Geological and engineering characteristics of expansive soils and rocks in northern Oman

The geology and former climate of northern Oman favoured the formation of smectite clay minerals in certain materials which are implicated in ground heave problems. Investigations have shown that the smectite content of these expansive materials was developed in Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene times. No evidence of a significant content of smectite was found in pre Eocene strata or in Quaternary strata, except for Desert Fill. It is shown that the main types of expansive materials in northern Oman are bentonitic mudstones, marls and silty mudstones, argillaceous dolomitic limestone, altered conglomerates and the desert fill derived from these. These swelling materials exist as impersistent bands within the bedrock Tertiary conglomerates and limestones. A geotechnical testing program was carried out on undisturbed samples from Sultan Qaboos University staff housing areas where building damage had occurred, to evaluate mineralogical composition, cation content and swelling characteristics. The test results characterized these soils/rocks as highly expansive type with Na-smectite as the dominant clay mineral.     

Development of calcrete of the Late Cretaceous carbonate platform,northern Jordan,and its tectonic implications

A calcrete horizon, 3–10 m thick, is found exposed in northern Jordan in three localities, Rumman, Marsa’, and Wasfi At Tal forest (WTF). It is situated at the base of the dominantly limestone, Late Cenomanian Hummar Formation, separating it from the underlying marly Fuheis Formation. The calcrete horizon exhibits all the diagnostic features characteristic of calcrete, such as diagenetic pisoids; a mottled or clotted texture; circumgranular cracks around grains in a nodular texture; pendant or microstalactitic cement; meniscus cement; plant roots or rhizogenic structures, both longitudinal and transverse; exfoliation on boulder and cobbles; alagally laminated hard pans; and abundant dissolution of cracks and vugs. Consequently, it represents a subaerial erosional unconformity and type 1 sequence boundary (SB) that was not previously noticed. The Hummar Formation is considered as a third-order sequence with the SB at the base of the calcrete horizon, while the calcrete horizon itself forms the lowstand system tracts (LST). The transgressive systems tracts (TST) involve the lower two third of the Hummar Formation ending with peloidal grainstone representing the maximum flooding surface (MFSs). The rest of the formation is the falling highstand systems tracts (HST). The next SB is not seen due to a thick soil-covered gap. The calcrete horizon formed due to the formation of a paleohigh, in the study area, associated with the compression produced by the initial subduction of the Afro-Arabian Plate under the Eurasian Plate during the Late Cenomanian, slightly earlier than the previously known Turonian subduction and compression.     

Modelling of membranes in the material point method with applications

The objective of this paper is to formulate and validate an accurate MPM approach for the numerical simulation of the large displacement of membranes containing soil. In the proposed approach, the membrane is discretised by a surface mesh that allows accurate simulation of membrane stresses. The membrane is free to move through a three‐dimensional grid for a continuum consisting of tetrahedral elements. The approach is applied to model a geocontainer being released from a split barge, taking into account the frictional contact between the geotextile and the barge. No‐slip contact is assumed between the geotextile and the soil inside. The effect of geocontainer interaction is investigated by dropping a second container. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Absorption gradient in galaxies,V

The same procedure mentioned in Papers I, II, III for studying the surface distribution of dark clouds is used to study the same phenomenon in the galaxies NGC 253, NGC 2841, NGC 5321, NGC 5194, and NGC 5195 radially and angularly. The general form (sinusoidal distribution function) found earlier is still representative for the present results. Internal absorption was found to vary along these two variables (radially and angularly) in the same way as was found earlier for M31 (the papers cited at the end) which may lead to the assumption of universality of this phenomenon.     

Detailed surface photometry of some galaxies integrated properties,II

Results about the standard photometric parameters of four galaxies are given. The equivalent and the integrated parameters defined according to de Vaucouleurs are listed. Effective values of the abovementioned ingredients, the reduced luminosity profiles and the dimensions defined by the quartiles are also given.     

Surface distribution of dark clouds in M31 absorption gradient along the major axis,I

The distribution of dust clouds in M31 was studied based on a photocopy of this galaxy taken from Hubble'sAtlas. The picture was divided into strips starting from the center of the galaxy on both sides along the major and the minor axis, respectively. The number of dark clouds per square kiloparsec was estimated as a function of the distance from the center of the galaxy along the major axis. If we assume the validity of the standard cloud model in M31, the filling factor introduced by the model was found to vary with distance from the center. It was found furthermore, that the filling factor introduced by the model may be an upper limit. The counts of dark clouds indicate a periodical change in the absorption gradient along the major axis with a very slight systematic variation assumed by the exponential part of the representation.     

Stability and equation of state of post-aragonite BaCO3

At ambient conditions, witherite is the stable form of BaCO₃ and has the aragonite structure with space group Pmcn. Above ~10 GPa, BaCO₃ adopts a post-aragonite structure with space group Pmmn. High-pressure and high-temperature synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments were used to study the stability and equation of state of post-aragonite BaCO₃, which remained stable to the highest experimental P–T conditions of 150 GPa and 2,000 K. We obtained a bulk modulus K ₀ = 88(2) GPa with $K'$  = 4.8(3) and V ₀ = 128.1(5) ų using a third-order Birch-Murnaghan fit to the 300 K experimental data. We also carried out density functional theory (DFT) calculations of enthalpy (H) of two structures of BaCO₃ relative to the enthalpy of the post-aragonite phase. In agreement with previous studies and the current experiments, the calculations show aragonite to post-aragonite phase transitions at ~8 GPa. We also tested a potential high-pressure post–post-aragonite structure (space group C222 ₁ ) featuring four-fold coordination of oxygen around carbon. In agreement with previous DFT studies, ΔH between the C222 ₁ structure and post-aragonite (Pmmn) decreases with pressure, but the Pmmn structure remains energetically favorable to pressures greater than 200 GPa. We conclude that post–post-aragonite phase transformations of carbonates do not follow systematic trends observed for post-aragonite transitions governed solely by the ionic radii of their metal cations.     

Levels of Cd,Cu, Pb and V in marine sediments in the vicinity of the Single Buoy Moorings (SBM3) at Mina Al Fahal in the Sultanate of Oman

Recently in the Sultanate of Oman, there has been a rapid surge of coastal developments. These developments cause metal contamination, which may affect the habitats and communities at and near the coastal region. As a result, a study was conducted to assess the level of metal contamination and its impact on the marine sediments in the vicinity of the Single Buoy Moorings 3 (SBM3) at Mina Al Fahal in the Sultanate of Oman. Marine subtidal sediment samples were collected from six different stations of the SBM3 for the period ranging from June 2009 to April 2010. These samples were then analyzed for their level and distribution of the heavy metals of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and vanadium (V). Overall, low concentrations of all four heavy metals were measured from the marine sediments, indicating that the marine at SBM3 is of good quality.     

Water demand management in Yemen and Jordan: addressing power and interests

This paper investigates the extent to which entrenched interests of stakeholder groups both maintain water use practice, and may be confronted. The focus is on the agricultural sectors of Yemen and Jordan, where water resource policymakers face resistance in their attempts to reduce water use to environmentally sustainable levels through implementation of water demand management (WDM) activities. Some farmers in both countries that have invested in irrigated production of high-value crops (such as qat and bananas) benefit from a political economy that encourages increased rather than reduced water consumption. The resultant over-exploitation of water resources affects groups in unequal measures. Stakeholder analysis demonstrates that the more ‘powerful’ groups (chiefly the large landowners and the political elites, as well as the ministries of irrigation over which they exert influence) are generally opposed to reform in water use, while the proponents of WDM (e.g. water resource managers, environmental ministries and NGOs, and the international donor community) are found to have minimal influence over water use policy and decisionmaking. Efforts and ideas attempted by this latter group to challenge the status quo are classified here as either (a) influencing or (b) challenging the power asymmetry, and the merits and limits of both approaches are discussed. The interpretation of evidence suggests current practice is likely to endure, but may be more effectively challenged if a long-term approach is taken with an awareness of opportunities generated by windows of opportunity and the participation of ‘overlap groups’.