Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of Estuarine Sediment as a Proposed Reference Material for Environmental Studies

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Marine Environmental Studies Laboratory (MEL) organised an intercomparison exercise, through its Analytical Quality Control Services (AQCS), for the determination of trace elements in estuarine sediment IAEA-405, well suited for the characterisation of sediments. The instrumental neutron activation analysis technique (INAA) was developed using a 27 kW low power research reactor. Forty elements in the sediment were determined with a measurement precision varying from 1.8% to 12.3%. IAEA reference materials SL-1 and SD-M-2/TM were analysed throughout this work as quality assurance samples.     

Modelling the initial shear stiffness of unsaturated soils as a function of the coupled effects of the void ratio and the degree of saturation

Existing models for predicting the small strain behaviour of unsaturated soil are not capable of predicting the initial shear stiffness during suction reduction under normally consolidated conditions. This problem has been addressed in the present study by combining an existing elastoplastic model and recent experimental data to provide a new model for the initial shear stiffness. The model, which is similar to that typically adopted for saturated soils, uses the average skeleton stress and an additional function of the degree of saturation. This new model not only captures the behaviour of the new experimental results, but it also describes a unique relationship between saturated and unsaturated soils.     

Bearing capacity of sandy soil treated by Kenaf fibre geotextile

Bio-based materials are widely used recently in order to introduce a more sustainable construction material. Kenaf is a type of bio-based material that can be easily obtained in a tropical country, which could be a potential material to be utilised as a geotextile material because it has good tensile strength. The geotextile could be used to improve the bearing capacity of a loose soil. This paper presents a series of small-scale physical modelling tests to investigate the bearing capacity performance of Kenaf fibre geotextile laid on and inside the sand layer. A rigid footing was used to replicate a strip footing during the loading test, and sand was prepared based on 50% of relative density in a rigid testing chamber for ground model preparation. In order to treat the soil, Kenaf fibre geotextile was laid at four difference locations which are on the soil surface and underneath the ground model surface at 50, 75 and 100 mm deep. It was found that the usage of the Kenaf fibre geotextile has improved the bearing capacity of the sandy soil up to 414.9% as compared to untreated soil. It was also found that the depth of the Kenaf fibre geotextile treated into the soil also affects the soil performance.     

Depositional evolution of the Middle-Upper Eocene rocks, Fayum area, Egypt

The Middle-Upper Eocene rocks of the Fayum District are represented by Gehannam, Birket Qarun and Qasr El-Sagha formations. Both field studies and laboratory analyses on the concerned rocks have enabled to distinguish six lithofacies: (1) sheet-like grey silt-shale, (2) large-scale trough cross-bedded sandstone, (3) successive varicolored mud-shale/siltstone intercalation, (4) dark grey to black mud-shale/sandstone intercalation, (5) thinly bedded sandstone-shale intercalation and (6) very large-scale cross-stratified sandstone. These lithofacies proved that the present rocks were deposited in transitional paralic environment of active northward-prograding deltaic subenvironments contemporaneous with rabid but gradual sea level drop. The depositional system started with the delta front silt-shale (Gehannam Formation) of 20 m thickness, followed by distributary mouth bars of cross-bedded sandstone (Birket Qarun Formation, 50 m thick). Both the lower and upper delta plains attain thicknesses of 99 and 38 m, respectively, and are represented by the lower part of Qasr El-Sagha Formation. The deltaic sequence is topped with 45-m-thick eolian sandstones representing the upper part of Qasr El-Sagha Formation. This unit represents an extensive desertification phase that closes the depositional history of the succession examined.     

Identification of hazardous waste landfill site: a case study from Zanjan province, Iran

The study of landfill sites is one of the most important studies in landfill engineering, and the landfill site selection involves combination of engineering, science, and politics. This paper describes a comprehensive hazardous waste landfill site selection methodology with the combined utilization of geographic information system and multiple criteria analysis methods, as applied to the Zanjan province in Iran. The six main data categories that were used are geological/engineering geological, geomorphological, hydrological/hydrogeological, climatological, pedological, and social/economical criteria, which included 31 input layers in total. A suitability map for hazardous waste landfilling was prepared for study area with five classes from most suitable to completely unsuitable. Finally, out of the three sites, one site was selected which was chosen by the local authorities. Our work offers a comprehensive methodology and provides essential support for decision-makers in the assessment of hazardous waste management problems in Zanjan province in I.R. Iran and other developing cities in other countries.     

Back analysis of an excavated slope failure in highly fractured rock mass: the case study of Kargar slope failure (Iran)

This paper examines the failure of Kargar cut slope located at the south part of Esfahan subway using analytical and numerical back analysis methods. The excavated trench has 27 m depth with near vertical walls due to the space limitation around it. The geology of the area comprises weathered and heavily jointed shale and sandstone overlaid by alluvium deposits. Despite the slope being supported by shotcrete and fully grouted rock bolts, a catastrophic failure occurred at the east wall. Due to the uncertainty about the causes of failure initiation, back analyses have been performed via both the limit equilibrium and numerical method for considering various probable mechanisms. In the back analysis with limit equilibrium method, the rock mass is assumed as an equivalent continuum and Hoek–Brown failure criterion and geological strength index (GSI) are applied to calculate the shear strength parameters. The results show that GSI value was 33 in the failed mass. In the numerical back analysis, the distinct element method is applied to study the contribution of rock joints to the failure and progressive rock mass strength degradation until failure. The results show that threshold values of joint cohesion and friction were 0.2 MPa and 30°, respectively. Also the modeled slip surface being step-shaped agrees with the observed one.     

An Experimental Characterization of Shear Wave Velocity (V<Subscript>s</Subscript>) in Clean and Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Sand

The characteristics of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils have been among major concerns of geotechnical engineers due to its significant frequency of event and also its influential consequences on our surroundings from various environmental and engineering viewpoints. Heretofore, the effects of diverse kinds of hydrocarbon contaminants on majority of geotechnical properties of fine- and coarse-grained soils such as grain size, hydraulic conductivity, plasticity, compressibility, internal friction, cohesion, and shear strength have been investigated. However, there has not been a concentrated research study examining shear wave velocity (\({\text{V}}_{\text{s}}\)) of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils as an important geotechnical property of soil due to this fact that, in small/very small strain levels, the maximum shear modulus of soils (\({\text{G}}_{ \hbox{max} }\)) can be determined using shear wave velocity (\({\text{G}}_{ \hbox{max} } =\uprho{\text{V}}_{\text{s}}^{2}\)). This paper aims to investigate effects of hydrocarbon contamination on shear wave velocity of sandy soils by comparing shear wave velocities in identically prepared clean and contaminated samples. To this aim, an Iranian light crude oil, a standard type of silica sand (Ottawa sand), and a bender element apparatus were used to minutely measure shear wave velocity of clean and crude oil contaminated sand samples. Moreover, dry and quasi-moist tamping methods were employed in order to provide comparable clean and contaminated specimens (containing 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 wt% of crude oil), respectively. Firstly, a comprehensive bender element (BE) and resonant column tests were conducted on the identically prepared clean sand samples at various amounts of frequency (2–20 kHz) and under various confining pressure (50–500 kPa) to find the best methods of accurately determining shear wave travel time in BE tests. Thereafter, BE tests were conducted to examine shear wave velocity in contaminated specimens. Based on the results, it was found that there was a critical value for crude oil content with the maximum shear wave velocity so that shear wave velocity of 4 wt% contaminated sand (V_s-4 wt%) was about 1.2 times higher than clean one (V_s-clean), and contrastingly adding further crude oil up to 6 wt% made a significant reduction in value of shear wave velocity to some extent that V_s-6 wt% was slightly lower than V_s-clean (V_s-6 wt% = 0.95–0.97V_s-clean). Moreover, adding more contaminant (8–12 wt%) into sand had negligible influences on shear wave velocity. In this paper, the effects of crude oil contamination on sand microstructure were also evaluated using scanning electron microscopy.     

Biostratigraphy and Paleoecology of Maastrichtian Sediments in the Zagros Basin, Iran

To enable the lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic study of the Gurpi Formation,within the ‘Dezak’ or Globigerina Marl,a stratigraphic section at Booraki,located to the NNW of Shiraz,SW Iran,through the late Cretaceous was examined.The formation consists of shale and greenish-gray marls interbedded with cream limestone,brown sandstones and siltstones with an exposed thickness of 160 m in the studied section.Samples were taken at regular intervals in all yielding 14 genera and 16 different species of benthic and planktic foraminifera that allowed determination of the age of the beds as Maastrichtian.To examine the paleoecology of the formation,some important ecological factors including water level,salinity,and oxygen regime change during the depositional courses of the formation were analyzed.The density of foraminiferans decreases from the base to top of the Gurpi Formation whereas the ratio of planktic to benthic Foraminifera(i.e.,P/B) and proportion of shallow-water fauna increase.These foraminiferal changes indicate an increase and decrease in depth,temperature,salinity and oxygen,respectively,at the base and top of the Formation.     

Geochemistry of stratabound scheelite mineralisation and associated calc-silicate rocks from Chitral,NE Hindu Kush,Pakistan

Tungsten mineralisation in the NE Hindu Kush terrain occurs 8 km NW of the Tirich Boundary Zone suture between Karakoram and Eastern Hindu Kush. Scheelite occurs mainly in calc-silicate rocks and subordinately in tourmalinites associated with metasediments at Miniki Gol, Chitral. The investigated area underwent two phases of deformation and was metamorphosed up to sillimanite grade, followed by the emplacement of leucogranite and hydrothermal activity. The mineral assemblages of the calc-silicate rocks, comprising clinozoisite, quartz, calcic-amphibole, plagioclase, chlorite, biotite, calcite, sphene, garnet and scheelite, clearly express a skarn type environment. The coexistence of the scheelite grains with clinozoisite and the occurrence of anomalous values of ZrO₂ and Ta₂O₅ in the scheelite grains imply a genetic link between the scheelite mineralisation and post-magmatic hydrothermal fluids. The enrichment of Zr, Hf, Be, Sn, W, Th, U, Ga, Nb, F and Y along with total REE in the scheelite-bearing calc-silicate rocks compared with the associated metasediments assigns that the rocks at Miniki Gol have undergone a pronounced hydrothermal activity. Strong positive correlations between Zr, Hf, Nb, Y, Ta, F and REE, and the mobility of REE are consistent with this consideration. Aqueous fluid inclusions in the scheelite-bearing calc-silicate rocks display very low salinity, suggesting a mixing of magmatic fluids with meteoric water. The formation of intergrown scheelite and clinozoisite indicates a high pH and CO₂-deficient fluid. The tungsten mineralization may be related to the Miniki Gol leucogranite which occurs at a distance of only 400 m.     

Probabilistic and sensitivity analyses of effective geotechnical parameters on rock slope stability: a case study of an urban area in northeast Iran

Despite the development of cities, risk assessment of rock slope stability in urban areas seems not to be growing at the same time. Mashhad is a developed city in northeast of Iran with a population of over 2.4 million. Given the closeness of the southern part of Mashhad to the Binaloud mountain ridge, the stability of the residential complexes that are being constructed in this area is a critical issue. Based on the fundamental roles of discontinuity properties and geo-mechanical parameters of rock mass, in this study we evaluated the most influential parameters of the rock slope stability and the failure probability of the slope near the Negin residential complex built on this ridge. According to the deterministic and probabilistic analyses, the north trench that was excavated for this residential complex could potentially cause plane failure. Moreover, the relationship between effective parameters on instability and their impact on safety factors were determined by sensitivity analysis. Therefore, slope dip, pore water pressure, and joint set dip were highly influential on the safety factor. There was also a nonlinear relationship between different parameters and safety in the studied area. This study presents an approach for risk assessment of rock slope stability in urban areas.