Integrating international linguistic minorities in emergency planning at institutions of higher education

Natural Hazards - Research concerning the behavior of international linguistic minorities at institutions of higher education during disasters is very limited. Many international groups suffer from...     

Soil detachment and transport on field‐ and laboratory‐scale interrill areas: erosion processes and the size‐selectivity of eroded sediment

Field‐ and laboratory‐scale rainfall simulation experiments were carried out in an investigation of the temporal variability of erosion processes on interrill areas, and the effects of such variation upon sediment size characteristics. Poorly aggregated sandy soils from the semi‐arid environment of Senegal, West Africa, were used on both a 40 m² field plot and a 0·25 m² laboratory plot; rainfall intensity for all experiments was 70 mm h^?1 with a duration of 1 to 2 hours. Time‐series measurements were made of the quantity and the size distribution of eroded material: these permitted an estimate of the changing temporal balance between the main erosion processes (splash and wash). Results from both spatial scales showed a similar temporal pattern of runoff generation and sediment concentration. For both spatial scales, the dominant erosional process was detachment by raindrops; this resulted in a dynamic evolution of the soil surface under raindrop impact, with the rapid formation of a sieving crust followed by an erosion crust. However, a clear difference was observed between the two scales regarding the size of particles detached by both splash and wash. While all measured values were lower than the mean weight diameter (MWD) value of the original soil (mean 0·32 mm), demonstrating the size‐selective nature of wash and splash processes, the MWD values of washed and splashed particles at the field scale ranged from 0·08 to 0·16 mm and from 0·12 to 0·30 mm respectively, whereas the MWD values of washed and splashed particles at the laboratory scale ranged from 0·13 to 0·29 mm and from 0·21 to 0·32 mm respectively. Thus only at the field scale were the soil particles detached by splash notably coarser than those transported by wash. This suggests a transport‐limited erosion process at the field scale. Differences were also observed between the dynamics of the soil loss by wash at the two scales, since results showed wider scatter in the field compared to the laboratory experiments. This scatter is probably related to the change in soil surface characteristics due to the size‐selectivity of the erosion processes at this spatial scale. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Size Distribution of HII Regions as a New Variant to Determine the Distances of Galaxies

Es wurden die scheinbaren Radien einiger HII-Gebiete in den Galaxien NGC 224, 2403, 300, 598 und 1313 bestimmt und deren Größenverteilung untersucht. Zur Entfernungsbestimmung dieser Galaxien wurden zwei Varianten angenommen, deren Zuverlässigkeit durch Vergleich mit auf andere Weise bestimmten Entfernungen gezeigt wird.     

Sedimentology and depositional environments of the Ordovician Umm Sahm Sandstone Formation in southern Jordan

The Ordovician Umm Sahm Sandstone Formation of Jordan comprises approximately 200-m-thick succession of fluvial quartzarenites with subordinate claystone and siltstone lithologies of shallow marine conditions. The Umm Sahm Formation is characterized by its dark brown color, frequent jointing, and steep scarps. The Umm Sahm Formation is bounded by the marine claystones of Hiswah Formation at the top and the fluvial sandstones of the Disi Formation at the bottom. The Umm Sahm Formation is composed of two main facies: fluvial facies and tidal facies. The fluvial facies constitutes about 93% of the total thickness. The lower few meters of the succession passes upward from the Disi Sandstone Formation into similar massive white sandstone facies exhibiting similar white color, fine- to coarse-grained sandstone, with round-shaped pebbles. Trough and planar cross-bedding show a northwest unidirectional palaeocurrent trend. Light brown colored quartzarenites similar to those of the Cambrian Umm Ishrin Sandstone Formation are most common in the upper part of the succession. The tidal facies occupies three intervals in the middle part of the succession. It is composed of laminated and thin-bedded sandstones, siltstones, and claystones. They are rippled and varicolored with abundant trace fossils (Cruziana, Harlania, ruzophycus). The presence of hummocky cross stratification indicates the earliest short-lived tempestite conditions during the Paleozoic erathem of Jordan. The first appearance of Graptolites in the Ordovician rocks of Jordan was recorded during this study in the tidal facies of the Umm Sahm Formation. The vertical arrangement of both fluvial and tidal facies indicates three successive short-lived transgressions and regressions. These marine incursions indicate the successive shoreline advances of the Tethys Ocean, which was located northward, and inundated the southern braid plain. The three short-lived transgressive events took place, and the Tethys marine margin was displaced southward, giving rise to deposition of tidal facies in an open coast tidal flat. Following the transgressive events, renewed progradation and strandline retreat took place, fed by large amounts of siliciclastics derived from the continent and transported by braided streams across the intertidal zone.     

Performance evaluation of HWRF model during post monsoon tropical cyclone Nilofar

An accurate tropical cyclone track and intensity forecast is very important for disaster management. Specialized numerical prediction models have been recently used to provide high-resolution temporal and special forecasts. Hurricane Weather Research and Forecast (HWRF) model is one of the emerging numerical models for tropical cyclone forecasting. This study evaluates the performance of HWRF model during the post monsoon tropical cyclone Nilofar on the north Indian Ocean basin. The evaluation uses the best track data provided by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC). Cyclone track, central pressure, and wind speed are covered on this evaluation. Generally, HWRF was able to predict the Nilofar track with track error less than 230 km within the first 66 h of forecast time span. HWRF predicted more intense tropical cyclone. It predicted the lowest central pressure to be 922 hPa while it reached 950 hPa according to IMD and 937 hPa according to JTWC. Wind forecast was better as it predicted maximum wind speed of 122 kt while it reached 110 and 115 kt according to IMD and JTWC, respectively.     

Hydrological responses to rainfall variability and dam construction: a case study of the upper Senegal River basin

The understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamic of river systems is essential for developing sustainable water resource management plan. For the Senegal River, this subject is very complex according to the context of (1) transboundary basin, (2) several contrasted climatic zones (Guinea, South Sudanian, North Sudanian and Sahelian) with high rainfall variability and (3) high human pressures (dam construction and water uses). From 1954 to 2000, 80% (mean value) of the Senegal River flows recorded downstream part of the basin are provided by three majors tributaries (Bafing, Bakoye and Faléme) located in the upstream part. Then, in our study, this upper Senegal River basin was chosen in order to investigate the hydrological responses to rainfall variability and dam construction. Two nonparametric statistical methods, Mann–Kendall and Hubert test, were used to detect the long-term changes in the time series of precipitation and water discharge (1954–2000) at the annual and seasonal scales. The continuous wavelet transform (Morlet Wavelet) was employed to characterize the different mode in the water discharge variability. Flow duration curve and cumulative curve methods were used to assess the impact of dams on the hydrological regime of the Senegal River. Results showed that the Senegal River flows have been changing under the influence of both rainfall variation and dam construction. The long-term evolution of water discharge depend on long-term rainfall variability: The wet periods of the 1950s and 1960s correspond to periods of higher river flows, while the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s led to unprecedented river flows deficits. The new period, since 1994, show a high inter-annual variability of rainfall and discharge without clear trend. At seasonal scale, the results showed also a strong relationship between rainfall and runoff (R ² > 0.8) resulting from alternating wet and dry seasons and rapid hydrological responses according to annual rainfall. Nevertheless, the observed flows during dry seasons highlighted the influence of water storage and restitution of infiltrated waters in soils and surficial formations during wet seasons. In the dry seasons, the water budget of the three upstream tributaries showed a water deficit at the downstream gauging station. This deficit was characterized by water loss to underlying aquifers and highlighted the influence of geological setting on water balance. However, in this context, water restitution during the dry season remained dependent on climatic zone and on the total annual rainfall volume during the previous wet season. The results have highlighted an impact of the Manantali dam previously obscured: The dam has no effect on the regulation of high river flows. That is what explains that since its construction in 1988, flooding of coastal cities, like Saint-louis, by seasonal river floods has not ceased. The flooding risk in coastal cities is not avoided, and the dams caused hyper-salinization of the Senegal lower estuary. The breach created in the coastal barrier of the Langue of Barbary in October 2003 promotes direct export of excess floodwater to the sea and reduces this risk of flooding in the delta area. But, this solution led to considerable loss of potential water resources, and the authors recommend a new water management plan with a global focus. However, this study shows the positives impacts of the two dams. They allow the availability of freshwater in order to support agricultural irrigation in the valley and delta zone, in particular during low flows periods.     

Distances of Galaxies from the Apparent Size Distribution of Dark Clouds. II NGC 224, NGC 2841 and NGC 7331

The distances of three Sb galaxies NGC 224, NGC 2841 and NGC 7331 have been determined using the apparent size distribution of dark interstellar clouds in each of them. The distances of NGC 224, NGC 2841, NGC 7331 were found to be 727.7 ± 63 kpc, 8.07 ± 0.16 Mpc and 7.22 ± 0.15 Mpc, respectively.     

Position Angle Variation of the Major Axis of some Galaxies

The variation in the direction of the major axis in three ellipticals, five lenticulars and three spirals has been studied using B or V isophotic maps. It is noticed that there is a turn point in most of the curves especially for spirals and lenticulars. This turn point can be used to define the galaxy nucleus region. There seems to be a correlation between the rotation curve and the position angle curve especially for NGC 2784 and NGC 3640     

Source parameters of March 10 and September 13, 2007, United Arab Emirates earthquakes

On March 10 and September 13, 2007 two earthquakes with moment magnitudes 3.66 and 3.94, respectively, occurred in the eastern part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two events were widely felt in the northern Emirates and Oman and were accompanied by a few aftershocks. Ground motions from these events were well recorded by the broadband stations of Dubai (UAE) and Oman seismological networks and provide an excellent opportunity to study the tectonic process and present day stress field acting in this area. In this study, we report the focal mechanisms of the two main shocks by two methods: first motion polarities and regional waveform moment tensor inversion. Our results indicate nearly pure normal faulting mechanisms with a slight strike slip component. We associated the fault plane trending NNE–SSW with a suggested fault along the extension of the faults bounded Bani Hamid area. The seismicity distribution between two earthquake sequences reveals a noticeable gap that may be a site of a future event. The source parameters (seismic moment, moment magnitude, fault radius, stress drop and displacement across the fault) were also estimated from displacement spectra. The moment magnitudes were very consistent with waveform inversion. The recent deployment of seismic networks in Dubai and Oman reveals tectonic activity in the northern Oman Mountains that was previously unknown. Continued observation and analysis will allow for characterization of seismicity and assessment of seismic hazard in the region.