Spatial assessment of salinity and nitrate pollution in Amman Zarqa Basin: a case study

Intensive use of land resources in arid and semi-arid regions exert serious pressures on groundwater resources and jeopardize further socio-economical developments. The Amman-Zarqa Basin (AZB), the most vital basin in Jordan, is facing recent groundwater deterioration due to a very large increase in water demands for domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses. The objectives of this paper were to quantify the degree of contamination in the basin by evaluating the characteristics, distribution and seasonal variations of two pollution indicators (nitrate concentration and salinity) and to determine the impacts of human activities (land use) on groundwater quality. Based upon long-term data (1970–2005) of groundwater samples collected from 538 wells across the AZB, spatial analyses indicated that both indicators have a strong spatial dependence and are anisotropically distributed. Prediction maps of Ordinary Kriging and Indicator Kriging provided detailed indications of the major and minor sources of pollution in the basin. Inefficient wastewater treatment plants, industrial activities and agricultural practices were responsible for 91, 85, and 25% salinization of nearby wells, respectively. Nitrate pollution had reached 73% above threshold (50 mg/L) in some cases. The temporal analyses estimated the salinity buildup rate to be around 8 × 10⁻² μS/cm per day, while nitrate buildup rate was estimated to be around 6 × 10⁻² mg/L per day. Remote sensing and spatial analyses helped greatly in groundwater quality assessment not only in providing the environmental status of the AZB but also in delineating the potential of contamination risk zones and their correlation to human activities. Furthermore, the paper suggests some environmental protection strategies that should be adopted to protect the vital groundwater resources of the basin from further deterioration.     

Analysis of the Moberg et al. (2005) hemispheric temperature reconstruction

The Moberg et al. (Nature 433(7026):613–617, 2005. doi:10.1038/nature03265; M05) reconstruction of northern hemisphere temperature variations from proxy data has been criticised; the M05 method may artificially inflate low-frequency variance relative to reality. We test this assertion by undertaking several pseudoproxy experiments in three climate model simulations—one control run and two forced simulations that include several time-varying radiative forcings. The pseudoproxy series are designed to have the same variance spectra as the real M05 proxies, primarily to mimic the low-resolution character of several series. A simple composite-plus-scale (CPS) method is also analysed. In the CPS case all input data behave like annually resolved proxies. The spectral domain performance of both M05 and CPS is found to be dependent on the noise type and noise level in pseudoproxies, on the variance spectrum of the climate model simulation, and on the degree of data smoothing. CPS performs better than M05 in most investigated cases with the control run, but leads to deflated low-frequency variance in some cases. With M05, low-frequency variance tend to be inflated for the control run but not for one of the forced runs and only very slightly with the other forced simulation. Hence, the M05 approach does not routinely inflate low-frequency variance. In our experiment, the M05 approach performs better in the spectral domain than CPS when applied to forced climate model simulations. The results underscore the importance of evaluating the variance spectrum of climate reconstructions.     

Improving Short- and Long-term Stability of Underground Gypsum Mine Using Partial and Total Backfill

The stability of underground mines represents a key issue for active and abandoned mines. Over the last few years, several collapses of underground mines in France have affected existing buildings and infrastructures. Many factors are generally identified as the cause of failures: pillar ageing, fractures, and pillars’ height to width ratio, etc. Among the treatment techniques available to prevent instability and reduce the deterioration of pillars, backfill is the most frequently used. A research programme, supported by the French Ministry of the Environment, was developed to study the operability of partial and total backfill using waste material in the Livry-Gargan gypsum mine (near Paris, France), where pillar height is 17 m. The paper focuses on: (1) the characterisation of the gypsum and fill material (laboratory and in situ tests), (2) the in situ measurements, involving 5 pillars equipped with 19 pressure cells, since 1999, (3) and numerical modelling of fractured pillars performed in order to improve understanding of the effects of backfill on the stability of room-and-pillar mines. The study clearly shows the operability and the advantages of partial and total backfill for short-term pillar stability. The induced horizontal pressure generated by backfill can reach 200 kPa. The use of numerical modelling also shows the effect of backfill on fractures and that backfill reduces indicatively the shear displacement and the opening of fractures. Numerical modelling helps in identifying the mechanisms of backfill and in a better understanding of the behaviour of backfilled mines.     

Early Cretaceous migmatitic mafic granulites from the Sabzevar range (NE Iran): implications for the closure of the Mesozoic peri-Tethyan oceans in central Iran

The ophiolitic mélange of the Sabzevar Range (northern Iran) is a remnant of the Mesozoic oceanic basins on the northern margin of the Neotethys that were consumed during the Arabia–Eurasia convergence history. Occurrence of km-scale, dismembered mafic HP granulitic slices is reported in this study. Granulites record an episode of amphibole-dehydratation melting and felsic (tonalite/throndhjemite) melt segregation at c. 1.1 GPa and 800 °C. In situ U(-Th)–Pb geochronology of zircon and titanite grains hosted in melt segregations points to an Early Cretaceous (Albian) age for the metamorphic climax. Results of this study (i) impose reconsideration of the current palaeotectonic models of the Neothetyan convergent margin during the Early Cretaceous and (ii) argue that punctuated events of subduction of short-lived back-arc oceanic basins accompanied the long-lasting history of the Neotethyan subduction in the region.     

Experimental study of seismic behavior of two hilly sites in Tehran and comparison with 2D and 3D numerical modeling

Two hilly sites were selected to study seismic site response due to topography effects. The sites were selected in a manner to be as much as possible homogenous and free of the soft soil layers effects. The hills were instrumented by nine velocimetric stations to record microtremors and the obtained data were analyzed using horizontal to vertical spectral ratios. Some standard spectral ratio tests were performed on noise as well. Then the instrumented hills were modeled (both 2D and 3D) assuming a linear elastic constitutive behavior subjected to vertically propagating SV and P Ricker wavelets. All calculations were performed in time domain using direct boundary element method. Different transfer function components, amplification patterns and spectral ratios were calculated in frequency domain. The frequency of vibration, obtained by experimental studies, is between 4 and 5 Hz for both of the hills. The spectral ratios derived by numerical simulations were compared with the observed spectral ratios. They show relatively good similarities between the results of these two methods. The frequencies of vibration derived from different methods seem to be nearly identical. The agreement in term of resonance frequency between microtremors and numerical modeling suggests that noise measurements could represent a simple, even if preliminary, tool in order to identify possible topographic amplification.     

Dynamic response of double beam rested on stochastic foundation under harmonic moving load

This paper deals with the dynamic response of infinite double Euler–Bernoulli beam supported by elastic foundation with stochastic stiffness subjected to an oscillating moving load, which is the first research in relevant literature review. In this matter, equations of motion for double beam are formulated in a moving frame of reference. Moreover, by employing the first order perturbation theory and calculating contour integration, the response of double beam is obtained analytically and validated by a stochastic finite element model. Sensitivity analyses on the various parameters of closed form solution such as velocity, load frequency, coefficient of variation of soil foundation and rail and slab bending stiffness show the significant effect of load frequency on the dynamic response of the doubled beam. From practical point of view, the obtained results of the present study can be utilized efficiently in analysis and design of slab track systems. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High‐frequency streamflow acquisition and bed level/flow angle estimates in a mountainous river using shallow‐water acoustic tomography

The acquisition of reliable discharge estimates is crucial in hydrological studies. This study demonstrates a promising acoustic method for measuring streamflow at high sampling rate for a long period using the fluvial acoustic tomography system (FATS). The FATS recently emerged as an innovative technique for continuous measurements of streamflow. In contrast to the traditional point/transect measurements of discharge, the FATS enables the depth‐averaged and range‐averaged flow velocity along the ray path to be measured in a fraction of a second. The field test was conducted in a shallow gravel‐bed river (0.9 m deep under low‐flow conditions, 115 m wide) for 1 month. The parameters (stream direction and bottom elevation) required for calculating the streamflow were deduced by a nonlinear regression to the discharge data from the well‐established rating curve. The cross‐sectional average velocities were automatically calculated from the acoustic data, which were collected on both riverbanks every 30 s. The FATS was connected to the internet so that the real‐time flow data could be obtained. The FATS captured discharge variations at a cut‐off frequency of approximately 70 day^?1. The stream exhibited temporal discharge changes at multiple time scales ranging from a few tens of minutes to days. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.