Kinematic Evolution Model of Fault-Related Anticline based on the Study of the Striated Pebbles of the Related Growth-Strata: A Case Study of the Es Satah Anticline in Southern Tunisian Atlas,Tunisia

Geotectonics - Through several stations on the forelimb of the Es Satah anticline belonging to Gafsa basin part of the southern Tunisian Atlas, an analysis of the striations encountered on the...     

A possible continuum theory for densification and liquefaction of saturated sand

A previously developed continuum theory of granular media is applied to the problems of densification and liquefaction of saturated sand. An expression for the free energy of saturated sand is developed. The process of densification of sand subjected to cyclic shear stress is studied and several expressions for an increase of the solid volume fraction are obtained and discussed. The problem of the initial liquefaction of saturated sand samples under cyclic shear stress is then considered and several criteria relating the shear stress amplitude, over-burden pressure, time to liquefaction, and physical properties of the sand sample are established. Some semiempirical relations for field applications are also presented.     

Mental health preparedness for natural disasters in Iran

Appropriate emergency preparedness and response rely on social, economical, cultural, and political infrastructures, which vary widely according to the level of the development of each country. Mental health damages are among the consequences of absence of such infrastructure, which have not been studied comprehensively till to date. In most countries, planning for natural disasters and earthquakes has been mainly focused on physical and economical impacts; however, lessons learnt from recent earthquakes in Iran and other countries show that psychological impacts need to be considered more seriously. The first responder to an emergency is really the affected community, which consequently should be mentally prepared by appropriate training programs. These should include simple psychosocial interventions developed for people with average level of education in a way to be easily understandable and practicable. After the Bam earthquake, local community volunteers have been selected and trained to provide post-disaster mental health services.     

Reservoir Modeling by Data Integration via Intermediate Spaces and Artificial Intelligence Tools in MPS Simulation Frameworks

Conditioning stochastic simulations are very important in many geostatistical applications that call for the introduction of nonlinear and multiple-point data in reservoir modeling. Here, a new methodology is proposed for the incorporation of different data types into multiple-point statistics (MPS) simulation frameworks. Unlike the previous techniques that call for an approximate forward model (filter) for integration of secondary data into geologically constructed models, the proposed approach develops an intermediate space where all the primary and secondary data are easily mapped onto. Definition of the intermediate space, as may be achieved via application of artificial intelligence tools like neural networks and fuzzy inference systems, eliminates the need for using filters as in previous techniques. The applicability of the proposed approach in conditioning MPS simulations to static and geologic data is verified by modeling a real example of discrete fracture networks using conventional well-log data. The training patterns are well reproduced in the realizations, while the model is also consistent with the map of secondary data.     

Clinopyroxene chemistry in Tertiary alkaline volcanic rocks from Taleghan,central Alborz,Iran: Implications for two parental melts

In the Taleghan area of Alborz mountain range, two distinct units of alkaline rocks are identified. Whole rock major and trace element data does not provide a clue as to their common or different parental melts. However, major and trace element geochemistry of their included clinopyroxene phenocrysts, combined with the whole rock data, helped to infer that two parental magmas were involved in the evolution of volcanic succession in the Taleghan area.     

Petrology and geochemistry of the granitoid complex of Boroujerd, Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, Western Iran

The Middle Jurassic Boroujerd Granitoid Complex of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (with a U–Pb zircon age of 169–172 Ma) was emplaced in an active continental margin setting. This complex consists of three main units: an elongate NW–SE extending granodioritic unit (SiO₂ = 58–71 wt%), which is widespread throughout the area, a quartz-dioritic unit (SiO₂ = 52–63 wt%), exposed as small stocks within the granodioritic body, and a monzogranitic unit (SiO₂ = 70–75 wt%), widely scattered as separate small outcrops through the southern part of the area. A series of NW trending aplites and pegmatites are present in the granodioritic unit and its aureole.Geochemically this complex is metaluminous to slightly peraluminous, typical of I-type granites. It belongs to high-K calc-alkaline series and displays the geochemical characteristics typical of volcanic arc granites related to an active continental margin (e.g. significant Nb, Ti, P and Sr depletion). Isotopic data (Sr_i = 0.7062–0.7074 and εNd_t = −3.02 to −3.62) are consistent with a crustal protolith. In addition, fractional crystallization may have played an important role in the formation of the whole spectrum of the granitoid types that occur in the Boroujerd area.     

Refining the OSL age of the last earthquake on the Dheshir fault,Central Iran

In Central Iran there are several cities along the Dehshir fault, which have similar geological conditions to that of the city of Bam prior to the 2003 earthquake (Mw 6.5), during which more than 30,000 lives were lost. Optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) samples were collected from the Dehshir fault in order to place constraints on its seismic history. The single aliquot regenerative (SAR) dose measurement protocol on coarse grained quartz extracts was used for this study. This SAR protocol had to be optimized for the low OSL sensitivity by varying both the preheat temperatures and test doses used. Dose recovery tests showed that given laboratory dose could be successfully recovered. However, replicate palaeodose (D_e) data were scattered and consequently ages based on mean D_e's had large uncertainties. As this is thought to largely reflect poor bleaching conditions prior to sediment burial at the site, various statistical procedures were employed in conjunction with the stratigraphic knowledge of the site to try and extract more refined burial ages from the samples. From this the timing of the last earthquake was estimated around 2.0 ± 0.2 kyr. This refined age suggests that the earthquake catalogue of Iran is incomplete and more paleoseismological investigation is required to recognize and date the previous events of Dheshir fault.     

Experimental and analytical investigations on bearing capacity of strip footing in reinforced sand backfills and flexible retaining wall

This study focuses on the experimental and analytical investigations of small-scale physical model tests. For this purpose, a set of tests were conducted with and without reinforcement on the top of the backfill. The specimens were different in terms of parameters like the number of geotextile layers, the vertical distance between layers and the strip footing distance from the wall. Soil failure in the bearing capacity step and the backfill shear zones was analysed using particle image velocimetry methods. Bearing capacity of the strip footings was studied using analytical procedures. The results indicate that a reinforcing top zone of the flexible retaining structures may be more appropriate than unreinforced case. The ultimate bearing capacity and wall deflection can be significantly improved by increasing the number of reinforcement layers. When the three layers of reinforcement are used, there is an optimum vertical spacing of the layers at which the bearing capacity is the greatest (h/H?=?0.12, d/H?=?0.33 and u?=?B). The study shows that the analytical solution and the results from the experimental models are in good agreement.     

Stiffness identification of two- and three-dimensional frames

Four widely used structural system identification methods are presented. Based on Bayesian estimation theory, two new formulae and their derivations are shown. Time domain responses of two frames when subjected to the ground motion of the El Centro earthquake are computed then transformed to the frequency domain. Frequencies and mode shapes of frames are extracted from Fourier spectra. Using these frequencies and mode shapes, a parametric study is conducted, and the system identification methods are compared and discussed. The importance of a prior analytical model on the rate of convergence of the revised parameters is investigated. Recommendations are given regarding the feasibility of each method for more accurate estimation. A model suitable for parameter identification of three-dimensional frames is presented. This model, with different identification methods, is used to estimate the parameters of a two-storey frame.     

MATLAB programs for the synthetic models

The separation of residual gravity anomaly from regional gravity has considerably been studied for many years in gravity explorations. In addition, it is considered as a critical step in gravity data inversion. Some techniques have been developed for regional–residual anomaly separation both in space and frequency domains. One of these techniques for computing the regional anomaly is nonlinear filtering. In this paper, some techniques such as low-pass filtering, Butterworth, upward continuation, and nonlinear filtering are used to on synthetic gravity data in present of random noise and noise free for the purpose of residual–regional anomaly separation. The obtained results of techniques are compared with each other. The results have shown that separation methods are so efficient where synthetic models are located in shallow depth. Moreover, it is found that in comparison with other separation techniques, nonlinear filtering is more efficient in residual–regional anomaly separation and upward continuation technique is more efficient than Butterworth filter and low-pass filter. In addition, all of the obtained results have shown that Butterworth and low-pass filters are the same.