Silver and silver-bearing minerals at the Um Samiuki volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit, Eastern Desert, Egypt

The Um Samiuki Zn–Cu–Pb–Ag mineralisation, south Eastern Desert, Egypt is hosted by felsic volcanic rocks which form part of the 712-Ma-old, east-west-trending Shadli Volcanic Belt. Two major occurrences of massive sulphides are present at the top of rhyolitic breccia in the Western and Eastern mine areas. In each occurrence, a bornite-bearing zone is overlain by a pyrite-chalcopyrite-bearing zone and underlain by a disseminated, Cu-depleted zone. In the massive sulphide ore, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, galena, bornite and tetrahedrite–tennantite are major minerals, whereas arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, molybdenite and magnetite are accessory phases. Covellite and digenite are common secondary minerals. Bornite, tetrahedrite–tennantite and covellite contain high amounts of silver (averages of 1.97, 1.39 and 1.82 wt% respectively). Based on mineralogical balance calculations, bornite and covellite accommodate 80% of silver in the Um Samiuki deposit. Ag was incorporated in the crystal structure of the early-crystallised copper sulphides and sulphosalts and silver minerals. The temperature, sequential precipitation of the fluids and the structure of the crystallising phases control the distribution of silver. Post-depositional deformation and metamorphic processes caused liberation, remobilisation and redeposition of silver within the massive sulphides.Editorial handling: D. Lentz     

Statistical improvement in detection level of gravitational microlensing events from their light curves

In astronomy,the brightness of a source is typically expressed in terms of magnitude.Conventionally,the magnitude is defined by the logarithm of received flux.This relationship is known as the Pogson formula.For received flux with a small signal to noise ratio(S/N),however,the formula gives a large magnitude error.We investigate whether the use of Inverse Hyperbolic Sine function(hereafter referred to as the Asinh magnitude)in the modified formulae could allow for an alternative calculation of magnitudes for small S/N flux,and whether the new approach is better for representing the brightness of that region.We study the possibility of increasing the detection level of gravitational microlensing using 40 selected microlensing light curves from the 2013 and 2014 seasons and by using the Asinh magnitude.Photometric data of the selected events are obtained from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment(OGLE).We found that utilization of the Asinh magnitude makes the events brighter compared to using the logarithmic magnitude,with an average of about 3.42×10~(-2)magnitude and an average in the difference of error between the logarithmic and the Asinh magnitude of about 2.21×10(-2)magnitude.The microlensing events OB140847 and OB140885 are found to have the largest difference values among the selected events.Using a Gaussian fit to find the peak for OB140847 and OB140885,we conclude statistically that the Asinh magnitude gives better mean squared values of the regression and narrower residual histograms than the Pogson magnitude.Based on these results,we also attempt to propose a limit in magnitude value for which use of the Asinh magnitude is optimal with small S/N data.     

Self-Learning Random Forests Model for Mapping Groundwater Yield in Data-Scarce Areas

Globally, groundwater plays a major role in supplying drinking water for urban and rural population and is used for irrigation to grow crops and in many industrial processes. A novel self-learning random forest (SLRF) model is developed and validated for groundwater yield zonation within the Yeondong Province in South Korea. This study was conducted with an inventory data initially divided randomly into 70% for training and 30% for testing and 13 groundwater-conditioning factors. SLRF was optimized using Bayesian optimization method. We also compared our method to other machine learning methods including support vector machine (SVM), artificial neural networks (ANN), decision trees (DT), and voting ensemble models. Model validation was accomplished using several methods, including a confusion matrix, receiver operating characteristics, cross-validation, and McNemar’s test. Our proposed self-learning method improves random forest (RF) generalization performance by about 23%, with SLRF success rates of 0.76 and prediction rates of 0.83. In addition, the optimized SLRF performed better [according to a threefold cross-validated AUC (area under curve) of 0.75] than that using randomly initialized parameters (0.57). SLRF outperformed all of the other models for the testing dataset (RF, SVM, ANN, DT, and Voted ANN-RF) when the overall accuracy, prediction rate, and cross-validated AUC metrics were considered. The SLRF also estimated the contribution of individual groundwater conditioning factors and showed that the three most influential factors were geology (1.00), profile curvature (0.97), and TWI (0.95). Overall, SLRF effectively modeled groundwater potential, even within data-scarce regions.

     

Tracking sources of groundwater nitrate contamination using nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes at Beijing area,China

The identification of sources and behavior of contaminants is important to control and manage groundwater quality of aquifer systems in urban areas. In this study, hydrogeochemistry of major constituents and stable isotope ratios of nitrate in groundwater were determined to identify contamination sources and transformation processes occurring in soils and deeper groundwater of Beijing with intense human activities. The nitrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions of nitrate in pore water extracts from groundwater samples indicate at least three potential sources of nitrate in groundwaters at Beijing. Stable isotope analyses from this study site, which has atmospheric, chemical fertilizer and human waste nitrate sources, provide a tool to distinguish nitrate sources in a confined aquifer where concentrations alone do not. These data indicate that the most common sources of high nitrate concentrations in groundwater at Beijing are wastewater and denitrification process occurred specially in the Central area. NO₃–N and cation and anion concentrations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ Cl^? and SO ₄ ² ) showed strong correlations indicating that they originated from the same sources. This study demonstrates that a thorough evaluation of hydrodynamic and hydrochemical parameters with dual isotopes of NO₃ ^? constitutes an effective approach for identifying sources and transformation processes of NO₃ ^? in deeper groundwater systems.     

Interaction Between Two CMEs During 14 – 15 February 2011 and Their Unusual Radio Signature

We report a detailed analysis of an interaction between two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that were observed on 14?–?15 February 2011 and the corresponding radio enhancement, which was similar to the “CME cannibalism” reported by Gopalswamy et al. (Astrophys. J. 548, L91, 2001). A primary CME, with a mean field-of-view velocity of 669 km?s^?1 in the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)/Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO), was more than as twice as fast as the slow CME preceding it (326 km?s^?1), which indicates that the two CMEs interacted. A radio-enhancement signature (in the frequency range 1 MHz?–?400 kHz) due to the CME interaction was analyzed and interpreted using the CME data from LASCO and from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) HI-1, radio data from Wind/Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment (WAVES), and employing known electron-density models and kinematic modeling. The following results are obtained: i) The CME interaction occurred around 05:00?–?10:00 UT in a height range 20?–?25 R_⊙. An unusual radio signature is observed during the time of interaction in the Wind/WAVES dynamic radio spectrum. ii) The enhancement duration shows that the interaction segment might be wider than 5 R_⊙. iii) The shock height estimated using density models for the radio enhancement region is 10?–?30 R_⊙. iv) Using kinematic modeling and assuming a completely inelastic collision, the decrease of kinetic energy based on speeds from LASCO data is determined to be 0.77×10²³ J, and 3.67×10²³ J if speeds from STEREO data are considered. vi) The acceleration, momentum, and force are found to be a=?168 m?s^?2, I=6.1×10¹⁸ kg?m?s^?1, and F=1.7×10¹⁵ N, respectively, using STEREO data.     

Monazite ages and the evolution of the Menderes Massif, western Turkey

The Menderes Massif experienced polyphase deformation, but distinguishing Pan-African events from Alpine tectono-metamorphic evolution, and discriminating Eocene–Oligocene shortening from recent extension remain controversial. To address this, monazite in garnet-bearing rocks from the massifs Gordes, Central, and Cine sections were dated in thin section (in situ) using the Th–Pb ion microprobe method. Cambro–Ordovician monazite inclusions in Cine and Central Menderes Massif garnets are ~450 m.y. older than matrix grains. Monazites in reaction with allanite from the Kuzey Detachment, which bounds the northern edge of the Central Menderes Massif, are 17±5 Ma and 4.5±1.0 Ma. The Pliocene result shows that dating of monazite can record the time of extension. The Kuzey Detachment might have exhumed rocks a lateral distance of ~53 km at a rapid rate of ~12 mm/year assuming the present ~20° ramp dip, Pliocene monazite crystallization at ~450°C, and a geothermal gradient of ~25°C/km. Assuming an angle of 60°, the rate decreases to ~5 mm/year, with the detachment surface at ~21 km depth in the Pliocene. Two Gordes Massif monazites show a similar allanite–monazite reaction relationship and are 29.6±1.1 Ma and 27.9±1.0 Ma, suggesting that the Cenozoic extension in the Gordes Massif, and possibly the entire Menderes Massif, might have begun in the Late Oligocene.     

Improving energy efficiency and fouling mitigation for membrane bioreactor in Al-Rustamiyah sewage treatment plant based on hydrodynamics

In Al-Rustamiyah sewage treatment plant in the east of Baghdad city, capital of Iraq, the membrane bioreactor suffering from a severe biofouling problem. The main reason for this problem is inefficient and inadequate aeration process. The objective of this work is to control fouling and to improve the energy efficiency of the submerged membrane bioreactor. Fouling control is achieved by optimizing the two-phase hydrodynamic parameters (air bubble diameter and shear stress), while energy efficiency improved through analysis of flow field. An experimental rig similar to real plant was built, and several operating and design parameters were experimentally tested. The parameters were air flow rate (1–9 L/min), membrane sheets spacing (3, 5, and 7 mm), and air diffuser design (pipe diffuser and disk diffuser). The bubble sizes were measured experimentally using high-speed camera. It was found that larger bubbles were produced at narrow channels between the membrane sheets. Optimization using computational fluid dynamic with ANSYS FLUENT was employed; the results showed that a bubble diameter of 2.5 mm had a slug flow pattern, resulting in better energy saving for a 3 mm space between membrane sheets with a 5 L/min air flow, while maximum shear stress obtained was (4 Pa). Nutrients removal results from synthetic sewage were 97.32, 79.68, and 13% for COD, NH₃–N, and PO ₄ ^?3 , respectively, at 6 days retention time. The results obtained are quite significant in practice because it contributes to improve the efficiency of membrane bioreactor in Al-Rustamiyah sewage treatment plant.     

Antibiotic resistant bacteria as bio-indicator of polluted effluent in the green turtles, Chelonia mydas in Oman

Antibiotic resistant bacteria were studied as bio-indicators of marine polluted effluents during egg-laying in green turtles. A non-invasive procedure for sampling oviductal fluid was used to test for exposure of turtles to pollution in Ras Al-Hadd, Oman, which is one of the most important nesting beaches in the world. Each sample was obtained by inserting a 15 cm sterile swab gently into the cloacal vent as the sphincter muscle is relaxed and the cloacal lining is unfolded to the outside. Forty turtles were sampled. A hundred and thirty-two species of bacteria from 7 genera were isolated. The dominant isolate was Citrobacter. Among the isolates 60.6% were multiple resistant to 15 tested antibiotics. The dominant resistance to antibiotics was ampicillin followed by streptomycin and sulphamethoxazole. Sampling oviductal fluid for resistant bacteria to antibiotics is valuable way to assess exposure to polluted effluents during feeding and migratory in turtles. Polluted effluents using bacteria as bio-indicator may influence reproductive potential in this endangered species.     

A distributed hydrological–geotechnical model using satellite-derived rainfall estimates for shallow landslide prediction system at a catchment scale

This paper describes the potential applicability of a hydrological–geotechnical modeling system using satellite-based rainfall estimates for a shallow landslide prediction system. The physically based distributed model has been developed by integrating a grid-based distributed kinematic wave rainfall-runoff model with an infinite slope stability approach. The model was forced by the satellite-based near real-time half-hourly CMORPH global rainfall product prepared by NOAA-CPC. The method combines the following two model outputs necessary for identifying where and when shallow landslides may potentially occur in the catchment: (1) the time-invariant spatial distribution of areas susceptible to slope instability map, for which the river catchment is divided into stability classes according to the critical relative soil saturation; this output is designed to portray the effect of quasi-static land surface variables and soil strength properties on slope instability and (2) a produced map linked with spatiotemporally varying hydrologic properties to provide a time-varying estimate of susceptibility to slope movement in response to rainfall. The proposed hydrological model predicts the dynamic of soil saturation in each grid element. The stored water in each grid element is then used for updating the relative soil saturation and analyzing the slope stability. A grid of slope is defined to be unstable when the relative soil saturation becomes higher than the critical level and is the basis for issuing a shallow landslide warning. The method was applied to past landslides in the upper Citarum River catchment (2,310 km²), Indonesia; the resulting time-invariant landslide susceptibility map shows good agreement with the spatial patterns of documented historical landslides (1985–2008). Application of the model to two recent shallow landslides shows that the model can successfully predict the effect of rainfall movement and intensity on the spatiotemporal dynamic of hydrological variables that trigger shallow landslides. Several hours before the landslides, the model predicted unstable conditions in some grids over and near the grids at which the actual shallow landslides occurred. Overall, the results demonstrate the potential applicability of the modeling system for shallow landslide disaster predictions and warnings.     

Drivers of housing development in Tamale Metropolitan District,Ghana

In developing countries the most remarkable feature of housing production and consumption is the active involvement of households in all segments of the housing markets. The purpose of the study was to assess the main drivers of households’ decisions to build housing in Tamale Metropolitan District, Ghana. The authors used a probit regression model to analyse the main forces underlying housing production decisions in the district and to highlight the challenges associated with households’ self-building efforts. The results revealed that economic, demographic, and cultural factors were the main forces accounting for variations in households’ decisions to build housing. Additionally, the results indicated that households’ efforts were severely constrained by rising land values, low levels of household income, limited employment opportunities, and intermittent chieftaincy conflicts. The authors conclude that access to land and security of tenure were important prerequisites for housing development in Tamale Metropolitan District. They recommend the establishment of a good land administration system to help to address the excessive bureaucracy in the delivery of land for house building in the metropolis.