High-resolution X-ray fluorescence profiling of hybrid event beds: Implications for sediment gravity flow behaviour and deposit structure

Hybrid event beds form when turbidity currents that transport or locally acquire significant quantities of mud decelerate. The mud dampens turbulence driving flow transformations, allowing both mud and sand to settle into dense, near-bed fluid layers and debris flows. Quantifying details of the mud distribution vertically in what are often complex tiered deposits is critical to reconstructing flow processes and explaining the diverse bed types left by mud-bearing gravity flows. High-resolution X-ray fluorescence core scanning provides continuous vertical compositional profiles that can help to constrain mud distribution at sub-millimetre scale, offering a significant improvement over discrete sampling. The approach is applied here to cores acquired from the Pennsylvanian Ross Sandstone Formation, western Ireland, where a range of hybrid event beds have been identified. Raw X-ray fluorescence counts are calibrated against element concentrations and mineral abundances determined on coincident core plugs, with element and element log-ratios used as proxies to track vertical changes in abundances of quartz, illite (including mica), chlorite and calcite cement. New insights include ‘stepped’ (to higher values) as opposed to ‘saw-tooth’ vertical changes in mud content and the presence of compositional banding that would otherwise be overlooked. Hybrid event beds in basin floor sheets that arrived ahead of the prograding fan system have significantly cleaner sandy components than those in mid-fan lobes. The latter may imply that the heads of the currents emerging from mid-fan channels entrained significant mud immediately before they collapsed. Many of the H3 debrites are bipartite with a sandier H3a division attributed to re-entrainment and mixing of a trailing debris or fluid mud flow (H3b) with sand left by the forward part of the flow. Hybrid event bed structure may thus partly reflect substrate interaction and mixing during deposition, and the texture of the bed divisions may not simply mirror those in the suspensions from which they formed.     

Disintegration of uncertainties associated with real-time multi-satellite precipitation products in diverse topographic and climatic area in Pakistan

Satellite-based Precipitation Estimates(SPEs)have gained importance due to enhanced spatial and temporal resolution,particularly in Indus basin,where raingauge network has fewer observation stations and drainage area is laying in many countries.Formulation of SPEs is based on indirect mechanism,therefore,assessment and correction of associated uncertainties is required.In the present study,disintegration of uncertainties associated with four prominent real time SPEs,IMERG,TMPA,CMORPH and PERSIANN has been conducted at grid level,regional scale,and summarized in terms of regions as well as whole study area basis.The bias has been disintegrated into hit,missed,false biases,and Root Mean Square Error(RMSE)into systematic and random errors.A comparison among gauge-and satellite-based precipitation estimates at annual scale,showed promising result,encouraging use of real time SPEs in the study area.On grid basis,at daily scale,from box plots,the median values of total bias(-0.5 to 0.5 mm)of the used SPEs were also encouraging although some under/over estimations were noted in terms of hit bias(-0.15 to 0.05 mm/day).Relatively higher values of missed(0.3 to 0.5 mm/day)and false(0.5 to 0.7 mm/day)biases were observed.The detected average daily RMSE,systematic errors,and random errors were also comparatively higher.Regional-scale spatial distribution of uncertainties revealed lower values of uncertainties in plain areas,depicting the better performance of satellite-based products in these areas.However,in areas of high altitude(>4000 m),due to complex topography and climatic conditions(orographic precipitation and glaciated peaks)higher values of biases and errors were observed.Topographic barriers and point scale gauge data could also be a cause of poor performance of SPEs in these areas,where precipitation is more on ridges and less in valleys where gauge stations are usually located.Precipitation system’s size and intensity can also be a reason of higher biases,because Microwave Imager underestimate precipitation in small systems(<200 km²)and overestimate in large systems(>2000 km²).At present,use of bias correction techniques at daily time scale is compulsory to utilize real time SPEs in estimation of floods in the study area.Inter comparison of satellite products indicated that IMERG gave better results than the others with the lowest values of systematic errors,missed and false biases.     

Shrinking greenery: Land use and land cover changes in Kurram Agency,Kohi Safid Mountains of north-western Pakistan

Deforestation and other Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes, driven by variety of physical and anthropogenic factors, have altered the mountainous environment. Mountains around the world including northern and north western belts of Pakistan are highly sensitive to deforestation and other LULC changes, which have profound impacts on various sectors of bio-physical and socio-economic systems. Assessment of LULC changes has high significance for protection, conservation and monitoring mountainous environment. The present study is an attempt to assess the landscape changes with particular reference to forest cover depletion in Kurram Agency located in the north western mountain belt of Pakistan. For detailed comparative analysis the study area has been divided into three sections, which coincide with the present administrative divisions of the Agency, i.e., Upper, Lower and Central Kurram. Temporal span of this study covers four decades. In this study, land use map of 1970 and land sat satellite imageries of 1987, 2000 and 2014 were used as spatial data sets. The images were processed and classified into six LULC classes through geospatial packages and change detection maps were prepared for each division and time period. Findings of the study reveal two trends in the four major LULC categories. Forest and rangeland have shrunk, on average, by 15% and 7.5% respectively while, bare soil and rocks outcrops have expanded by 89% and agriculture land by 7.2% in Kurram agency. The water bodies and snow cover have minor fluctuation in its land area. Major causes of shrinking greenery is attributed to high influx of Afghan refugees and high energy demand of growing population. However, with outflow of the refugees from Kurram agency the general trend in forest cover has reverted and deforestation rate has slowed down.     

Spatial modeling of Dengue prevalence and kriging prediction of Dengue outbreak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan) using presence only data

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment - During the span of August–October, 2017 a major outbreak of Dengue fever happened in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Cases...     

西南印度洋中脊49.5°E离轴地壳结构

超慢速扩张西南印度洋中脊岩浆的集中供给在空间维度上表现为岩浆扩张段（NVR）与相邻的非转换断层不连续带（NTD）地壳结构的差异,而在时间维度上表现为离轴与沿轴地壳结构的差异.为了进一步揭示岩浆集中供给的时空分布特征,本文选取西南印度洋中脊热液区2010年海底地震仪深部探测中平行于洋中脊距轴部偏北约10 km的离轴测线d0d10,使用射线追踪正演和反演的方法,得到了NVR和NTD北侧离轴区域的地壳及上地幔P波速度结构,并与轴部速度结构进行了对比分析.研究结果表明：（1）NTD北侧离轴区域的地壳厚度约5.2 km,其厚度明显大于轴部NTD下方地壳厚度（~3.2 km）,由此推测洋脊轴部NTD区域形成的地壳在不断减薄;（2）NVR北侧离轴区域的地壳厚度约7.0 km,其厚度亦大于轴部NVR地壳厚度（~5.8 km）,表明在洋中脊演化过程中洋脊轴区域的岩浆供给在不断减少,其活动性在不断减弱.     

腾格里沙漠盐湖氯同位素地球化学特征

δ~(37)Cl值可以用来指示盐湖演化过程中卤水的蒸发浓缩程度、可能的补给来源和控制因素,本文对腾格里沙漠地区12个代表性盐湖卤水样品开展了氯同位素组成研究.结果表明,研究区内沙漠盐湖卤水的δ~(37)Cl值变化范围为-0.10‰~1.36‰,平均值为0.55‰;其中,硫酸钠亚型卤水的δ~(37)Cl值范围为-0.10‰~1.36‰(平均值为0.56‰),硫酸镁亚型卤水的δ~(37)Cl值范围为0.14‰~0.82‰(平均值为0.48‰).对比柴达木盆地现代盐湖分析数据,发现区内沙漠盐湖的δ~(37)Cl平均值明显大于柴达木盆地盐湖的δ~(37)Cl平均值,并且,硫酸钠亚型卤水δ~(37)Cl最高,硫酸镁亚型卤水次之,氯化物型卤水最小.基于不同盐湖地下水咸化程度以及盐湖卤水中δ~(37)Cl值与Br/Cl系数关系的研究,揭示了研究区东部和东北部盐湖可能受到第三系地层咸水的补给,而其他盐湖主要受蒸发浓缩作用影响.δ~(37)Cl值分布特征则显示,腾格里沙漠地区部分盐湖在形成过程中可能受到区域构造活动诱发的第三系深部水补给及水-岩作用等多重因素的影响.     

Another Look at the Nexus Among Energy Consumption,Natural Resources,and Gross Capital Formation: Evidence from Pakistan

Natural Resources Research - Natural resources are a nation’s wealth, and the use of this wealth depends on the nation’s developmental objective. The goal of this work is to determine...     

Drainage Network and Lineament Analysis： An Approach for Potwar Plateau （Northern Pakistan）

Drainage responds rapidly to tectonic changes and thus it is a potential parameter for teetonogeomorphological analysis. Drainage network of Potwar is a good geological record of movement, displacements, regional uplifts and erosion of the tectonic units. This study focuses on utilizing drainage network extracted from Shuttle Radar Digital Elevation Data （SRTM-DEM） in order to constrain the structure of the Potwar Plateau. SWAN syncline divides Potwar into northern Potwar deformed zone （NPDZ） and southern Potwar platform zone （SPPZ）. We extracted the drainage network from DEM and analyzed 112 streams using stream power law. Spatial distribution of concavity and steepness indices were used to prepare uplift rate map for the area. DEM was further utilized to extract lineaments to study the mutual relationship between lineaments and drainage patterns. We compared the local correlation between the extracted lineaments and drainage network of the area that gives us quantitative information and shows promising prospects. The streams in the NPDZ indicate high steepness values as compared to the streams in the SPPZ. The spatial distribution of geomorphic parameters distinctive deformation and uplift rates suggest the among eastern, central and western parts. The local correlation between drainage network and lineaments from DEM is strongly positive in the area within I km of radius.     

Analysing transition of land surface temperature and derived indices with respect to elevation values in Kohima Saddar

Human activities have affected the urban environment resulting in a drastic change in the surface temperature. The impact of urban heat islands is noticeable in urban areas than in rural areas. The thermal band of Landsat 8 data is used to retrieve the spatial distribution of land surface temperature (LST) over Kohima Sadar for the years 2009, 2015 and 2020 with the Mono-window algorithm. Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI) is used to assess the ecological condition in the area impacted by LST. Cartosat-1 Digital Elevation Model (Carto DEM) is used to understand the variations of LST and indices values with reference to the elevation profile located at different random points. The variations in the land cover are categorized as per the values of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and built-up density index (BUI). This work estimates the influence of elevation over LST, vegetation, and the built-up area. Results implies a negative correlation between LST and NDVI whereas a positive correlation between LST and BUI. Likewise, NDVI and BUI show a strong negative correlation. It is observed that LST is independent of elevation profile but the variation of LST depends on the impact of change in topography urbanization, deforestation, and afforestation. There is no significant relationship of elevation with the variations in NDVI and BUI values. It is observed that the impact of emissivity influences the estimation of LST values. For the locations having the highest and lowest LST, NDVI, and BUI values, 50 random points are generated for the entire region, and validation is executed with the google earth historical image.