Mass Movement and Landslide Hazard, Murree Area, North Pakistan

MASS MOVEMENT AND LANDSLIDE HAZARD, MURREE AREA, NORTH PAKISTAN     

Structural styles,hydrocarbon prospects,and potential in the Salt Range and Potwar Plateau,north Pakistan

The Salt Range/Potwar Plateau (SRPP) is part of the Himalayan foreland and an important petroleum province in north Pakistan. The hydrocarbons are commonly produced from stacked Cambrian to Eocene clastic and carbonate reservoirs which have an average thickness of 1 km. These strata are overlain by at least 5 km of Miocene and younger continental molasse sedimentation in the deepest part of the foreland basin. Surface and subsurface (seismic interpretations and borehole data) geology combined with the timing and the patterns of sedimentation has allowed to interpret the deformation as thin skinned, with a detachment in weak Eocambrian evaporates and the development of ramp-and-flat structures, since about 8 Ma. We have reviewed the structural interpretations with new borehole logs, field geology, and reserve estimates in this paper to precisely define oil-field structures with a view on future exploration. As a result of this work, 12 oil fields are classified as three detachment folds, four fault-propagation folds, four pop-ups, and one triangle zone structure. The latter two are identified as better prospects with the last one as the best with estimated reserves of 51 million barrels of oil (MMBO). Hence, the triangle zones along with other ramp-and-flat structures from the North Potwar Deformed Zone (NPDZ) are recognized to provide potential future prospects. Finally, a 40-km-long structural cross section from NPDZ is used to discuss complex deformation of the triangle zone and duplex structures as future potential prospects. About 55 km of shortening across the NPDZ during Plio-Pleistocene time is calculated, which has important bearing on the geometry of prospects, reserve calculations, and the future exploration.     

Restoring groundwater levels after tunneling: a numerical simulation approach to tunnel sealing decision-making

Tunneling is often unpopular with local residents and environmentalists, and can cause aquifer damage. Tunnel sealing is sometimes used to avoid groundwater leakage into the tunnel, thereby mitigating the damage. Due to the high cost of sealing operations, a detailed hydrogeological investigation should be conducted as part of the tunneling project to determine the impact of sealing, and groundwater modeling is an accurate method that can aid decision-making. Groundwater-level drawdown induced by the construction of the Headrace water-conveyance tunnel in Sri Lanka dried up 456 wells. Due to resulting socio-environmental problems, tunnel sealing was decided as a remedy solution. However, due to the expectation of significant delays and high costs of sealing, and because the water pressure in the tunnel may prevent groundwater seepage into the tunnel during operation, there was another (counter) decision that the tunnel could remain unsealed. This paper describes groundwater modeling carried out using MODFLOW to determine which option—sealed or unsealed tunnel—is more effective in groundwater level recovery. The Horizontal Flow Barrier and River packages of MODFLOW were used to simulate sealed and unsealed tunnels, respectively. The simulation results showed that only through tunnel sealing can the groundwater level be raised to preexisting levels after 18 years throughout the study area. If the tunnel remains unsealed, about 1 million m³/year of water conveyed by the tunnel will seep into the aquifer, reducing the operational capacity of the tunnel as a transport scheme. In conclusion, partial tunnel sealing in high-impact sections is recommended.

     

Groundwater quality assessment in southern parts of Tehran plain,Iran

The hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater in the southern parts of Tehran Province are considered. Twenty-three sampling stations were selected and major anions/cations, electrical conductivity and pH were detected. Sulfate and chloride were found as major anions, while no specific dominant cation was determined. More than half of the samples were found to be unsuitable for drinking purposes, due to high concentrations of anions/cations. Regarding agricultural use, almost all samples were classified as having high-risk levels of salinity, while for alkali hazard considerable risks were observed in most cases. Generally, an increasing trend of salinity is observed from northwest to southeast of the study area. Such increase may be justified by the adjacency of the Iran central desert and salt lake to the southern boundaries of the study area. Extended use of sulfate-containing fertilizers may also play a key role in justifying the high sulfate concentration in comparison to other anions.     

Correction to: New climatic zones in Iran: a comparative study of different empirical methods and clustering technique

Theoretical and Applied Climatology -     

Impact of the geomorphology and soil management on the development of waterlogging in closed drainage basins of Egypt and Saudi Arabia

This paper investigates the interplay of the catchment geomorphology, hydrology and soil properties on the development of waterlogging and land degradation within different dry land catchments in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Multi-temporal remote sensing data of the Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper were collected and processed to detect the land cover changes and development of cultivations within the two areas. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model were hydrologically processed to delineate the catchment morphometrical parameters and to examine the spatial distribution of cultivated fields and their relation to the extracted drainage networks. The fluvial channels of the Farafra Oasis have largely been obliterated by the prevailing aridity and often buried under aeolian deposits. The soil of these areas are mainly lithic with a high calcium carbonate content, thus limiting the downward percolation of excess irrigation water and therefore develop perched water table and seepage through the buried fluvial channels. On the other hand, the cultivations of Tabuk catchment (which has similar geomorphologic setting to the Farafra Oasis) have shown no signs for waterlogging. This situation is could be related to the different soil properties; the spatial distribution of cultivated areas and the adopted irrigation methods via pivots. The inactive alluvial channels, landforms and irrigation methods have to be considered when planning for a new cultivation in dry land catchments to better control waterlogging hazard. The ‘dry-drainage’ concept can be implemented as the drainage and seepage water, which can be conveyed into certain abandoned playas for evaporation.     

The use of GIS and remote sensing for the assessment of waterlogging in the dryland irrigated catchments of Farafra Oasis,Egypt

This paper investigates the interplay of the hydrogeological characteristics, soil properties and recent land reclamation projects on the distribution of waterlogging and salinization within the Farafra Oasis. The multi‐temporal remote sensing data and field observations show that new reclaimed areas have been recently cultivated in distant areas from the old agricultural land. These new cultivations have developed widespread waterlogging, seepage channels and soil salinization. Analyses of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digital elevation model (DEM) showed that both old and new agricultural areas are located within same closed drainage basin. The fluvial channels of these catchments, which were developed during wet climatic pluvial, have largely been obliterated by the prevailing aridity and often buried under aeolian deposits. However, the new cultivations have been developed on the fingertips of these fluvial channels, while the old fields occupy the low‐level playas. The soil of the new cultivated areas is mainly lithic with a high calcium carbonate content, thus limiting the downward percolation of excess irrigation water and therefore developing perched water table and seepage through the palaeo‐channels. The automatically extracted drainage networks from DEM resemble fluvial patterns and coincide with the seepage channels slowly heading toward old cultivation. The inactive alluvial channels and landforms have to be considered when planning for new cultivation in dryland catchments to better control waterlogging and salinization hazard. It is highly recommended that newly developed seepage channels have to be detected and intercepted before reaching old agriculture areas. Therefore, the ‘dry‐drainage’ concept can be implemented as the seepage water can be conveyed into nearby playas reserved for evaporation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stochastic finite element modelling of water flow in variably saturated heterogeneous soils

Water flow is greatly influenced by the characteristics of the domain through which the process occurs. It is generally accepted that earth materials have extreme variations from point to point in space. Consequently, this heterogeneity results in high variation in hydraulic properties of soil. In order to develop an accurate predictive model for transport processes in soil, the effects of this variability should be considered. In this study a two‐dimensional stochastic finite element flow model was developed for simulation of water flow through unsaturated soils. In this model, the stochastic partial differential governing equation of water flow, obtained from implementation of the perturbation‐spectral stochastic method on classical Richard's equation, was solved using a finite element method in the space domain and a finite difference scheme in the time domain. The effective hydrological parameters embedded in the mathematical model depend on time derivatives of capillary tension head; this makes possible to consider the hysteresis due to large‐scale variability of soil hydrological properties. The model is also capable of simulating infiltration and evaporation events and rapid change in the land surface boundary condition from one type event to another, based on a scheme used in the model for implementation of land surface boundary condition. The model was validated with the data obtained from a layered lysimeter test. The model was also used to simulate water flow under a long irrigation furrow. The results obtained with this model show better agreement with experimental measurements in comparison with a deterministic model. The possible reason for this agreement is that in the developed model, the influence of the variability of the properties of soil and effects of parameter hysteresis on water flow and water content redistribution are considered. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.