially Bi–Ni–Ag–Nb–Ta as well as U and Th. The ore bodies occur as large masses, pockets and/or veins of very coarse-grained pegmatites, which consist mainly of K-feldspar, quartz and albite with subordinate muscovite, garnet, and biotite. Radiometric data revealed that eU- and eTh-contents of the pegmatites reach up to 39 ppm and 82 ppm, respectively. The studied pegmatites are enriched in primary U and Th minerals (uraninite, coffinite, thorianite and uranothorite) as well as Hf-rich zircon and monazite, which give rise to anomalous radioactive zones. Niobium-tantalium-bearing minerals (i.e. ferrocolumbite, microlite and uranopyrochlore), xenotime, barite, galena, fluorite, and apatite are ubiquitous, and, consequently, the studied pegmatites belong tothe Niobium–Yttrium–Fluorine-type (NYF) family. The noble metal mineralization includes argentite (Ag2S), native Ni and Bi as well as bismite and bismoclite. In addition, beryl and tourmaline are observed in pegmatites near the contact with metasediments and ultramafic bodies. The observed compositional variations of Ta/(Ta+Nb) and Mn/(Mn+Fe) ratios in columbite (0.08–0.45 and 0.11–0.57, respectively) and Hf contents in zircon (3.54–6.46 wt%) may reflectan extreme degree of magmatic fractionation leading to formation of the pegmatite orebody.     

Field study on the behavior of pre-bored grouted planted pile with enlarged grout base

This paper presents the results of field tests performed to investigate the compressive bearing capacity of pre-bored grouted planted (PGP) pile with enlarged grout base focusing on its base bearing capacity. The bi-directional O-cell load test was conducted to evaluate the behavior of full scale PGP piles. The test results show that the pile head displacements needed to fully mobilize the shaft resistance were 5.9% and 6.4% D (D is pile diameter), respectively, of two test piles, owing to the large elastic shortening of pile shaft. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that the PHC nodular pile base and grout body at the enlarged base could act as a unit in the loading process, and the enlarged grout base could effectively promote the base bearing capacity of PGP pile through increasing the base area. The normalized base resistances (unit base resistance/average cone base resistance) of two test piles were 0.17 and 0.19, respectively, when the base displacement reached 5% D_b (D_b is pile base diameter). The permeation of grout into the silty sand layer under pile base increased the elastic modulus of silty sand, which could help to decrease pile head displacement under working load.

     

Preliminary Study of Catalase Enzyme Activity and Protein Concentrations in the Mediterranean and African Mussels,Mytilus galloprovincialis and Perna perna,Cohabiting on the Same Natural Coastal Site (Figuier,Boumerdes, Algeria)

Ocean Science Journal - Biological monitoring has become one of the most widely used approaches in aquatic monitoring. As a result, the effect of the xenobiotics entrained by the organic and...