Population growth and food supply margin in Pakistan

Conclusion Population growth in Pakistan is alarming. The long and continuing shortage of foodgrains at intervals and increasing competition for land use have resulted in deterioration in yield per hectare, and low reproduction of livestock, although hard struggle is going on for self sufficiency. The margin in food supply has arrived even in those areas where the production has been abundant, and vulnerable to crop failure and other emergency causes. Provision against these dangers call for the maintenance of adequate national reserves, which can be brought into action at an early stage of the emergency.The area under agriculture can be increased through improved programmes of soil conservation and development of barani (rain fed areas) with cost-benefit consideration. Several million hectares of barani areas have fertile soils and are suitable for agricultural development. It has been estimated that 45 billion m³ of river water flows into the Arabian Sea. A part of the water sources is properly harnessed and could possibly change the economic conditions of the barani region. A number of regions are covered by hard texture of the soil, mechanization will have to be introduced in these areas to increase production much beyond the level of margin. Soil conservation measures have already been initiated and in some cases demonstrated to farmers, but the reclaimed virgin lands up to 1973 were very little, just 46.5 ha of virgin lands and 72 ha of cultivated area from the Soan and Potwar uplands. It is expected that 300,000 ha of cultivated area, 10,000 ha of gullied land will be reclaimed through soil conservation methods in the current Fifth Year Plan.Pakistan has great water potential. The remedy lies in wise judicious and scientific water management. Inadequate natural and artificial drainage systems are causing water-logging and salinity. An accelerated programme for recovering lost land is already in operation. Many land reforms were introduced from time to time, but the production result is not of great significance. Restrictions were imposed on consolidated holdings. The economic level of such holding above subsistence have not yet been taken into consideration. It is, therefore, necessary, to make a thorough analysis of agricultural problems, particularly with the foodgrain crops, with reference to population growth, the efforts should continue till the food supply occupies the supreme position by increasing production and reducing the rate of population growth by adopting socio-economic methods.     

Two orogenies in the Meatiq area of the Central Eastern Desert,Egypt

The Pan-African basement exposed in the Meatiq area west of Quseir, Egypt, consists of an infracrustal basement overthrusted by a supracrustal cover. The infracrustal rocks were developed as a result of an old orogeny referred to as the Meatiqian orogeny where granite—gneiss, migmatitic gneisses and migmatized amphibolites were formed. The granite—gneiss represents a deformed granite pluton emplaced at 626±2 Ma, whereas the migmatitic gneisses and amphibolites are of mixed igneous and sedimentary parentage. In view of the data so far available, the nature of the Meatiqian orogeny could not be deciphered. In spite of the young isotopic ages, it is suggested that at least the metasedimentary gneisses represent older rocks in the stratigraphic sequence of the infracrustal basement.The supracrustal cover represents a part of an extensive ophiolitic mélange obducted onto the infracrustal basement during the next orogeny (Abu Ziran orogeny) which culminated at 613±2 Ma. An active continental margin-type regime can adequately explain the evolution of such a supracrustal cover. During obduction, the ophiolitic mélange and the upper 2 km thick part of the infracrustal basement were intensely deformed and metamorphosed under PT conditions of the greenschist—epidote amphibolite facies. The deformed infracrustal basement was converted into mylonitic—blastomylonitic rocks and schists composing five thrust sheets, and subsequently intruded by synkinematic granitoid sheets. Later, both the infracrustal basement and the overlying supracrustal cover were isostatically uplifted, subjected to complex shallow folding giving rise to the major Meatiq domal structure, and were intruded by a postkinematic adamellite pluton at 579±6 Ma.     

Airborne γ-ray spectrometric characteristics of lithological units and environmental issues in the Bahariya Oases area in the northern part of western desert, Egypt

Two significant airborne gamma ray spectrometic (AGRS) statistical parameters, i.e., the arithmetic mean and the standard deviation, were computed for all lithologic units and formations of the Bahariya Oases area, Northern Western Desert, Egypt. The results ascertain that the maximum AGRS values are associated with sabkha sediments, Bahariya Formation, basalt flows and sand dunes. The intermediate values are correlated with El-Heiz, El-Hefhuf, Qazzun and Naqb formations. The minimum values are connected with Khoman Chalk and El-Hamra formations. The AGRS records were found to vary from one type of rock to another and to some extent between units of the same rock type too. On the aerial total-count (TC) radiometric maps, the records change from 6.2 to 69.36 μR/h. On the potassium map, the values range from 0.05% to 4.35%. On the equivalent uranium (eU) and equivalent thorium (eTh) maps, the records oscillate from 0.12 to 7.4 ppm and from 0.28 to 8.4 ppm, respectively. Concerning the Bahariya Oases area, the calculated arithmetic mean natural dose rate values originating from the terrestrial gamma radiation were found to range from 0.14 to 0.26 mSv/year and where the maximum value attains 0.62 mSv/year. These values remain on the safe side and within the maximum permissible safe radiation dose without harm to individuals, with continuous external irradiation of the whole body.     

Rare Earth Elements Around the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant,UAE

Natural Resources Research - Rare earth element (REE) contamination has major consequences for the environment and humans. Some forms of REEs have more serious environmental impacts than others. It...     

Subsurface geophysics applied to archaeological investigation of Thabudeos Roman fortress (Biskra,Algeria)

Tahouda, former Roman Thabudeos, is situated 400 km south of Algiers (Algeria). It is one of the fortresses belonging to Roman south defense line in North Africa. This region is archaeologically very poorly known except for surface remains. The geophysical survey formed part of a wider research project designed to record and assess the landscape context of the longest Roman defense line in North Africa. We present the geophysical mapping and imaging using electric resistivity tomography and electromagnetics to help in investigating the subsurface properties of the region. Data were obtained using: (1) Saris resistance meter with up to 25 electrodes spaced at 2 m intervals and lines up to 50 m long. A total of 11 lines was obtained. (2) Geonics EM31, in two dipole configuration modes with 16 lines up to 100 m sampled every meter. These methods prove to be very powerful tools to give insight and locate the anthropologic remains from the surface to a depth of 6 m and outline their geometry. The results obtained by the two methods are consistent above the main remains like walls and rooms.