Causes of rockfalls in Al-Huwayshah area, Yemen

According to topography of Yemen, most areas and villages are located at obligated crest, toe of mountain and under cliffs. Therefore Al-Huwayshah consisting of Tawilah sandstone group is characterized by steep slope reach to 90° in some areas. This area is affected by strong tectonic movements and faults that occurred during the geological epochs. This effect enhances to find out fractures and joints as well as the rocks become brittle and ready to slide depending on the position of area. And there are some fractures and joints on the surface of the areas due to tectonic movement associated with opening the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The rainfalls, fractures, joints, earthquakes, gravity, vegetations, temperatures and human activities play a big role in the processes of rockfalls and landslides in this area. All those factors are considered as the basic causes and catalyzed factors for occurrence of rockfall in the studide area. In addition, the authors carried out laboratory test for many rock samples to get the physical properties of the rocks.     

Causes of rockfalls in Al-Huwayshah area,Yemen

According to topography of Yemen,most areas and villages are located at obligated crest,toe of mountain and under cliffs.Therefore Al-Huwayshah consisting of Tawilah sandstone group is characterized by steep slope reach to 90° in some areas.This area is affected by strong tectonic movements and faults that occurred during the geological epochs.This effect enhances to find out fractures and joints as well as the rocks become brittle and ready to slide depending on the position of area.And there are some frac...     

Attraction of the compensating masses produced by using an arbitrary isostatic model

The representation of the topography is usually made by digital height models and digital density models. Therefore, one can produce the so-called digital Moho model (DMM) by applying a certain isostatic hypothesis. The attraction of such compensating masses is deducted. Also, some special cases are treated. The effect of neglecting the height of the computational point only on calculating the attraction of the compensating masses is studied. The results show that the height of the computational point must be taken into account on calculating the attraction of the compensating masses specially for high mountainous areas.     

Present groundwater status in Egypt and the environmental impacts

This article is an attempt to give a brief review on the status of groundwater studies in Egypt, their results, and the present plans for groundwater development that are usually based on the hydrogeological characteristics of the groundwater resources as well as on the environmental control of the discharge area.In terms of groundwater hydrology, Egypt can be divided into the following groundwater provinces: (1) the Western Desert, (2) the Eastern Desert, (3) the Nile Valley including the delta, (4) the Sinai Peninsula, (5) the Northern Coastal Zone, and (6) Wadi El-Natrun.The studies of volume and nature of groundwater and the environmental impact studies that were carried out in each of these provinces differed according to the importance given to development of projects in areas of interest and to the availability of funds. Recent studies and the surveys conducted for groundwater hydrological research by local and international organizations are described separately for each province. Special reference is made to groundwater hydro-geological setting, groundwater resources evaluation, and present and future utilization. The New Valley is the largest Egyptian irrigated agricultural development project that is solely dependent on groundwater resources. An outline showing its nature, objective, and size is included as an example of groundwater development.     

Source mechanism and source parameters of May 28, 1998 earthquake,Egypt

On May 28, 1998, a moderate size earthquake of mb 5.5 occurred offshore the northwestern part of Egypt (latitude 31.45°N and longitude 27.64°E). It was widely felt in the northern part of Egypt. Being the largest well-recorded event in the area for which seismic data from the global digital network are available, it provides an excellent opportunity to study the tectonic process and present day stress field occurring along the offshore Egyptian coast. The source parameters of this event are determined using three different techniques: modeling of surface wave spectral amplitudes, regional waveform inversion, and teleseismic body waveform inversion. The results show a high-angle reverse fault mechanism generally trending NNW–SSE. The P-axis trends ENE–WSW consistently with the prevailed compression stress along the southeastern Hellenic arc and southwestern part of the Cyprean arc. This unexpected mechanism is most probably related to a positive inversion of the NW trending offshore normal faults and confirms an extension of the back thrusting effects towards the African margin. The estimated focal depth ranges from 22 to 25 km, indicating a lower crustal origin earthquake owing to deep-seated tectonics. The source time function indicates a single source with rise time and total rupture duration of 2 and 5 s, respectively. The seismic moment (M _o) and the moment magnitude (M _w) determined by the three techniques are 1.03 × 10¹⁷ Nm, 5.28; 1.24 × 10¹⁷ Nm, 5.33; and 1.68 × 10¹⁷ Nm, 5.42; respectively. The calculated fault radius, stress drop, and the average dislocation assuming a circular fault model are 7.2 km, 0.63 Mpa, and 0.11 m, respectively.     

Seismicity of the northernmost part of the Red Sea (1995–1999)

Seismicity in the northernmost part of the Red Sea has been studied using data from Hurghada Seismological Network in addition to readings from the existing neighbouring networks. Relocated events in addition to data from national centers are used to obtain a complete and true picture for the seismicity of the area. The spatial distribution of earthquakes defines three earthquake zones in the Gulf of Aqaba and three zones at the entrance of the Gulf of Suez and southern tip of Sinai Peninsula. The thermal activity and the triple junction nature control the activity in this area. The activity defines also an active trend extending from the southern tip of Sinai Peninsula to the median zone of the Red Sea. The seismicity of this trend is probably related to the active spreading zone associated with the opening of the Red Sea. The b-values are derived for the entrance areas of the two gulfs and for Gulf of Aqaba. Values of b are 1.35 for the triple junction region, 1.13 for the activity before the 22 November 1995 Gulf of Aqaba mainshock and 1.25 for the aftershocks of this event.     

Geochemistry of the Pliocene basalts erupted along the Malatya-Ovacik fault zone (MOFZ), eastern Anatolia, Turkey: Implications for source characteristics and partial melting processes

The study area is located on the middle sector of the Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone (MOFZ) in the eastern Anatolia. Four basaltic flows from bottom to top, which are tholeiitic in character and intercalated with Pliocene sedimentary rocks, were erupted along this fault zone. Chemical compositions of these flows reveal some differences between the first flow and others in terms of high-field strength elements (HFSEs) (e.g. Ti, Zr, Nb). Limited variations in compositions within the first flow and upper flows suggest a limited fractionation range. Trace-element patterns exhibit that all the flows have similar and OIB-like patterns without positive peak at Pb and a trough at Nb—Ta, indicating minimal or no crustal contribution. Rare-earth element (REE) patterns indicate that the first flow has flat patterns with negative Eu anomaly, whereas the upper flows have variable enrichments in LREE and depletions in HREE. La/Sm_N, Dy/Yb_N and Zr/Y ratios exhibit that the degree of partial melting decreases from the first flow to upper flows. Higher values of La/Yb_N ratio for the upper flows and depletions at Y and Yb on the trace-element patterns suggest the presence of garnet as a residual phase, which imply that the depth of partial melting took place solely in the garnet-stability field. OIB-like trace-element patterns and trace-element ratios (e.g. La/Nb, Ce/Y and Zr/Nb) emphasize that the melts forming the Arguvan basalt were originated from the asthenospheric mantle rather than the lithospheric mantle.     

The role of water resources in the evolution of the Israeli–Lebanese border

The current location of the border between Lebanon and Palestine, today's Israel, is a product of various competing forces. The Zionist Organization aspired to include the entire Galilee region up to the lower reaches of the Litani River (also known as the Kassimiyah River) within Palestine. The river itself was the desired northern border of the country. The Zionists supported their position by employing instrumental arguments that were largely related to the availability of water resources. On the other hand, residents of the upper Galilee, today's southern Lebanon, demanded that they be included with Lebanon. They used their trade links with Beirut, and cultural and familial ties with other parts of Lebanon to support their position. These instrumental and expressive arguments appear to have assisted in the demarcation of the border between Lebanon and Palestine. Currently, access to the water resources, not necessarily control over them, is likely to influence negotiations between Israel and Lebanon over the future of the Israeli-occupied security zone in southern Lebanon.     

On the iron interpretation of the 6.4 keV emission line from SGR 1900+14

A 6.4 keV emission line was discovered in an unusual burst from the soft gamma repeater SGR 1900+14 with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The line was detected in part of a complex multipeak precursor that preceded the unusual burst of 1998 August 29, i.e. two days after the giant flare of August 27 from the source. The origin of the line was not firmly identified and two possible interpretations were equally plausible including (a) Kα fluorescence from a small iron rich material that was ejected to the magnetosphere during the August 27 flare, and (b) proton or α-particle cyclotron resonance. If the iron scenario was correct, we expect to find evidence for the line during the intervening interval between the flare and the August 29 burst, i.e. on August 28. Here we present the results of the August 28 burst observation, taken with RXTE. We detect a total of seven bursts whose individual and joint spectra do not show evidence for spectral lines. We also investigated a sample of nine bursts before and after the August 29 burst (from 1998 June to December) that do not reveal evidence for a spectral line near 6.4 keV or elsewhere. These results disfavor the iron scenario and make the proton/α-particle cyclotron resonance interpretation more plausible. The appearance of the emission line in part of a complex burst and its absence from the studied sample indicate that the line is likely due to a transient phenomenon that may depend on the burst morphology, energetics and the properties of the emission region.