A Baseline Assessment of Coral Reef in Malacca Straits,Malaysia

Coral reefs along the Malacca Straits (MS) are poorly developed mainly due to turbidity and sedimentation. This study describes the health status and community structure of the corals in Cape Rachado, West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia (WCPM), utilizing the Coral Video Transect (CVT) technique. All the survey transects were categorized as ‘fair’ coral conditions (27.39 ± 5.41%–48.56 ± 18.96%) with the reef floor mainly covered by corals and sediment. Twelve families of coral comprised of 25 distinct genera were identified. Coral communities were differentiated into four clusters with each being predominated by Galaxea, Diploastrea, Fungia and Pectinia respectively. Among all, Pectinia is the most spectacular genera and dominated the survey area. Along the MS, Favia, Favites and Porites are commonly found while Porites and Pectinia dominated the reefs. Low coral cover and diversity was recorded in MS as compared to the reefs in the South China Sea (SCS). The most prominent results include changes in the dominant coral from Porites to Pectinia while some species such as Acropora were absent from the study area. Based on the presented data, the reef in the study area was predominantly occupied by sediment and the coral communities were formed by a species with a high tolerance to turbidity and sedimentation.     

Cretaceous subduction-related volcanism in the northern Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, Iran

Cretaceous volcanic rocks (SCV) are widely developed in the northern part of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, northwest Iran. Based on the mineralogy, texture and geochemical composition these rocks are divided in two main groups, the first and main one situated in the central part of the study area and the second one in the northeast. The former is dominantly basalts, andesitic basalts, and andesites and the latter comprises andesite, trachy-andesite to acidic variants, with porphyritic to microlithic porphyry and vitrophyric textures. Beside the differences between these two groups, the chemical compositions all of these rocks show a calc-alkaline affinity and enrichment in LIL elements (Rb, Ba, Th, U, and Pb) and depletion in Nb, Ti, and Zr, as evident in spider diagrams normalized to primitive mantle. The rocks are particularly enriched in Rb and depleted in Nb and Ti, as well as displaying high Rb/Sr and Rb/Ba ratios and low ratios of incompatible elements such as Nb/U (<10; range, 0.6–9), Th/U (<2), and Ba/Rb (<20). The significant U enrichment relative to neighbouring Nb and Th in the mantle-normalized variation diagram is mainly a result of source enrichment by slab-derived fluids. Significantly lower Nb/U ratios are observed in arc volcanics. These low values are generally ascribed to the strong capacity of LILE and the inability to transfer significant amounts of HFSE via slab-derived hydrous fluid. The results of geochemical modelling suggest a mantle lithospheric source that was metasomatized by fluids derived from a Neo-Tethyan subducted slab during the Middle to Late Cretaceous in the northern part Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone.     

The Laal-Kan fluorite deposit,Zanjan Province,NW Iran: constraints on REE geochemistry and fluid inclusions

The Laal-Kan fluorite deposit (west of Zanjan city, NW Iran) mainly occurred as some open-space filling and vein/veinlet in the schist of the Paleozoic age. Mineralogically, calcite, fluorite types (white, smoky, and violet), and quartz are the principal constituents accompanied by a number of minor accessory minerals such as hemimorphite, hematite, barite, and clays. Based on chemical analyses, fluorites of various colors were found to have low rare earth element (REE) concentrations (4.16–25.67 ppm). The chondrite-normalized REE patterns indicated that early fluorites were enriched in LREE, relative to HREE, whereas late fluorites were enriched in HREE relative to LREE. This study, therefore, indicated that fugacity of oxygen likely played a significant role in the occurrence of positive Ce and negative anomaly in the late fluorite. Furthermore, the Gd behavior of the fluorite samples could be attributed to the Gd-F complex in ore-forming fluids. On the other hand, low pH hydrothermal fluids under alkaline conditions were probably the main mechanism responsible for the deposition of the early fluorites in this district. Fluorite-hosted fluid inclusion analyses also indicated that fluorite-forming fluids consisted of NaCl, MgCl₂, CaCl₂, and LiCl with a narrow T_H (118–151 °C) and high salinities (18.96–23.47 wt.% NaCl equiv.). Further, the diagram of Tb/La-Tb/Ca ratios revealed that fluorites were predominantly deposited in the hydrothermal environment and the late stage fluorites could be considered as the product of the secondary mineralization of the early fluorites due to the interaction of the fluid with the early fluorites.     

Effects of microtopography on the spatial pattern of woody species in West Iran

Habitat heterogeneity is a main factor determining the geographical distribution of species. For plant and particularly trees and shrubs, topography (microtopography) is an applicable predictor of habitat, slope, and aspect that often correlate with distribution of water and nutrients availability and spatial pattern of species. However, there is lack on exploring this relationship in different plant communities through different environments. In this research, the spatial pattern of woody species in relation to microtopography was investigated in Chahartagh forest, Chahar Mahal, and Bakhtiari province, Iran. The location of the trees and shrubs of a 53-ha forest reserve in Chartagh was measured and the type of microtopography including (i) slope A without microtopography and (ii) slope B composed of three microtopography types: crest (degree of tilt is≥60%), intermediate area (30–40%), and gully (10–20%) were recorded. The effects of microtopography on the spatial pattern of species were analyzed using O-ring statistic. The results showed that the main distribution pattern for the woodiest species in the study area in all platforms is aggregated pattern, while for larger scales, the pattern tended to become random. Also, the pattern was strongly influenced by the scale that the distribution type was assessed. From the other hand, our results revealed that for steeper platforms, the patterns tend to be more aggregated which indicates the non-uniformity of water and nutrition distribution in steeper platforms. Also, this can be a result of seed distribution behavior which is affected by microtopography in a way that in steep platforms, rolling of the seed results in patchy accumulation of the seeds and finally patchy regeneration.     

Automatic Surface Reconstruction Based on the Fusion of Fuzzy Logic and Robust Estimation Techniques

Automatic surface reconstruction by means of digital image matching essentially involves computation in both image and object spaces. In image space, image matching is performed according to certain radiometric and geometric similarity criteria for conjugate point determination. The matching operations may therefore be regarded as decision–making processes. In practice, however, the similarity criteria for conjugate point determination demonstrate non–deterministic behaviour. Thus, the nature of these decision–making processes is more compatible with fuzzy reasoning concepts. In object space, on the other hand, surface reconstruction procedures, which operate on the basis of previously determined conjugate points, are essentially deterministic in nature and hence demand rigorous geometric modelling. In this paper, a new approach for automatic surface modelling is proposed, based on two different mathematical treatments: a fuzzy logic reasoning method for the conjugate point determination in image space; and a robust finite elements approach for the surface modelling in object space. Tests carried out on real data demonstrate the high potential of the strategy proposed.     

Early Mesozoic sedimentary‒tectonic evolution of the Central-East Iranian Microcontinent: Evidence from a provenance study of the Nakhlak Group

In Central Iran, the mixed siliciclastic?carbonate Nakhlak Group of Triassic age is commonly seen to have a Cimmerian affinity, although it shows considerable resemblances with the Triassic Aghdarband Group in far northeastern Iran, east of Kopeh-Dagh area, with Eurasian affinity. The Nakhlak Group is composed of the Alam (Late Olenekian?Anisian), Baqoroq (Late Anisian??Early Ladinian), and Ashin (Ladinian??Early Carnian) formations consisting mainly of volcanoclastic sandstone and shale and fossiliferous limestone. The Baqoroq Formation contains also metamorphic detritus. Sandstone petrofacies reflect the detrital evolution from active volcanism to growing orogen and again active volcanism. Textural and modal analyses of volcanic lithic fragments from the Alam Formation reflect the eruption style and magma composition of a felsic to intermediate syn-sedimentary arc activity. The detrital modes of the Baqoroq Formation sediments suggest a recycled orogenic source followed by arc activity in a remnant fore-arc basin. The sandstone samples from the Ashin Formation demonstrate a continuity of felsic to intermediate arc activity. Major and trace element concentrations of the Nakhlak Group clastic samples support sediment supply from first-cycle material and felsic magmatic arc input. The enrichment in LREE, the negative Eu anomalies, and the flat HREE patterns indicate origination from the old upper continental crust and young arc material. The chemical index of alteration (CIA ～51–70 for sandstone and 64–76 for shale samples) indicates medium degrees of chemical weathering at the source. Petrographical and geochemical evidence together with facies analysis constructed the following depositional conditions for the Nakhlak Group sediments: In the Olenekian, a fore-arc shallow to deep marine depositional basin developed that later was filled by recycled and arc-related detritus and changed into a continental basin in the Anisian. Ladinian extension let to a deepening of the basin. With respect to the similarities between the Nakhlak and Aghdarband (NE Iran) groups and unusual present-day position of the Nakhlak Group with no stratigraphic connection to the surrounding area, the development of first a fore-arc basin and later change into a back-arc depositional basin in close relation with the Aghdarband basin at the southern Eurasian active margin in the Triassic are here proposed. Understanding the basin development recorded in the Nakhlak Group provides constraints on the closure history of Palaeotethys and of the tectonic evolution of early Mesozoic basins at the southern Eurasian margin before the Cimmerian Orogeny.     

Geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic constraints on the genesis of the Soheyle-PaKuh granitoid rocks (central Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic belt,Iran)

ABSTRACT

Soheyle-Pakuh granitoid rocks, with a variety of quartz diorite, quartz monzodiorite, granodiorite, tonalite, and granite, have been emplaced into the Tertiary volcanic rocks in the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arc in central Iran. Zircon U–Pb dating yields an age of 39.63 ± 0.93 Ma for the crystallization of this body. Whole-rock compositions show that SiO₂ changes from 52.31 to 65.78 wt.% and Al₂O₃ varies from 15.54 to 18.24 wt.%, as well as high concentrations of large-ion lithophile elements (LILE, e.g. Cs, Rb, Ba, and K) and quite low contents of high field strength elements (HFSE, e.g. Nb, Ti, P), as expected in I-type arc granitoids formed in an active continental margin setting. Initial ratios of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd exhibit ranges 0.7043–0.7047 and 0.51284 to 0.51287, respectively, with positive εNd_(t) from +4.9 to +5.5 with a young TDM1 age (483–674 Ma); this tracer isotopic data suggesting that the SPG originated from juvenile basaltic crust derived from depleted mantle (~90%) with variable contributions from undepleted mantle and approximately 10% old lower crust, despite diverse processes (e.g. magma mixing and fractional crystallization) during their evolution and emplacement into a local extensional setting within the continental margin arc. The isotopic data are similar to those of other Phanerozoic granitoids of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and corroborate melting of predominantly mantle-derived juvenile crustal protoliths and indicating extensive addition of new continental crust, during Cambrian-Neoproterozoic time, in the suprasubduction zone beneath the central Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arc. Generation of these types of granitoids favours a model whereby rollback and (or) break-off of a subducted slab with subsequent lithospheric extension triggered by mantle upwelling, heat advection, and underplating resulting in melting of the central UDMA mantle-derived juvenile lower continental crust in the Late Eocene.     

Optimum structural design of full-scale steel buildings using drift-tribe-charged system search

Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration - In this paper, the potential of utilizing improved metaheuristic approaches in optimal design of building structures is concerned. In this regard,...     

Age,geochemistry, and emplacement of the ~40-Ma Baneh granite–appinite complex in a transpressional tectonic regime,Zagros suture zone,northwest Iran

The Baneh plutonic complex is situated in the Zagros suture zone of northwest Iran between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. This complex is divided into granite and appinite groups. Zircon U–Pb dating shows that granites crystallized 41–38 million years ago but appinites experience more protracted magmatic evolution, from at 52 to 38 Ma. Whole-rock chemical compositions show significant major and trace element variations between the two lithologies. Granitic rocks are more evolved, with high contents of SiO₂ (62.4–77.0 wt%), low contents of TiO₂ (0.25 wt%), MgO (0.05–1.57 wt%), and Fe₂O₃ (0.40–4.06 wt%) and high contents of Na₂O + K₂O (≈10 wt%). In contrast, appinites have low contents of SiO₂ (51.0–57.0 wt%) and K₂O (<2.1 wt%) and high Fe₂O₃ (6.4–9.35 wt%), MgO (2.0–9.9 wt%), and Mg number (Mg# = 35–76). The concentration of rare earth elements in the appinites is higher than in granitic rocks, making it difficult to form granites solely by fractionation of appinite magma. (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i and ε_Nd(40 Ma) in both groups are similar, from 0.7045 to 0.7061 and ?1.2 to +2.6, except for a primitive gabbroic dike with ε_Nd(40 Ma) = +9.9. Appinites show mainly typical I-type characteristics, but granites have some S-type characteristics. The sigmoidal shape of the Baneh pluton and its emplacement into deformed Cretaceous shales and limestone showing kink bands, asymmetric and recumbent folds in a broad contact zone, with pervasive ductile to brittle structures in both host rocks and intrusion, indicate that magma emplacement was controlled by a transpressional tectonic regime, perhaps developed during early stages in the collision of Arabia and Eurasian plates.