Measuring Food Deserts via GIS-Based Multicriteria Decision Making: The Case of Tehran

The purpose of this article is to identify food deserts using a geographic information system (GIS)-based multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) approach in the city of Tehran. We have found that, compared to technocratic methods, GIS-based MCDM and taking into account people or their agents' opinions in the food deserts analysis leads to different results. Whereas measuring food deserts based on the distance to large retail food stores indicated that a large part of the northern neighborhoods of Tehran do not have access to large food stores, identifying the food desert through the GIS-based MCDM approach revealed that northern neighborhoods of Tehran have relatively good access to healthy, affordable food. In addition, results indicated that individual factors have a more effective role than environmental factors in food accessibility. Food accessibility analysis revealed that more than 26.6 percent of Tehran's people (2,049,796) are living in very low and low food accessibility areas. Accordingly, to achieve a relatively healthy and inclusive food environment, establishment of a food council, development of mobile food markets and farmers' markets, extension of public transport, enhancement of food literacy, and community-based development of small full-service grocery stores, especially in southern and western sections of Tehran, should be pursued. In addition, addressing Tehran's food desert issues would be incomplete without due attention to the wider political and economic environment.     

Evaluation of Ground Vibration due to Surface Blasting at a Celestite Open-pit Mine

In bench blast design, not only the technical and economical aspects, such as block size, uniformity and cost, but also the elimination of environmental problems resulting from ground vibration and air blast should be taken into consideration. Prediction of ground vibration components is of great importance when responding to and avoiding environmentally-related complaints. This paper presents the results of ground vibration measurements carried out in a celestite open-pit mine during blast optimisation studies. The particle velocity components (longitudinal, transversal, vertical and peak) and the airblast measurement results were evaluated considering the scaled distance relationship. The statistical analysis of 47 data sets yielded an empirical relationship between peak particle velocity and scaled distance. This approach which is suggested for the present site gives the 50% line and the upper bound 95% prediction limit with reasonable correlation.     

Determination of sediment deposition of Hasanlar Dam using bathymetric and remote sensing studies

Natural Hazards - Hasanlar Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant are located on Küçük Melen Creek in the Western Black Sea Basin of Turkey. The dam was constructed in 1974 to provide...     

巴基斯坦沿海地区地震危险性分析

通过确定性和概率性方法，对发展迅速的巴基斯坦沿海地区进行了地震危险性评估．根据该地区的地震构造和地质条件，确定了5个地震区域的11个断层作为该地区的潜在震源，计算了每个潜在震源的最大可能震级．根据与之相关震源的最大可信震级，计算了7个沿海城市的峰值加速度（PGA）．瓜达尔（Gwadar）和奥尔马腊（Ormara）的峰值加速度分别为0.21和0.25 g，处于地震危险性水平较高的地区；杜尔伯德（Turbat）和卡拉奇（Karachi）位于地震危险性水平较低的地区，峰值加速度小于0.1 g．同时，分别绘制了50年和100年超越概率为10％的PGA区划图，区划图的分区间隔为0.05 g．      

Strong ground motion simulation of the 2003 Bam, Iran, earthquake using the empirical Green’s function method

The 2003 Bam, Iran, earthquake caused catastrophic damage to the city of Bam and neighboring villages. Given its magnitude (M _w ) of 6.5, the damage was remarkably large. Large-amplitude ground motions were recorded at the Bam accelerograph station in the center of Bam city by the Building and Housing Research Center (BHRC) of Iran. We simulated the Bam earthquake acceleration records at three BHRC strong-motion stations—Bam, Abaraq, and Mohammad-Abad—by the empirical Green’s function method. Three aftershocks were used as empirical Green’s functions. The frequency range of the empirical Green’s function simulations was 0.5–10 Hz. The size of the strong motion generation area of the mainshock was estimated to be 11 km in length by 7 km in width. To estimate the parameters of the strong motion generation area, we used 1D and 2D velocity structures across the fault and a combined source model. The empirical Green’s function method using a combination of aftershocks produced a source model that reproduced ground motions with the best fit to the observed waveforms. This may be attributed to the existence of two distinct rupture mechanisms in the strong motion generation area. We found that the rupture starting point for which the simulated waveforms best fit the observed ones was near the center of the strong motion generation area, which reproduced near-source ground motions in a broadband frequency range. The estimated strong motion generation area could explain the observed damaging ground motion at the Bam station. This suggests that estimating the source characteristics of the Bam earthquake is very important in understanding the causes of the earthquake damage.     

The measurement of gamma-emitting radionuclides in beach sand cores of coastal regions of Ramsar,Iran using HPGe detectors

Radionuclides which present in different beach sands are sources of external exposure that contribute to the total radiation exposure of human. ²²⁶Ra, ²³⁵U, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs analysis has been carried out in sand samples collected at six depth levels, from eight locations of the northern coast of Iran, Ramsar, using high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy. The average Specific activities of natural radionuclides viz., ²²⁶Ra, ²³⁵U, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs, in the 0–36 cm depth sand were found as: 19.2 ± 0.04, 2.67 ± 0.17, 17.9 ± 0.06, 337.5 ± 0.61 and 3.35 ± 0.12 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. The effects of organic matter content and pH value of sand samples on the natural radionuclide levels were also investigated. Finally, the measured radionuclide concentrations in the Ramsar beach were compared with the world average values, as reported by UNSCEAR (2000). None of the studied beaches were considered as a radiological risk.     

Monoclinal flexure of an orogenic plateau margin during subduction,south Turkey

Geologic evidence across orogenic plateau margins enables the discrimination of the relative contributions of orogenic, epeirogenic and/or climatic processes that lead to growth and maintenance of those plateaus and their margins. Here, we discuss the mode of formation of the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau (SCAP) and evaluate its time of formation using fieldwork in the onshore and seismic reflection data in the offshore. In the onshore, uplifted Miocene rocks in a dip‐slope topography show monocline flexure over >100 km, km‐scale asymmetric folds verging south, and outcrop‐scale syn‐sedimentary reverse faults. On the Turkish shelf, vertical faults transect the basal latest Messinian of a 10 km fold where on‐structure syntectonic wedges and synsedimentary unconformities indicate pre‐Pliocene uplift and erosion, followed by Pliocene and younger deformation. Collectively, Miocene rocks delineate a flexural monocline at plateau margin scale that is expressed along our on‐offshore sections as a kink‐band fold with a steep flank 20–25 km long. In these reconstructed sections, we estimate a relative vertical displacement of 3.8 km at rates of ca. 0.5 mm/y, and horizontal shortening values <1 %. We use this evidence together with our observations of shortening at outcrop, basin, plateau‐margin and forearc‐system scales to infer that the SCAP forms as a monoclinal flexure to accommodate deep‐seated thickening and shortening since >5 Ma, and to contextualize the plateau margin as the forearc high of the Cyprus subduction system.