Forecasting Copper Prices Using Hybrid Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System and Genetic Algorithms

Natural Resources Research - An accurate forecasting model for the price volatility of minerals plays a vital role in future investments and decisions for mining projects and related companies. In...     

Three-Dimensional Petrophysical Modelling and Volumetric Analysis to Model the Reservoir Potential of the Kupe Field,Taranaki Basin,New Zealand

Natural Resources Research - This study addresses the three-dimensional (3D) petrophysical modelling and volumetric analysis of the Farewell Reservoir in the Kupe Field in the southern Taranaki...     

Use of genetic algorithm in new approach to modeling of flood routing

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - The hydrological models and simplified methods of Saint-venant equations are used extensively in hydrological modeling, in particular for the simulation of the...     

A literature synthesis of LiDAR applications in transportation: feature extraction and geometric assessments of highways

Interest in using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology in Transportation Engineering has grown over the past decade. The high accuracy of LiDAR datasets and the efficiency by which they can be collected has led many transportation agencies to consider mobile LiDAR as an alternative to conventional tools when surveying roadway infrastructure. Nonetheless, extracting semantic information from LiDAR datasets can be extremely challenging. Although extracting roadway features from LiDAR has been considered in previous research, the extraction of some features has received more attention than others. In fact, for some roadway design elements, attempts to extract those elements from LiDAR have been extremely scarce. To document the research that has been done in this area, this paper conducts a thorough review of existing studies while also highlighting areas where more research is required. Unlike previous research, this paper includes a thorough review of the previous attempts at data extraction from LiDAR while summarizing the detailed steps of the extraction procedure proposed in each study. Moreover, the paper also identifies common tools and techniques used to extract information from LiDAR for transportation applications. The paper also highlights common limitations in existing algorithms that could be improved in future research. This paper represents a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners interested in knowing the current state of research on the applications of LiDAR in the field of Transportation Engineering while also understanding the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.     

利用SRTM绘制东Sahara大型古排水盆地及其对南埃及新发展计划的影响(英文)

In the current study, the shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) data, with～90 m horizontal resolution, were used to delineate the paleodrainage system and their mega basin extent in the East Sahara area. One mega-drainage basin has been detected, covering an area of 256 000 km2. It is classified into two sub mega basins. The Uweinate sub mega basin, which is composed of four main tributaries, collected water from a vast catchment region and drained eastward from the north, west, and southwest, starting at...     

Distribution of diagenetic alterations within depositional facies and sequence stratigraphic framework of fluvial sandstones: Evidence from the Petrohan Terrigenous Group,Lower Triassic,NW Bulgaria

Sequence stratigraphy of fluvial deposits is a controversial topic because changes in relative sea level will eventually have indirect impact on the spatial and temporal distribution of depositional facies. Changes in the relative sea level may influence the accommodation space in fluvial plains, and hence have impact on types of fluvial system, frequency of avulsion, and style of vertical and lateral accretion. This study aims to investigate whether depositional facies and changes in the fluvial system of the Lower Triassic Petrohan Terrigenous Group sandstones (NW Bulgaria) in response to changes in the relative sea level have an impact on the spatial and temporal distribution of diagenetic alterations.     

Origin of EL3 chondrites: Evidence for variable C/O ratios during their course of formation—A state of the art scrutiny

Mineral inventories of enstatite chondrites; (EH and EL) are strictly dictated by combined parameters mainly very low dual oxygen (fO₂) and sulfur (fS₂) fugacities. They are best preserved in the Almahata Sitta MS‐17, MS‐177 fragments, and the ALHA 77295 and MAC 88136 Antarctic meteorites. These conditions induce a stark change of the geochemical behavior of nominally lithophile elements to chalcophile or even siderophile and changes in the elemental partitioning thus leading to formation of unusual mineral assemblages with high abundance of exotic sulfide species and enrichment in the metallic alloys, for example, silicides and phosphides. Origin and mode of formation of these exotic chondrites, and their parental source regions could be best scrutinized by multitask research experiments of the most primitive members covering mineralogical, petrological, cosmochemical, and indispensably short‐lived isotopic chronology. The magnitude of temperature and pressure prevailed during their formation in their source regions could eventually be reasonably estimated: pre‐ and postaccretionary could eventually be deduced. The dual low fugacities are regulated by the carbon to oxygen ratios estimated to be >0.83 and <1.03. These parameters not only induce unusual geochemical behavior of the elements inverting many nominally lithophile elements to chalcophile or even siderophile or anthracophile. Structure and mineral inventories in EL3 and EH3 chondrites are fundamentally different. Yet EH3 and EL3 members store crucial information relevant to eventual source regions and importantly possible variation in C/O ratio in the course of their evolution. EL3 and EH3 chondrites contain trichotomous lithologies (1) chondrules and their fragments, (2) polygonal enstatite‐dominated objects, and (3) multiphase metal‐rich nodules. Mineralogical and cosmochemical inventories of lithologies in the same EL3 indicate not only similarities (REE inventory and anomalies in oldhamite) but also distinct differences (sinoite‐enstatite‐graphite relationship). Oldhamite in chondrules and polygonal fragments in EL3 depict negative Eu anomaly attesting a common cosmochemical source. Metal‐dominated nodules in both EL3 and EH3 are conglomerates of metal clasts and sulfide fragments in EH3 and concentrically zoned C‐bearing metal micropebbles (≥25 μm ≤50 μm) in EL3 thus manifesting a frozen in unique primordial accretionary metal texture and composition. Sinoite‐enstatite‐diopside‐graphite textures reveal a nucleation and growth strongly suggestive of fluctuating C/O ratio during their nucleation and growth in the source regions. Mineral inventories, sulfide phase relations, sinoite‐enstatite‐graphite intergrowth, carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of graphite, spatial nitrogen abundance in graphite in metal nodules, and last but not least ¹²⁹I/¹²⁹Xe and ⁵³Mn/⁵³Cr systematics negate any previously suggested melting episode, pre‐accretionary or dynamic, in parental asteroids.     

Trophic organisation and predator–prey interactions among commercially exploited demersal finfishes in the coastal waters of the southeastern Arabian Sea

Trophic interactions in commercially exploited demersal finfishes in the southeastern Arabian Sea of India were studied to understand trophic organization with emphasis on ontogenic diet shifts within the marine food web. In total, the contents of 4716 stomachs were examined from which 78 prey items were identified. Crustaceans and fishes were the major prey groups to most of the fishes. Based on cluster analysis of predator feeding similarities and ontogenic diet shift within each predator, four major trophic guilds and many sub-guilds were identified. The first guild ‘detritus feeders’ included all size groups of Cynoglossus macrostomus, Pampus argenteus, Leiognathus bindus and Priacanthus hamrur. Guild two, named ‘Shrimp feeders’, was the largest guild identified and included all size groups of Rhynchobatus djiddensis and Nemipterus mesoprion, medium and large Nemipterus japonicus, P. hamrur and Grammoplites suppositus, small and medium Otolithes cuvieri and small Lactarius lactarius. Guild three, named ‘crab and squilla feeders’, consisted of few predators. The fourth trophic guild, ‘piscivores’, was mainly made up of larger size groups of all predators and all size groups of Pseudorhombus arsius and Carcharhinus limbatus. The mean diet breadth and mean trophic level showed strong correlation with ontogenic diet shift. The mean trophic level varied from 2.2 ± 0.1 in large L. bindus to 4.6 ± 0.2 in large Epinephelus diacanthus and the diet breadth from 1.4 ± 0.3 in medium P. argenteus to 8.3 ± 0.2 in medium N. japonicus. Overall, the present study showed that predators in the ecosystem have a strong feeding preference for the sergestid shrimp Acetes indicus, penaeid shrimps, epibenthic crabs and detritus.     

Thrust tectonics along the north-western continental margin of Sabah/Borneo

Widely accepted plate tectonic models suggest that an inactive subduction zone lies along the north-west continental margin of Sabah. In contrast, interpretation of reflection seismic data acquired by BGR shows an autochthonous continental terrane comprising an Oligocene to Early Miocene carbonate platform being progressively overthrust by an allochthonous rock complex. Progressive compression resulted in the development of four structural zones: Imbricated thrust sheets (Zone III); two thrust sheet systems one on top of the other (Zone IV); a complex zone with multiphase deformation (Zone V); and piercement ridges (Zone VI).

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Zusammenfassung Nach herkömmlichen plattentektonischen Vorstellungen soll eine inaktive Subduktionszone am nordwestlichen Kontinentalrand von Sabah liegen. Reflexionsseismische Meßdaten der BGR zeigen jedoch, daß hier autochthone kontinentale Kruste mit einer oligozänen-frühmiozänen Karbonatplattform progressiv von einem allochthonen Gesteinsverband überschoben wird. Fortschreitender Zusammenschub seit dem frühen Miozän führte zur Anlage von vier Deformationszonen: Tekonische Schuppen (Zone III); zwei übereinander geschobene Verschuppungssysteme (Zone IV); Gürtel mit mehrphasiger Deformation (Zone V) und Durchspießungsstrukturen (Zone VI).

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Résumé Les modèles géodynamiques que l'on admet habituellement comportent une zone de subduction inactive le long de la marge continentale nord-occidentale de Sabah. Toutefois, des mesures de sismique-réflexion exécutées par le BGR font apparaître qu'à cet endroit, une croûte continentale autochtone, comportant une plateforme carbonatée oligocène à éomiocène, est chevauchée progressivement par un complexe allochtone. La compression, qui s'est manifestée progressivement depuis le Miocène inférieur, a engendré quatre zones structurales: un ensemble d'écailles tectoniques (zone III); deux systèmes de lames tectoniques charriés l'un sur l'autre (zone IV); une zone complexe à déformation multiphasée (zone V); des structures d'extrusion tectonique (zone VI).

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Microseismicity and tectonics of Sinai

Five microearthquake seismographs were used at 11 sites in northern Sinai in the period February 1987 to February 1988 to study the microseismicity of the area around the Maghara coal mine for mine-development studies. A total of 270 events were recorded on 850 records. The magnitude, epicenter and depth of each event were calculated using suitable software for an Egyptian Geological Survey and Mining Authority's (EGSMA) XT computer. The interpretation of the seismic activity in the area is given in view of plate tectonics, the Sinai subplate boundary follows the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea. The plate and subplate boundaries are presently active, and there seems to be a diffuse zone of deformation between “NW Africa” and “Nubia” affecting the Cairo-Suez district.