Contemporary 14C radiocarbon levels of oxygenated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (O-PBDEs) isolated in sponge-cyanobacteria associations

Considerable debate surrounds the sources of oxygenated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (O-PBDEs) in wildlife as to whether they are naturally produced or result from anthropogenic industrial activities. Natural radiocarbon (¹⁴C) abundance has proven to be a powerful tool to address this problem as recently biosynthesized compounds contain contemporary (i.e. modern) amounts of atmospheric radiocarbon; whereas industrial chemicals, mostly produced from fossil fuels, contain no detectable ¹⁴C. However, few compounds isolated from organisms have been analyzed for their radiocarbon content. To provide a baseline, we analyzed the ¹⁴C content of four O-PBDEs. These compounds, 6-OH-BDE47, 2′-OH-BDE68, 2′,6-diOH-BDE159, and a recently identified compound, 2′-MeO-6-OH-BDE120, were isolated from the tropical marine sponges Dysidea granulosa and Lendenfeldia dendyi. The modern radiocarbon content of their chemical structures (i.e. diphenyl ethers, C₁₂H₂₂O) indicates that they are naturally produced. This adds to a growing baseline on, at least, the sources of these unusual compounds.     

Influence of flooding on groundwater flow in central Cambodia

Cambodia is affected by flooding from the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers every year, which harms human populations and damages property, as well as alters the water quality in aquifer systems. The objective of this paper is to highlight the effects of river flooding on groundwater flow using numerical simulation. A two-dimensional groundwater flow model coupled with a groundwater recharge model was applied to the research area in central Cambodia. River level variation was included in model processes, and flood areas and periods were assigned. The results showed that during flooding periods, floodwater from the three rivers played an important role in recharging groundwater. During the dry season, Tonle Sap River received groundwater supply from the northwest, and levels in the Bassac and Mekong River dropped to lower than the groundwater level. This study improves understanding of the surface water and groundwater flow system in the study area.     

Recharge of the plio-quaternary water table aquifer in Tunisian chotts region estimated from stable isotopes

The hydrodynamic groundwater data and stable isotopes of water have been used jointly for better understanding of upward leakage and mixing processes in the Djerid aquifer system (southwestern Tunisia). The aquifer system is composed of the upper unconfined Plio-Quaternary (PQ) aquifer, the intermediate (semi-)confined Complex Terminal (CT) aquifer and the deeper confined Continental Intercalaire (CI) aquifer. A total of 41 groundwater samples from the CT and PQ aquifers were collected during June 2001. The stable isotope composition of waters establishes that the CT deep groundwater (depleted as compared to present Nefta local rainfall) is ancient water recharged during late Quaternary time. The relatively recent water in the shallow PQ aquifer is composed of mixed water resulting from upward leakage and sporadic meteoric recharge. In order to characterize the meteoric input signal for PQ in the study area, rainfall water samples were collected during 4 years (2000–2003) at the Nefta meteorological station. Weighted mean values of isotopic contents with respect to rainfall amounts have been computed. Despite the short collection period in the study area, results agree with those found in Beni Abbes (southwestern Algerian Sahara) by Fontes on 9 years of rainfall surveillance. Stable isotopic relationships provide clear evidence of shallow PQ aquifer replenishment by deep CT groundwater. The ¹⁸O/upward leakage rate allowed the identification of distinctive PQ waters related to CT aquifer configuration (confined in the western part of the study area, semi-permeable in the eastern part). These trends were confirmed by the relation ¹⁸O/TDS. The isotope balance model indicated a contribution of up to 75% of the deep CT groundwater to the upper PQ aquifer in the western study area, between Nefta and Hazoua.     

InSAR analysis of a blind thrust rupture and related active folding: the 1999 Ain Temouchent earthquake (M w 5.7, Algeria) case study

We study the surface deformation associated with the 22 December 1999 earthquake, a moderate sized but damaging event at Ain Temouchent (northwestern Algeria) using Interferometric Satellite Aperture Radar images (InSAR). The mainshock focal mechanism solution indicates reverse faulting with a NE–SW trending rupture comparable to other major seismic events of this section of the Africa–Eurasia plate boundary. Previously, the earthquake fault parameters were, however, poorly known because no aftershocks were precisely determined and no coseismic surface ruptures were observed in the field. Using a pair of ERS data with small baseline and short temporal separation in the ascending orbit we obtained an interferogram that shows the coseismic surface displacement field despite poor coherence. The interferogram measures four fringes and displays an ellipse-shaped lobe with ∼11 cm peak line-of-sight displacement. The elastic modeling using a boundary element method (Poly3Dinv) indicate coseismic slip reaching up to 1 m at 5 km depth on the N 57° E trending, dipping 32° NW Tafna thrust fault. The geodetic estimate of seismic moment is 4.7 × 10¹⁷ N m. (Mw 5.7) in is good agreement with seismological results. The elliptical shape of the surface displacement field coincides with the NE–SW trending Berdani fault-related fold. The consistency between the geological observations and InSAR solution shed light on the precise earthquake location and related Tafna fault parameters.     

Provenance,weathering, and paleoenvironment of the Upper Cretaceous Duwi black shales,Aswan Governorate,Egypt

The mineralogy and geochemistry of the Upper Cretaceous Duwi black shales of Nile Valley district, Aswan Governorate, Egypt, have been investigated to identify the source rock characteristics, paleoweathering, and paleoenvironment of the source area. The Duwi Formation consists mainly of phosphorite and black shales and is subdivided into three members. The lower and upper members composed mainly of phosphorite beds intercalated with thin lenses of gray shales, while the middle member is mainly composed of gray shale, cracked, and filled with gypsum. Mineralogically, the Duwi black shales consist mainly of smectite and kaolinite. The non-clay minerals are dominated by quartz, calcite, phosphate, dolomite, feldspar, with little gypsum, anhydrite, iron oxides, and pyrite. Based on the CIA, PIA, and CIW values (average?=?84, 94, 95, respectively), it can be concluded that the litho-components of the studied shales were subjected to intense chemical weathering and reflect warm/humid climatic conditions in the depositional basin. The provenance discrimination diagram indicates that the nature of the source rocks probably was mainly intermediate and mafic igneous sources with subordinate recycled sedimentary rocks (Nubia Formation). Geochemical characteristics indicate that the Duwi black shales in Nile Valley district were deposited under anoxic reducing marine environments.     

Geology and rare-earth element geochemistry of highly evolved, molybdenite-bearing granitic plutons, Southeastern Desert, Egypt

The field relations, mineralogy, and major and trace elements (including REE analyses of whole-rock samples and minerals) of granites and their associated molybdenite uranium mineralized aplites in Southeastern Desert, Egypt, have been studied. The granites are leucocratic and mostly peraluminous in nature with muscovite increasing at the expense of biotite. The chemical and mineralogical characteristics of the granitic rocks indicate that their melts originated from the LILE-enriched mantle wedge by partial melting and are contaminated by crustal melts, followed by thermogravitational processes. Leucogranites with higher Na2O/K2O ratios from Um Dargag and Um Maiat crystallized under H2O-saturated equilibrium conditions in which the exsolved vapor continuously migrated away. The REE patterns of the granites studied are characterized by LREE enrichments and negative Eu anomalies. In comparison, the potassic aplites and the more sodic leucogranites are depleted in LREE, enriched in HREE and show more remarkable negative Eu anomalies. Allanite and monazite are the most important REE carriers in the granites. These minerals are strongly enriched in LREE, whereas fluorite and xenotime, which are more abundant in the aplites, are enriched in HREE. The average Lu/Ce ratio represents the fractionation trend with respect to HREE. It is 0.71 for radioactive fluorite, and it increases to 1.22 for non-radioactive fluorite. The high REE contents of molybdenite represent re-deposition of the mobilized Mo and REE. Due to the strong control of accessory minerals, the REEs are of limited use in petrogenetic modelling of highly evolved granitic systems.     

Jewish settlement and its economic impact on the West Bank, 1967–1987

This paper focuses on the process of Jewish settlement in the West Bank and its economic consequences in the period from 1967 to the outbreak of the Intifada late in 1987. It attempts to show that this process is the practical application of Israeli objectives which are based on expansion and occupation of neighbouring Arab lands, facilitated by the fashioning of a dual or bifurcate economy there.After the war of June 1967, Israeli occupation authorities started to draw up plans with a view to settling Jews in the West Bank. There has been an increase in the numbers of settlements and settlers, estimated at 122 and 52,000 respectively in 1987. The pattern of settlement distribution is randomly dispersed, although it is concentrated in a region located to the NW of Jerusalem. The settlement began in the Jordan valley and extended gradually westward in the highlands.Jewish settlement has affected economic development of the West Bank, where there were many constraints on Arab agriculture and industry. Inequality is evident between settlers and Palestinians in an economy that has been structurally bifurcated: although settlers represent about 3% of total population of the West Bank, their economic activity constitutes at least 35% of the GDP of the West Bank.