Calcareous nannofossil assemblage changes and stable isotope data from Maastrichtian to Selandian in the Akveren Formation,Western Black Sea,Turkey

This study is based on calcerous nannofossil assemblages changes and fluctutions of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes was collected clayey limestones, limestones, and marls in the Maastrichtian to Selandian from Akveren Formation (Western Black Sea). As the relative abundances of species of Micula spp, Watznauera barnesiae, and Arkhangelskiella cymbiformis, which tolerated changes of temperature and nutrition, carbon and oxygen isotopes compositions, and low species richness imply strong diagenesis effect at the Maastrichtian, there is no important diagenesis effect at Paleocene. Just after the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K-Pg) boundary, Thoracosphaera spp. and Braarudosphaera bigelowi were dominant species; Danian is characterized by Thoracosphaera, Ericsonia ovalis, Cruciplacolithus spp., Coccolithus pelagicus, and Ericsonia subpertusa. Generally, the nutrition productivity is good–moderate in Lower Maastrichtian, and decreasing carbon isotope values during the Uppermost Maastrichtian shows the presence of oligotrophic environmental conditions suitable with global nutrition crises before the K-Pg boundary and diagenesis in study area. Throughout the Danian, mesotrophic–oligotrophic environmental conditions dominate; however, the decrease in nutrition before Selandian represents oligotrophic environmental conditions. The increasing nutrition at Selandian is related to the change in the environmental conditions.     

Long aseismic slip duration of the 2006 Java tsunami earthquake based on GPS data

The Java earthquake occurred on July 17,2006 with magnitude 7.8 associated to the subduction process of Indo-Australian plate and Sundaland block off southwestern coast of Java. We present postseismic deformation parameters of the 2006 Java earthquake analyzed using campaign GPS observation from 2006 to 2008 and continuous observation from 2007 to 2014. We use an analytical approach of logarithmic and exponential functions to model these GPS data. We find that the decay time in the order of hundreds of days after the mainshock as observed by 8 years' data after the mainshock for magnitude 7 earthquake is longer than a general megathrust earthquake event. Our findings suggest that the 2006 Java earthquake which is considered as ‘‘tsunami earthquake' most probably occurred in the region that has low rigidity and tends to continuously slip for long time periods.     

Calcareous Nannoplankton Biostratigraphy of the Bartin Province,Western Black Sea,Turkey

Calcareous nannoplankton biostratigraphy has been performed on five sedimentary sections through the marine Akveren Formation from the Bartin region of northern Turkey, on the southern Black Sea coast. This new biostratigraphy provides an age for the formation of the Early Campanian (nannofossil zone UC15aTP) to Early Selandian (nannofossil zone NP5), and highlights the presence of the Campanian/Maastrichtian, Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T), and Danian/Selandian boundaries in this intermediate palaeolatitude location. Micula murus was identified below the K/T boundary, but Micula prinsii and Nephrolithus frequens were not, which implies that the K/T boundary interval is not complete in the study area. These dates are in agreement with previous micropaleontological studies.     

Anisidine adsorption on Co-supported pumice

In this study, the adsorption of 2-, 3-, 4-anisidines on metal (Co)-supported pumice has been performed. The amount of cobalt on pumice was measured by ICP-OES analysis. Scanning electron microscopy indicated the formation of metal modification on the pumice surface. The samples were examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis of the adsorption process. The data show that after cobalt cation was supported on pumice, the adsorption of 2-, 3-, 4-anisidines was characterized by the bands at 2,958, 1,633, 1,450, 760, and 734 cm^?1. Adsorption of anisidines was observed only on Co-supported pumice, not on bulk pumice. The results show that the main adsorption process can only occur on the metal cation and metal oxide surface of pumice. Geometrical effects of isomers were monitored after adsorption.     

On causes and impacts of land subsidence in Bandung Basin, Indonesia

The Bandung Basin is a large intra-montane basin surrounded by volcanic highlands, in western Java, Indonesia, inhabited by more than seven million people. The basin, an area of about 2,300 km², is a highland plateau at approximately 650–700 m above sea level and is surrounded by up to 2,400 m high Late Tertiary and Quaternary volcanic terrain. Based on the results of nine GPS surveys conducted since 2000 up to 2011, it was shown that several locations in the Bandung Basin have experienced land subsidence, with an average rate of about ?8 cm/year and can go up to about ?23 cm/year in certain locations. A hypothesis has been proposed by several studies that land subsidence observed in several locations in the Bandung Basin has been caused mainly by excessive groundwater extraction. It is found that there is a strong correlation between the rates of groundwater level lowering with the GPS-derived rates of land subsidence in several locations in Bandung Basin. The GPS results in this study detected significant subsidence in the textile industry area, where very large volumes of groundwater are usually extracted. The impact of land subsidence in Bandung can be seen in several forms, mainly in the cracking and damage of houses, buildings and infrastructure. Land subsidence also aggravates the flooding in Bandung Basin, which has brought huge economic losses and deteriorated the quality of life and environment in the affected areas.     

Fuzzy process capability indices for quality control of irrigation water

Water covers over 70% of the Earth surface and is a very important resource to people and the environment. Water pollution affects drinking water, rivers, lakes and oceans all over the world. This consequently harms human health and the natural environment. Water pollution can also affect the crops. So, water pollution is an important issue for humanity. Therefore, the control of irrigation water is a necessity. In this paper, a methodology based on process capability indices (PCIs) has been presented to control the levels of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature (T) in dam’s water for irrigation. Fuzzy PCIs have been proposed for this aim. The fuzzy estimates of $ \hat C_p Water covers over 70% of the Earth surface and is a very important resource to people and the environment. Water pollution affects drinking water, rivers, lakes and oceans all over the world. This consequently harms human health and the natural environment. Water pollution can also affect the crops. So, water pollution is an important issue for humanity. Therefore, the control of irrigation water is a necessity. In this paper, a methodology based on process capability indices (PCIs) has been presented to control the levels of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature (T) in dam’s water for irrigation. Fuzzy PCIs have been proposed for this aim. The fuzzy estimates of and are obtained for pH, DO, and T based on Buckley’s interval estimation approach and based on fuzzy specification limits. An application has been made for Kesikk?prü Dam in Ankara, Turkey. In this paper, Buckley’s approach is re-arranged to obtain a triangular fuzzy membership function because it cannot be obtained from Buckley’s approach in some situation.     

Tributyltin and triphenyltin induce spermatogenesis in ovary of female abalone,Haliotis gigantea

Two-month flow-through exposure experiments of tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPhT) were conducted with abalone, Haliotis gigantea. Nominal concentrations of 100 ng TBT/l and 100 ng TPhT/l caused significant spermatogenesis in ovaries of exposed females. There were also significantly more contracted primary oocytes observed in females exposed to either TBT or TPhT than controls. The incidence of two types of unknown cells was also significant in females exposed to TPhT. No significant histological changes were observed in testis of exposed males. This ovarian spermatogenesis caused by TBT and/or TPhT resembles gastropod imposex. Remarkably high concentrations of TBT and TPhT were observed in the head (including central nervous system ganglia), compared to muscles concentrations. Accumulation of TBT and TPhT in the head may disturb reproductive hormonal regulators through neuropeptides released from ganglia. This, as well as possible aromatase inhibition, may be one of the inducers for spermatogenesis in the abalone ovaries.     

Artificial neural network study of observed pattern of scour depth around bridge piers

An artificial neural networks (ANN) model is developed to study the observed pattern of local scour at bridge piers using an FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) data set composed of 380 measurements at 56 bridges in 13 states. Various ANN estimates of observed pier scour depth on different choices of input variables are examined. Reducing the number of variables from 14 to 9 has negligible effect on the coefficient of determination, R², (0.73 vs. 0.72). Further sensitivity analysis indicates that pier scour depth can be estimated using only four variables: pier shape and skew, flow depth and velocity with a coefficient of determination of 0.81, suggesting that inclusion of some variables actually diminishes the quality of ANN predictions of short term observed pattern of scour. The ANN estimates indicate that flow depth and flow velocity make up 66% of the coefficient of determination.