Variations in groundwater levels and quality due to agricultural over-exploitation in an arid environment: the phreatic aquifer of the Souf oasis (Algerian Sahara)

Groundwater is a major source of supply for domestic and agricultural purposes, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. In this study, we followed the variations in water levels in the Souf oasis in the Algerian Sahara by measuring depths to groundwater across 65 points during the period from 2010 to 2015. Additionally, electrical conductivity (EC) was measured for assessing variations in groundwater salinity in the same groundwater monitoring network over the same time interval. The results from these investigations indicated that there are significant and continuous declines in the groundwater level across all study areas throughout the period of investigation. This is especially the case in the northern part of the study area where the water table declined by up to 18.2 m in Ghamra in 2015. Additionally, this study has indicated that the rate of decline of groundwater levels has increased from 0.29 m/year as an average in 2011 to 2.37 m/year in 2015, where the situation has become alarming. As a consequence of this, the depth to groundwater now exceeds 2 m over more than 77% of the study area, and only about 17% of the study area now has a water table depth that lies within the optimal depth interval for extractive uses (between 1 and 2 m). This decline in groundwater levels has been accompanied by a significant increase in the electrical conductivity values (salinity) of this water, and there is a strong correlation between these variables (R > 0.99). This alarming situation has been caused by the continuous over-exploitation and unsustainable management of this limited resource, especially by the agricultural sector. For a long time, this critical situation led to the demise of the agricultural world heritage cultivation system (Ghout) due to the increasing salinity of groundwater. Two solutions are proposed to manage the effects of groundwater depletion in the area: firstly, rationalizing groundwater use through effective groundwater allocation management measures, and secondly by implementing the reuse of treated wastewater as an alternative water source for agricultural use. This latter measure could be in two ways: either by direct use in irrigation to relieve pressure on the phreatic aquifer, or by artificial recharge of the phreatic aquifer.     

Delineation of potential recharge area using a hybrid model,case of Djelfa Hadjia watershed

Groundwater potential map is important for environmental assessment and water resources management. In this work, a groundwater recharge potential map was established for the watershed of Oued Djelfa Hadjia in Algeria, based on new multiparameters hybrid model. The model has hydroclimatic parameters, geological settings, slope factor, and stream network density factor as inputs. The groundwater recharge estimated by the model range from 0.71 to 14 mm. The model allows delineation of potential area of recharge. The total water abstraction in Djelfa city is about of 14 hm³; however, the calculated groundwater recharge is about 3 mm/year (min 0.71 mm and max 14 mm), which correspond to an average recharge volume of 3.9 hm³ which mean that the aquifer is under over exploitation.     

Lithostratigraphy,deformation history,and tectonic evolution of the basement rocks,Republic of Yemen: an overview

Basement rocks of presumed Precambrian age, in Yemen Republic (105,000 km²), are exposed in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the country. The basement rocks of southern Saudi Arabia and northern parts of Yemen are almost continuous and similar in the lithostratigraphic succession. In spite of the presence of such common basic characteristics for each, there are slight differences of local structural framework and major tectonic events. The structural complexity, great variety of rock units and types, multi-intrusive environments, and multiplicity of metamorphic events in the study basement rocks make the main target of lithostratigraphic analyses, in particular, daunting in the southern Arabian Shield. As reported here, accepting that the southern shield consists of five terranes and suture zones requires a limitation of such tectonic modifications. This led to the renaming of certain formations and groups and the revision of the lithostratigraphic successions for some regions. As a result, new lithostratigraphic relationships and names as well as tectonic events are proposed. Based on field and space image data, the basement rocks in Yemen exhibit at least six major phases of deformation (D1 to D6) including intensive brittle and ductile deformations that trend NW–SE and NNE–SSW (in major). Neoarchean rocks are well developed and restricted in the southeastern exposures (Al Bayda, Al Mahfid, and Al Mukalla terranes), whereas the final Pan-African cratonization of several rock units is widespread on all terranes, in which the major tectonic events and deformation history were concentrated during pre-Pan-African and early to late Pan-African orogenies. A correlation and evolution of the Precambrian rocks in Saudi Arabia and Egypt are taken into consideration.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001247

The Sinai Peninsula has been recognized as a subplate of the African Plate located at the triple junction of the Gulf of Suez rift, the Dead Sea Transform fault, and the Red Sea rift. The upper and lower crustal structures of this tectonically active, rapidly developing region are yet poorly understood because of many limitations. For this reason, a set of P- and S-wave travel times recorded at 14 seismic stations belonging to the Egyptian National Seismographic Network (ENSN) from 111 local and regional events are analyzed to investigate the crustal structures and the locations of the seismogenic zones beneath central and southern Sinai. Because the velocity model used for routine earthquake location by ENSN is one-dimensional, the travel-time residuals will show lateral heterogeneity of the velocity structures and unmodeled vertical structures. Seismic activity is strong along the eastern and southern borders of the study area but low to moderate along the northern boundary and the Gulf of Suez to the west. The crustal V_p/V_s ratio is 1.74 from shallow (depth ≤ 10 km) earthquakes and 1.76 from deeper (depth > 10 km) crustal events. The majority of the regional and local travel-time residuals are positive relative to the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM), implying that the seismic stations are located above widely distributed, tectonically-induced low-velocity zones. These low-velocity zones are mostly related to the local crustal faults affecting the sedimentary section and the basement complex as well as the rifting processes prevailing in the northern Red Sea region and the ascending of hot mantle materials along crustal fractures. The delineation of these low-velocity zones and the locations of big crustal earthquakes enable the identification of areas prone to intense seismotectonic activities, which should be excluded from major future development projects and large constructions in central and southern Sinai.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112000084

Seismic anisotropy and its main features along the convergent boundary between Africa and Iberia are detected through the analysis of teleseismic shear-wave splitting.Waveform data generated by 95 teleseismic events recorded at 17 broadband stations deployed in the western Mediterranean region are used in the present study.Although the station coverage is not uniform in the Iberian Peninsula and northwest Africa,significant variations in the fast polarization directions and delay times are observed at stations located at different tectonic domains.Fast polarization directions are oriented predominantly NW-SE at most stations which are close to the plate boundary and in central Iberia;being consistent with the absolute plate motion in the region.In the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula,fast velocity directions are oriented nearly E—W;coincident with previous results.Few stations located slightly north of the plate boundary and to the southeast of Iberia show E—W to NE-SW fast velocity directions,which may be related to the Alpine Orogeny and the extension direction in Iberia.Delay times vary significantly between 0.2 and 1.9 s for individual measurements,reflecting a highly anisotropic structure beneath the recording stations.The relative motion between Africa and Iberia represents the main reason for the observed NW-SE orientations of the fast velocity directions.However,different causes of anisotropy have also to be considered to explain the wide range of the splitting pattern observed in the western Mediterranean region.Many geophysical observations such as the low Pn velocity,lower lithospheric Q values,higher heat flow and the presence of high conductive features support the mantle How in the western Mediterranean,which may contribute and even modify the splitting pattern beneath the studied region.     

岩芯尺度的宽频介电常数频谱实验室测量设备的误差分析及其在物质测量中的应用(英文)

宽频介电常数频谱测井技术最近被引进石油工业.这种新技术区别于传统介电常数测井技术在于多频率频谱的测定和利用.高频谱端包含介质油水饱和度信息,而低频谱端对介质中孔隙结构和水的分布形态很敏感.这种新技术可以有效地被应用于比如超淡水介质或者超黏度重油等对于常规测井来说是很困难的测量环境,而且受介质水中的含盐度影响很小.随着井下测井仪器的投入使用,相应的实验室岩芯测定设备和方法就变得重要起来.因为实验室环境相对较为稳定和可控,实验室岩芯测量结果是对井下测量的很好地验证和校订.文献中记载了许多非破坏性的实验室介电常数的测量设备,然而这些设备的共同局限性是它们对岩芯尺寸和岩芯样本的要求和限制,一般要求粉末状岩芯或者一厘米左右的小柱状岩芯.在碳酸盐介质中,非均匀性和各项异性非常普遍,小的岩芯样本能否涵盖井下设备测量尺度(1.5英寸)的特性很值得商榷.本文中介绍了一种最新设计的实验室大直径宽频介电常数测量设备.这个设备可以直接测量石油工业传统的1.5英寸岩芯样本,测量是非毁坏性的,也就是测量后的岩芯样本可以直接用于其它实验室测量设备,比如电阻率测量或核磁共振测量等.大量重复性试验测得的介电常数色散频谱的精确度对于低损耗介质在2%以内而对于高损耗介质在对孔隙度和含盐度校正以后精确度在3%.文中详细介绍了测量设备所使用的反演程序的算法模型,以及反演误差的算法.反演最后的误差可以用来做数据质量的评定.该测量装置被用于许多物质的测定.测定物质的数据库中合成石英(fused quartz),Teflon,合成陶瓷以及单晶硅的介电常数值可以在文献中找到.该设备的测量结果与文献参考值相符合,说明了该设备测量结果的可靠性.该设备还测量了矿物晶体碳酸钙,晶体白云石以及晶体硬石膏的介电常数,这是常见的碳酸盐介质的主要成分.这些测量给出了碳酸盐介质的边界成分区域值作为参考.该设备测量的两个单晶硅柱状样本的介电常数频谱特性发现退火会改变晶体的结构提高强度,同时会改变介质介电常数的特性.同时矿物晶体碳酸钙测量值高于粉末状测量结果也说明晶体结构可能会导致介电常数测量的不同.该设备具有1.5英寸的大尺度,因此具有和井下设备相仿的测量范围,因而不受介质水平各项异性的影响.但另一方面,该设备仍可以研究垂直各项异性.垂直各项异性的主要原因可能是化学成分不同,孔隙结构不对称或者温度对水分布的影响等等.在对岩石地面露头采样的研究中,宽频介电常数频谱实验室设备检测出了岩芯垂直各项异性,通过对比核磁共振一维孔隙度剖面结构发现总孔隙度不均衡以及分布不对称为该各项异性的主要来源,并且被CT图像所证实.     

On the development of a seismic source zonation model for seismic hazard assessment in western Saudi Arabia

A new seismic source model has been developed for the western part of the Arabian Peninsula, which has experienced considerable earthquake activity in the historical past and in recent times. The data used for the model include an up-to-date seismic catalog, results of recent studies of Cenozoic faulting in the area, aeromagnetic anomaly and gravity maps, geological maps, and miscellaneous information on volcanic activity. The model includes 18 zones ranging along the Red Sea and the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea in the north to the Gulf of Aden in the south. The seismic source model developed in this study may be considered as one of the basic branches in a logic tree approach for seismic hazard assessment in Saudi Arabia and adjacent territories.     

Road traffic nanoparticle characteristics:Sustainable environment and mobility

Human effects and environment impacts associated with nanoparticles generated from road traffic have recently attracted wide attention.Knowledge of the influencing variables on both number and mass of nanoparticles,sources,characteristics and limitations of advanced commercially accessible instruments for monitoring nanoparticles,are still scarce and not sufficient to make regulatory decision on solid particles smaller than 23 nm(SPN<23 nm).Given the harmful effects of nanoparticles on human health(i.e.visibility impairment,cardiac-rhythm disturbance,heart attacks,premature death,etc.),their control and assessment seem to be an absolute priority.In this overview,we classify and analyze the existing knowledge of nanoparticles in road traffic atmosphere,recent progress,and emerging priorities in research related to these topics.The major aspects of ongoing research in this field,and a brief discussion of the main sources of atmosphere nanoparticles are presented.The subsequent section focuses on the influencing parameters of nanoparticles including climate conditions,height above the road surface and distance between source(road traffic)and sampling site.The next section provides a comprehensive summary on sampling measurement methodologies and instrumental techniques.We also review the health and environment implications associated with particle exposure.Finally,an evaluation of the state of research related to nanoparticles together with highlights for future research activities are also presented.     

陶瓷工业中对产自花岗岩的长石原料的提纯方法研究

花岗岩是陶瓷工业中所需长石原料的重要来源之一.由于花岗岩中云母和氧化铁的存在,其最终产品的质量受到影响（强度、硬度、密度降低）.本研究对浙江花岗岩采用两阶段分离方法,以提高花岗岩中长石的质量.第一阶段为重力分离,去除重矿物杂质;第二阶段为磁性分离,进一步减少铁含量.用机械方法对不同加工阶段的3种样品进行了成分测试：1）原料花岗岩;2）第一阶段处理的花岗岩;3）第二阶段处理的花岗岩.结果显示,最终处理后的样品较之原始花岗岩在显微硬度、强度、密度及裂隙坚韧性方面都有明显提高.