Textural characteristics of dust fallout and potential effect on public health in Kuwait City and suburbs

The textural and mineralogical characteristics of the dust fallout along with the potential effect on human health were investigated at 12 locations in Kuwait City and suburbs during March 2006–February 2007. Mineralogically, the dust comprises mostly calcite and quartz with grain size ranging from 1 to 25 μm. Chemically, elements such as Ca, Fe, Mg, and Al are the dominant ones with the highest amount of average percentage concentration 12.89% for Ca. Results showed that humans in the 12 sites are being exposed to different ranges of average percentage concentrations of minerals such as calcite (15.00–51.80%), quartz (26.40–66.9%), albite (6.30–17.30%), dolomite (1.20–10.20%), and gypsum (0.00–6.4%), where site K3 recorded the lowest average concentrations for calcite, dolomite, and gypsum and the highest for quartz, and albite. The elements Ca, Fe, Mg, Al, K, Zn, Na, Cr, and Cd recorded ranges of (5.845–12.890%), (0.946–3.141%), (0.752–2.513%), (0.545–2.261%), (0.059–0.307%), (0.004–0.792%), (0.003–0.018%), (0.001–0.005%) and <0.0004%, respectively. Inhalation of such concentrations of calcite particles may cause coughing, sneezing, and nasal irritation, and in cases of chronic exposure to excessive oral doses of calcite may produce alkalosis and hypercalcemia. Quartz can have potentially serious respiratory effects following long-term exposure (1 year or more) which is the case here in our study. Comparing with international and local standards, it is highly likely that harmful and hazardous effects on the human body are being experienced by long-term exposure to dust fallout in Kuwait.     

New analytical solution of the dispersion equation

The dispersion of pollutants from a point source is analytically investigated taking into consideration the vertical variation of both wind speed and eddy diffusivity. The deposition of the diffusing particles on the ground is taken into account throughout the boundary conditions. The concentration of pollutants under different atmospheric stabilities was found assuming that the vertical diffusion is limited by an elevated inversion layer. The decay distance of a pollutant along the wind direction for different atmospheric stabilities was derived. The resulting analytical formulae have been applied on a case study namely, the emission from the research reactor at Inshas. The results are discussed and presented in illustrative figures.     

A Least-squares Minimization Approach to Depth Determination from Magnetic Data

—We have developed a least-squares minimization approach to depth determination from magnetic data. By defining the anomaly value T(0) at the origin and the anomaly value T(N) at any other distance (N) on the profile, the problem of depth determination from magnetic data has been transformed into finding a solution to a nonlinear equation of the form f(z)=0. Formulas have been derived for a sphere, horizontal cylinder, dike, and for a geologic contact. Procedures are also formulated to estimate the effective magnetization intensity and the effective magnetization inclination. A scheme for analyzing the magnetic data has been formulated for determining the model parameters of the causative sources. The method is applied to synthetic data with and without random errors. Finally, the method is applied to two field examples from Canada and Arizona. In all cases examined, the estimated depths are found to be in goodagreement with actual values.     

Least-squares Minimization Approaches to Interpret Total Magnetic Anomalies Due to Spheres

We have developed three different least-squares approaches to determine successively: the depth, magnetic angle, and amplitude coefficient of a buried sphere from a total magnetic anomaly. By defining the anomaly value at the origin and the nearest zero-anomaly distance from the origin on the profile, the problem of depth determination is transformed into the problem of finding a solution of a nonlinear equation of the form f(z)=0. Knowing the depth and applying the least-squares method, the magnetic angle and amplitude coefficient are determined using two simple linear equations. In this way, the depth, magnetic angle, and amplitude coefficient are determined individually from all observed total magnetic data. The method is applied to synthetic examples with and without random errors and tested on a field example from Senegal, West Africa. In all cases, the depth solutions are in good agreement with the actual ones.     

Diagenesis and reservoir quality analysis in the Lower Cretaceous Qishn sandstones from Masila oilfields in the Sayun–Masila Basin,eastern Yemen

Lower Cretaceous sandstones of the Qishn Formation have been studied by integrating sedimentological, petrological and petrophysical analyses from wells in the Masila oilfields of eastern Yemen. These analyses were used to define the origin, type of diagenesis and its relation to reservoir quality. The sandstones of the Qishn Formation are predominately quartz arenite to subarkose arenite with sublitharenite and quartz wackes displaying a range of porosities, averaging 22.33%. Permeability is likewise variable with an average of 2844.2 mD. Cementation coupled with compaction had an important effect on porosity destruction after sedimentation and burial. The widespread occurrence of early calcite cement suggests that the sandstones of the Qishn Formation lost significant primary porosity at an early stage of its diagenetic history. In addition to poikilotopic calcite, several different cements including kaolinite, illite, chlorite and minor illite–smectite occur as pore‐filling and pore‐lining cements, which were either accompanied by or followed the development of the early calcite cement. Secondary porosity development occurred due to partial to complete dissolution of early calcite cements and feldspar grains. The new data presented in this paper suggest the reservoir quality of Qishn sandstones is strongly linked to their diagenetic history; hence, the reservoir quality is reduced by clay minerals, calcite and silica cements but is enhanced by the dissolution of the unstable grains, in addition to partial or complete dissolution of calcite cements and unstable grains. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interpretation of Magnetic Data Through Particle Swarm Optimization: Mineral Exploration Cases Studies

Natural Resources Research - This paper emphasizes the use of the particle swarm optimization to infer second moving average residual magnetic anomalies. This approach was used to remove the impact...     

Effect of the plume rise and wind speed on extreme value of air pollutant concentration

Summary Extreme values of the ground level concentration of air pollutants were evaluated as a function of plume rise Δh, and wind speed in two cases. Firstly, when a plume rise depends on the downwind distance x, and secondly, with a constant plume rise (i.e., independent on x). Also, the extreme values for the effective stack height were evaluated for different stability classes. The maximum value of the ground level concentration was obtained in unstable stability when plume rise depends on x and in the neutral stability when plume rise independent on x. Also, in stable case, the extreme values of the ground level concentration of air pollutants showed similar values in the two cases when plume rise depends on x, and with constant plume rise. Finally, it was found that the extreme value of the ground level concentration occurred near the stack and after that it was decreases in all stabilities.     

Sedimentological and geoenvironmental evaluation of the coastal area between Al-Khowkhah and Al-Mokha,southeastern Red Sea,Republic of Yemen

The increasing anthropogenic activities (e.g., constructing touristic resorts) have led to notable changes in the Yemeni Red Sea coastal regions. In this context, recent sediments have been investigated to infer possible natural and man-induced processes on these coastal areas. The target area lies between longitudes 43°13′–43°30′E and latitudes 13°15′–13°55′N. It extends about 90 km along the coastline as a part of the Tihama plain. Geomorphologically, it forms a long-curved stretch with pronounced headlands, embayments and bays. Generally, it is covered by recent sediments (wadi, lagoon, beach and spit deposits along with sabkha, coastal dunes and mangrove). Textural studies reveal that most of the studied sediments are mainly poorly to moderately sorted and are composed mainly of sandy fractions with few gravel and mud, mostly bimodal with minor unimodal patterns. The igneous (granites) as well as basic (basalt, andesite and andesitic pyroclastics) and acidic (dacite and rhyolite) volcanic rocks of Tertiary age, which are exposed to the east of the study area, are believed to be the source of pyroxenes, amphiboles, epidotes, biotite, sphene, zircon, tourmaline and rutile, in a decreasing order of abundance. Moreover, smectite, kaolinite, chlorite, illite and palygorskite are the predominant clay minerals, mainly of detrital origin. The total carbonate content fluctuates from 37.41% (lagoon sediments) to 53.74% (sabkha sediments). The high amount of sea grasses, which covers the tidal flat zone and relates to the fine-grained sediments, accounts for the high organic matter content. The mineralogy of the source rocks has controlled the general distribution of major elements (Fe, Mg, Na, K and Mn) in the beach sediments. In such sediments, the concentrations of the heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni, Pb and Co) may reflect the sediment pollution using different approaches. The enrichment factors (EFs) of the trace metals for most samples reveal values that are greater than 1, referring to three groupings, which are: moderate to moderately severe (Zn, Cu and Mn), minor to moderate (Pb and Co) and zero to minor (Cd and Ni) enrichment. The EFs for Pb, Cd, Ni and Co metals (<5) may be attributed to the crustal materials and/or natural weathering processes. But, those for Zn, Cu and Mn (>5), especially in Al-Khowkhah–Abu-Zahr, Moushij–Zahari–Ruays, Yokhtol and Mokha localities, are possible of anthropogenic contributions.     

A new least-squares minimization approach to depth and shape determination from magnetic data

We have developed a least‐squares minimization approach to depth determination using numerical second horizontal derivative anomalies obtained from magnetic data with filters of successive window lengths (graticule spacings). The problem of depth determination from second‐derivative magnetic anomalies has been transformed into finding a solution to a non‐linear equation of the form, f(z) = 0. Formulae have been derived for a sphere, a horizontal cylinder, a dike and a geological contact. Procedures are also formulated to estimate the magnetic angle and the amplitude coefficient. We have also developed a simple method to define simultaneously the shape (shape factor) and the depth of a buried structure from magnetic data. The method is based on computing the variance of depths determined from all second‐derivative anomaly profiles using the above method. The variance is considered a criterion for determining the correct shape and depth of the buried structure. When the correct shape factor is used, the variance of depths is less than the variances computed using incorrect shape factors. The method is applied to synthetic data with and without random errors, complicated regionals, and interference from neighbouring magnetic rocks. Finally, the method is tested on a field example from India. In all the cases examined, the depth and the shape parameters are found to be in good agreement with the actual parameters.