Effect of salt solution on the optimum lime contents of bentonite and silt

Acta Geotechnica - In practice, prior to treating a soil with lime, the optimum lime content required for the cation exchange and for providing sufficient Ca2+ and high pH for pozzolanic reaction...     

Changes in microstructure and water retention property of a lime-treated saline soil during curing

Acta Geotechnica - This study aims at investigating the lime treatment effect on the changes in microstructure and water retention property of compacted saline soil, with consideration of the...     

Climate models and hydrological parameter uncertainties in climate change impacts on monthly runoff and daily flow duration curve of a Mediterranean catchment

ABSTRACT

Climate models and hydrological parameter uncertainties were quantified and compared while assessing climate change impacts on monthly runoff and daily flow duration curve (FDC) in a Mediterranean catchment. Simulations of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model using an ensemble of behavioural parameter sets derived from the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) method were approximated by feed-forward artificial neural networks (FF-NN). Then, outputs of climate models were used as inputs to the FF-NN models. Subsequently, projected changes in runoff and FDC were calculated and their associated uncertainty was partitioned into climate model and hydrological parameter uncertainties. Runoff and daily discharge of the Chiba catchment were expected to decrease in response to drier and warmer climatic conditions in the 2050s. For both hydrological indicators, uncertainty magnitude increased when moving from dry to wet periods. The decomposition of uncertainty demonstrated that climate model uncertainty dominated hydrological parameter uncertainty in wet periods, whereas in dry periods hydrological parametric uncertainty became more important.

Editor M.C. Acreman; Associate editor S. Kanae     

Spatial soil loss risk and reservoir siltation in semi-arid Tunisia

Abstract

Soil erosion vulnerability and extreme rainfall characteristics over the Mediterranean semi-arid region of Tunisia are crucial input for estimation of siltation rate in artificial reservoirs. A comprehensive high-resolution database on erosive rainfall, together with siltation records for 28 small reservoirs, were analysed for this region, the Tunisian Dorsal (the easternmost part of the Atlas Mountains). The general life-span of these reservoirs is only about 14 years. Depending on the soil degradation in the different catchments, the corresponding reservoirs display a wide range of soil erosion rates. The average soil loss was 14.5 t ha^?1 year^?1 but some catchments display values of up to 36.4 t ha^?1 year^?1. The maximum 15-min duration rainfall intensity was used to determine the spatial distribution of rainfall erosivity. The northwestern parts of the Tunisian Dorsal display the most extreme rainfall erosivity. Spatial erosion patterns are to some extent similar; however, they vary greatly according to their location in the “soil degradation cycle”. This cycle determines the soil particle delivery potential of the catchment. In general, the northwestern parts of the Dorsal display modest soil erosion patterns due to the already severely degraded soil structure. Here, the soil surface is often the original bedrock. However, the greatest soil erosion occurs in the mid-eastern parts of the Dorsal, which represents the “degradation front”. The latter corresponds to the area with highest erosion, which is continuously progressing westward in the Dorsal. The large variation between the erosive rainfall events and the annual soil loss rates was explained by two important factors. The first relates to the soil degradation cycle. The second factor corresponds to the degradation front with the highest soil loss rates. At present this front is located at 300 m altitude and appears to be moving along an 80-km westward path starting from the east coast. A better understanding of the above can be used to better manage soils and soil covers in the Tunisian Dorsal area and, eventually, to decrease the soil erosion and reservoir siltation risk.

Citation Jebari, S., Berndtsson, R., Bahri, A. & Boufaroua, M. (2010) Spatial soil loss risk and reservoir siltation in semi-arid Tunisia. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(1), 121–137.     

Spatial estimation of soil erosion risk using RUSLE/GIS techniques and practices conservation suggested for reducing soil erosion in Wadi Mina watershed (northwest,Algeria)

The Wadi Mina Watershed, western area of Algeria is characterized by rare and irregular rains and a fragile and weak vegetable cover. The sediments resulting from erosion are transported and contributed to silting dam Sidi Mhamed Benaouda. The combination of the thematical maps of the various erosive factors according to the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in SIG by ArcGIS 10.2 software provided a reliable forecast of the annual rates of soil loss by delimiting the areas prone to erosive risk in the catchment above mentioned. The estimated potential average annual soil loss is 11.2 t/ha/yr., and the potential erosion rates from recognized erosion classes ranged from 0.0 to plus 100 t/ha/yr. About 50% of the catchment area was predicted to have very low to low erosion risk, with soil loss between 0 and 7.4 t/ha/yr. Erosion risk is moderate over 13.9% of the catchment, where calculated soil loss is between 7.4 and 12 t/ha/yr. Erosion risk is high to dangerous over 36.1% of the catchment, where calculated soil loss is more than 12 t/ha/yr. According to this study, it appeared clearly that we must intervene quickly by using reliable and effective conservation techniques.     

The oceanic anoxic event 2 at Es Souabaa (Tebessa,NE Algeria): bio-events and stable isotope study

At the southern margin of the Tethys, the Es Souabaa area recorded traces of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2) around the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary (C/Tb). The dark, laminated, filament- and pyrite-bearing limestones represent the typical facies of this event. In terms of sedimentary environment, these features reflect a transgressive drowning that had induced hypoxia in these sedimentary environments. Such conditions favored the deposition and preservation of organic matter of marine origin, the distribution of which was controlled by paleogeography and halokinetic tectonics at that period. The OAE2 reached a climax between the last upper Cenomanian occurrence of Rotalipora cushmani and the lower Turonian occurrence of Whiteinella praehelvetica. Positive shift of the δ¹³C excursion along with relatively high total organic carbon (TOC) contents during OAE2 both indicate palaeo-environmental modifications enhanced by a significant change in primary marine productivity. Meanwhile, negative δ¹⁸O peaks in carbonates reflect increasing temperatures. Comparison of the data from this study with those from the neighboring Kalaat Senan section (Tunisia) suggests close similarities of events, although OAE2 is much more enhanced in Algeria.     

Precision assessment of the orthometric heights determination in northern part of Algeria by combining the GPS data and the local geoid model

The main purpose of this article is to discuss the use of GPS positioning together with a gravimetrically determined geoid, for deriving orthometric heights in the North of Algeria, for which a limited number of GPS stations with known orthometric heights are available, and to check, by the same opportunity, the possibility of substituting the classical spirit levelling. For this work, 247 GPS stations which are homogeneously distributed and collected from the international TYRGEONET project, as well as the local GPS/Levelling surveys, have been used. The GPS/Levelling geoidal heights are obtained by connecting the points to the levelling network while gravimetric geoidal heights were interpolated from the geoid model computed by the Geodetic Laboratory of the National Centre of Spatial Techniques from gravity data supplied by BGI. However, and in order to minimise the discordances, systematic errors and datum inconsistencies between the available height data sets, we have tested two parametric models of corrector surface: a four parameter transformation and a third polynomial model are used to find the adequate functional representation of the correction that should be applied to the gravimetric geoid. The comparisons based on these GPS campaigns prove that a good fit between the geoid model and GPS/levelling data has been reached when the third order polynomial was used as corrector surface and that the orthometric heights can be deducted from GPS observations with an accuracy acceptable for the low order levelling network densification. In addition, the adopted methodology has been also applied for the altimetric auscultation of a storage reservoir situated at 40 km from the town of Oran. The comparison between the computed orthometric heights and observed ones allowed us to affirm that the alternative of levelling by GPS is attractive for this auscultation.     

Identification and prioritization of sub-watersheds for land and water management using InVEST SDR model: Rmelriver basin,Tunisia

Tunisia presents many favorable conditions for the outbreak of water erosion because of its climatic and physical characteristics. This phenomenon represents a serious threat to the natural resources of soil and water. The aim of the present study is to identify the most vulnerable areas in order to help managers implement an effective management program. Thematic layers and parameters were integrated in the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Trade-offs) SDR (Sediment Delivery Ratio). Soil loss and sediment yield were calculated by the model and compared to observed data. The Rmel river basin was divided into 17 sub-watersheds using the dam axis as the main outlet. Results reveal that approximately 60% of the basin presents soil loss more than 5 ton/ha/year. Soil erosion map demonstrates that soil erosion risk increases with increased slope gradient, especially in agricultural lands. Sub-catchment prioritizations have been fixed based on soil erosion risk. Results show that sub-catchment 16 presents the highest soil loss with a value of 65 ton/ha/year. Sub-catchment presenting high soil erosion risk needs to give a high priority in conservation planning.     

Salinity effect on the liquid limit of soils

Acta Geotechnica - Previous studies stated that, with increasing salinity, the decreased liquid limit for expansive soils was attributed to the shrinkage of diffuse double layer, while the...