Sedimentology,mineralogy, and geochemistry of the Late Quaternary Meyghan Playa sediments,NE Arak,Iran: palaeoclimate implications

Playas are shallow ephemeral lakes that form in arid and semi-arid regions. Iran has a large number of playas such as Meyghan Playa, which is located in the northeast of Arak city that borders the central Iran and Sanandaj-Sirjan zones. This study aims to investigate the mineralogical, sedimentological, and geochemical characteristics of the playa sediments. In order to determine the palaeoenvironment, we carried out X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. Meyghan Playa sediments consist of very fine-grained sediments and contain both evaporite and clastic minerals. The evaporite minerals include calcite, gypsum, halite, glauberite, and thenardite, whereas clastic minerals are quartz and clay. The calcite abundance decreases from the margin to the central portion of the playa but gypsum and halite abundances show an increasing trend from the margin to the center. This observation is consistent with the general zonation of other playas. Variations of calcite and gypsum concentration profiles present increasing and decreasing trends with depth, which could be ascribed to the changes in climatic factors. These factors include brine chemical modifications owing to changes in evaporation and precipitation rates and variations in relative abundance of anions-cations or in the rate of clastic and evaporite minerals due to variations in the freshwater influx (climatic changes) with time. A decrease in calcite and increase in sulfate minerals (especially gypsum) with depth is probably due to the higher water level and rainfall, a more humid climate, and salinity variations.     

Flume tests on fluvial erosion mechanisms in till‐bed channels

Semi‐alluvial stream channels eroded into till and other glacial sediments are common in areas of extensive glacial deposition such as the Great Lakes region and northern interior plains of North America. The mechanics of erosion and erosional weakness of till results in the dominance of fluvial scour and mass erosion due to spontaneous fracture at planes of weakness under shearing flow. There have been few controlled tests looking at erosional mechanisms and resistance of till in river channels. We subjected small blocks of till to unidirectional flows in a laboratory flume to measure the threshold shear stress for erosion and observed the erosion mechanics. Critical shear stress for erosion varied from 7 to 8 Pa for samples with initial saturated moisture content in which a combination of fluvial scour and mass cracking/block erosion dominated. When dried, micro‐fissures occurred in the sample and erosional resistance of the till was extremely low at <1 Pa with erosion appearing to be by fluvial scour. When mobile gravel was added to the test conditions, the gravel reduced the erosion threshold slightly because of the enhanced scour around and below the gravel particles and the tendency for the gravel to aid in crack enlargement. Thus a partial or thin gravel cover over the till may provide no protection from erosion. The erosion processes and effects reflect the complex and contingent mechanics and properties of till, and suggest that the erosion characteristics of till bed semi‐alluvial channels differ from abrasion or plucking dominated processes in more resistant bedrock. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pattern recognition of seismogenic nodes using Kohonen selforganizing map: example in west and south west of Alborz region

Pattern recognition of seismic and morphostructural nodes plays an important role in seismic hazard assessment. This is a known fact in seismology that tectonic nodes are prone areas to large earthquake and have this potential. They are identified by morphostructural analysis. In this study, the Alborz region has considered as studied case and locations of future events are forecast based on Kohonen Self-Organized Neural Network. It has been shown how it can predict the location of earthquake, and identifies seismogenic nodes which are prone to earthquake of M5.5+ at the West of Alborz in Iran by using International Institute Earthquake Engineering and Seismology earthquake catalogs data. First, the main faults and tectonic lineaments have been identified based on MZ (land zoning method) method. After that, by using pattern recognition, we generalized past recorded events to future in order to show the region of probable future earthquakes. In other word, hazardous nodes have determined among all nodes by new catalog generated Self-organizing feature maps (SOFM). Our input data are extracted from catalog, consists longitude and latitude of past event between 1980-2015 with magnitude larger or equal to 4.5. It has concluded node D1 is candidate for big earthquakes in comparison with other nodes and other nodes are in lower levels of this potential.     

Integration of cadastral survey data into building information models

Cadastral surveying plays an important role in defining legal boundaries of land and property. The current practice for recording cadastral survey data mainly relies on 2D digital or analog documents. This practice is efficient for simple land parcels but can be challenged in complex building developments. To address the issues stemmed from 2D methods of representing cadastral survey data, 3D spatial information models can be considered as a viable solution for managing cadastral survey data. Building Information Modeling (BIM) enables colsslaborative 3D management of the design, construction, and operation of buildings. There have been extensive studies conducted to investigate the connectivity between BIM and 3D cadaster. Most of these studies focus on managing legal information, such as ownership boundaries and attributes, in BIM-based environments. However, there is limited investigation on how survey- ing measurements can be mapped into BIM. In this study, the proposed method for integrating the cadastral survey data into the BIM environment includes identifying cadastral survey requirements, using BIM entities relevant to cadastral survey data, enrichment of a BIM proto- type, and evaluation of the prototype. The major contribution of this study is to demonstrate the storage of cadastral survey data such as survey marks and traverse lines in the BIM environment. Therefore, this research contributes to the further enrichment of BIM with incorporating data elements related to cadastral surveying practices. It is confirmed that current BIM-based tools provide restricted capabilities for explicit management and visualiza- tion of cadastral survey data. This limitation can be addressed in the future enhancements of BIM in terms of supporting important elements for cadastral survey data.     

IPCC global coupled model simulations of the South America monsoon system

This study examines the variability of the South America monsoon system (SAMS) over tropical South America (SA). The onset, end, and total rainfall during the summer monsoon are investigated using precipitation pentad estimates from the global precipitation climatology project (GPCP) 1979–2006. Likewise, the variability of SAMS characteristics is examined in ten Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) global coupled climate models in the twentieth century (1981–2000) and in a future scenario of global change (A1B) (2081–2100). It is shown that most IPCC models misrepresent the inter-tropical convergence zone and therefore do not capture the actual annual cycle of precipitation over the Amazon and northwest SA. Most models can correctly represent the spatiotemporal variability of the annual cycle of precipitation in central and eastern Brazil such as the correct phase of dry and wet seasons, onset dates, duration of rainy season and total accumulated precipitation during the summer monsoon for the twentieth century runs. Nevertheless, poor representation of the total monsoonal precipitation over the Amazon and northeast Brazil is observed in a large majority of the models. Overall, MIROC3.2-hires, MIROC3.2-medres and MRI-CGCM3.2.3 show the most realistic representation of SAMS’s characteristics such as onset, duration, total monsoonal precipitation, and its interannual variability. On the other hand, ECHAM5, GFDL-CM2.0 and GFDL-CM2.1 have the least realistic representation of the same characteristics. For the A1B scenario the most coherent feature observed in the IPCC models is a reduction in precipitation over central-eastern Brazil during the summer monsoon, comparatively with the present climate. The IPCC models do not indicate statistically significant changes in SAMS onset and demise dates for the same scenario.     

Simulating the influence of the South Atlantic dipole on the South Atlantic convergence zone during neutral ENSO

The South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) is an intrinsic characteristic of the South American Summer Monsoon. In a recent study, we verified that the main mode of coupled variability over the South Atlantic (South Atlantic Dipole (SAD)) plays a role in modulating the position of extratropical cyclones that affect the SACZ precipitation. In this study, we perform numerical experiments to further investigate the mechanisms between SAD and the SACZ. Numerical experiments forced with prescribed SST anomalies showed that, even though the Atlantic SST affects the position of the cyclone associated with the SACZ, the atmospheric response and precipitation patterns over land are opposed to the observations. On the other hand, experiments forced with prescribed anomalous driving fields showed that the atmospheric component of SAD plays a significant role for the right position and intensity of precipitation associated with the SACZ. SAD negative anomalies provide the low-level and upper-level atmospheric support for the intensification of the cyclone at surface and for the increase in precipitation over the land portion of the SACZ. Therefore, the numerical experiments suggest that, during El Niño Southern Oscillation neutral conditions, the SACZ precipitation variability associated with SAD is largely dependent on the atmospheric variability rather than the underlying SST.     

Precipitation over eastern South America and the South Atlantic Sea surface temperature during neutral ENSO periods

The dominant mode of coupled variability over the South Atlantic Ocean is known as “South Atlantic Dipole” (SAD) and is characterized by a dipole in sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies with centers over the tropical and the extratropical South Atlantic. Previous studies have shown that variations in SST related to SAD modulate large-scale patterns of precipitation over the Atlantic Ocean. Here we show that variations in the South Atlantic SST are associated with changes in daily precipitation over eastern South America. Rain gauge precipitation, satellite derived sea surface temperature and reanalysis data are used to investigate the variability of the subtropical and tropical South Atlantic and impacts on precipitation. SAD phases are assessed by performing Singular value decomposition analysis of sea level pressure and SST anomalies. We show that during neutral El Niño Southern Oscillation events, SAD plays an important role in modulating cyclogenesis and the characteristics of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone. Positive SST anomalies over the extratropical South Atlantic (SAD negative phase) are related to increased cyclogenesis near southeast Brazil as well as the migration of extratropical cyclones further north. As a consequence, these systems organize convection and increase precipitation over eastern South America.     

Multiscale analysis of noisy 3D GPR data using the directional continuous wavelet transform

Here, we present a new technique of noise effect attenuation in the 3D ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data analysis using the 2D directional continuous wavelet transform (DCWT). The proposed technique is based on the application of a Gaussian low pass filter to the modulus of the 2D DCWT for low scales. After application of the low pass filter, maxima of the CWT are mapped for all range of scales. Application to a noisy GPR data shows that the proposed idea can improve GPR data analysis by the continuous wavelet transform.     

Fluoride pollution in soils and waters of Koohbanan region, southeastern Iran

Dental fluorosis occurs because of fluoride over-absorption during tooth calcification and maturation. We studied fluoride concentration in water and soil samples of the Koohbanan region in Kerman province of southeastern Iran and the effects of calcium chloride and gypsum treatments in decreasing the amount of fluoride in water samples of this region. The results indicate that the high amount of fluoride in the water samples of Koohbanan region is not in agreement with the recommended amount of fluoride concentration for drinking water by World Health Organization (that is 1–1/5 mg/l). Applying calcium chloride and gypsum treatments decreased the amount of fluoride in the water samples showing that utilizing calcium chloride (6 mg/l) or gypsum (12 mg/l) can lower the fluoride concentration in the water samples of Koohbanan, and thus solve the observed dental fluorosis problem.