Changes in precipitation extremes over arid to semiarid and subhumid Punjab,Pakistan

Asymmetrical monsoons during the recent past have resulted into spatially variable and devastating floods in South Asia. Analysis of historic precipitation extremes record may help in formulating mitigation strategies at local level. Eleven indices of precipitation extremes were evaluated using RClimDex and daily time series data for analysis period of 1981–2010 from five representative cities across Punjab province of Pakistan. The indices include consecutive dry days, consecutive wet days, number of days above daily average precipitation, number of days with precipitation ≥10 mm, number of days with precipitation ≥20 mm, very wet days, extremely wet days, simple daily intensity index, maximum 1-day precipitation quantity, maximum 5 consecutive day precipitation quantity, and annual total wet-day precipitation. Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s slope extremes were used to detect trends in indices. Droughts and excessive precipitation were dictated by elevation from mean sea level with prolonged dry spells in southern Punjab and vice versa confirming spatial trends for precipitation extremes. However, no temporal trend was observed for any of the indices. Summer in the region is the wettest season depicting contribution of monsoons during June through August toward devastating floods in the region.     

Hydrologic hydrochemical characterization of texas frio formation used for deep-well injection of chemical wastes

Hydrologic hydrochemical investigations were conducted to determine the long-term fate of hazardous chemical waste disposed in the Texas Gulf Coast Tertiary formations by deep-well injection. The study focused on the hydrostatic section of the Frio Formation because it is the host of a very large volume of injected waste and because large data bases of formation pressures and water chemistry are available.Three hydrologic regimes exist within the Frio Formation: a shallow fresh to moderately saline water section in the upper 3,000–4,000 ft (914–1,219 m); an underlying 4,000- to 5,000-ft-thick (1,219- to 1,524-m) section with moderate to high salinities: and a deeper overpressured section with moderate to high salinities. The upper two sections are normally pressured and reflect either freshwater or brine hydrostatic pressure gradients. Geopressured conditions are encountered as shallow as 6,000 ft (1,829 m). The complexity of the hydrologic environment is enhanced due to extensive depressurization in the 4,000- to 8,000-ft-depth (1,219- to 2,438-m) interval, which presumably results from the estimated production of over 10 billion barrels (208 × 10⁶ m³) of oil equivalent and associated brines from the Frio in the past 50 yr. Because of the higher fluid density and general depressurization in the brine hydrostatic section, upward migration of these brines to shallow fresh groundwaters should not occur. Depressured oil and gas fields, however, may become sinks for the injected chemical wastes.Water samples appear to be in approximate oxygen isotopic equilibrium with the rock matrix, suggesting that active recharge of the Frio by continental waters is not occurring. In the northern Texas Gulf Coast region salt dome dissolution is a prime process controlling water chemistry. In the central and southern Frio Formation, brines from the deeper geopressured section may be leaking into the hydrostatic section. The lack of organic acids and the alteration of Frio oils from samples collected from depths shallower than approximately 7,000 ft (2,133 m) suggest microbial degradation of organic material. This has useful implications for degradation of injected chemical wastes and needs to be investigated further.     

Recent warming trend in the coastal region of Qatar

The objective of this study was to analyze long-term temperature-related phenomena in the eastern portion of the Middle East, focusing on the coastal region of Qatar. Extreme temperature indices were examined, which were defined by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices, for Doha, Qatar; these indices were then compared with those from neighboring countries. The trends were calculated for a 30-year period (1983–2012), using hourly data obtained from the National Climatic Data Center. The results showed spatially consistent warming trends throughout the region. For Doha, 11 of the 12 indices studied showed significant warming trends. In particular, the warming trends were represented by an increase in the number of warm days and nights and a decrease in the number of cool nights and days. The high-temperature extremes during the night have risen at more than twice the rate of their corresponding daytime extremes. The intensity and frequency of hot days have increased, and the minimum temperature indices exhibited a higher rate of warming. The climatic changes in Doha are consistent with the region-wide heat-up in recent decades across the Middle East. However, the rapid economic expansion, increase of population since the 1990s, and urban effects in the region are thought to have intensified the rapidly warming climate pattern observed in Doha since the turn of the century.     

Petrography,geochemistry and provenance of the sediments of the Early Cretaceous Yanguoxia Formation,Lanzhou-Minhe Basin,Northwest China

Lanzhou-Minhe Basin is situated on the middle Qilian orogenic belt. Yanguoxia Formation contains abundance of maroon siltstones, mudstones and red sandstones of the lake facies. These sedimentary rocks recorded the process of the tectonic uplift of Qilian Mountains during the Early Cretaceous. We discovered plentiful dinosaur footprints, worm burrows, bird footprints, worm tracks-trails, ripple marks and cross lamination in the Yanguoxia site. Integrated petrographic studies classified sandstones of Yanguoxia Formation as feldspathic litharenite. All plots in the QFL (Q or Qt, total quartz; F, feldspar; L, lithic grains) and QmFLt (Qm, monocrystalline quartz; Lt, lithic grains plus polycrystalline quartz) diagrams fall in the recycled orogen provenance field and quartzose recycled field, respectively, implying the source occurred the tectonic activity. Furthermore, geochemical study indicates that the Yanguoxia standstone was formed in an unstable continental setting due to the northwards movement of Indian Plate triggered the collision between the Qilian fold belt and the Qinling fold belt. These sediments were derived from a mixed source and then deposited in the Lanzhou-Minhe Basin. Most of the felsic components were derived from the granitoid rocks of the Qilian Mountains due to the rapid and intense uplift during the Early Cretaceous while the mafic components were contributed by the basic and ultrabasic rocks of the rapidly rising ophiolite in the Qilian Mountain area. Bivariant log-log plot of Qp/(F+L) (Qp, polycrystalline quartz) against Q/(F+L) shows that Yanguoxia Formation was deposited in the semi-humid and semi-arid. Moreover, the pollen also exhibits that the environmental condition during the deposition of Yanguoxia Formation was warm and wet, which affirm such environment was benefit to dinosaur survival. Geochemical study also infers that the Yanguoxia Formation was deposited under the oxidizing condition in a shallow marine environment. The minerals identified from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of shale and siltstone samples are 4.74%-33.53% clays, 23.45%-4l.70% carbonates and 33.99%-71.81% quartz, respectively, which infer that depositional conditions remained uniform during the formation of shales or siltstones of Yanguoxia Formation.     

Spatial modeling of Dengue prevalence and kriging prediction of Dengue outbreak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan) using presence only data

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment - During the span of August–October, 2017 a major outbreak of Dengue fever happened in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Cases...     

A simple method of ground water direction measurement in a single bore hole

A simple technique to find both the magnitude and direction of ground water flow in a single bore hole, sited in a pervious water bearing medium, is described. The experiment may be performed with tracers which may not be radioactive (like inactive potassium bromide).     

Petrography,provenance, diaganesis and depositional environment of Murree Formation in Jhelum Valley,Sub Himalayas,Azad Jammu and Kashmir,Pakistan

The clastic sediments of the Murree Formation of Miocene age are exposed in Jhelum valley areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan. Field observations revealed the cyclic deposition in the Murree Formation. The sandstone, siltstone, and shale constitute a single cycle within the formation. This single unit is divided into five different lithofacies which constitute the Bouma sequence in the Murree Formation. The Murree Formation shows faulted contacts with Panjal Formation and Nagri Formation in the study area. The modal mineralogy data obtained from the petrography of sandstone indicates that sandstone is litharenite and lithic greywacke. The mineralogical and textural data suggests that sandstone is compositionally mature and poorly to moderately sorted. The dominantly angular to sub angular quartz grains show nearness of the source area. Fractured and sutured quartz grain reveals tectonodiagentic changes that occurred in Murree Formation. The sandstone experienced diagenetic changes. The pressure solution and cementation reduced the primary porosity of sandstone. However, alteration of feldspar and fractures in grains have produced secondary porosity. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the shale samples indicates that shale of the Murree Formation is argillaceous and dominated by illite clay mineral. The illite crystallinity values indicate very low grade metamorphism of Murree Formation in core of Hazara Kashmir Syntaxis. The petrographic data suggests that the provenance of sandstone is recycled orogen. Quartz is of igneous and metamorphic origin. Feldspar (albite and microcline) composition suggests its derivation from acidic igneous rocks. The rock fragments of volcanics, slate, phyllite, and schist suggest igneous and metamorphic provenance. The petrographic data suggests that at the time of deposition of Murree Formation, igneous and low grade metamorphic rocks were exposed. However, presence of some clasts of carbonates indicates that sedimentary rocks were also exposed in the source region. The quartz content and clay minerals in the shale revealed that source region was igneous and metamorphic rocks. Cyclic deposition, lithofacies, and various sedimentary structures like cross bedding, ripple marks, and calcite concretions suggest that deposition of Murree Formation occurred in fluviatile environment by meandering river system having decreasing turbidity current.     

Self-modulation of plasma waves in equal mass plasmas

The self-modulation of weakly relativistic plasma waves in equal mass (electron-positron) plasmas has been investigated by employing the Krylov-Bogoliubov-Mitropolsky perturbation technique. It is found that one-dimensional electron plasma waves are modulationally stable and that they can propagate in the form of dark envelope solitons.     

Subsurface Structure Analysis of the Southern North Sea

Geotectonics - The subsurface structure analysis of the Southern North Sea through the interpretation of 2D seismic data set (SNSTI-NL-87 and SNST-NL-83) is carried out. The subsurface structural...