Hydrochemical classification and multivariate statistical analysis of groundwater from Wadi Sahba area in central Saudi Arabia

The central region of Saudi Arabia is underlain by thick sedimentary formations belonging to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic era. These sedimentary formations form a prolific aquifer supplying groundwater for agricultural and domestic usage in and around Riyadh. The region south of Riyadh City is well known for agricultural activities. Wadi Sahba, which is an eastward extension of Wadi Nisah, has readily available groundwater resources in the Cretaceous Biyadh sandstone aquifer to sustain agricultural activities. The objective of the present study was the hydrochemical assessment of groundwater in the area to understand the main hydrological processes which influence groundwater chemistry. To achieve this objective, 20 groundwater samples were collected from agricultural farms in the Wadi Sahba in central Saudi Arabia, and the major physiochemical constituents were analyzed and interpreted. The average TDS value of the analyzed samples is 1578.05 mg/l, whereas the average EC concentration is 3220.05 μS/cm. Groundwater facies classification inferred from the Piper plot shows that groundwater in the study area belongs to the Ca-SO₄-Cl type and Ca-Na-SO₄-Cl type. The Ca-SO₄-Cl type of groundwater facies is influenced mainly by gypsum dissolution and base ion exchange, whereas the Ca-Na-SO₄-Cl type is influenced by gypsum and halite dissolution. All the groundwater samples are undersaturated with respect to these two principal mineral phases. The Q-mode cluster analysis results in two main groups of groundwater samples, mainly based on the TDS content. Cluster 1 has an average TDS value of 1980 mg/l, whereas cluster 2 has an average TDS of 1176 mg/l. The groundwater facies identified through the Piper plot reflects the major hydrological processes controlling groundwater chemistry in the area and was found to be more useful in this study as compared to cluster analysis.     

The probability distributions and fractal dimension of sunspot cycles associated with ENSO phenomena

Various methods have been used to secure the certainty of significant relations among the sunspot cycles and some of the terrestrial climate parameters such as temperature, rainfall, and ENSO. This study investigates the behavior of ENSO cycles and mean monthly sunspot cycles. Sunspot cycles range from 1755 to 2016 whereas, ENSO cycles range from 1866 to 2012. In this regard, the appropriateness of distributions is investigated with the help of Kolmogorov-Smirnov D, Anderson-Darling, and chi-square tests. It is found that most of the sunspot cycle follows generalized Pareto distribution whereas, generalized extreme value distribution was found appropriate for ENSO cycles. Probability distribution is used to analyze the behavior of each sunspot cycle and ENSO cycle separately. Probability distribution indicates the tail behavior of each cycle; tail explored correlation cycles. Furthermore, self-similar and self-affine fractal dimension methods are used to compute Hurst exponents to determine the persistency of the available data. Fractal dimension has an ability to study the complexity involved in sunspot and ENSO cycles. The fractal dimension and Hurst exponent describe persistency (smoothness) and complexity of data. Hurst exponent measures long-term behavior of time series, making it more helpful for forecasting. This is the measure of regularity or irregularity (chaos) of the time function in the form of their persistency or anti-persistency, respectively. Hurst exponents are computed using rescaled range analysis method and box counting methods. Both these methods are suitable for long-term forecasting. The results of this study confirm that during the period 1980–2000, ENSO cycles were very active. Simultaneously, ENSO was active for the periods 1982–1983, 1986–1987, 1991–1993, 1994–1995, and 1997–1998; these periods include two strongest periods of the century viz., 1982–1983 and 1997–1998. Sunspot cycles and ENSO cycles both were found to be persistent. Self-similar fractal dimensions exhibited a better persistency and a better correlation as compared to self-affine fractal dimension. This research is a part of a larger research project investigating the correlation of sunspot cycles and ENSO cycles, and the influence of ENSO cycles on variations of the local climatic parameters which in turn depends on solar activity changes.     

Site response analysis for deep and soft sedimentary deposits of Dhaka City,Bangladesh

Natural Hazards - The ground motion intensity of an earthquake is significantly changed when seismic waves propagate from the bedrock to the near-surface soft geological materials. The ground where...     

A record of ductile syn-intrusional fabrics to post solidification cataclasis: Magnetic fabric analysis of neoproterozoic Mirpur and Mt. Abu Granitoids,NW India

The Mirpur granite body represents a relatively small (10 km²) pluton intruded along the northern margin of the adjacent Mt. Abu batholith (∼125 km²) in NW India. It is a visibly undeformed alkali feldspar rich pink granite; in contrast, the Mt. Abu is a composite granitoid body and variably deformed. Both are intruded by rhyolitic dykes and the terminal magmatic events in both the cases are mafic dykes. The AMS (Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility) data identify the Mt. Abu with SE-dipping foliations and subvertical lineations as a single structural domain while the Mirpur granite body shows two domains characterized by predominantly E — W trend of magnetic foliation in the eastern part (domain I) and N — S orientations in the western part (domain II). The domain I shows magmatic fabrics, typical for the peraluminous granites of Malani Igneous Suite (MIS). Change in fabric orientation in the domain II has resulted from cataclasis wherein the samples show destruction of the original E — W fabric and complete transposition by N — S trends. The foliations in the Mt. Abu granites have been related to SE orientation of maximum horizontal stress. The same maximum stress direction can be inferred from dyke orientation in the Mirpur granite, which is interpreted as continuation of the tectonic imprint in this region during emplacement of both the granites. Age of the cataclastic overprint with a predominant N — S orientation is not yet constrained but corresponds with the trend of the nearby Sindreth basin within the Malani Igneous Suite. The Neoproterozoic tectonic scenario for the region has been interpreted in terms of an ongoing crustal convergence and granitic magma emplacement against the back stop offered by the rigid Delhi Fold Belt.     

A probabilistic approach to the assessment of uranium resources

This paper presents a probabilistic approach to the estimation of uranium resources that allows for the integration of geologic observations with the experience and judgment of geologists. The paper focuses on estimating roll-front type deposits. The approach is based on a quantitative material balance model of ore formation that describes the quantity of uranium resources in terms of several key parameters constituting the quantity of uranium entering a host, and the fraction of the entering uranium that has been precipitated. The parameters cannot necessarily be measured in the field, but they can be inferred from available information and interpretation of field observations. The key to this approach is eliciting these inferences from geologists, representing the uncertainties inherent in drawing the geologic inferences as probability distributions, and combining the distributions to arrive at a probability distribution for uranium resources in a region. This paper presents the model, procedures for eliciting subjective probabilities and updating the distribution over resources within a Bayesian framework, and a demonstration of the procedure by obtaining estimates for three roll-front type deposits in Wyoming.     

Crustal structure of the northern Levant region: multiple source Werner deconvolution estimates for Bouguer gravity anomalies

The opening of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, and the collision of the Arabian plate with the jigsaw southern margin of the Anatolian plate have sheared the Sinai-Levant microplate off the NW part of the Arabian plate, and created the left-lateral Dead Sea (Levant) transform fault. The structural setting of the northern Levant region, particularly Lebanon and the Palmyrides, has been complicated by detachments along incompetent evaporitic horizons, roughly separating the post-Triassic succession from the underlying crustal material. The interpretation of the multiple source Werner deconvolution (MSWD) estimates of Bouguer gravity profiles, which were separately calculated for Syria and Lebanon, integrated with the available geological and geophysical results leads to the following interpretations: (1) the crust of Syria thickens southeastwards from approximately 32 km under the Al-Ghab Graben to >36 km under the Aleppo high, the Palmyride fold belt and the Rutbah high; (2) the lower-crustal (basaltic) layer thickens northwestwards from the hinterland to the Al-Ghab graben at the expense of the overlying andesitic layer; (3) the Mid-Beqa'a fault is delineated by the MSWD estimates in Lebanon and its NE extension in Syria; (4) the Phanerozoic section in the southwesternmost parts of the Palmyrides is ∼ 13 km thick, and the shortening there could exceed 30 km; (5) the Palmyride fold belt, and the Serghaya and Mid-Beqa'a faults could have accounted for about 70 km of the 105 km left-lateral displacement along the southern segment of the Dead Sea transform fault system, without transmission to the Syrian (northern) segment of the fault system; (6) the splitting of the Dead Sea transform fault in the Kuleh Depression into the Serghaya. Mid-Beqa'a, Yammouneh and Roum faults could be explained by the rotation of the detached post-Triassic succession over a stable deep left-lateral fracture of the Dead Sea fault in the underlying crustal material.