Assessment of Sulfate Concentrations in Water Used During Chemical Stabilization and Its Potential Impact on Sulfate Induced Heave

The occurrence of sulfate-induced heave of roadways that were chemically stabilized with either lime or cement can require expensive road repairs. Previous research attributed the heave to the formation of an expansive mineral named ettringite. However, not all chemically stabilized soils will exhibit heave. The overall goal of this research was to determine if the sulfate concentration in water can contribute to, or even cause, sulfate induced heave. Two soils, one with a soluble sulfate level below 3000 mg/kg and one with >8000 mg/kg sulfate, were stabilized with either lime or cement and subjected to a capillary soak with distilled water or saturated sulfate water. The low sulfate soils did not swell above the accepted limit of 1.5 %. The high sulfate soils swelled significantly (p < 0.05) above accepted level regardless of the stabilizer used. Overall, stabilized soils subjected to a capillary soak with saturated sulfate water swelled more than soils soaked with distilled water. The results found in this study demonstrated that cement will increase the axial load capacity of the soil, but the soil will still have the potential to heave excessively if sulfate and aluminum are present above the stoichiometric requirements to from ettringite.     

Hydrochemical and microbiological quality of groundwater in West Thrace Region of Turkey

The aim of this study was to do a preliminary assessment of the hydrochemical and microbial groundwater quality of the West Thrace region. Forty samples of groundwater collected from Edirne (Site 1) to Gelibolu (Site 2) were assessed for their suitability for human consumption. As³⁻ was non-detectable in all the groundwater and Zn²⁺, Pb²⁺, F⁻, Cu²⁺, NH₄⁺, Cn⁻ PO₄³⁻ and Cl⁻ were all below their respective European Union drinking water directive (EU-DWD) and Turkish food codex-drinking water directive (TFC-DWD). Maximum Acceptable Concentrations (MAC) Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Ca²⁺ levels were detected in upper maximum acceptable concentrations 77.5, 42.5, 35.0, 50.0, 50.0, and 32.5% of the groundwater samples, respectively. However, in terms of Cr³⁺, Ni²⁺ and Pb²⁺, the differences between groundwaters of Sites 1 and 2 were significant (p < 0.05). Eight water samples (20%) had HPC exceeding the EU and Turkish water directive limit 20 CFU (Colony Forming Unit)/ml in drinking water and the maximum bacteria count recorded was 44 CFU/ml. Total coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms, E. coli, Enterococcus spp., Salmonella sp., Staphylococcus spp. and P. aeruginosa were detected in 25, 17.5, 15, 47.5, 15, 27.5, and 15% of the groundwater samples, respectively. Furthermore, heavy metals and trace elements were found after chemical analyzes in most samples. The pollution of groundwater come from a variety of sources, Meric and Ergene rivers, including land application of agricultural chemicals and organics wastes, infiltration of irrigation water, septic tanks, and infiltration of effluent from sewage treatment plants, pits, lagoons and ponds used storage.     

Geochemistry,Petrography and Spectroscopy of Organic Matter of Clay‐Associated Kerogen of Ypresian Series: Gafsa‐Metlaoui Phosphatic Basin,Tunisia

This work presents geochemical characterization of isolated kerogen out of clay fraction using petrography studies, infrared absorption and solid state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, with N‐alkane distributions of saturated hydrocarbon. Mineralogical study of clay mineral associations was carried out using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), on Ypresian phosphatic series from Gafsa‐Metlaoui basin, Tunisia. The XRD data indicate that smectite, palygorskite and sepiolite are the prevalent clay minerals in the selected samples. In this clay mineral association, the N‐alkane (m/z = 57) distribution indicates that the marine organic matter is plankton and bacterial in origin. The kerogens observed on transmitted light microscopy, however, appear to be totally amorphous organic matter, without any appearance of biological form. The orange gel‐like amorphous organic matter with distinct edges and homogenous texture is consistent with a high degree of aliphaticity. This material has relatively intense CH₂ and CH₃ infrared bands in ¹³C NMR peaks. This aliphatic character is related to bacterial origin. Brown amorphous organic matter with diffuse edges has a lower aliphatic character than the previous kerogen, deduced from relatively low CH₂ and CH₃ infrared and ¹³C NMR band intensities.     

Modeling level change in Lake Urmia using hybrid artificial intelligence approaches

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - The investigation of water level fluctuations in lakes for protecting them regarding the importance of these water complexes in national and regional scales...     

Moderate to heavy cold-weather precipitation occurrences in Tehran and the associated circulation types

Large-scale atmospheric circulations associated with 133 moderate to heavy cold-weather precipitation events recorded at Mehrabad station in Tehran, Iran, during the period 1951–2013 are analysed. To this end, the performance of un-rotated, orthogonally rotated and obliquely rotated solutions of T-mode principal component analysis (PCA) is examined in classifying the atmospheric circulations into a few representative circulation types (CTs). The T-mode PCAs were applied to the 500-hPa geopotential height for the events in a domain from 10^°E to 70^°E and from 20^°N to 50^°N. The first six leading principal components were retained and then orthogonally and obliquely rotated using varimax and promax solutions, respectively. Statistical inter-comparison of the CTs obtained using the three solutions suggests that the obliquely rotated solution is the better choice for circulation classification in the present study. The six CTs obtained using the oblique rotation were then linked to the daily total precipitation and daily mean temperature variability at Tehran station as well as to the standardized anomalies of the daily total precipitation and mean daily temperature of a dense network of stations distributed across Iran. It is found that the CTs identified, though generally comparable in producing significant precipitation in Tehran, vary in their potential to bring cold weather and generate snowfall in Tehran specifically and in the country in general. While the first three CTs give rise to regional patterns of standardized precipitation anomalies centred in Tehran, the next three CTs leave a pronounced precipitation signature almost across the whole country. As regards the standardized temperature anomalies, with the exception of one CT that causes deep and widespread negative standardized anomalies over most parts of the country, the other CTs are characterized with a dipolar structure of a deep intrusion of cold weather to the west and prevailing warm weather to the east of the country.     

Prevailing trends of climatic extremes across Indus-Delta of Sindh-Pakistan

This study examines the variability and change in the patterns of climatic extremes experienced in Indus-Delta of Sindh province of Pakistan, comprising regions of Karachi, Badin, Mohenjodaro, and Rohri. The homogenized daily minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation data for a 36-year period were used to calculate 13 and 11 indices of temperature and precipitation extremes with the help of RClimDex, a program written in the statistical software package R. A non-parametric Mann–Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimates were used to determine the statistical significance and magnitude of the calculated trend. Temperatures of summer days and tropical nights increased in the region with overall significant warming trends for monthly maximum temperature as well as for warm days and nights reflecting dry conditions in the study area. The warm extremes and nighttime temperature indices showed greater trends than cold extremes and daytime indices depicting an overall warming trends in the Delta. Historic decrease in the acreage of major crops and over 33% decrease in agriculture credit for Sindh are the indicators of adverse impacts of warmer and drier weather on Sindh agriculture. Trends reported for Karachi and Badin are expected to decrease rice cultivation, hatching of fisheries, and mangroves forest surrounding these cities. Increase in the prevailing temperature trends will lead to increasingly hotter and drier summers resulting to constraints on cotton, wheat, and rice yield in Rohri and Mohenjodaro areas due to increased crop water requirements that may be met with additional groundwater pumping; nonetheless, the depleted groundwater resources would have a direct impact on the region’s economy.     

塔克拉玛干沙漠塔中与巴丹吉林沙漠拐子湖地表辐射特征对比

利用塔克拉玛干沙漠腹地塔中和巴丹吉林沙漠北缘拐子湖两个陆气通量监测站2013年2月-2014年1月地面辐射观测数据及相应气象资料,对比分析塔中和拐子湖两地的太阳辐射通量和地表反照率差异特征,同时也探究了两地太阳辐射通量和地表反照率与太阳高度角之间的关系。结果表明：（1）塔中和拐子湖两地各辐射通量均呈较为同步的季节变化特征;具有太阳辐射优势的塔中地区因沙尘天气的影响在部分月份地表总辐射小于拐子湖地区;拐子湖由于地表沙粒相对较粗且包含大量透明度较高的石英颗粒,地表反照率和反射辐射均大于塔中地区;两地各辐射通量月平均日变化均呈现出标准倒"U"型结构;（2）拐子湖较粗的地表沙粒导致沙尘天气过后不易形成浮尘,沙尘天气过后各辐射通量恢复至发生之前的状态较塔中地区迅速;（3）两地太阳高度角夏季最大,冬季最小,最大值均可达75°左右,最小值塔中和拐子湖地区分别为45°和40°;各辐射通量随着太阳高度角的升高而增加,地表反照率随之减小,但受多种因素影响各辐射通量最大值并未出现在太阳高度角最大的时候。     

Influence of saturation on rainfall generated landslides in shale along Murree-Kohala road,Pakistan

On August 10, 2010 a series of landslides of more than 90,000 m³ occurred along the Muree-Kohala road in the northern area of Pakistan. A study was undertaken to evaluate the likely impacts of percent saturation and bulk density on mobilized shear strength along the basal rupture surface of the landslide. A series of unconfined compression test and unconsolidated undrained triaxial tests were performed on remolded samples of different densities with varied percentages of saturation. The results of these tests suggest that soil cohesion and friction decreases with increasing saturation. The tests also showed that the shear strength parameters tend to increase with increasing dry density; however, all the samples exhibited a noticeable loss of shear strength with increasing degree of saturation, independent of soil density.Limit equilibrium slope stability analyses were performed along the most probable failure planes, based on shear strength parameters corresponding to degrees of saturation, which varied between 30% to about 100%. This resulted in drop of factor of safety from FS = 1.64 down to 0.51 as the degree of saturation approaches unity.These results suggest that the causative factor in triggering the landslide along Murree-Kohala was the partial saturation of the zone that developed the basal rupture plane. As rain infiltrated the slope, the bulk unit weight of the soil increased, while the shear strength along the developing plane of rupture decreased sufficiently to concentrate shear strain when the material became more than 60% saturation (FS < 1.0).