Characterization of a coastal aquifer basin using gravity and resistivity methods: a case study from Aqaba in Jordan

The southern basin of Aqaba forms coastal aquifer and comprises an area of about 90 km². Alluviums and Pleistocene deposits fill the basin bounded by Precambrian Granite Basement to the east and north. Hydrogeophysical investigations were carried out to investigate its groundwater potentials and characteristics. Direct modeling on Bouger and residual gravity revealed some local subsurface faults that form subbasins and sub-grabens in the body of the basin, each one of them is bounded by two to three faults. The spatial distribution of groundwater was found to be affected by the presence of the sub-basins and grabens. Geoelectrical layers have been vertically digitized and put in a four variable space-lattice, 2D slices of the different depths and 3D visualizations have been produced. The extents of seawater intrusion and zones of water qualities were delineated. The geoelectric inferred some local subsurface faults that were found in spatial correlation with those inferred from the gravity. A good combination was made between gravity and resistivity methods to confirm the 3D distribution of groundwater in the basin.     

Geology and geochemistry of D–O–C isotope systematics of the Qolqoleh gold deposit, Northwestern Iran: Implications for ore genesis

The Qolqoleh gold deposit is located in northwestern part of the Sanandaj–Sirjan metamorphic belt, northwestern Iran. Igneous and sedimentary units exposed in the area have undergone greenschist metamorphism. The area was affected by a NE–SW trending shear zone and subsequent deformation. Two different types of mineralization are distinguished in the Qolqoleh gold deposit based on geological–structural conditions indicated by microtextural analysis: ductile and then brittle. Ore-forming processes are divided into three stages: Early (I), Middle (II) and Late (III), which include quartz–pyrite (I), sulfides and gold (II) and carbonate veinlets (III), respectively. The stage I fluids are characterized by δ¹⁸O = 15.5‰ at 440 ºC, and are thought to be deep-sourced metamorphic waters; the stage III fluids, with δ¹⁸O = 1.6‰, are shallow-sourced meteoric waters; whereas, the stage II fluids, with δ¹⁸O = 13.1‰, are a mixture of deep-sourced metamorphic and shallow-sourced meteoric fluids. Based on comparisons of the D–O–C isotopic systematics, the ore-forming fluids with characteristic high δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C and low δD originated from metamorphic devolatilization of Cretaceous volcano-sedimentary (felsic to mafic metavolcanic rocks–shale–carbonate–carbonaceous chert) sequences, locally rich in organic matter. During late Cretaceous continental collision of the Afro-Arabian continent and the Iranian microcontinent, a crustal slab consisting of felsic to mafic metavolcanic rocks, carbonate, shale and carbonaceous chert was underthrust northwards beneath the central Iranian microcontinent along the Zagros fault. During further contraction, deformation was localized in reverse oblique-slip structures with vergence toward south; shear zones generally follow contacts between more competent and less competent rock units. Metamorphic devolatilization of this underthrust slab is the source of the ore-forming fluids that generated the Au ore belt, which includes the Qolqoleh gold deposit.     

Trend analysis of groundwater using non-parametric methods (case study: Ardabil plain)

In the present study, the trends in groundwater level and fifteen hydro-geochemical elements at 32 piezometric stations located in the Ardabil plain of the northwest of Iran were analyzed using the non-parametric Mann–Kendall method after removing the effect of significant lag-1 serial correlation from the respective time series by pre-whitening. The magnitudes of trends were computed using the Sen’s estimator method. The homogeneity of trend was tested using the method proposed by van Belle and Hughes as well. Results showed that significant (α < 0.1) negative trends in groundwater level were witnessed for all but five stations of the Ardabil plains during the last 22 years from 1988 to 2009. The groundwater levels over Ardabil plain have declined at the rate of about 18 cm/year, with the strongest decline (1.93 m/year) witnessed at Khalife-loo-sheikh station. The results of homogeneity of trends showed that trends were homogeneous for months but not for stations. Strong positive trends were detected in the groundwater quality concentration across the whole plain. Decline in groundwater level and increase in geochemical elements in the groundwater were attributed to the human activities in the Ardabil plain located in the northwest of Iran.     

Interaction of a Fresh Water Lake and a Karstic Spring via a Syncline Fold

Kaftar Lake is a high‐altitude fresh water lake located in High Zagros, south of Iran. Despite the high annual evaporation to precipitation ratio in the area, lake water electrical conductivity is usually lower than 1000 µS/cm, this may be due to high seepage from the floor of the lake. Therefore, the hypothesis of possible underground connections between Namdan Basin, where the lake is located, and the surrounding basins with lower elevation (Aspas and Dehbid Basins) was investigated. Hydrogeology, hydrochemistry, and stable isotopes data of the lake and surrounding basins along with the lake water balance study were applied to test the hypothesis. Results indicate that Kaftar Lake has no connection with Aspas Basin in south, but it is hydraulically connected to Dehbid Basin. In Dehbid Basin, “Ghasr_e_Yaghoob spring” (average discharge ?1200 L/s) emerges from a small outcrop (about 0.8 km²) of Daryan limestone Formation, where this outcrop is much smaller than the required recharge area for such average discharge rate. The study shows that this spring is recharged by Kaftar Lake and Namdan Basin aquifer, through Daryan Formation of Gandboee Syncline located to the northern part of the lake.     

Reservoir permeability prediction by neural networks combined with hybrid genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization

Reservoir characterization involves describing different reservoir properties quantitatively using various techniques in spatial variability. Nevertheless, the entire reservoir cannot be examined directly and there still exist uncertainties associated with the nature of geological data. Such uncertainties can lead to errors in the estimation of the ultimate recoverable oil. To cope with uncertainties, intelligent mathematical techniques to predict the spatial distribution of reservoir properties appear as strong tools. The goal here is to construct a reservoir model with lower uncertainties and realistic assumptions. Permeability is a petrophysical property that relates the amount of fluids in place and their potential for displacement. This fundamental property is a key factor in selecting proper enhanced oil recovery schemes and reservoir management. In this paper, a soft sensor on the basis of a feed‐forward artificial neural network was implemented to forecast permeability of a reservoir. Then, optimization of the neural network‐based soft sensor was performed using a hybrid genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization method. The proposed genetic method was used for initial weighting of the parameters in the neural network. The developed methodology was examined using real field data. Results from the hybrid method‐based soft sensor were compared with the results obtained from the conventional artificial neural network. A good agreement between the results was observed, which demonstrates the usefulness of the developed hybrid genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization in prediction of reservoir permeability.     

Selective Separation/Preconcentration of Silver Ion in Water by Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Microcolumn as a Sorbent

The present paper proposes the application of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a solid adsorbent for selective separation/preconcentration of silver(I) in water samples prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The procedure is based on the solid phase extraction of Ag(I)–2‐mercaptobenzothiazole chelate on MWCNTs. The elution step is carried out with 5 mL of 2 mol L^?1 HNO₃ in acetone solution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1. The influences of the various analytical parameters including pH of the solution, eluent type, sample volume, flow rates of eluent, matrix ions were investigated for optimization of the presented procedure. Tests of addition/recovery for analyte ion in real samples were performed with satisfactory results. Preconcentration factor and limit of detection for Ag(I) were 160 and 0.21 µg L^?1, respectively. The synthesized MWCNT exhibited excellent stability in eluent solution and its adsorption capacity was 5.4 mg of silver per gram of sorbent. The proposed method was successfully applied to trace silver determination in a variety of environmental water samples.     

An assessment of metal contamination in coastal sediments of the Caspian Sea

An assessment of marine pollution due to metals was made in the Caspian Sea based on coastal sediment collected in Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. Despite the high carbonate content, the distribution of most metals was largely controlled by terrigenous inputs. Several metals (As, Cr, Ni) exhibited concentrations that exceed sediment quality guidelines. Such metals have a high natural background but anthropogenic activities, notably mining, may further enhance concentrations. This would explain hot spots for Cu and Zn in Azerbaijan and Iran, and Cr at the mouth of the Ural River in Kazakhstan. Contamination by Hg was observed to the south of Baku Bay, Azerbaijan. Some anomalously high concentrations of Ba in the central Caspian are probably from offshore drilling operations, but the elevated U concentrations (up to 11.1 microg g(-1)) may be natural in origin. Several metals (Ag, Cd, Pb) have relatively low levels that pose no environmental concerns.     

Second order adiabatic invariants associated with the two-body problem with slowly varying mass

An adiabatic invariant is characterized by the property that its derivative is small and oscillatory. Therefore, assuming that such a quantity is constant does not lead to a cumulative error as t. In this paper, using action and angle variables, adiabatic invariants to 0(1) and 0() are found for the two-body problem with a slowly varying gravitational constant.