Hydrogeological assessment of the Tabarteh fault zone by physicochemical analysis and multivariate statistical methods

Hydrogeologically, faults may impede, conduit, exert no influence, or may play a combination of these roles on groundwater flow. The object of this paper is to study the hydrogeological role of the Tabarteh fault, which is located on the border of Zagros and Central Iran tectonic zones in an alluvial aquifer. The recorded data of water table levels, chemical parameters, and discharge rate of wells, in addition to geological maps and geophysical results, were collected and evaluated. The outcrop of travertine in limited areas and the emergence of a few small springs within the alluvium show a barrier role of the fault in the groundwater flow. The spatial analysis of chemical components, head time series, and groundwater flow direction assessment demonstrated that the fault acts as both a barrier and a non-barrier in different sections. The multivariate statistical methods of cluster and discriminant analyses also confirm the dual role of the fault.     

Effects of biochar and bio-fertilizer on yield and qualitative properties of soybean and some chemical properties of soil

This study attempted to examine the effects of biochar amendment together with bio-fertilizer on soybean yield and its qualitative properties, as well as a few chemical properties of soil through a factorial randomized complete block design at three replications in east of Golestan Province (Iran) during 2014. The two factors under study included the following: (1) biochar amendment (in four levels of 0, 2.5, 8, and 16 tons per hectare), (2) bio-fertilizer containing phosphorus and sulfur growth-promoting rhizobacteria (in two levels of inoculation and non-inoculation) applied through foliar feeding. The results of analysis of variance indicated that interactions of biochar amendment and bio-fertilizer on harvest index and grain yield were significant (p ≤?0.01). According to the results of this study, the highest harvest index and oil content were 56.9, and 17.7%, respectively, in the treatment of 8 tons per hectare biochar and inoculation with bio-fertilizer. The lowest harvest index and the lowest oil content were in the control treatment. The interaction of biochar and bio-fertilizer on bulk density and cation exchange capacity was significant (p ≤?0.01). The results of this study demonstrated that biochar affected the amount of residual nitrogen in the soil after harvest, cation exchange capacity (CEC), acidity (pH), and electrical conductivity (EC). The highest grain yield (3440 kg/ha) was in the 8-ton biochar treatment with inoculated bio-fertilizer. Our study concludes that the biochar and bio-fertilizers can improve grain yield of soybean till 51% relative to the control.     

Investigation of Failed Slopes Based on a New Method of Back Analysis in Rock Masses: A Case Study

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Small variation in shear strength parameters results in remarkable changes in the safety factor (SF) of a rock slope. In this regard, rock mass strength of...     

Effects of Slaking fluid pH on the Index Properties of Carbonate Rocks

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The physical and chemical characteristics of water critically influence the mechanical and chemical breakdown of rocks. The physical properties of rocks,...     

On the effect of compaction on the progression of concentrated leaks in cohesive soils

Acta Geotechnica - The purpose of this study is to conduct hole erosion tests (HETs) to better understand the progression of concentrated leaks in compacted soils. While samples with high levels of...     

Exploring the applications of 3D proximity analysis in a 3D digital cadastre

Increasing population in urban areas and limitations of suitable lands for developing houses and urban infrastructure have led to the vertical development in cities. However, these developments are managed by a cadastral system which is mainly two-dimensional and cannot efficiently represent Rights, Restrictions, and Responsibilities (RRRs) in complex scenarios. In fact, a three-dimensional cadastre is required for efficiently registering and representing RRRs. In this paper, a 3D proximity analysis was proposed and implemented to determine RRRs and associated easement rights in non-topology-based data structures. This method can be used to investigate the surrounding spaces of a subject apartment unit or storage in a high-rise. The performance of the developed method was evaluated in a large complex high-rise in Tehran, Iran. The results confirmed that the proposed method can correctly identify the neighbor spaces in complex scenarios.     

Isolation, distribution and evaluation of cytotoxic and antioxidant activity of cultivable actinobacteria from the Oman Sea sediments

Screening bioactive natural products from bacteria is a determinative step in the drug discovery programs. The present study aim to isolate actinobacteria from the Oman Sea sediments for determining the effects of different culture media and treatments on the yield of the isolation process, and measure the DPPH radical scavenging and Artemia cytotoxic activity of culture extracts of the actinobacterial isolates. A total of 290 actinobacterial isolates were collected from 14 sediment samples. Heat treatment(40.68%) and M_4 medium(29.31%) exhibited the maximum isolation rates of actinobacteria. Streptomyces isolates were dominantly distributed in all of the investigated stations according to 16 S rRNA gene sequencing. The distribution pattern of Streptomyces followed a depth-dependent frequency trend, whereas the members of rare genera including Micromonospora, Nocardia Actinoplanes, Nocardiopsis, Saccharopolyspora and Crossiella were distributed in deeper stations. Approximately,25% of the examined isolates could scavenge 90% of 10~(–4) mol/L DPPH solutions at 1 250 μg/mL final concentration of their ethyl acetate culture extracts. Furthermore, the most potent extracts could scavenge DPPH radicals with IC50 ranges from 356.8 to 566.4 μg/mL. Brine shrimp cytotoxicity tests showed that 38.88% of the examined culture extracts exhibited LC_(50) lower than 1 000 μg/mL against the Artemia cells. Moreover, the most potent culture extracts exhibited LC_(50) range from 335.4 to 534.4 μg/mL. Phylogenetic analysis by 16 S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the OS 005, OS 263 and OS 157 closely related to Streptomyces djakartensis, Streptomyces olivaceus and Nocardiopsis dassonvillei respectively. These results suggested the widespread distribution of the antioxidant and cytotoxic producing actinobacteria in the Oman Sea sediments, which could be considered as promising candidates for the discovery of microbial bioactive compounds.     

Application of Artificial Intelligence to Estimate Oil Flow Rate in Gas-Lift Wells

Natural Resources Research - Optimization and monitoring schemes for oil well and reservoir system require accurate estimation of production rate. Real-time monitoring is conducted typically using...     

Geostatistical Algorithm Selection for Mineral Resources Assessment and its Impact on Open-pit Production Planning Considering Metal Grade Boundary Effect

Mine planning is influenced by many sources of uncertainty. Significant sources of geological uncertainty in mine planning include uncertainty in layout of geological domains and uncertainty in metal grades. These two sources of uncertainty cannot be modeled separately because the distribution of the grade is controlled usually by geological domains. Two approaches exist for combining these two sources of uncertainty: the joint simulation approach and the cascade approach. In this paper, these two approaches were compared using a real case study. To this end, uncertainty in iron grade (quantitative variable) and ore zones (qualitative variable) was modeled using both approaches. There were some considerable differences in the results obtained by each approach, which confirm the importance of choosing the most appropriate approach with consideration of the dominate features of a deposit.