Evaluating scale effects and bearing portions in centrifuge modeling of helical anchors: sand

Acta Geotechnica - Helical anchors are bearing elements that can resist uplift loads by a combination of shaft and helical plate bearing. The application of helical piles as offshore wind turbine...     

Management of saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers using different wells systems: a case study of the Nile Delta aquifer in Egypt

Hydrogeology Journal - Saltwater intrusion (SWI) is a type of pollution that adversely affects the quality of groundwater in coastal aquifers. The Nile Delta aquifer (NDA) in Egypt contains a large...     

Shoreline spatial and temporal response to natural and human effects in Boujagh National Park,Iran

Shoreline variation and river deltas are among the most dynamic systems in marine environments. The related different variations in spatial and temporal scales play significant roles in land planning and different management applications. Modeling the dynamics of seashore of Boujagh National Park (BNP) which is located on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea in the Sefidrud Delta (SD), considering natural and anthropogenic factors, was the main objective of the current study. To achieve this goal, a combination of remote sensing data, historical data, and numerical simulations was utilized. The BNP covers an area of 3,270 ha and includes two international wetlands, Boujagh and Kiashahr. In earlier periods, this area faced severe morphological changes whereas recently its shoreline has experienced gradual variations. Accordingly, at the first stage, the shoreline variation from 2006 to 2017 was extracted by processing and classifying Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thematic Mapper (TM) images from Landsat satellites using the Maximum Likelihood approach. In the second stage, the two dimensional MIKE21 model was utilized to identify wave and coastal current patterns and parameters for the year 2015. Morphologically, the results showed that, the shoreline of the BNP is affected by several natural and anthropogenic factors. Seaward advancement of the shoreline occurred in zones A (east zone) and C (west zone) due to Caspian Sea Level drop and sedimentation while retreating occurred at Zone B (north zone) influenced by wave and current patterns and reduction of the Sefidrud River flows. Also, the results imply that maintaining the existing conditions results in the disappearance of a considerable part of the ecological area in the BNP. Hence, to manage and preserve the coastline of the BNP complying with the current anthropogenic and natural factors, it is vital to take necessary management measures.     

Simulating urban growth under planning policies through parcel-based cellular automata (ParCA) model

In recent decades, the cellular automata model, among the urban development prediction models, has been applied considerably. Studies show that the output of conventional cellular automata models is sensitive to cell size and neighborhood structure, and varies with changes in the size of these parameters. To solve this problem, vector-based cellular automata models have been introduced which have overcome the mentioned limitations and presented better results. The aim of this study was to present a parcel-based cellular automata (ParCA) model for simulating urban growth under planning policies. In this model, undeveloped areas are first subdivided into smaller parcels, based on some geometric parameters; then, neighborhood effect of parcels is defined in a radial structure, based on a weighted function of distance, area, land-use, and service level of irregular cadastral parcels. After that, neighborhood effect is evaluated using three components, including compactness, dependency and compatibility. The presented model was implemented and analyzed using data from municipal region 22 of Tehran. The obtained results indicated the high ability of ParCA model in allocating various land-uses to parcels in the appropriateness of the layout of different land-uses. This model can be used in decision-making and urban land-use planning activities, since it provides the possibility of allocating different urban land-use types and assessing different urban-growth scenarios.     

Biostratigraphy,sequence stratigraphy,and paleoecology of the Lower–Middle Miocene of Northern Bandar Abbas,Southeast Zagros basin in south of Iran

The Guri Member is a limestone interval at the base of the calcareous marls of the Mishan Formation. It is the youngest hydrocarbon reservoir of the southeast part of the Zagros sedimentary basin. This Member overlaid siliciclastic rocks of Razak Formation and is overlain by green and gray marls of the Mishan Formation. In order to consider the paleoecology and paleoenvironments of the Lower–Middle Miocene (Guri Member), we have studied biostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy of the Guri Member based on foraminifer and microfacies in two stratigraphic sections including Dorahi–Homag and Chahestan. A total of 33 genera and 56 species of benthic and planktonic foraminifera were identified in two studied stratigraphic sections. Benthic and planktonic foraminifera demonstrate Aquitanian to Langhian age (Early–Middle Miocene) for this Member at the study area. Studied interval has deposited in four facies association including supratidal, lagoon, coral reef, and open sea on a carbonate ramp. Carbonate rocks of the Guri Member have precipitated in two and three depositional sequences at Chahestan and Dorahi–Homag sections, respectively. Sedimentation of marine carbonates of the Guri Member on siliciclastic deposits reflects a major transgression of sea level at Lower to Middle Miocene that led to creating a new sea in the Zagros basin at that age. Increasing siliciclastic influx along with a sea level fall finally caused burying of the carbonate ramp. Except for the beginning of sedimentation of carbonate at the base of both stratigraphic sections (depositional sequence 1), most of the system tracts are not matched to global sea level curve that reflect local effects of the basin. Distribution of foraminifera suggests precipitation in tropical to subtropical in mesotrophic to oligotrophic and eutrophic to oligotrophic conditions. Based on large benthic foraminifera (porcelaneous large benthic foraminifera and hyaline larger benthic foraminifera), water temperature average was determined between 25 and 30 °C that was confirmed by analyzing oxygen and carbon stable isotopes. Finally, we have utilized achieved data to reconstruction and modeling of paleoecology, paleoenvironments, and sea level changes in the southeast part of the Zagros basin.     

Application of disjunctive kriging for estimating economic grade distribution in an iron ore deposit: A case study of the Choghart North Anomaly,Iran

Most significant iron ore deposits in Iran are located in Central Iran Zone. These deposits belong to the Bafq mining district. The Bafq mining district is located in the Early Cambrian Kashmar-Kerman volcanic arc of Central Iran. Linear estimation of regionalized variables (for example by inverse distance weighting or ordinary Kriging) results in relatively high estimation variances, i.e. the estimates have very low precision. Assessment of project economics (or other critical decision making) based on linear estimation is therefore risky. Non-linear estimation methods like disjunctive kriging perform better and the lower estimation variance allows less risky economic decision-making. Another advantage of disjunctive kriging is that it allows estimation of functions of the primary variable, which here is the grade (Fe %) of the ore. In particular it permits estimation of indicator functions defined using thresholds on the primary variable. This paper is devoted to application of disjunctive kriging method in Choghart North Anomaly iron ore deposit in Central Iran, Yazd province, Iran. In this study, the Fe concentration of Choghart North Anomaly iron ore deposit was modelled and estimated. The exploration data consists of borehole samples measuring the Fe concentration. A Gaussian isofactorial model is fitted to these data and disjunctive kriging was used to estimate the regionalized variable (Fe %) at unsampled locations and to assess the probabilities that the actual concentrations exceed a threshold value at a given location. Consequently a three dimensional model of probability of exceeding a threshold value and the estimated value are provided by disjunctive kriging to divide the ore into an economic and uneconomic part on the basis of estimation of indicator functions using thresholds grades defined on point support. The tools and concepts are complemented by a set of computer programs that are applied to the case study. The study showed that disjunctive kriging can be applied successfully for modeling the grade of an ore deposit. Results showed that the correlation between the estimated value and real value at locations close to each other is 81.9%.     

Response of sediment-dwelling annelida community in relation to geochemical parameters in the Gorgan Bay,Caspian Sea

This study aimed to investigate the population of annelida communities in relation to environmental factors and heavy metals accumulated in sediments of the Gorgan Bay. The pollution load index and potential ecological risk (PER) were calculated. The results indicated mean concentrations (ppm) of heavy metals were (mean ± SD) Pb: 11.5 ± 4.88, Cu: 18 ± 8.83, Zn: 42 ± 22.15, Ni: 29.20 ± 14.68, Co: 10.56 ± 14.68, As: 7.77 ± 2.12, Sr: 1,449 ± 902.59 and V: 26.64 ± 10.25. Considering PER, sediments of the Gorgan Bay had low ecological risk. Based on abundance data, dominant species were Streblospio gynobranchiata, Nereis diversicolor, Tubificoides fraseri and Tubificidae unknown, respectively. Results of redundancy analysis displayed that T. fraseri and N. diversicolor were associated with high values of Sr. All the species were negatively correlated with As. There were positive correlation between S. gynobranchiata and N. diversicolor with values of clay, salinity, depth and silt. The present study provided the relative importance of heavy metals and environmental variables which partly assist in structuring assemblages of annelida in a transitional area.