Early Cretaceous <Emphasis Type="Italic">Neotrocholina</Emphasis> Reichel, 1956 from the Tirgan Formation,Kopet Dagh sedimentary basin,NE Iran: systematic and biometric interpretation

Neotrocholina Reichel, 1956 is one of the most important benthic foraminifera in Early Cretaceous. Some of the species of this genus are indexes in biostratigraphy especially for this interval (e.g., Neotrocholina friburgensis: Late Barremian–Early Aptian; Neotrocholina aptiensis: Early Aptian). In order to conduct accurate paleontological investigations, sampling from the carbonate units of the Tirgan Formation in Kopet Dagh sedimentary basin is done. According to the occurrence level in the studied stratigraphic sections as well as biometric interpretations, two species of this genus (N. friburgensis and Neotrocholina valdensis) are pointed out.     

Modelling the effects of porous media deformation on the propagation of water-table waves in a sandy unconfined aquifer

This paper examines the influence of porous media deformation on water-table wave dispersion in an unconfined aquifer using a numerical model which couples Richards’ equation to the poro-elastic model. The study was motivated by the findings of Shoushtari et al. (J Hydrol 533:412–440, 2016) who were unable to reproduce the observed wave dispersion in their sand flume data with either numerical Richards’ equation models (assuming rigid porous media) or existing analytic solutions. The water-table wave dispersion is quantified via the complex wave number extracted from the predicted amplitude and phase profiles. A sensitivity analysis was performed to establish the influence of the main parameters in the poro-elastic model, namely Young’s modulus (E) and Poisson’s ratio (ν). For a short oscillation period (T?=?16.4 s), the phase lag increase rate (k _i) is sensitive to the chosen values of E and ν, demonstrating an inverse relationship with both parameters. Changes in the amplitude decay rate (k _r), however, were negligible. For a longer oscillation period (T?=?908.6 s), variations in the values of E and ν resulted in only small changes in both k _r and k _i. In both the short and long period cases, the poro-elastic model is unable to reproduce the observed wave dispersion in the existing laboratory data. Hence porous media deformation cannot explain the additional energy dissipation in the laboratory data. Shoushtari SMH, Cartwright N, Perrochet P, Nielsen P (2016) The effects of oscillation period on groundwater wave dispersion in a sandy unconfined aquifer: sand flume experiments and modelling. J Hydrol 533:412–440.     

Geochemical Investigation of the Cretaceous Crude Oil Reservoirs and Source Rock Samples in One of the Abadan Plain Oilfields, SW Iran

Crude oil and source rock samples from one of the main oilfields of the Abadan Plain, Zagros, Iran were analyzed geochemically. Rock-Eval pyrolysis was conducted on Kazhdumi (Upper Cretaceous) and Gadvan (Lower Cretaceous) formations, which are the probable source rocks for the oil in the region. The results indicated that the Kazhdumi Formation can be classified as a fair-to-excellent source rock, while the Gadvan Formation can be identified as having poor-to-good source rock in the basin. Based on the cross-plots of HI versus OI and S2 versus TOC, types II and III kerogen were identified from studied source samples in the area. Determination of the main fraction percentages of the Sarvak and Fahliyan crude oils represented that the oils from the Sarvak reservoir are paraffinic-naphthenic and aromatic-intermediate, whilst that from the Fahliyan reservoir is paraffinic and paraffinic-naphthenic. Biomarker ratios of the saturated fractions of oil from both reservoirs indicate that the source rocks formed in reducing marine environments with carbonate-shale lithology. Furthermore, biomarker data helped to distinguish the degree of biodegradation in the studied oils. According to geochemical analysis, oil samples from the Fahliyan reservoir were generated at a higher thermal maturity than the Sarvak reservoir samples.     

Applying wavelet transformation and artificial neural networks to develop forecasting-based reservoir operating rule curves

ABSTRACT

In order to provide more accurate reservoir-operating policies, this study attempts to implement effective monthly forecasting models. Seven inflow forecasting schemes, applying discrete wavelet transformation and artificial neural networks are proposed and provided to forecast the monthly inflow of Dez Reservoir. Based on some different performance indicators the best scheme is achieved comparing to the observed data. The best forecasting model is coupled with a simulation-optimization framework, in which the performance of five different reservoir rule curves can be compared. Three applied rules are based on conventional Standard operation policy, Regression rules, and Hedging rule, and two others are forecasting-based regression and hedging rules. The results indicate that forecasting-based operating rule curves are superior to the conventional rules if the forecasting scheme provides results accurately. Moreover, it can be concluded that the time series decomposition of the observed data enhances the accuracy of the forecasting results efficiently.     

Hydrocarbon Vertical Continuity Evaluation in the Cretaceous Reservoirs of Azadegan Oilfield, Southwest of Iran: Implications for Reservoir Geochemistry

A collection of data obtained from analytical methods in geochemistry along with the reservoir engineering and geologic data were used to investigate the reservoir continuity in the Cretaceous Fahliyan, Gadavan, Kazhdumi and Sarvak reservoirs of the super-giant Azadegan oilfield, SW Iran. The geochemical data indicate that the oil samples, with medium to high level of thermal maturity, have been generated from the anoxic marine marl/carbonate source rock(s). The Sargelu (Jurassic) and Garau (Cretaceous) formations are introduced as the main source rocks for the studied oils. The dendrogram obtained from the cluster analysis of high-resolution gas chromatography data introduces two main oil groups including Fahliyan reservoir, and Kazhdumi along with Sarvak/Gadvan reservoirs. This is confirmed by C7 Halpern star diagram, indicating that, the light oil fraction from Fahliyan reservoir is distinct from the others. Also, different pressure gradient of the Fahliyan Formation (over-pressured) relative to other reservoirs (normally-pressured) show the presence of compartments. The relation between toluene/n-heptane and n-heptane/methylcyclohexane represents the compartmentalization due to maturation/evaporative fractionation for Fahliyan and water washing for other studied reservoirs. Also, the impermeable upper part of the Fahliyan Formation and thin interbedded shaly layers in the Kazhdumi, Sarvak and Gadvan formations have controlled reservoir compartmentalization.     

Biological copper extraction from melting furnaces dust of Sarcheshmeh copper mine

This paper deals with bacterial leaching of copper dust emanating from furnaces at Sarcheshmeh copper complex. Regarding the considerable amount of acid leachable copper, a sulphuric acid leaching process was performed prior to bacterial leaching. Some shake flask and then bioreactor tests were conducted using a mixed culture of Acidithiobacilli and the effect of significant parameters such as culture medium, pulp density and bacterial inoculation rate were investigated. By increasing the pulp density because of higher toxicity and shear stress much more microorganisms and richer nutrient medium were needed. Favoured conditions that governed the agitated bioreactors caused a remarkable promotion in metal dissolution rate in comparison with shake flask. Copper recovery by bacterial leaching in shaking flasks and chemical leaching after 22 d were 87% and 38%, respectively. At the same condition, the maximum copper recovery in bioreactor was 91% within 6.5 d.     

Landslide susceptibility assessment in the Anfu County,China: comparing different statistical and probabilistic models considering the new topo-hydrological factor (HAND)

The present study is aimed at producing landslide susceptibility map of a landslide-prone area (Anfu County, China) by using evidential belief function (EBF), frequency ratio (FR) and Mahalanobis distance (MD) models. To this aim, 302 landslides were mapped based on earlier reports and aerial photographs, as well as, carrying out several field surveys. The landslide inventory was randomly split into a training dataset (70%; 212landslides) for training the models and the remaining (30%; 90 landslides) was cast off for validation purpose. A total of sixteen geo-environmental conditioning factors were considered as inputs to the models: slope degree, slope aspect, plan curvature, profile curvature, the new topo-hydrological factor termed height above the nearest drainage (HAND), average annual rainfall, altitude, distance from rivers, distance from roads, distance from faults, lithology, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), sediment transport index (STI), stream power index (SPI), soil texture, and land use/cover. The validation of susceptibility maps was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). As a results, the FR outperformed other models with an AUROC of 84.98%, followed by EBF (78.63%) and MD (78.50%) models. The percentage of susceptibility classes for each model revealed that MD model managed to build a compendious map focused at highly susceptible areas (high and very high classes) with an overall area of approximately 17%, followed by FR (22.76%) and EBF (31%). The premier model (FR) attested that the five factors mostly influenced the landslide occurrence in the area: NDVI, soil texture, slope degree, altitude, and HAND. Interestingly, HAND could manifest clearer pattern with regard to landslide occurrence compared to other topo-hydrological factors such as SPI, STI, and distance to rivers. Lastly, it can be conceived that the susceptibility of the area to landsliding is more subjected to a complex environmental set of factors rather than anthropological ones (residential areas and distance to roads). This upshot can make a platform for further pragmatic measures regarding hazard-planning actions.     

Spatial assessment of the potential of groundwater quality using fuzzy AHP in GIS

In this study, fuzzy AHP method is used for extracting the water quality indicators based on the Schuler standard and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines during a 20-year period. For this purpose, the best fit of the zoning model was performed. Furthermore, by comparing the standard errors, the continuous Raster layer was extracted from the important parameters used in generating the qualitative potential assessment index. The classified layer was generated by integrating continuous layers in the GIS environment and with the use of Python programming. The similarity of the outputs of both methods indicates the presence of large sections of aquifers in the middle and southwestern regions of Iran in the “temporarily drinkable” and “bad” classes. The calculations showed that the majority of aquifers that were located in the “inappropriate” class during the first 10 years fell to less valuable class types. Based on the results of the model, there is a direct correlation between the drop in water resources and the decline in the quality indices. In addition, in the Urmia and Bushehr coastal aquifers, due to excessive water withdrawal and salty water penetration, the quality of the table water is in critical condition. Based on the results of the research, the aquifers in the range of Zagros and Alborz mountains show the least change in water quality. The reason for this is the depth of the aquifer and the ability to recharge it.     

Groundwater qanat potential mapping using frequency ratio and Shannon’s entropy models in the Moghan watershed,Iran

The purpose of current study is to produce groundwater qanat potential map using frequency ratio (FR) and Shannon's entropy (SE) models in the Moghan watershed, Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran. The qanat is basically a horizontal, interconnected series of underground tunnels that accumulate and deliver groundwater from a mountainous source district, along a water- bearing formation (aquifer), and to a settlement. A qanat locations map was prepared for study area in 2013 based on a topographical map at a 1:50,000-scale and extensive field surveys. 53 qanat locations were detected in the field surveys. 70 % (38 locations) of the qanat locations were used for groundwater potential mapping and 30 % (15 locations) were used for validation. Fourteen effective factors were considered in this investigation such as slope degree, slope aspect, altitude, topographic wetness index (TWI), stream power index (SPI), slope length (LS), plan curvature, profile curvature, distance to rivers, distance to faults, lithology, land use, drainage density, and fault density. Using the above conditioning factors, groundwater qanat potential map was generated implementing FR and SE models, and the results were plotted in ArcGIS. The predictive capability of frequency ratio and Shannon's entropy models were determined by the area under the relative operating characteristic curve. The area under the curve (AUC) for frequency ratio model was calculated as 0.8848. Also AUC for Shannon's entropy model was 0.9121, which depicts the excellence of this model in qanat occurrence potential estimation in the study area. So the Shannon's entropy model has higher AUC than the frequency ratio model. The produced groundwater qanat potential maps can assist planners and engineers in groundwater development plans and land use planning.