The effects of diagenesis on the reservoir characters in sandstones of the Late Cretaceous Pab Formation,Kirthar Fold Belt,southern Pakistan

The Maastrichtian Pab Formation in the southern part of Pakistan is composed of fine- to very coarse-grained texturally mature quartz arenite and subordinate sublitharenite varieties. The sandstones have undergone intense and complex diagenetic episodes due to burial and uplift. Diagenetic modifications were dependent mainly on the clastic composition of sandstone, burial depth and thrust tectonics. Diagenetic events identified include compaction, precipitation of calcite, quartz, clay minerals and iron oxide/hydroxide, dissolution and alteration of unstable clastic grains as feldspar and volcaniclithic fragments as well as tectonically induced grain fracturing. The unstable clastic grains like feldspar and lithic volcanic fragments suffered considerable alteration to kaolinite and chlorite. Dissolution and alteration of feldspar and volcanic lithic fragments and pressure solution were the main sources of quartz cements. Mechanical compaction and authigenic cements like calcite, quartz and iron oxide/hydroxide reduced the primary porosity, whereas dissolution of clastic grains and cements has produced secondary porosity. Chlorite coatings on clastic grains have prevented quartz cementation. Coarse-grained, thick bedded packages of fluviodeltaic, shelf delta lobe and submarine channels facies have higher average porosity than fine-grained, thin bedded and bioturbated sandstone of deeper shelf and abyssal plain environments and these facies are concluded to be possible future hydrocarbon prospects.     

Geosynthesis of dibenzothiophene and alkyl dibenzothiophenes in crude oils and sediments by carbon catalysis

Sediment extracts and crude oils have been shown to contain methyl substituted biphenyls and dibenzothiophenes, with isomer distributions suggesting a geochemical relationship between the two compound classes. Laboratory simulation experiments have shown that carbon catalyses the reaction between surface adsorbed sulfur and biphenyl to form dibenzothiophene. Similarly, the methyl substituted biphenyls reacted to yield corresponding methyl dibenzothiophenes. We suggest that the widespread distribution of dibenzothiophene and alkylated dibenzothiophenes in sediments and crude oils is the result of a catalytic reaction of biphenyl ring systems and surface-adsorbed sulfur on the surface of carbonaceous material.     

Estimating water balance components in irrigated agriculture using a combined approach of soil moisture and energy balance monitoring,and numerical modelling

Information on water balance components such as evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge are crucial for water management. Due to differences in physical conditions, but also due to limited budgets, there is not one universal best practice, but a wide range of different methods with specific advantages and disadvantages. In this study, we propose an approach to quantify actual evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge and water inflow, i.e. precipitation and irrigation, that considers the specific conditions of irrigated agriculture in warm, arid environments. This approach does not require direct measurements of precipitation or irrigation quantities and is therefore suitable for sites with an uncertain data basis. For this purpose, we combine soil moisture and energy balance monitoring, remote sensing data analysis and numerical modelling using Hydrus. Energy balance data and routine weather data serve to estimate ET₀. Surface reflectance data from satellite images (Sentinel-2) are used to derive leaf area indices, which help to partition ET₀ into energy limited evaporation and transpiration. Subsequently, first approximations of water inflow are derived based on observed soil moisture changes. These inflow estimates are used in a series of forward simulations that produce initial estimates of drainage and ET_act, which in turn help improve the estimate of water inflow. Finally, the improved inflow estimates are incorporated into the model and then a parameter optimization is performed using the observed soil moisture as the reference figure. Forward simulations with calibrated soil parameters result in final estimates for ET_act and groundwater recharge. The presented method is applied to an agricultural test site with a crop rotation of cotton and wheat in Punjab, Pakistan. The final model results, with an RMSE of 2.2% in volumetric water content, suggest a cumulative ET_act and groundwater recharge of 769 and 297 mm over a period of 281 days, respectively. The total estimated water inflow accounts for 946 mm, of which 77% originates from irrigation.     

An estimation of the height system bias parameter <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis><Subscript>0</Subscript> using least squares collocation from observed gravity and GPS-levelling data

This paper deals with the analysis of gravity anomaly and precise levelling in conjunction with GPS-Levelling data for the computation of a gravimetric geoid and an estimate of the height system bias parameter N_o for the vertical datum in Pakistan by means of least squares collocation technique. The long term objective is to obtain a regional geoid (or quasi-geoid) modeling using a combination of local data with a high degree and order Earth gravity model (EGM) and to determine a bias (if there is one) with respect to a global mean sea surface. An application of collocation with the optimal covariance parameters has facilitated to achieve gravimetric height anomalies in a global geocentric datum. Residual terrain modeling (RTM) technique has been used in combination with the EGM96 for the reduction and smoothing of the gravity data. A value for the bias parameter N_o has been estimated with reference to the local GPS-Levelling datum that appears to be 0.705 m with 0.07 m mean square error. The gravimetric height anomalies were compared with height anomalies obtained from GPS-Levelling stations using least square collocation with and without bias adjustment. The bias adjustment minimizes the difference between the gravimetric height anomalies with respect to residual GPS-Levelling data and the standard deviation of the differences drops from 35 cm to 2.6 cm. The results of this study suggest that N_o adjustment may be a good alternative for the fitting of the final gravimetric geoid as is generally done when using FFT methods.     

Substructure design optimization and nonlinear responses control analysis of the mega-sub controlled structural system(MSCSS) under earthquake action

The newly proposed mega sub-controlled structure system(MSCSS) and related studies have drawn the attention of civil engineers for practice in improving the performance and enhancing the structural effectiveness of mega frame structures. However, there is still a need for improvement to its basic structural arrangement. In this project, an advanced, reasonable arrangement of mega sub-controlled structure models, composed of three mega stories with different numbers and arrangements of substructures, are designed to investigate the control performance of the models and obtain the optimal model configuration(model with minimum acceleration and displacement responses) under strong earthquake excitation. In addition, the dynamic parameters that affect the performance effectiveness of the optimal model of MSCSS are studied and discussed. The area of the relative stiffness ratio RD, with different mass ratio MR, within which the acceleration and displacement of the optimal model of MSCSS reaches its optimum(minimum) value is considered as an optimum region. It serves as a useful tool in practical engineering design. The study demonstrates that the proposed MSCSS configuration can efficiently control the displacement and acceleration of high rise buildings. In addition, some analytical guidelines are provided for selecting the control parameters of the structure.     

A Hybrid Model for Runoff Prediction Using Variational Mode Decomposition and Artificial Neural Network

Water Resources - Hydrological runoff prediction in a reliable and precise manner contributes significantly to the optimal management of hydropower resources. Considering the importance of runoff...     

On the performance of a new bivariate pseudo Pareto distribution with application to drought data

A new bivariate pseudo Pareto distribution is proposed, and its distributional characteristics are investigated. The parameters of this distribution are estimated by the moment-, the maximum likelihood- and the Bayesian method. Point estimators of the parameters are presented for different sample sizes. Asymptotic confidence intervals are constructed and the parameter modeling the dependency between two variables is checked. The performance of the different estimation methods is investigated by using the bootstrap method. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation is conducted to estimate the Bayesian posterior distribution for different sample sizes. For illustrative purposes, a real set of drought data is investigated.     

Investigating effect of climate change on drought propagation from meteorological to hydrological drought using multi-model ensemble projections

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment - Climate change is a main driving force that affects the hydrological cycle, leading to an increase in natural hazards. Among these natural...