Observed Trends in Extreme Temperature over the Klang Valley,Malaysia

This study investigates the recent extreme temperature trends across 19 stations in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, over the period 2006-16. Fourteen extreme index trends were analyzed using the Mann-Kendall non-parametric test, with Sen’s slope as a magnitude estimator. Generally, the annual daily mean temperature, daily mean maximum temperature, and daily mean minimum temperature in the Klang Valley increased significantly, by 0.07°C yr~(-1), 0.07°C yr~(-1)and 0.08°C yr~(-1),respectively. For the warm temperature indices, the results indicated a significant upward trend for the annual maximum of maximum temperature, by 0.09°C yr~(-1), and the annual maximum of minimum temperature, by 0.11°C yr~(-1). The results for the total number of warm days and warm nights showed significant increasing trends of 5.02 d yr~(-1)and 6.92 d yr~(-1),respectively. For the cold temperature indices, there were upward trends for the annual minimum of maximum temperature,by 0.09°C yr~(-1), and the annual minimum of minimum temperature, by 0.03°C yr~(-1), concurrent with the decreases in the total number cold days (TX10P), with-3.80 d yr~(-1), and cold nights (TN10P), with-4.33 d yr~(-1). The 34°C and 37°C summer days results showed significant upward trends of 4.10 d yr~(-1) and 0.25 d yr~(-1), respectively. Overall, these findings showed upward warming trends in the Klang Valley, with the minimum temperature rate increasing more than that of the maximum temperature, especially in urban areas.     

Potentially harmful metals,and health risk evaluation in groundwater of Mardan,Pakistan: Application of geostatistical approach and geographic information system

This study investigates the values of pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), elevation, oxidative reduction potential (ORP), temperature, and depth, while the concentrations of Br, and potentially harmful metals (PHMs) such as Cr, Ni, Cd, Mn, Cu, Pb, Co, Zn, and Fe in the groundwater samples. Moreover, geographic information system (GIS), XLSTAT, and IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software were used for spatial distribution modeling, principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis (CA), and Quantile-Quantile (Q-Q) plotting to determine groundwater pollution sources, similarity index, and normal distribution reference line for the selected parameters. The mean values of pH, TDS, elevation, ORP, temperature, depth, and Br were 7.2, 322 mg/L, 364 m, 188 mV, 29.6 °C, 70 m, 0.20 mg/L, and PHMs like Cr, Ni, Cd, Mn, Cu, Pb, Co, Zn, and Fe were 0.38, 0.26, 0.08, 0.27, 0.36, 0.22, 0.04, 0.43 and 0.86 mg/L, respectively. PHMs including Cr (89%), Cd (43%), Mn (23%), Pb (79%), Co (20%), and Fe (91%) exceeded the guideline values set by the world health organization (WHO). The significant R² values of PCA for selected parameters were also determined (0.62, 0.67, 0.78, 0.73, 0.60, 0.87, ?0.50, 0.69, 0.70, 0.74, ?0.50, 0.70, 0.67, 0.79, 0.59, and ?0.55, respectively). PCA revealed three geochemical processes such as geogenic, anthropogenic, and reducing conditions. The mineral phases of Cd(OH)_2, Fe(OH)_3, FeOOH, Mn₃O_4, Fe₂O_3, MnOOH, Pb(OH)_2, Mn(OH)_2, MnO_2, and Zn(OH)₂ (?3.7, 3.75, 9.7, ?5.8, 8.9, ?3.6, 2.2, ?4.6, ?7.7, ?0.9, and 0.003, respectively) showed super-saturation and under-saturation conditions. Health risk assessment (HRA) values for PHMs were also calculated and the values of hazard quotient (HQ), and hazard indices (HI) for the entire study area were increased in the following order: Cd>Ni>Cu>Pb>Mn>Zn>Cr. Relatively higher HQ and HI values of Ni, Cd, Pb, and Cu were greater than one showing unsuitability of groundwater for domestic, agriculture, and drinking purposes. The long-term ingestion of groundwater could also cause severe health concerns such as kidney, brain dysfunction, liver, stomach problems, and even cancer.     

Frontal recession of Parkachik Glacier between 1971-2015, Zanskar Himalaya using remote sensing and field data

Parkachik Glacier is located in the Suru sub-basin of the Upper Indus River, Zanskar Himalaya. The Glacier has been analysed using Corona KH-4B (1971), Landsat-TM (1999), field survey (2015), Google Earth^TM (2015) and ASTER GDEM (2015) for frontal recession and area changes. Overall, from 1971 to 2015, the Glacier has retreated by 127 ± 0.09 m i.e. (0.75 ± 0.07%) at a rate of 2.9 ± 0.004 ma^?1 with a simultaneous decrease in area from 49.5 to 48.8 km² i.e. 740 ± 0.7 m² (1.5 ± 0.09%) at a rate of 74 ± 0.7 m²a^?1. However, during recent decade (1999–2015), the rate of glacier recession of 3.9 ± 0.004 ma^?1 with a corresponding area loss of 500 ± 0.74m² (1 ± 0.1%) was higher than the retreat rate of 2.3 ± 0.001 ma^?1 and an area loss of 240 ± 0.02m² (0.48 ± 0.08%) during 1971–1999. In the field, the evidences of glacier recession are present in the form of separated dead ice blocks from the main Glacier, recessional dumps/moraines, active ice calving activity and a small proglacial pond/lake at the terminus/snout of the Glacier. However, the recession over the studied period has been very slow and is controlled by its topographic configuration, particularly the large altitudinal range (6030–3620 m), almost northerly aspect and steep slope (average ~ 30°).     

Mapping of Soil Micronutrients in Kashmir Agricultural Landscape Using Ordinary Kriging and Indicator Approach

Soil nutrient maps based on intensive soil sampling are useful to adopt site-specific management practices. Geostatistical methods have been widely used to determine the spatial correlation and the range of spatial dependence at different sampling scales. If spatial dependence is detected, the modeled semivariograms can then be used to map the interested variable by kriging, an interpolation method that produces unbiased estimates with minimal estimation variance. The objectives of this paper were to examine and map the spatial distribution of the soil micronutrients Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn on an agricultural area in Kupwara, J&K, under temperate climatic conditions. The ordinary kriging was first used to determine the values for the non-sampled locations, and then the indicator approach was used to transform the micronutrient content values into binary values having the mean values of each nutrient as the threshold content. All four elements analyzed showed spatial dependence using the indicator semivariograms. The strength of spatial dependence was assessed using the values of nugget effect and range from the semivariogram, the fitted range values decreased in the order Zn > Cu > Mn > Fe. The spatial dependence of the combination of two or more of the studied micronutrients was also examined using indicator semivariograms. In opposition to spatial analysis of individual microelements, indicator semivariograms obtained for the binary coding of the variables showed a great nugget effect value or a low proportion of sill. The maps for each nutrient obtained using indicator kriging showed some similarity in the spatial distribution, suggesting the delimitation of uniform management areas.     

Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for the city of Quetta,Pakistan

Seismic hazard assessment for Quetta is carried out using probabilistic seismic hazard analysis technique based on area sources and augmented by line source used for the first time in Pakistan. Seismic data has been collected and analyzed in spatial and temporal domains. Five Seismic Zones have been modeled in line with tectonics of the region with b-value of 1.14 using regression. The b-value is slightly higher, which is attributed to the fact that aftershocks were not removed as it distorted the dataset. Five fault sources are modeled, with three as reverse and two as strike-slip with 7.8 as maximum magnitude. Mach Structure is included in the tectonics for the first time. The attenuation relation used in the present study is recommended by various researchers. The expected Peak Ground Acceleration for 500-year return period is 4.79 m/s² for rock outcrop and characterized as very high. Furthermore, variation in spectral acceleration within Quetta city is observed, for which spectral curves are developed for four different places.     

Hydrogeochemical evaluation and statistical analysis of groundwater of Sylhet,north-eastern Bangladesh

Acta Geochimica - To investigate the hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater 23 shallow, 30 intermediate and 38 deep wells samples were collected from Sylhet district of Bangladesh, and...     

Spatial Variability of Some Chemical and Physical Soil Properties in Bandipora District of Lesser Himalayas

Soil is a suitable place for vegetation and plant growth. When this valuable resource is not preserved, shortage of food, erosion and damage of natural resources will be respected. Soil is a heterogeneous, diverse and dynamic system and investigation of its temporal and spatial changes is essential. In this paper spatial variability of some chemical and physical soil were investigated. Three hundred fifty eight soil samples were collected by systematic sampling strategy at 20 cm depth on a regular grid spacing of 500 × 500 m² under different vegetation cover and processed for analysis in the laboratory. Soil chemical and physical parameters including pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, available phosphorus, available nitrogen, available potassium, sulphur, calcium, magnesium and sodium were measured. After data normalization, classical statistical analysis was used to describe soil properties and geo-statistical analysis was used to illustrate spatial correlation of soil characteristics. By using interpolating techniques, spatial distribution of these properties were prepared. Results indicated that calcium and phosphorus had strong and weak spatial dependence, respectively.     

Velocity and Structural Modeling of Mesozoic Chiltan Limestone and Goru Formation for Hydrocarbon Evaluation in the Bitrisim Area, Lower Indus Basin, Pakistan

The present study focuses on building a workflow for structural interpretation and velocity modeling and implementing to Jurassic-Cretaceous succession (Chiltan Limestone and Massive sand of the Lower Goru Formation). 2D-Migrated seismic sections of the area are used as data set and in order to confirm the presence of hydrocarbons in the study area, P and S-wave seismic velocities are estimated from single-component seismic data. Some specific issues in the use of seismic data for modeling and hydrocarbon evaluation need to deal with including distinguishing the reservoir and cap rocks, and the effects of faults, folds and presence of hydrocarbons on these rocks. This study has carried out the structural interpretation and modeling of the seismic data for the identification of traps. The results demonstrate existence of appropriate structural traps in the form of horst and grabens in the area. 2D and 3D velocity modeling of the horizons indicates the presence of high velocity zones in the eastern half of the study while relatively low velocity zones are encountered in the western half of the area. Two wells were drilled in the study area (i.e. Fateh-01 and Ichhri-01) and both are dry. Immature hydrocarbons migration is considered as a failure reason for Fateh-01 and Ichhri-01 well.     

Groundwater chemistry and occurrence of arsenic in the Meghna floodplain aquifer,southeastern Bangladesh

Dissolved major ions and important heavy metals including total arsenic and iron were measured in groundwater from shallow (25–33 m) and deep (191–318 m) tube-wells in southeastern Bangladesh. These analyses are intended to help describe geochemical processes active in the aquifers and the source and release mechanism of arsenic in sediments for the Meghna Floodplain aquifer. The elevated Cl⁻ and higher proportions of Na⁺ relative to Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and K⁺ in groundwater suggest the influence by a source of Na⁺ and Cl⁻. Use of chemical fertilizers may cause higher concentrations of NH₄⁺ and PO₄³⁻ in shallow well samples. In general, most ions are positively correlated with Cl⁻, with Na⁺ showing an especially strong correlation with Cl⁻, indicating that these ions are derived from the same source of saline waters. The relationship between Cl⁻/HCO₃⁻ ratios and Cl⁻ also shows mixing of fresh groundwater and seawater. Concentrations of dissolved HCO₃⁻ reflect the degree of water–rock interaction in groundwater systems and integrated microbial degradation of organic matter. Mn and Fe-oxyhydroxides are prominent in the clayey subsurface sediment and well known to be strong adsorbents of heavy metals including arsenic. All five shallow well samples had high arsenic concentration that exceeded WHO recommended limit for drinking water. Very low concentrations of SO₄²⁻ and NO₃⁻ and high concentrations of dissolved Fe and PO₄³⁻ and NH₄⁺ ions support the reducing condition of subsurface aquifer. Arsenic concentrations demonstrate negative co-relation with the concentrations of SO₄²⁻ and NO₃⁻ but correlate weakly with Mo, Fe concentrations and positively with those of P, PO₄³⁻ and NH₄⁺ ions.