Historical tsunami in the Makran Subduction Zone off the southern coasts of Iran and Pakistan and results of numerical modeling

Tsunami hazard in the Makran Subduction Zone (MSZ), off the southern coasts of Iran and Pakistan, was studied by numerical modeling of historical tsunami in this region. Although the MSZ triggered the second deadliest tsunami in the Indian Ocean, among those known, the tsunami hazard in this region has yet to be analyzed in detail. This paper reports the results of a risk analysis using five scenario events based on the historic records, and identifies a seismic gap area in western Makran off the southern coast of Iran. This is a possible site for a future large earthquake and tsunami. In addition, we performed numerical modeling to explain some ambiguities in the historical reports. Based on the modeling results, we conclude that either the extreme run-up of 12–15 m assigned for the 1945 Makran tsunami in the historical record was produced by a submarine landslide triggered by the parent earthquake, or that these reports are exaggerated. The other possibility could be the generation of the huge run-up heights by large displacements on splay faults. The results of run-up modeling reveal that a large earthquake and tsunami in the MSZ is capable of producing considerable run-up heights in the far field. Therefore, it is possible that the MSZ was the source of the tsunami encountered by a Portuguese fleet in Dabhul in 1524.     

Historic Landscape Reconstruction and Visualisation, West Oxfordshire, England

As part of the Wychwood Project in West Oxfordshire, England, aerial photography and historic maps are being used to reconstruct landscape change in the former medieval Royal Hunting Forest of Wychwood. An important objective of the project is to stimulate local interest in Wychwood and promote understanding of its evolution, thereby encouraging the support of stakeholders in the design of future landscapes. The parish of Leafield was selected to develop and test a method for reconstructing and visualising past and present landscapes to present to the public for evaluation and comparison. Leafield contains fine examples of both early and late enclosure landscapes and underwent large-scale disafforestation following the Enclosure Act of 1856. Ordnance Survey (O.S.) 1:10000 Landform Panorama contour data were used to create a digital elevation model (DEM) of the parish using ArcView 3D Analyst, enabling the user to create perspective views of the landscape from any height and viewing angle. Contemporary aerial photography was scanned and geo-rectified to create an overlay for 'draping' onto the DEM. Historical maps provided the reference for modifying the aerial photography using the PaintShop Pro graphics package. This paper presents and reviews the results and compares the method with other techniques, including VRML.     

Cadmium release caused by the die-back of the saltmarsh cord grass Spartina anglica in Poole Harbour (UK)

As in many other areas, the perennial cord grass Spartina anglica C.E. Hubbard has been extremely successful at colonising the English and Irish south coasts, but it is dying back for reasons that are not completely understood. The present study considers the relationship between die-back and metal concentrations in estuarine sediment. No obvious impact of the metal contamination on the S. anglica growth/die-back could be detected in the study zone, Poole Harbour, although the die-back did seem to have substantially influenced the metal concentrations in the sediments of the estuary. Based on core profiles, the remaining patches of S. anglica still retain elevated concentrations and the overall cadmium concentrations in the sediments have risen since 1925. However, considerable quantities of the cadmium stored in the sediment by S. anglica appear to have been washed out rapidly in the die-back zones. Should serious erosion of the saltmarsh occur, triggered for example by sea-level rise, then sudden and high levels of cadmium release may cause harmful effects to marine biota.     

Hydrologic factors controlling groundwater salinity in northwestern coastal zone,Egypt

The aim of this article is to assess the main factors influencing salinity of groundwater in the coastal area between El Dabaa and Sidi Barani, Egypt. The types and ages of the main aquifers in this area are the fractured limestone of Middle Miocene, the calcareous sandstone of Pliocene and the Oolitic Limestone of Pleistocene age. The aquifers in the area are recharged by seasonal rainfall of the order of 150 mm/year. The relationship of groundwater salinity against the absolute water level, the well drilling depth, and the ability of aquifer to recharge has been discussed in the present work. The ability of aquifer to locally recharge by direct rainfall is a measure of the vertical permeability due to lithological and structural factors that control groundwater salinity in the investigated aquifers. On the other hand, the fracturing system as well as the attitude of the surface water divide has a prime role in changing both the mode of occurrence and the salinity of groundwater in the area. Directly to the west of Matrouh, where the coastal plain is the narrowest, and east of Barrani, where the coastal plain is the widest, are good examples of this concept, where the water salinity attains its maximum and minimum limits respectively. Accordingly, well drilling in the Miocene aquifer, in the area between El Negila and Barrani to get groundwater of salinities less than 5000 mg/l is recommended in this area, at flow rate less than 10 m³/hr/well. In other words, one can expect that the brackish water is probably found where the surface water divide is far from the shore line, where the Wadi fill deposits dominate (Quaternary aquifer), acting as a possible water salinity by direct rainfall and runoff.     

CASM: a unified state parameter model for clay and sand

The purpose of this paper is to present a simple, unified critical state constitutive model for both clay and sand. The model, called CASM (Clay And Sand Model), is formulated in terms of the state parameter that is defined as the vertical distance between current state (v, p′) and the critical state line in v–ln p′ space. The paper first shows that the standard Cam-clay models (i.e. the original and modified Cam-clay models) can be reformulated in terms of the state parameter. Although the standard Cam-clay models prove to be successful in modelling normally consolidated clays, it is well known that they cannot predict many important features of the behavior of sands and overconsolidated clays. By adopting a general stress ratio-state parameter relation to describe the state boundary surface of soils, it is shown that a simple, unified constitutive model (CASM) can be developed for both clay and sand. It is also demonstrated that the standard Cam-clay yield surfaces can be either recovered or approximated as special cases of the yield locus assumed in CASM. The main feature of the proposed model is that a single set of yield and plastic potential functions has been used to model the behaviour of clay and sand under both drained and undrained loading conditions. In addition, it is shown that the behaviour of overconsolidated clays can also be satisfactorily modelled. Simplicity is a major advantage of the present state parameter model, as only two new material constants need to be introduced when compared with the standard Cam-clay models. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analogue study of particle segregation in pyroclastic density currents, with implications for the emplacement mechanisms of large ignimbrites

Abstract Analogue flume experiments were conducted to investigate the transport and sedimentation behaviour of turbulent pyroclastic density currents. The experimental currents were scaled approximately to the natural environment in three ways: (1) they were fully turbulent; (2) they had a very wide range of particle sizes and associated Rouse numbers (the ratio of particle settling velocity to effective turbulent eddy velocity in the current); and (3) they contained particles of two different densities. Two sets of surge‐type experiments were conducted in a 5 m long, water‐filled lock‐exchange flume at five different volumetric particle concentrations from 0·6% to 23%. In one set (one‐component experiments), the currents contained just dense particles; in the other set (two‐component experiments), they contained both light and dense particles in equal volume proportions. In both sets of experiments, the population of each component had a log‐normal size distribution. In the two‐component experiments, the size range of the light particle population was selected in order to be in hydrodynamic equivalence with that of the dense particles. Dense particles were normally graded, both vertically and downstream, in the deposits from both sets of experiments. The mass loading (normalized to the initial mass of the suspension) and grain size of the dense component in the deposits decreased with distance from the reservoir and were insensitive to initial total particle concentration in the currents. On the other hand, in the two‐component experiments, the light particles were extremely sensitive to concentration. They were deposited in hydrodynamic equivalence with the dense particles from dilute currents, but were segregated efficiently at concentrations higher than a few per cent. With increasing particle concentration, the large, light particles were carried progressively further down the flume because of buoyancy effects. Deposits from the high‐concentration currents exhibited reverse vertical grading of the large, light particles. Efficient segregation of the light component was observed even if the bulk density of the current was less than that of the light particles. In both sets of experiments, marked inflexions in the rate of downstream decline in mass loading and maximum grain size of the dense component can be attributed to the presence of two different particle settling regimes in the flow: (1) particles with Rouse numbers >2·5, which did not respond to the turbulence and settled rapidly; and (2) particles with Rouse numbers <2·5, which followed the turbulent eddies and settled slowly. The results are applied to the transport and sedimentation dynamics of pyroclastic density currents that generate large, widespread ignimbrites. Field data fail to reveal significant departures from aerodynamic equivalence between pumice and lithic clasts in three such ignimbrites: the particulate loads of some large ignimbrites are transported principally in turbulent suspensions of low concentration. In some ignimbrites, the well‐developed inflexions in curves of maximum lithic (ML) size vs. distance can be attributed to the existence of distinct high and low Rouse number particle settling regimes that mark the transition from an overcharged state to one in which the residual particulate load is transported more effectively by turbulence.     

Natural attenuation, biostimulation and bioaugmentation on biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in mangrove sediments

The biodegradability of a mixture of PAHs, namely fluorene (Fl), phenanthrene (Phe) and pyrene (Pyr), in mangrove sediment slurry was investigated. At the end of week 4, natural attenuation based on the presence of autochthonous microorganisms degraded more than 99% Fl and Phe but only around 30% of Pyr were degraded. Biostimulation with addition of mineral salt medium degraded over 97% of all three PAHs, showing that nutrient amendment could enhance Pyr degradation. Bioaugmentation with inoculation of a PAH-degrading bacterial consortium enriched from mangrove sediments did not show any promotion effect and the degradation percentages of three PAHs were similar to that by natural attenuation. Some inhibitory effect was observed in bioaugmentation treatment in week 1 with only 50% Fl and 70% Phe degraded. These results indicate that autochthonous microbes may interact and even compete with the enriched consortium during PAH biodegradation. Natural attenuation appeared to be the most appropriate way to remedy Fl- and Phe-contaminated mangrove sediments while biostimulation was more capable to degrade Pyr-contaminated sediments. The study also shows that although a large portion of the added PAHs (more than 95%) was adsorbed onto the sediments at the beginning of the experiment, most PAHs were degraded in 4 weeks, suggesting that the degraders could utilize the adsorbed PAHs efficiently.