Factors affecting channel infiltration of floodwaters in Nahal Zin basin,Negev desert,Israel

Although floods in arid environments have been documented, considerable uncertainties still exist as to the floodwater and in‐channel infiltration relationships. In desert alluvial channels, the prime cause of flood discharge attenuation is water loss by infiltration into the alluvium. The present study documents flows in Nahal Zin, Israel, their infiltration into the channel bed, and the resultant change in the alluvium moisture content. The study uses a systematic combination of two experimental scales, the cross‐section scale and the reach scale. Direct measurements of moisture distribution in the active channel during floods were made using time domain reflectometry. Twelve flow events were recorded. Flow patterns and their respective alluvium moisture content were analysed. A trench was dug in the alluvium for the study of alluvium properties and time domain reflectometry sensor installation. The alluvium was characterized in terms of size distribution and sediment stratigraphy, structure, and composition. Two main alluvial structures (closed and open) affected the advance of the wetting front and water losses. Alluvial units with an open structure (clast‐supported) reached their maximum moisture content faster than closed structure units (matrix‐supported). Small‐sized particles and matrix‐supported layers reduced infiltration rate. The measured velocities of the wetting front were 0.33 and 2.88 m h^?1 for small and large floods respectively. The wetting front moved downward. Lateral movement was negligible. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A gamma ray telescope for the highest energies using radio waves

This paper considers the possibility of using pulsed and continuous wave radio sources to scatter or reflect a signal from the ionisation produced by an Extensive Air Shower (EAS) to provide a precise indication of the source co-ordinates of the primary gamma ray. It indicates the limits of such methods and suggests a route which may result in a significant improvement in the current precision of cosmic gamma ray source coordinates.     

Environmental geology in Israel

Conclusion The environmental topics reviewed above and in the following articles represent only the tip of the iceberg. Nevertheless, they might shed some light on the existing environmental problems which must be resolved.     

CLUSTERS AND COMPLEXES OF MEDIUM-SIZED URBAN MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS: TWO CASE STUDIES IN BRAZIL *

Industrial linkages of two medium-sized Brazilian urban manufacturing systems are analyzed. Clusters are similar to those of the national economy while complexes are uneven for the two cities which implies that neither the size nor the diversity of the local industry influences the evolution of complexes. Development depends on time and on the volume (threshold) of manufacturing activity. If manufacturing complexes are carefully implemented and maintained, medium-sized centers might become viable manufacturing growth center communities.     

SHRIMP zircon U-Pb ages from coal beds across the Permian-Triassic boundary,eastern Yunnan,southwestern China

The first SHRIMP zircon U e Pb ages from coal beds close to the end-Permian mass extinction are reported from the C_1 coal seam in the Yantang Mine in Laibin Town, Xuanwei County, eastern Yunnan Province.Zircons were extracted from kaolinite claystone layers, defined as tonsteins(volcanic ash deposits), in the subseam B_1 and B_3 of the coal seam C_1.The U-Pb ages are 252.0 ± 2.3 Ma and 250.3 ± 2.1 Ma for the sub-seam B_1 and B_3, respectively. Within analytical uncertainties, these U-Pb ages include the time period of the onset of the mass extinction at 251.941 ± 0.037 Ma, which was obtained from the marine Meishan section in Zhejiang Province, ~1600 km away from the Yantang Mine. These new ages represent not only the first and closest ages to the PTB mass extinction in terrestrial coal beds, but also ages from the nearest site to the Emeishan volcanoes investigated so far. Therefore these new data provide the most accurate stratigraphic horizon of terrestrial facies of the end-Permian extinction in South China. The Emeishan volcanoes were likely the source of volcanic ash in the coal seams at the Xuanwei County and broader areas in South China. Furthermore, the minerals and geochemistry characteristics of the C_1 coal seam also implied the influences of contemporaneous volcanic activities.     

From mass‐wasting to slope stabilization – putting constrains on a tectonically induced transition in slope erosion mode: a case study in the Judea Hills,Israel

Calcrete‐coated remnants of landslide debris and alluvial deposits are exposed along the presently stable hillslopes of the Soreq drainage, Judea Hills, Israel. These remnants indicate that a transition from landslide‐dominated terrain to dissolution‐controlled hillslope erosion had occurred. This transition possibly occurred due to the significant decrease in tectonic uplift during the late Cenozoic. The study area is characterized by sub‐humid Mediterranean climate. The drainage hillslopes are typically mantled by thick calcrete crusts overlying Upper Cretaceous marine carbonate rocks. Using TT‐OSL dating of aeolian quartz grains incorporated in the calcrete which cements an ancient landslide deposit, we conclude that incision of ~100 m occurred from 1056 ± 262 to 688 ± 86 ka due to ~0·3° westward tilt of the region; such incision invoked high frequency of landslide activity in the drainage. The ages of a younger landslide remnant, alluvial terrace, and alluvial fan, all situated only a few meters above the present level of the active streambed, range between 688 ± 86 ka and 244 ± 25 ka and indicate that since 688 ± 86 the Soreq base level had stabilized and that landslide activity decreased significantly by the middle Pleistocene. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parity and disparity between two Chama oysters: the reproductive biology of the Indo-Pacific C. pacifica Broderip,invasive to the Mediterranean Sea; and C. savignyi Lamy,indigenous to the Red Sea

The Indo-Pacific oyster Chama pacifica Broderip, 1835 (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Chamidae) is rarely found in the Northern Red Sea reefs of Eilat (Gulf of Aqaba), where it is outnumbered by its indigenous congener, Chama savignyi Lamy, 1921. The influx of Eritrean biota from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal has led to the formation of massive Chama oyster beds along the Eastern Mediterranean shore. However, unlike the Northern Red Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean Chama beds are dominated by C. pacifica oysters, whereas C. savignyi is absent from this region. In an attempt to understand this difference in their respective distribution, the reproductive biology of both species was compared. Histological analysis of the male and female gonads, monitored monthly from March 2009 to August 2010 in both regions, revealed a similar reproductive cycle, comprising six stages: onset of gametogenesis, advanced gametogenesis, ripe, ready to spawn, spent and sexual rest. Female gonads demonstrated an additional, seventh stage – restoration, coinciding with inferred spawning of ripe gametes. Both species were found to be dioecious spawners, with a single, annual, temperature-dependent inferred spawning period. Chama pacifica was found to reproduce efficiently in maximal Mediterranean seawater temperatures not experienced by the Northern Red Sea Chama populations. This study demonstrates the high invasive potential of an oyster species despite its rarity in its source region.     

Bar structure in an arid ephemeral stream

This study describes the structure of gravel bars in Nahal Zin, an ephemeral stream in the Negev desert. The internal structure of the bars was examined along trenches and in shallow pits. Gravel sheets and unit bars form during transporting flow events in the main channel, on intra-bar channels and near bar heads. Unit bars are dominated by the Go facies. Compound bars develop from accretion around, and modification of, unit bars. Compound bars are active under the current flow regime and the average depth of the fill layer is about 35 cm. The structure of compound bars is dominated by Gm (massive), containing large amounts of sand. The second most common facies is clast-supported, openwork, and well sorted sediments of the Go (pebbles) facies. Bar formation, and the development of the range of facies evident in the bars is controlled by sediment supply, particularly the high volumes of sand-sized sediment, the passage of gravel sheets and bedforms during floods, and the lateral and vertical instability of the channel. Repeated scour and fill events have produced a diverse arrangement of facies, with numerous erosional contacts between depositional units. Lateral and downstream shifts in the pattern of scour and fill due to flow and antecedent conditions shape the channel morphology and bar internal structure. Ephemeral river bars differ from those of humid and proglacial rivers in terms of the dominant facies present, the arrangement of the facies within the bars, and the sedimentary structures developed within the depositional units and on the bar surface.     

云南宣威晚二叠世末生物灭绝期C1煤的地球化学特征

云南宣威雁塘煤矿晚二叠世末期C1煤层蕴含了二叠纪—三叠纪界线事件演化以及宣威肺癌高发原因方面的重要信息。本文对该矿C1煤层(包括三个分层——B1、B2和B3)进行了刻槽分层采样,采用X射线荧光光谱和电感耦合等离子体质谱测试了24个样品中常量和微量元素。利用偏光显微镜和带能谱的扫描电镜(SEMEDX)对煤中的显微组分及矿物组成进行微区分析,利用X射线衍射对低温灰化后的煤样作了矿物的半定量分析。结果表明,雁塘矿C1煤中常量元素Ca、Mn、Si含量明显高于中国煤均值;与华南二叠纪煤平均值、中国煤平均值、世界煤平均值以及地壳元素丰度相比较,雁塘矿C1煤中的W、Co、Mo、Cd、Pb、Be、Sb、Cu、Ni、Zn、Zr和V等12种微量元素相对比较富集。结合相关分析和SEM-EDX微区分析方法,对C1煤中微量元素的赋存状态进行分析发现Cs、Ga、Nb、Ba、Rb、Th、Tl、U与灰分显著正相关,表明这些元素主要以无机矿物态赋存,其它元素赋存状态复杂。结合C1煤中12种富集元素在垂向上的含量分布特征,推断Co、Cu、V、Zn应主要来源于峨眉山玄武岩风化产物;Be和Zr主要受同沉积火山灰影响;Ni则可能受峨眉山玄武岩风化及同沉积火山灰的共同影响;同沉积火山灰是C1煤中W来源之一;Sb可能受中低温热液的影响。C1煤中Zr与我国南方其他地区P/T界线粘土岩中Zr的富集规律一致。C1煤中富集的微量元素与宣威肺癌高发区可吸入颗粒物中的高含量元素一致,推断C1煤的燃烧可能与宣威肺癌高发有关。C1煤中富集的有毒有害微量元素可能与二叠纪—三叠纪之交生物大灭绝期的独特环境有密切关系。     

Coincidence or not? Interconnected gas/fluid migration and ocean–atmosphere oscillations in the Levant Basin

A growing number of studies on shallow marine gas/fluid systems from across the globe indicate their abundance throughout geological epochs. However, these episodic events have not been fully integrated into the fundamental concepts of continental margin development, which are thought to be dictated by three elements: tectonics, sedimentation and eustasy. The current study focuses on the passive sector of the Levant Basin on the eastern Mediterranean continental margin where these elements are well constrained, in order to isolate the contribution of gas/fluid systems. Single-channel, multichannel and 3D seismic reflection data are interpreted in terms of variance, chaos, envelope and sweetness attributes. Correlation with the Romi-1 borehole and sequence boundaries constrains interpretation of seismic stratigraphy. Results show a variety of fluid- or gas-related features such as seafloor and subsurface pockmarks, volumes of acoustic blanking, bright spots, conic pinnacle mounds, gas chimneys and high sweetness zones that represent possible secondary reservoirs. It is suggested that gas/fluid migrate upwards along lithological conduits such as falling-stage systems tracts and sequence boundaries during both highstands and lowstands. In all, 13 mid-late Pleistocene sequence boundaries are accompanied by independent evidence of 13 eustatic sea-level drops. Whether this connection is coincidental or not requires further research. These findings fill gaps between previously reported sporadic appearances throughout the Levant Basin and margin and throughout geological time from the Messinian until the present day, and create a unified framework for understanding the system as a whole. Repetitive appearance of these features suggests that their role in the morphodynamics of continental margins is more important than previously thought and thus may constitute one of the key elements of continental margin development.