The scarp lands of Saudi Arabia

In central Saudi Arabia, the combination of rock types and sedimentary bedding created a unique scarp landscape. The escarpments were formed during Late Miocene through Early Quaternary times. At present, cuesta formation and migration are restricted to the actual escarpments as a consequence of negligible sediment removal. The plains between the escarpments are sealed through periodically active fluvial processes and through eolian sedimentation. In this publication, the major escarpments of central Saudi Arabia are described. The interactions between tectonics, climate, and morphogenesis which created this unique landscape are reviewed.     

Aswan telemetered seismograph network

A telemetered network of 8 short-period seismograph stations was installed at Aswan Reservoir in July 1982 to monitor induced seismicity near the site of a magnitude 5 earthquake which occurred in November 1981. A continuous monitor of the seismicity is provided by pen and ink recording of 4 stations. An event detector is used to identify events of interest, for which all of the stations are recorded on magnetic tape. Approximate displacement magnifications are 40, 000 at 1 hz with a maximum of 500, 000 at 20 hz.     

Multi-topographical landscape: comparative vulnerability of climate-induced disaster-prone rural area of Pakistan

Pakistan, being an agro-based economy, is considered most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The country is susceptible to many natural catastrophes and climate-induced events due to intra-geographical and intra-topographical disparities. This paper is an attempt to measure the relative vulnerability of diverse topographies in rural areas of Pakistan using vulnerability and capacity index tool. The results are based on the findings of primary survey data (350 households from 17 rural communities). Accordingly, and as expected, the key relative differences are attributed to topographical conditions besides the basic quandary of rural areas of Pakistan. The topographical attributes are largely linked to the nature of hazards and relative impacts. While the other aspects of vulnerability in all topographies stem out of inappropriate infrastructure, low education, and institutional factors. The absence of multi-sectoral and productive economic opportunities also poses an adverse impact on the resilience of households in rural areas. The women and households headed by females are found relatively more vulnerable than male-headed households.

     

Uncertainty analysis of runoff and sedimentation in a forested watershed using sequential uncertainty fitting method

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool(SWAT) was implemented in a small forested watershed of the Soan River Basin in northern Pakistan through application of the sequential uncertainty fitting(SUFI-2) method to investigate the associated uncertainty in runoff and sediment load estimation. The model was calibrated for a 10-year period(1991–2000) with an initial 4-year warm-up period(1987–1990), and was validated for the subsequent 10-year period(2001–2010). The model evaluation indices R~2(the coefficient of determination), NS(the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency), and PBIAS(percent bias) for stream flows simulation indicated that there was a good agreement between the measured and simulated flows. To assess the uncertainty in the model outputs, p-factor(a 95% prediction uncertainty, 95PPU) and r-factors(average wideness width of the 95 PPU band divided by the standard deviation of the observed values) were taken into account. The 95 PPU band bracketed 72% of the observed data during the calibration and 67% during the validation. The r-factor was 0.81 during the calibration and 0.68 during the validation. For monthly sediment yield, the model evaluation coefficients(R~2 and NS) for the calibration were computed as 0.81 and 0.79, respectively; for validation, they were 0.78 and 0.74, respectively. Meanwhile, the 95 PPU covered more than 60% of the observed sediment data during calibration and validation. Moreover, improved model prediction and parameter estimation were observed with the increased number of iterations. However, the model performance became worse after the fourth iterations due to an unreasonable parameter estimation. Overall results indicated the applicability of the SWAT model with moderate levels of uncertainty during the calibration and high levels during the validation. Thus, this calibrated SWAT model can be used for assessment of water balance components, climate change studies, and land use management practices.     

应用CEDA和ASPIC软件包对巴基斯坦国的多齿蛇鲻(Saurida tumbil)渔业的最大持续产量的初步研究

The catch and effort data analysis(CEDA) and ASPIC(a stock assessment production model incorporating covariates) computer software packages were used to estimate the maximum sustainable yield(MSY) from the catch and effort data of Greater lizardfish Saurida tumbil fishery of Pakistan from 1986 to 2009. In CEDA three surplus production models of Fox, Schaefer and Pella-Tomlinson were used. Here initial proportion(IP) of 0.5 was used because the starting catch was roughly 50% of the maximum catch. With IP = 0.5, the estimated MSY from Fox model were 20.59 mt and 38.16 mt for normal and log-normal error assumptions, while the MSY from Schaefer and Pella-Tomlinson were 60.40, 60.40 and 60.40 mt, for normal, log-normal and gamma error assumptions respectively. The MSY values from Schaefer and Pella-Tomlinson models of three error assumptions were the same. The R2 values from those three models were above 0.6. When IP = 0.5, the MSY values estimated from ASPIC from Fox were 132 mt, and from logistic model were 69.4 mt, with R2 value above 0.8. Therefore we suggest the MSY of S. tumbil fishery from Pakistan to be 60–70 mt, which is higher than the latest catch, thus we would recommend that the fishing efforts for this fishery may be kept at the current level.     

Stepwise,earthquake-driven coastal subsidence in the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta (Sundarbans) since the eighth century deduced from submerged in situ kiln and mangrove remnants

Natural Hazards - This study reconstructs the coastal subsidence over the past 1300 years in a mangrove region along the coast of the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta, an area not affected...     

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.

     

Review: Assessment and modeling of seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers of the Arabian Peninsula

Hydrogeology Journal - Significant urbanization and industrialization, combined with strong population growth, have been witnessed in the Arabian Peninsula (Oman, United Arab Emirates, Saudi...     

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.