Study of Shoreline Changes Through Digital Shoreline Analysis System and Wave Modeling: Case of the Sandy Coast of Bou-Ismail Bay,Algeria

Ocean Science Journal - This work aims to analyze the evolution of Bou-Ismail coastline in Algeria using aerial photographs and quick-bird satellite image during the elapsed period from 1959 to...     

Experimental evaluation of a glass curtain wall of a tall building

The seismic demand parameters including the floor acceleration amplification (FAA) factors and the interstory drift ratios (IDRs) were acquired from the floor response in time history analysis of a tall building subjected to selected ground motions. The FAA factors determined in this way are larger than those given in most current code provisions, but the obtained IDRs are close to the values given in some code provisions. Imposing a series of in‐plane pre‐deformations to two glass curtain wall (CW) specimens mounted on a shaking table, the IDRs were reproduced and the FAA factors were satisfied through applications of computed floor spectra compatible motion time histories, whose peak accelerations corresponded to the FAA factors. The CW specimens performed well during the whole experimental program with almost no change in the fundamental frequencies. No visible damage was observed in the glass panels. The maximum stresses detected in each component of the CW system were smaller than the design strengths. The obtained component acceleration amplification factor approached 3.35, which is larger than the value given in the current code provisions. In conclusion, the performance of the studied CW system is seismically safe. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial and temporal variations of physicochemical and heavy metal pollution in Ramganga River—a tributary of River Ganges,India

The River Ganges being the most sacred river and lifeline to millions of Indians in serving their water requirements is facing excessive threat of pollution. Under various river management and conservation strategies for its protection, the assessment of water quality of its main tributary Ramganga River is lacking. This study focuses on assessment of physicochemical and heavy metal pollution of the Ramganga River by application of multivariate statistical techniques. Sampling of Ramganga River at sixteen sampling sites was carried out in three seasons (summer, monsoon and winter) of 2014. The collected water samples were analyzed for physicochemical parameters and heavy metals. Results from cluster analysis (CA) of the data divided the whole stretch of the river into three clusters as elevation from 1304 to 259 m as less polluted, from 207 to 154 m as moderately polluted and from elevation 154 to 139 m as high-polluted stretches with anthropogenic as main sources of pollution in high-polluted stretch. Principal component analysis of the seasonal dataset resulted in three significant principal components (PC) in each season explaining 72–8% of total variance with strong loadings (>0.75) of PC1 on fluoride (F^?), chloride (Cl^?), sodium (Na⁺), calcium (Ca²⁺), magnesium (Mg²⁺), bicarbonate (HCO₃ ^?), total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity. Temporal variation by one-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) showed significant seasonal variation was in the pH, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, turbidity, HCO₃ ^?, F^?, Zn, cadmium (Cd) and Mn (p < 0.05). Turbidity showed approximately a twofold increase in monsoon season due to rainfall in the catchment area and subsequent flow of runoff into the river. Concentration of HCO₃ ^?, F^? and pH also showed similar increase in monsoon. The concentration of Zn, Cd and Mn showed an increasing trend in summers compared to monsoon and winter season due to dilution effect in the monsoon season and its lasting effect in winters.     

Rapid late Pleistocene/Holocene uplift and coastal evolution of the southern Arabian (Persian) Gulf

The coastline along the southern Arabian Gulf between Al Jubail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Dubai, UAE, appears to have risen at least 125 m in the last 18,000 years. Dating and topographic surveying of paleo-dunes (43–53 ka), paleo-marine terraces (17–30 ka), and paleo-marine shorelines (3.3–5.5 ka) document a rapid, > 1 mm/a subsidence, followed by a 6 mm/a uplift that is decreasing with time. The mechanism causing this movement remains elusive but may be related to the translation of the coastal area through the backbasin to forebulge hinge line movement of the Arabian plate or, alternatively, by movement of the underlying Infracambrian-age Hormuz salt in response to sea-level changes associated with continental glaciation. Independent of the mechanism, rapid and episodic uplift may impact the design of engineering projects such as nuclear power plants, airports, and artificial islands as well as the interpretation of sedimentation and archeology of the area.     

Beach erosion along the coastline of Alexandria, Egypt

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An In‐Depth Characterization of Urban Aerosols Using Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X‐Ray Analysis

The physical and chemical characterization of aerosols from three large cities, Karachi and Islamabad, Pakistan, and New York City (NYC), USA, was investigated. A scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) was used to determine particle morphology and elemental composition of the samples. A Bruker Spirit system in combination with a Sahara detector provided both computer controlled Automated Chemical Classification (ACC) and digital mapping features for analysis purposes. The use of these two features to characterize the elemental composition, particle size, and to determine specific classes or source types is described in this paper. Filters were analyzed for the following elements; Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Br, Sr, Y, Zr, Mo, Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Ba, La, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, and U. The EDS work was qualitative not quantitative. Seven source types (mobile, cement, soil, steel mill, fossil fuel, sea salt and biological) contributed to particulate matter in the ambient air of both cities in Pakistan, whereas there were eight source types (diesel, road dust, automobile, iron, residual fuel oil, sea salt, ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate) for NYC. For all three urban centers, vehicular traffic emissions were the main contributor to particle number. Diesel emissions from trucks and buses were relatively more prominent in NYC aerosols, while gasoline emission from automotive exhaust was dominant in the two cities of Pakistan. The cement/limestone component from local cement industries was very evident in both particle surface characteristics and number for both Karachi and Islamabad, but not in NYC air. Sea salt aerosols were seen in the two coastal cities, Karachi and NYC. It was also witnessed in Islamabad aerosols and was attributable to the mining of rock salt at the world's richest salt mine, Khewra, situated upwind from the city.     

Experimental investigation of slip‐stick behaviour in granular materials

This paper presents the results of an experimental programme to study load oscillation in granular materials. Spherical glass beads were used in the investigation. Cylindrical specimens were compressed under axisymmetric triaxial loading condition at 25,100,250 and 400 kPa confining pressures. The test parameters included: (i) particle size; (ii) gradation (uniform versus non‐uniform specimens); (iii) confining pressure; (iv) loading rate; and (v) specimen density. In general, a slight post‐peak principal stress softening was observed as well as a continuous volume increase (dilation) even at relatively high strains. This appears to be caused by the uniform shape and smooth surface of the spherical particles. Load oscillations were observed in the very small, small, and well‐graded beads at each confining pressure. For the medium beads, the oscillations appeared at high confining pressure (250 and 400 kPa), and they did not appear in the large beads. The influences of the confining pressure, loading rate, particle size, gradation and specimen density on load oscillation are presented and discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Waterflood management using two-stage optimization with streamline simulation

Waterflooding is a common secondary oil recovery process. Performance of waterfloods in mature fields with a significant number of wells can be improved with minimal infrastructure investment by optimizing injection/production rates of individual wells. However, a major bottleneck in the optimization framework is the large number of reservoir flow simulations often required. In this work, we propose a new method based on streamline-derived information that significantly reduces these computational costs in addition to making use of the computational efficiency of streamline simulation itself. We seek to maximize the long-term net present value of a waterflood by determining optimal individual well rates, given an expected albeit uncertain oil price and a total fluid injection volume. We approach the optimization problem by decomposing it into two stages which can be implemented in a computationally efficient manner. We show that the two-stage streamline-based optimization approach can be an effective technique when applied to reservoirs with a large number of wells in need of an efficient waterflooding strategy over a 5 to 15-year period.     

Application of empirical and semi-analytical algorithms to MERIS data for estimating chlorophyll a in Case 2 waters of Lake Erie

Lake Erie is biologically the most active lake among the Great Lakes of North America, experiencing seasonal harmful algal blooms (HABs). The early detection of HABs in the Western Basin of Lake Erie (WBLE) requires a more efficient and accurate monitoring tool. Remote sensing is an efficient tool with high spatial and temporal coverage that can allow accurate and timely detection of the HABs. The WBLE is heavily influenced by the surrounding terrestrial ecosystem via rivers such as the Sandusky River and the Maumee River. As a result, the optical properties of the WBLE are influenced by multiple color producing agents (CPAs) such as phytoplankton, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), organic detritus, and terrigenous inorganic particles. The diversity of the CPAs and their non-linear interactions makes these waters optically complex, and the task of optical remote sensing for retrieving estimates of CPAs more challenging. Chlorophyll a, which is the primary light harvesting pigment in all phytoplankton, is used as a proxy for algal biomass. In this study, several published remote sensing algorithms and band ratio models were applied to the reflectance data from the full resolution MERIS sensor to remotely estimate chlorophyll a concentrations in the WBLE. Efficiency of the sensor and the algorithms performance were tested through a least squares regression and residual analysis. The results indicate that, among the suite of existing bio-optical models, the Simis semi-analytical algorithm provided the best model results for measures of algal biomass in the optically complex WBLE with R ² of 0.65, RMSE 0.85 μg/l, (n = 71, P < 0.05). The superior results of this model in detecting chlorophyll a are attributed to several factors including optimizing spectral regions that are less sensitive to CDOM and the incorporation of correction factors such as absorption effects due to pure water (a _w), backscatter (b _b) from suspended matter and interference due to phycocyanin (δ), a major accessory pigment in the WBLE.     

Recent glacier changes in the Kashmir Alpine Himalayas,India

Using Landsat data at decadal interval (1980–2013), the glacier fluctuations (glacier area, equilibrium line altitude and specific mass balance) of nine benchmark glaciers in Kashmir Himalaya were estimated. The observed changes were related to topographic and climatic variables in order to understand their influence. From the data analysis, it was observed that the glaciers have shrunk by 17%, ELA has shifted upwards (80–300 m) and SMB shows variation in glacier mass loss from ?0.77 to ?0.16 m.w.e. Annual air temperature showed a significant increasing trend, and a slight but insignificant decrease in precipitation was observed during the period. It is evident that in the same climatic regime, varying topography plays a key role in determining the glacier changes. It is believed that the observed changes in the glacier geometry and dynamics, if continued, shall have adverse effect on the streamflows, water supplies and other dependent sectors in the region.