The Pan-African Ophiolites and Related Mineralization in Egypt

<正>Precambrian ophiolites are abundant in the ArabianNubian Shield of NE Africa and Arabia and range in age from 690 to 890 Ma.In Egypt,they are widely distributed in the central and southern Eastern Desert and occur as nape complexes along sature zone or dismembered masses in metavolcano-sedimenatry assemblages.The ophiolite     

Jurassic foraminifera from Jajiya Member,Jaisalmer Formation,Western Rajasthan

The Jajiya Member of Jaisalmer Formation yielded a foraminiferal assemblage comprising twenty-three species dominated by the family Vaginulinidae. An Oxfordian age is assigned to the foraminiferal assemblage based on the record of some characteristic Oxfordian species reported from different parts of the world. The foraminiferal assemblage suggests an open marine shelf environment of deposition.     

A new look on Imperial Porphyry: a famous ancient dimension stone from the Eastern Desert of Egypt—petrogenesis and cultural relevance

International Journal of Earth Sciences - Imperial Porphyry, a famous dimension stone of spectacular purple color, was quarried in the Mons Porphyrites area north of Jabal Dokhan in the Eastern...     

Trace and REE element geochemistry of fluorite and its relation to uranium mineralizations,Gabal Gattar Area,Northern Eastern Desert,Egypt

Uranium mineralizations occur and form in a broad range of geologic setting and age, including magmatic to surfacial conditions, and there are numerous controls on their transportation and deposition, such as redox, pH, ligand concentration, complexation, and temperature. These temporal and spatial variations have caused a range of ore deposit mineral assemblages. Consequently, understanding their conditions of formation is still in its infancy. This research reports rare earth elements (REE) and trace elements of fluorite associated with hexavalent uranium mineralizations and tests of genetic models for the deposits. These data contribute to a better understanding of the variables controlling fluorite formation and uranium ore composition through understanding the evolution of these ore-forming hydrothermal systems. Fluorite in Gabal Gattar granite occurs as disseminations and/or thin veinlets and encrustations filling some uranium mineralized fissures and fractures along the northern margin of host granite mass. In the U-poor samples, fluorite forms well-developed large crystals that are commonly zoned. The zones are represented by alternating colorless and violet zones, and the outer zones are frequently dark violet. In the U-rich samples, fluorite is usually anhedral, unzoned, and has a dark violet color. The results of analysis of REE and trace element contents of fluorites using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicate that total REE in the anhedral unzoned fluorite are elevated compared to the well developed zoned fluorite, and also total REE in dark violet zones of zoned fluorite are elevated with respect to the colorless zones. The fluorites and host granite are generally characterized by strongly negative Eu anomalies and slightly negative or chondritic Ce anomalies. Accordingly, REE patterns of the fluorite and host granite are roughly alike, indicating that the source of REE and trace elements of hydrothermal fluids is the host granite leached by fluids. Y/Y*, Ce/Ce,* and Eu/Eu* patterns show that fluorite clearly records the compositional evolution of the hydrothermal solutions that have transferred trace and REE from host granite during the fluid–wall rocks interactions. The high uranium contents of fluorite in Gabal Gattar granite suggest that parent fluids bearing fluorine have interacted with host granite to leach uranium from the accessory minerals of granite and tetravalent uranium minerals in reduced or weakly oxidized zones.     

Mineral Content of Bottled and Desalinated Household Drinking Water in Kuwait

Three hundred and twenty‐two samples of desalinated household water were collected from 99 sampling locations that covered 95% of Kuwaiti's residential areas. Seventy‐one brands of bottled water were collected from Kuwaiti markets. The water quality parameters that were studied included pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), F^?, Cl^?, Br^?, , , , , , , , and the major macronutrients Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺. The analysis yielded a large range of results for most of these parameters, with differences in some cases exceeding 10‐fold. With a few exceptions, the results were found to comply with US‐EPA and WHO standards. Only the water in two brands of bottled water was acidic (pH < 6.5). The TDS was found to be higher than the US‐EPA regulated value in 4 and 3% of the household samples and bottled water brands, respectively. The fluoride levels were generally higher in bottled water than in household water. However, the household water that was produced by the Doha desalination plant and some of the European brands of bottled water were the best samples studied in terms of their quantity of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Na⁺ compared with the DRI values for those substances. EC and TDS were positively correlated with , , Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺ for household water but only with Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ for bottled water.     

Comparison of Trace Elements in Bottled and Desalinated Household Drinking Water in Kuwait

The levels of the trace elements aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), boron (B), barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), antimony (Sb), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn) were determined in 93 brands of non‐carbonated (BW) and carbonated (CBW) bottled water available in Kuwaiti markets and in 321 samples of desalinated household water (HW) collected from 99 sampling locations, which covered 95% of Kuwait's residential areas. The study yielded a large range of results for most of these elements, and the difference between the lowest and highest measured values exceeded three orders of magnitude for some elements in a number of the BW and CBW brands. With a few exceptions, the results for the HW and BW were found to comply with the United States‐Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization guideline values. The elements Fe, Pb, Hg, and Ni exceeded these GVs in 8.5, 0.3, 1.2, and 1% of the HW samples, respectively. One brand of BW exceeded the GV for B, while the levels of B, Ba, Be, Fe, and Mn exceeded the GVs in 35, 15, 5, 75, and 25% of the CBW brands, respectively. Correlations were found between the levels of some elements and either the desalination plant that produced the HW or the country of origin of the BW or CBW. The levels of the elements Al, Cu, Fe, and Zn in HW were higher in the summer than in the winter, with 14, 14, 42, and 18% increases, respectively. Nutritional evaluation revealed that significant percentages of the DRIs of Cr, Cu, Fe, and Se can be provided by drinking 2 L of HW, and significant percentages of the DRIs of B, Cr, Cu, and Mo can be provided by drinking 2 L of BW.     

Groundwater level estimation in northern region of Bangladesh using hybrid locally weighted linear regression and Gaussian process regression modeling

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Urban groundwater resources (GWRs) have declined substantially in recent decades, due to rapid urbanization, population growth, groundwater exploitation, land...     

Trend analysis of maximum,minimum, and average temperatures in Bangladesh: 1961–2008

The present study is about the analysis of mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures carried out on annual, seasonal, and monthly timescales examining the data from 15 meteorological stations in Bangladesh for the period 1961–2008. Various spatial and statistical tools were used to display and analyze trends in temperature data. ArcGIS was used to produce the spatially distributed temperature data by using Thiessen polygon method. The nonparametric Mann–Kendall test was used to determine whether there is a positive or negative trend in data with their statistical significance. Sen’s method was also used to determine the magnitude of the trends. The results reveal positive trends in annual mean and mean maximum temperatures with 95 % significance. Trend test reveals that the significant positive trend is found in June to November in case of mean maximum temperature, but according to the mean minimum temperature, the situation is different and a significant positive trend was found from November to February. The analysis of the whole record reveals a tendency toward warmer years, with significantly warmer summer periods and slightly colder winters. These warming patterns may have important impacts on energy consumption, water supply, human health, and natural environment in Bangladesh.     

Mineralogy and geochemistry studies on the Nusab El Balgum granitic batches,South Western Desert,Egypt

Igneous rocks of Nusab El Balgum are formed as an elongated complex mass covering an area of about 4 km?×?12.5 km (50 km²), in the NNE-SSW direction of the Tarfawi-Qena-South Sinai trend, which is a branch of the Trans-African shear zone at the intersection with the Kalabsha fault, which is a branch from Guinean-Nubian lineaments. The continuous reactivation of these two major weakness zones from the late Triassic to recent times has created many generations of the magma batches. The exposed granitic rocks of these batches at Nusab El Balgum were represented by the fresh peralkaline granite (youngest) and hydrothermally altered granites (oldest). The fresh peralkaline granite takes the form of a small stock composed essentially of perthites, quartz, sodic pyroxenes, amphiboles (secondary), and rare albite according to the proportion of presence, respectively. The accessory minerals are zircon, bastnaesite-(Ce), columbite-(Fe), magnetite, barite, and sphalerite. The geochemical study indicated that this granite is peralkaline, ferroan, A-type (specifically belongs to the A1-subgroup), anorogeny, emplaced in a within-plate, and crystallized at relatively shallow depth from the alkali basaltic magma similar to the OIBs. Furthermore, it is enriched in the HFSE (e.g., Th, U, Nb, REE, and Zr). The hydrothermally altered granites are formed as an incomplete ring shape and a small stock. They were formed during the late Cretaceous age and were altered due to the hydrothermal solutions from the continuous reactivation affected weakness zones and the new magmatic batches. The hydrothermally altered granites are extremely rich in HFSE found in the accessory minerals such as zircon (different in shape, size, and contains inclusions of bastnaesite and columbite), columbite-(Fe&Mn), rare gittinsite, pyrochlore minerals (ceriopyrochlore and plumbopyrochlore) carlosbarbosaite, changbaiite, bastnaesite-(Ce), monazite-(Ce), stetindite, cerianite-(Ce), thorite, and uranothorite. These rocks were subjected to many highly superimposed hydrothermal alteration types, including propylitic, sericitic, potassic, silicification, argillic, and Fe-Mn oxy-hydroxides. The hydrothermal solutions with low temperatures and containing F^1? and CO₃^2?, PO₄^3? and H₂O caused redistribution; transportation and redeposition of the HFSE in these rocks, in addition to the clay minerals and K-metasomatism, were formed. The relations between the silicification index (SI?=?SiO₂/(SiO₂ + Al₂O₃) and Zr, Nb, Th, U, LREE, and HREE are positive but they become negative with the K-metasomatism.     

3D visualizing of volumetric surface movement at karstic limestone area

Limestone bedrock topography has complex phenomena and highly relief subsurface topography due to the presence of karstic features. Geotechnical and environmental problems arise whenever foundations are established on the surface of the limestone bedrock or within the overburden soils. Geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing are emerging as powerful techniques widely applicable in natural resources management to detect land use changes and devise strategies based on these changes. The study focuses on using aerial photography for the detection of changes and effects of mining on geomorphology, especially the use of sequential images that allows to detect changes taken place from time to time, by using. Volumetric Surface Movement Spatiotemporal Data Model (VSMSDM) application has been employed to create karst terrain surface movements and visualized 3D information in the Virtual Geographical Information Systems (VGIS). VSMSDM application was implemented by developing prototype of visualization system using with integrated time in the TIN structure. The data have been collected from aerial photography in 1981 and 2004, and the results displayed that the proposed data model is able to view the changing in karst topography to detect significant landscapes and landforms changes.