Le Volcanisme du Kouh-e-Tchah-e-Shahi au nord du Makran(Iran)

The recent fissural volcanism of Kouh-e-Tchah-e-Shahi is undifferentiated and consists mainly in andesitic basalt, rich in olivine, diopside, pigeonite, and labradorbytownite. The evolution, which leads to residual liquids, shows glasses unmiscible between one another. The volcanic arc of Bazman-Taftan and Kouh-e-Tchah-e-Shahi is interpreted as a subducting volcanism of an oceanic crust of the Indian Ocean, deeply diving from Jaz Murian behind the accretional prism of Makran.     

A description of the tides and effect of Qeshm canal on that in the Persian Gulf using two-dimensional numerical model

The main semidiurnal (M2 and S2) and diurnal (K1 and O1) tidal constituents are simulated in the Persian Gulf (PG). The topography is discretized on a spherical grid with a resolution of 30 s in both latitude and longitude. It includes coastal areas prone to flooding. The model permits flooding of drying banks up to 5 m above mean sea level. At the open boundary, it is forced by 13 harmonic constituents extracted from a global tidal model. The model results are in good agreement with tide gauge observations. Co-tidal charts and flow extremes are presented for each tidal constituent. The co-tidal charts show two amphidromic points for semidiurnal and one for diurnal tidal constituents. Maximum amplitudes of sea level are obtained for the north-western part of the PG, where coastal flooding prevails in wide areas. Strong tidal currents occur in different parts of the PG for different types of constituents. Maximum velocities are found in shallow regions. Particularly, high amplitudes of elevations and high speed currents are founded in the canal between Qeshm Island and the mainland. Rectification of tides around Qeshm Island affects the propagation of tides in the PG as far as the coast of Saudi Arabia and the northern part of the PG.     

Using exogenous variables to improve precipitation predictions of ANNs in arid and hyper-arid climates

Because of scarcity and high variability of rainfall in arid areas, from one hand, reliable prediction of precipitation in such regions is considerably difficult. Furthermore, in some cases, shortage of observation data and several other limitations may intensify complexity of the forecasting. On the other hand, these regions highly suffer from low availability of water which necessitates development of an appropriate modeling approach to provide as precise as possible predictions of precipitation. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are expected to be a powerful tool in capturing and analyzing high interannual variability of precipitation in arid climates and, subsequently, in proper prediction of precipitation fluctuations in the future. The end of this paper is to improve ANN predictions of precipitation in arid climates using better training of the network. To this end, two approaches were applied. In the first one, just the rainfall monthly data were considered as input. In the second approach, in addition to precipitation, several exogenous variables of precipitation are considered as input to predict precipitation. The chosen exogenous parameters are either effective on or relevant to the precipitation patterns. Then, several lag times, hidden layer sizes, and training algorithms for different running sums are used in order to produce best forecasts. It was shown that the performance of networks increases significantly by importing more external factors as inputs. The bigger time scales also exhibited better performances. In all the five time scales, smaller lag times (especially one month), bigger hidden layer sizes (especially between 31 and 40), and GDX training algorithm presented the best performance. The highest obtained performance was presented by the network with 10 inputs, 1 month lag, 36 hidden layers, and CGF training method in 18 months running sum with R ² of 0.93.     

Comparison of mineralization pattern of geochemical data in spatial and position-scale domain using new DWT- PCA approach

In the current research to determine the mineralization pattern and discuss the mineralization components, the information of position - scale domain of geochemical data has been analyzed. A new method is proposed based on coupling discrete wavelet transforms (DWT) and principal component analysis (PCA) for mineralization elements forecasting applications. The results of this study indicate the potential of DWT–PCA method for geochemical data processing. Wavelet transform (WT), as a multi-spectral analysis method, can decompose the spatial and temporal signals into different frequencies. The features of mineralization can be identified using the position - scale domain of geochemical data that may not be achievable in spatial domain. The geochemical data from the Dalli region have been processed in the spatial domain using PCA. The surface geochemical data of 30 elements have been transformed to position–scale domain using two-dimensional discrete wavelet transform (2DDWT). Wavelet functions (WFs) of Haar, Coiflet2, Biorthogonal3.3 and Symlet7 have been applied separately to decompose the geochemical data to high and low frequencies in one level. To obtain more accurate and complete information of mineralization, a new index has been presented based on wavelet coefficients. Based on this new index, significant results have been obtained by using PCA of the index. The coefficients distribution map (CDM) as a new exploratory criterion has been generated based on 2DDWT to show the geochemical distribution map (GDM). Finally, the results of WT have been compared with the results of spatial domain and the best method of wavelet for interpretation of geochemical data has been introduced. The results of geochemical data analysis by DWT–PCA approach have been confirmed by the exploratory drillings in the study area.     

A Bounding Surface Plasticity Model for Intact Rock Exhibiting Size-Dependent Behaviour

A new constitutive model for intact rock is presented recognising that rock strength, stiffness and stress–strain behaviour are affected by the size of the rock being subjected to loading. The model is formulated using bounding surface plasticity theory. It is validated against a new and extensive set of unconfined compression and triaxial compression test results for Gosford sandstone. The samples tested had diameters ranging from 19 to 145 mm and length-to-diameter ratios of 2. The model captures the continuous nonlinear stress–strain behaviour from initial loading, through peak strength to large shear strains, including transition from brittle to ductile behaviour. The size dependency was accounted for through a unified size effect law applied to the unconfined compressive strength—a key model input parameter. The unconfined compressive strength increases with sample size before peaking and then decreasing with further increasing sample size. Inside the constitutive model two hardening laws act simultaneously, each driven by plastic shear strains. The elasticity is stress level dependent. Simple linear loading and bounding surfaces are adopted, defined using the Mohr–Coulomb criterion, along with a non-associated flow rule. The model simulates well the stress–strain behaviour of Gosford sandstone at confining pressures ranging from 0 to 30 MPa for the variety of sample sizes considered.     

Geotechnical Characteristics of Copper Mine Tailings: A Case Study

Waste management issue in mining industry has become increasingly important. In this regard, construction of tailings dams plays a major role. Most of the tailings dams require some kinds of remedial actions during their operational lifetime, among which heightening is the most common. In the first stage of the remedial provisions for Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex tailings dam in Iran, it has been decided to use hydrocyclone method to provide suitable construction material due to the high cost associated with using borrow materials for heightening of the dam. To undertake this project a series of laboratory experiments was performed to determine the copper ‘original tailings’ and ‘cycloned materials’ geotechnical characteristics to evaluate the applicability of the cycloned materials for construction purposes. Different laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the grain-size distribution, Atterberg limits, specific gravity, maximum density, shear strength parameters, consolidation coefficient, and hydraulic conductivity. The results were compared with those of similar mines to check whether they follow the trends observed in other copper tailing materials elsewhere. Variation of the cohesion and internal friction angle versus different compaction ratios were studied in order to determine realistic shear strength parameters for tailing dam stability analysis. In this study, using oedometer test, a mild linear relation between void ratio and the consolidation coefficient has been found for tailings materials. By considering the effects of void ratio and weight of passing sieve #200 materials, a new relationship is proposed that can be used for estimating the copper slimes hydraulic conductivity in seepage analysis of tailings dams.     

The effect of surface profile, rock strength and pretension load on bending behaviour of fully grouted bolts

Fully encapsulated rock bolting has, in recent years, become a universally accepted system of ground reinforcement in mining and tunnel construction. The application of bolting systems extends both to rebar as well as cable bolting. The effectiveness of the bolt application has been studied in shear, both by laboratory tests as well as by numerical modeling. A specially constructed double shearing apparatus (DSA) was used to examine the shearing behaviour of a bolt installed perpendicularly across two joints. The experimental study was complemented with three-dimensional numerical analysis. Parameters examined include, the effect of reinforced material on tension/compression zones along the sheared bolt, shear resistance, shear displacement and induced strains and stresses during bolt bending process. The study was undertaken at both free load and pretension conditions. The conclusions drawn from the study were the level of bolt resistance to shear was influenced by bolt profile configuration, the strength of the rock or medium influenced the level of load generated on the bolt and the increased bolt pretension contributed to increased shearing load of the bolted medium. The numerical simulation of the bolt/medium interaction and deformational behaviour were found to be in close agreement with the experimental test results.     

Rock joint modeling using a visco-plastic multilaminate model at constant normal load condition

Rock joints play an important role in the behavior of rock masses under normal and shear loading conditions. Numerical simulation of the behavior of jointed rock masses is not an easy task due to complexities involved in the problem such as joint roughness, joint shear strength, hardening and softening phenomenon and mesh dependency. In this study for modeling purposes, a visco-plastic multilaminate model considering hardening and softening effects has been employed. For providing the necessary data for numerical simulation, a series of laboratory experiments have been carried out on regular tooth-shape asperities made by gypsum, under constant normal load conditions. Shear stress–shear displacement and normal displacement–shear displacement of artificial joint specimens are simulated using the proposed numerical model at constant normal load condition (CNL). The results indicate the capability of the model for simulating rock joints behavior in both strength and deformation field. Although the numerical model has been developed for simulating the behavior of artificial joints, the concept of the method can also be used for natural rock joints.