Analytical solutions of long nonlinear internal waves: Part I

The Gardner equation is an extension of the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation. It exhibits basically the same properties as the classical KdV, but extends its range of validity to a wider interval of the parameters of the internal wave motion for a given environment. In this paper, we derive exact solitary wave solutions for the generalized Gardner equation that includes nonlinear terms of any order. Unlike previous studies, the exact solutions are derived without assuming their mathematical form. Illustrative examples for internal solitary waves are also provided. The traveling wave solutions can be used to specify initial data for the incident waves in internal waves numerical models and for the verification and validation of the associated computed solutions.     

Compaction process in sedimentary basins: the role of stiffness increase and hardening induced by large plastic strains

This paper is devoted to the simulation of large strain compaction process in sedimentary basins. Special attention is paid to the effects of large porosity changes on the elastic and plastic mechanical properties of the sediment material. The latter are introduced in the constitutive behaviour in the framework of a micromechanical reasoning. In particular, the proposed approach avoids the problem of negative porosities that are predicted by classical models under high confining pressures. Some closed‐form solutions are presented in the simplified case of one‐dimensional compaction. While the influence of stiffness increase is shown to be negligible as regards the compaction law, it proves to affect significantly the stress and porosity profiles. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Salinisation origin and hydrogeochemical behaviour of the Djerid oasis water table aquifer (southern Tunisia)

The shallow Plio-Quaternary (PQ) water table, present over almost the whole Djerid and Chott El Gharsa basins (southern Tunisia), is used as a complement of oases irrigation, especially in summer season. The simplicity of the Plio-Quaternary lithology is confronted to the complexity of the mineralisation mechanisms and the water origin in this aquifer. An approach combining the use of water-dissolved chemical species and isotopic contents has been used to better understand the PQ behaviour under severe increasing exploitation and to determinate the origin of its different water bodies. In southern Tunisia, the aquifer system is composed of the upper unconfined PQ aquifer, the intermediate semi-confined/confined Complexe Terminal (CT) and the deeper confined Continental Intercalaire (CI). Chemical analyses highlighted an origin of mineralisation in close relationship to the dissolution of both sulphated salts (MgSO₄ and Na₂SO₄) and chlorinated salts (NaCl and MgCl) abundant in the surface and subsurface gypsum crust. Positive correlations between gypsum anhydrite, mirabilite, thenardite and halite saturation indexes with respective mineral species, confirm evaporites dissolutions. Isotopic data showed that in addition of sporadic rainfall events, there is a contribution from the CI and the CT Saharan groundwaters, recharging the PQ aquifer in the study area. Return flow irrigation is partly affected by evaporation, before recharging the shallow aquifer, in oases limits.     

Shear reinforcement effect of reinforced concrete tie-columns on the lateral resistance of confined masonry walls

Tie-columns improve significantly the lateral resistance of masonry bearing walls against persistent, transient and accidental loads. The research work described herein has been carried out to assess the lateral resistance of confined masonry walls, where contribution of the masonry panel is evaluated according to material mechanics and tie-columns effect is estimated by a proposed analytical formulation based on a model reported on previously. This approach takes into account the effect of dowel support on the reaction of its adjacent shear reinforcement: the conditions for the various contributions of transverse reinforcements are better defined following a clear evaluation of the participation ratio of these reinforcements. Lateral resistances of confined masonry walls measured in full-scale tests and gleaned from the literature are compared and checked with resistances calculated using the present approach.     

Assessment of groundwater vulnerability using a specific vulnerability method: Case of Maritime Djeffara shallow aquifer (Southeastern Tunisia)

Groundwater resources are vulnerable to contamination especially in shallow aquifers. The aquifer hydrogeological parameters and the Land Uses category combinations lead to subdivide areas according to their contamination likelihood. In arid and semi-arid regions, shallow aquifers are more exposed to groundwater contamination due to high population densities (extensive uses) and agricultural activities (nitrate contamination). Moreover, these regions are characterized by low rainfall and high evaporation. Furthermore, the spread of farmland, industrial and domestic sectors, is the principal contaminant producer which threats the groundwater quality. To protect these limited resources, the groundwater vulnerability assessment was developed in Maritime Djeffara shallow aquifer (Southeastern Tunisia). The study area is essentially occupied by agricultural areas (intensive use of chemical fertilizers) in addition to the discharge of industrial zones. The main objective of this study is to assess the aquifer vulnerability using the Susceptibility Index (SI) method as a specific vulnerability model. The results show that the study area is classified into five classes of vulnerability: very low, low, medium, high, and very high (1.54, 20, 41.54, 35.9, and 1.02%, respectively) with an uneven spatial distribution. The risk results exhibit three degrees: low, moderate, and high. The validation of the vulnerability model was performed by using salinity values and nitrate concentrations with a correlation coefficient of about 57 and 55%, respectively. This study could serve as a scientific basis for sustainable land use planning and groundwater management in the study area.     

Transpressive Structures in the Ghadir Shear Belt,Eastern Desert,Egypt: Evidence for Partitioning of Oblique Convergence in the Arabian‐Nubian Shield during Gondwana Agglutination

Transpressional deformation has played an important role in the late Neoproterozoic evolution of the ArabianNubian Shield including the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt. The Ghadir Shear Belt is a 35 km-long, NW-oriented brittleductile shear zone that underwent overall sinistral transpression during the Late Neoproterozoic. Within this shear belt, strain is highly partitioned into shortening, oblique, extensional and strike-slip structures at multiple scales. Moreover, strain partitioning is heterogeneous along-strike giving rise to three distinct structural domains. In the East Ghadir and Ambaut shear belts, the strain is pure-shear dominated whereas the narrow sectors parallel to the shear walls in the West Ghadir Shear Zone are simple-shear dominated. These domains are comparable to splay-dominated and thrust-dominated strike-slip shear zones. The kinematic transition along the Ghadir shear belt is consistent with separate strike-slip and thrustsense shear zones. The earlier fabric(S1), is locally recognized in low strain areas and SW-ward thrusts. S2 is associated with a shallowly plunging stretching lineation(L2), and defines ～NW-SE major upright macroscopic folds in the East Ghadir shear belt. F2 folds are superimposed by ～NNW–SSE tight-minor and major F3 folds that are kinematically compatible with sinistral transpressional deformation along the West Ghadir Shear Zone and may represent strain partitioning during deformation. F2 and F3 folds are superimposed by ENE–WSW gentle F4 folds in the Ambaut shear belt. The sub-parallelism of F3 and F4 fold axes with the shear zones may have resulted from strain partitioning associated with simple shear deformation along narrow mylonite zones and pure shear-dominant deformation in fold zones. Dextral ENEstriking shear zones were subsequently active at ca. 595 Ma, coeval with sinistral shearing along NW-to NNW-striking shear zones. The occurrence of upright folds and folds with vertical axes suggests that transpression plays a significant role in the tectonic evolution of the Ghadir shear belt. Oblique convergence may have been provoked by the buckling of the Hafafit gneiss-cored domes and relative rotations between its segments. Upright folds, fold with vertical axes and sinistral strike-slip shear zones developed in response to strain partitioning. The West Ghadir Shear Zone contains thrusts and strikeslip shear zones that resulted from lateral escape tectonics associated with lateral imbrication and transpression in response to oblique squeezing of the Arabian-Nubian Shield during agglutination of East and West Gondwana.     

Parametric study of near-wake structure of spherical and cylindrical bodies in the laboratory

Some aspects of the interaction between metal bodies and streaming rarefied plasmas were studied in a newly constructed Plasma Wind Tunnel as part of an attempt to investigate (via simulation) phenomena relevant to the spacecraft/space plasma interaction. Detailed near-wake ion current profiles for both spherical and cylindrical bodies at different body potentials (φ_S) and at different plasma flow parameters are presented. Various features of the profiles can be correlated, at least qualitatively, with both plasma and body characteristics. For example, the width of the wake zone appears proportional to the Debye length (λ_D) and depends on the potential of the target body although it appears to be relatively insensitive to the ratio $\text{S = V}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>flow</mtext>}}\text{/(}\text{2kT}{}_{\mathrm{e}}\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{+}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$. The amplitude of the ion current peak(s) also appears proportional to λ_D while, for fixed φ_S, the location of the peak is directly related to S and possibly dependent upon body geometry. The general importance of body geometry is qualitatively demonstrated. In addition, a discussion of the relevance of the above studies to previous in situ data obtained from the Ariel I and Gemini/Agena missions is given.     

Répartition des minéraux argileux et contrôle tectono-eustatique dans les bassins de la marge tunisienne

We have studied the clay assemblages found in the different palaeogeographic domains located at the several Tunisian margin basins, ranging in age from Palaeozoic to Neogene. This study has allowed us to characterize and highlight the relationship between the clay distribution in time and space and the geodynamic and eustatic events. Marine regressions, with the intensification of erosion, seem to be responsible for illite increases, whereas transgressions, in concordance with a warm and dry climate, coincide with the smectite dominance. The minimum marine level coincides with the abundance of palygorskite. Mineralogic changes in the clay assemblages as well as in the proportion of the different clay minerals will tentatively be related to erosive tectonic events and/or to subsiding and rifting events, marked by the inheritance or the neoformation of the several clays.