Post-Aswan dam sedimentation rate of lagoons of the Nile Delta,Egypt

This study uses radiometric analysis (²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs) of short sediment cores with high-resolution sampling (1-cm interval) to trace sedimentation rates in the Nile Delta lagoons, particularly since completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1964. A declining trend in ²¹⁰Pb_ex as calculated by the CIC model is clearly identified in about 10 cm of the upper-core sediments from the lagoons of Manzala and Edku, accompanied by two spikes of ¹³⁷Cs in cores from the lagoons of Burullus and Edku. These findings illustrate average post-dam sedimentation rates ranging from 0.22 to 0.27 cm a⁻¹ in the lagoons, in contrast with those found previously based on low-resolution sampling. The lower sedimentation rates in the lagoons are a consequence of a dramatic reduction in riverine sediment load to the coastal area as a result of the damming. Although widespread erosion occurs along the open estuarine coast, the lagoon setting remains calmer than before due to coastal diking and freshwater regulation in the delta plain in the past decades. This provides the possibility of continuously preserved radiometric records in the less-bioturbated lagoon sediments. Dating individual layers using the CRS model has revealed increasing sedimentation rates in Manzala and Burullus since the 1980s, which can largely be explained as a consequence of the reduction in lagoon area due to intensifying reclamation. The post-dam sedimentation in the shrinking lagoons may have some adverse ecological consequences due to finer sediment’s affinity with pollutants. These findings would shed light on the environmental conservation and socioeconomic development in the Nile Delta region.     

PLL Tracking Performance in the Presence of Oscillator Phase Noise

The tracking performance of a Phase Lock Loop (PLL) is affected by the influence of several error sources. In addition to thermal noise and dynamic stress error, oscillator phase noise can cause significant phase jitter which degrades the tracking performance. Oscillator phase noise is usually caused by two different effects: Allan deviation phase noise is caused by frequency instabilities of the receiver's reference oscillator and the satellite's frequency standard. It can be termed as system-inherent phase noise and is relevant for both static and dynamic applications. “External” phase noise, however, is caused by vibration and is a major problem for dynamic applications. In the context of this paper, both types of phase noise will be modeled and the resulting integrals will be evaluated for PLLs up to the third order. Besides, phase jitter induced by thermal noise and signal dynamics will also be discussed, thus providing all necessary formulas for analyzing the performance of a phase lock loop in case of different forms of stress. Since the main focus is centered on the effects of oscillator phase noise, the overall PLL performance is graphically illustrated with and without consideration of oscillator phase noise. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Trace Metals in Selected Benthic Invertebrates from Belgian Coastal Waters (1981–1996)

Mercury, cadmium, lead, copper, zinc and chromium were assessed in brown shrimp (Crangon crangon), swimming crab (Liocarcinus holsatus), hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus), starfish (Asterias rubens) and cut trough shell (Spisula subtruncata) from ten sampling stations off the Belgian coast, including three dredge spoils disposal sites. Calculations of time trends indicated that on the whole concentrations of trace metals had significantly decreased since 1981, also on dredged material dumping sites. Starfish and hermit crab were found to be the most promising benthic indicator species for metal contamination. Globally, the location of the sites, including the dredge spoils disposal zones, showed to be of little influence on the concentrations of trace metals.     

一种用于海底类型聚类的新方法

By using sonar imaging, this paper presents a new algorithm for the clustering of seabed types based on the self-organizing feature maps （SOFM） neural network. The theory as well as data processing is studied in detail. Some valuable conclusions and suggestions are given     

Pulsatory characteristics of wind velocity in sand flow over typical underlying surfaces

Pulsatory characteristics of wind velocity in sand flow over Gobi and mobile sand surface have been investigated experimentally in the wind tunnel. The primary goal of this paper is to reveal the relation- ship between pulsatory characteristics of instantaneous wind speed in sand flow and the motion state of sand grains. For a given underlying surface, pulsation of wind velocities in sand flow on different heights has a good correlation. As the space distance among different heights increases, fluctuation of instantaneous wind speed presents a decreasing trend and its amplitude is closely related to the mo- tion state of sand grains and their transport. Pulsatory intensity increases with the indicated wind speed, but its relative value does not depend on it, only agrees with height.     

Evaluation of the effect of river style framework on water quality: application of geomorphological factors

The Tarwal River basin with an area of 6560.20 km² is located in the eastern part of Iranian Kurdistan Province. This river crosses the Qorveh and Dehgolan plains and joins the Ghezel Ozan River in Zanjan Province. The importance of this river as a source for drinking water and agricultural and industrial uses in the region necessitates the need for research in this field. The main purpose of this study is to identify the natural features of the riverbed from the perspective of river geomorphology and to investigate their impact on water quality and river self-purification capacity. To achieve this, the river style framework was employed. To investigate the effects of each style framework on the river, a total of 20 samples from the entrance and outlet of styles were obtained using Impact Assessment method and sampling standards which were later analyzed for their quality parameters including T, pH, EC, TDS, TSS, Na, Ca, Mg, K, Cl, F, NO₂, NO₃, SO₄, PO₄, DO, COD and BOD. The results indicated that the changes in the styles lead to changes in water quality and the impact of each style is greater on the physical parameters than the chemical parameters. The river self-purification capacity varied depending on the style. The maximum and the minimum self-purifications occurred in fine-grained Anabranching and low-sinuosity fine-grained styles, respectively.     

Output-only identification of the modal and physical properties of structures using free vibration response

The viability of a complete structural characterization of civil structures is explored and discussed. In particular, the identification of modal (i.e. natural frequencies, damping ratios and modal shapes) and physical properties (i.e. mass and stiffness) using only the structure’s free decay response is studied. To accomplish this, modal analysis from free vibration response only (MAFVRO) and mass modification (MM) methodologies are engaged along with Wavelet based techniques for optimal signal processing and modal reconstruction. The methodologies are evaluated using simulated and experimental data. The simulated data are extracted from a simple elastic model of a 5 story shear building and from a more realistic nonlinear model of a RC frame structure. The experimental data are gathered from shake table test of a 2-story scaled shear building. Guidelines for the reconstruction procedure from the data are proposed as the quality of the identified properties is shown to be governed by adequate selection of the frequency bands and optimal modal shape reconstruction. Moreover, in cases where the structure has undergone damage, the proposed identification scheme can also be applied for preliminary assessment of structural health.     

A contrast of two typical LUCC processes and their driving forces in oases of arid areas: A case study of Sangong River Watershed at the northern foot of Tianshan Mountains

Aerial photographs taken in 1978 and 1987, Landsat TM images in 1998 as well as soil, hydrology and socio-economic data for the oases in Sangong River Watershed were processed by Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS). There are two typical agricultural land uses in oases, Farm-based Land Use with large-scale intensified agricultural activities (FLU) and Household Responsibility-based Land Use with small-scale activities (HRLU). The Index Model of Land Use/Land Cover Change (LUCC), Weighted Index Sum (WIS) and logistic stepwise regression model were established to contrast the two typical LUCC processes and their driving forces. The land use patterns were dominated by cropland and grassland for the entire region, and cropland, residential and industrial land were increasing stably. In the HRLU areas, woodland and grassland declined dramatically, but in the FLU areas, grassland decreased only by 12.0%, whereas woodland increased by 13.7%. LUCC was stronger in the earlier stage (1978–1987) than in the later stage (1987–1998) for the entire region. LUCC was more intense in the HRLU areas than in the FLU areas during the entire period (1978–1998). Policy was a key factor in the land use change, and water resources were a precondition in land use. Under the control of policy and water resources, the main human driving factors included population and economy, and the main natural restrictions were soil fertility and groundwater depth. Human driving factors controlled the land change in the HRLU areas, but natural restriction factors dominated in the FLU areas. In the mean time, intensification of LUCC in the region had some spatiotemporal implications with a fluctuation of impact factors.