Nutrient acquisition and yield response of Barley exposed to salt stress under different levels of potassium nutrition

A greenhouse experiment was carried out in 2002 at Jordan University of Science and Technology, Agricultural Experiment Station to examine the effect of potassium fertilization on the response of barley (Hordeum vullgare L.) to different soil salinity levels. Five levels of potassium (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 g K per pot as KCl) and two salt levels (0.75 and 13 ds/m) were investigated in a split plot design with four replications. Soil salinity affected growth and yield component parameters in most of the cases. However, potassium application alleviated the stress condition and significantly (p < 0.05) improved dry matter yield and yield components in barley. The highest dry matter yield (19.63 g/ pot) of barley grown on the very saline soil was obtained in response to the highest potassium level (0.8 g K/ pot). Number of kernels per spike, number of tillers per plant, weight of kernels per spike and total top (shoot) dry weight were all significantly influenced by the main effects and their interaction. The content of nitrogen and Potassium in barley shoot was also increased due to potassium application. In general, the result of this experiment indicated that application of potassium to barley grown on saline soil medium could bring about improvements in yield and yield component parameters, which would otherwise suffer badly.     

Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of Estuarine Sediment as a Proposed Reference Material for Environmental Studies

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Marine Environmental Studies Laboratory (MEL) organised an intercomparison exercise, through its Analytical Quality Control Services (AQCS), for the determination of trace elements in estuarine sediment IAEA-405, well suited for the characterisation of sediments. The instrumental neutron activation analysis technique (INAA) was developed using a 27 kW low power research reactor. Forty elements in the sediment were determined with a measurement precision varying from 1.8% to 12.3%. IAEA reference materials SL-1 and SD-M-2/TM were analysed throughout this work as quality assurance samples.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene slip rate of the Northern Wadi Araba fault, Dead Sea Transform, Jordan

The Wadi Araba Valley is a morphotectonic depression along part of theDead Sea Transform (DST) plate boundary that separates the Arabian plateon the east from the Sinai subplate on the west. The Wadi Araba fault(WAF) is the main strike-slip faults one of between the Gulf of Aqaba and the E-Wtrending Khunayzira (Amatzayahu) fault that bounds the southern end ofthe Dead Sea. Just south of the Dead Sea, the WAF cuts across severalgenerations of alluvial fans that formed on tributaries to the Wadi Dahalafter the regression of Late Pleistocene Lake Lisan ca. 15 ka. Geomorphicand stratigraphic evidence of active faulting, including left-laterally offsetstream channels and alluvial-fan surfaces, yielded fault slip-rate data for thenorthern segment of WAF. Typical cumulative displacements of 54 m,39 m, and 22.5 m of stream channels and alluvial-fan surfaces acrossthe fault were measured from detailed geologic and topographic mapping.The 54 m offset of the oldest alluvial-fan surface (Q _f1 ) occurredafter the final lowering of Lake Lisan (16–15 ka) and before 11 ka yieldinga slip-rate range of 3.4 mm/yr to 4.9 mm/yr. Based on radiocarbonages of charcoal and landsnail shell samples from the buried Q _f2 alluvial-fan deposits exposed in trenches excavated across the fault, the39 m and 22.5 m offsets occurred after 9 ka and 5.8 ka, respectively. These data yield a slip-rate range between 3.9 mm/yr and 6.0 mm/yr.The small variability in these slip-rate estimates for different time periodssuggests that the northern Wadi Araba fault has maintained a relativelyconstant slip rate in the past 15 ka. We calculate an average slip rate of 4.7± 1.3 mm/yr since 15 ka based on the three separate displacementsand age estimates. Five separate offsets of 3 m were measured from gullybends and the offset of small fault-scarp alluvial fans. These displacementdata suggest a coseismic slip of 3 m in the last earthquake, or acumulative slip of 3 m in the past few earthquakes. A maximum slip of3 m correspond to a Mw 7 earthquake that ruptures about 49 km offault length. Using an average slip rate of 4.7 ± 1.3 mm/yr togetherwith a 3-m slip-per-event suggests a maximum earthquake recurrence intervalof this fault segment of 500 to 885 years.     

The effects of torsion and motion coupling in site response estimation

Soil amplification characteristics are investigated using data from the Chibaken‐Toho‐Oki earthquake and its aftershocks recorded at Chiba dense array in Japan. The frequency‐dependent amplification function of soil is calculated using uphole‐to‐downhole spectral ratio analysis, considering the horizontal components of shear wave. The identified spectral ratios consistently demonstrate the splitting of peaks in their resonance frequencies and low amplification values in comparison with a 1D model. The torsional behaviour and horizontal ground motion coupling are clarified as the reasons for these phenomena at the site. To prove the hypothesis, the torsional motion is directly evaluated using the data of the horizontal dense array in different depths at the site. The comparison between Fourier spectra of torsional motion and identified transfer functions reveals the peaks at the same frequencies. The wave equation including torsion and horizontal motion coupling is introduced and solved for the layered media by applying wave propagation theory. Using the developed model, the effects of torsional motion with horizontal motion coupling on soil transfer function are numerically examined. Splitting and low amplification at resonance frequencies are confirmed by the results of numerical analysis. Furthermore, the ground motion in two horizontal directions at the site is simulated using site geotechnical specification and optimizing the model parameters. The simulated and recorded motions demonstrate good agreement that is used to validate the hypothesis. In addition, the spectral density of torsional ground motions are compared with the calculated one and found to be well predicted by the model. Finally, the results are used to explain the overestimation of damping in back‐calculation of dynamic soil properties using vertical array data in small strain level. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Women's migration and quality of life in Turkey

Turkey's urban growth has been unprecedented for the last two decades with women playing an increasingly substantial role in its development. In this context, we examine determinants of women's migration and quality of life in cities in 1990 (the most recent published census of Turkey) and onwards. Factor analysis of provincial data identified three quality of life dimensions: affluence, deprivation, and housing. Substantial disparities in quality of life indices exist between men and women, urban and rural milieu, and geographic regions. Migrants, especially women, still tend to move with their families but they prefer provinces with high scores on (relative) urban affluence and avoid deprived, rural provinces. Thus Istanbul, Ankara, and southern coastal provinces are preferred destinations. Policy implications for urban growth, regional development, and gender equality relative to migration are discussed.     

Ensemble Spatial Interpolation: A New Approach to Natural or Anthropogenic Variable Assessment

Natural Resources Research - This paper presents a novel and versatile framework for building ensemble spatial interpolation functions. As with all ensemble methods, the central idea is to assemble...     

Utilization of bituminous limestone ash from EL-LAJJUN area for engineering applications

The following work aims at minimizing the environmental impact of the solid wastes (ash) that is produced after the utilization of the bituminous limestone in thermal power stations and /or retort processes. Limy ash has been prepared from the El-Lajjun bituminous limestone by direct combustion at 1,200, 950, and 525°C respectively. The laboratory tests have been selected with respect to construction needs and possible post construction conditions. Utilization of the various types of ash in the stabilization problematic soils from Jordan as brown soils and the clayey marl has revealed optimum results. The unconfined compressive strength of the parent brown soil and the clayey marl has been raised from 5 kg/cm² to 50 and 25 kg/cm², respectively. The CBR value has been raised from 4.5 to 150% for both problematic soil types. Various mortars and construction elements can be produced at normal room curing temperature without the use of ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Low quality sub-base and base course can be mixed with ash to produce cement treated base (CTB) and roller compacted concrete (RCC) without OPC. Durable pavements, embankments can be constructed with very long life and low cost. CTB and RCC utilizing ash can be used in dam construction instead of normal soil in earth fill dams. The high alkalinity of El-Lajjun ash is considered as a disadvantage to be utilized in normal concrete mixes for structural purposes. Ash only can be mixed with aggregates to produce lean concrete like for blinding purposes to be prepared for foundation activities.     

Independent Base Vector Representation to Address Endmember Variability in Hyperspectral Unmixing

The normal compositional model (NCM) is a well-known and powerful model in hyperspectral unmixing which represents endmembers as independent Gaussian vectors to capture endmember variability. However, the assumption of independent endmembers diminishes the model accuracy because the high degree of correlation between endmembers of a scene and identical sources of variability demonstrate that the endmembers are dependent. This paper proposes a new hyperspectral unmixing algorithm which represents endmembers using dependent Gaussian vectors to estimate abundance fractions. To overcome the higher complexity caused by dependence assumption, this algorithm introduces new independent Gaussian vectors named Base Vectors to represent different endmembers by a weighted linear combination. Also, the proposed unmixing algorithm uses maximum likelihood method to estimate weight coefficients of Base Vectors which are used to represent mixed pixel. Finally, abundance estimation can be done using the new representation for endmembers and mixed pixel. The proposed algorithm is evaluated and compared with other state-of-the-art unmixing algorithms using simulated and real hyperspectral images. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed unmixing algorithm can unmix pixels composed of correlated endmembers in hyperspectral images in the presence of spectral variability more accurately than previous methods.     

Tectono‐sedimentary evolution of the northern Iranian Plateau: insights from middle–late Miocene foreland‐basin deposits

Sedimentary basins in the interior of orogenic plateaus can provide unique insights into the early history of plateau evolution and related geodynamic processes. The northern sectors of the Iranian Plateau of the Arabia–Eurasia collision zone offer the unique possibility to study middle–late Miocene terrestrial clastic and volcaniclastic sediments that allow assessing the nascent stages of collisional plateau formation. In particular, these sedimentary archives allow investigating several debated and poorly understood issues associated with the long‐term evolution of the Iranian Plateau, including the regional spatio‐temporal characteristics of sedimentation and deformation and the mechanisms of plateau growth. We document that middle–late Miocene crustal shortening and thickening processes led to the growth of a basement‐cored range (Takab Range Complex) in the interior of the plateau. This triggered the development of a foreland‐basin (Great Pari Basin) to the east between 16.5 and 10.7 Ma. By 10.7 Ma, a fast progradation of conglomerates over the foreland strata occurred, most likely during a decrease in flexural subsidence triggered by rock uplift along an intraforeland basement‐cored range (Mahneshan Range Complex). This was in turn followed by the final incorporation of the foreland deposits into the orogenic system and ensuing compartmentalization of the formerly contiguous foreland into several intermontane basins. Overall, our data suggest that shortening and thickening processes led to the outward and vertical growth of the northern sectors of the Iranian Plateau starting from the middle Miocene. This implies that mantle‐flow processes may have had a limited contribution toward building the Iranian Plateau in NW Iran.