Les chaînes de la marge occidentale du Craton Ouest-Africain,modèles géodynamiques

Until now, no satisfactory geodynamic model has been delivered concerning the three main West African orogens: Panafrican 1 (Bassaride belt), Panafrican 2 (Rokelide belt) and Hercynian (Mauritanide belt). However, since the last synthetic paper (Villeneuve, 2008), new geological, geophysical and geochronological data, from the Moroccan Sahara to Sierra Leone, allow us to propose a new geodynamical model. It includes the two Panafrican events in a single model very similar to the present western Pacific margin. An old “West African Neoproterozoic ocean” (WANO) was limited by a set of island arcs separated from the West African craton by a series of “back arc basins”. The closure of this first round of back arc basins around 650 Ma led to the Bassaride belt (Panafrican 1). Then the WANO was subducting underneath the island arcs (between 650 and 550 Ma) meanwhile a new generation of “back arc basins” opened to the east between the arcs and the craton margin. The closure of the WANO and associated island arcs and back arc basins (550 to 500 Ma) led to the Rokelide belt (Panafrican 2). The Hercynian structures involving a Palaeozoic cover (made with continental material) associated to a “greeenschist facies” metamorphism is ascribed to an intracontinental belt.     

Properties of Ironstone Lateritic Gravels in Relation to Gravel Road Pavement Construction

A laboratory investigation was conducted to determine properties of five samples of ‘oolitic ironstone’ lateritic gravel aggregates which are relevant to their use as road construction materials. Measured values of physico-chemical, physico-mechanical as well as index properties and compaction characteristics are similar to those of other lateritic, gravels occurring in West Africa which are used in road pavement applications. These lateritic clayey gravels have good workability as engineering construction materials and are rated fair to good as road aggregates in terms of probable in-situ behaviour based on water absorption values. Relationships between maximum dry unit weight and optimum moisture content as well as those between California bearing ratio and some derived soil parameters such as grading modulus, plasticity product or plasticity modulus can be described using a third-order polynomial function. The maximum dry unit weight has a bimodal frequency distribution and can be predicted from logarithm to base 10 of compaction energy with fairly good accuracy.     

Water chemistry of Mansar Lake (India): an indication of source area weathering and seasonal variability

The chemistry of major elements (Ca, Mg, Na, K and Si) and anions (HCO ₃, SO ₄ and Cl) in the water of Mansar Lake was studied, based on seasonal data. The results show that total dissolved solid (TDS) concentration in a particular season is similar, but varies slightly in different seasons with a variation factor of less than 2. This is because the collections were made in the dry seasons and the Ca-precipitation is the cause for the seasonal variability. The major element chemistry of Mansar Lake is mainly controlled by rock weathering, with HCO ₃ and Ca dominating the major ion composition because of the abundance of carbonate rocks in the basin. The results also indicate that the lake water is saturated with respect to calcite and/or dolomite during the spring season whereas it is undersaturated in the summer season. This contrast brings out seasonal variability. The lake shows disequilibrium with atmospheric CO ₂ as a result of carbonate dissolution in the drainage basin. The study also shows that physical weathering/erosion is dominant and that chemical weathering is incipient. This is consistent with the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) data.     

Nature and human impact on Nile Delta coastal sand dunes,Egypt

This paper deals with the types, distribution and origin, of recent sand dunes in the coastal sector extending between El Burullus Lake and the Damietta Nile River branch, Egypt. Sand samples were studied for grain size distribution and mineralogical composition. It has been found that most of the dunes in the study area have been subjected to deterioration and removal due to the construction of summer resort buildings and making the international coastal highway. The remnant constitutes a belt of foredunes on the shore of Baltium extending westward to Burg El Burullus village.The dunes origin is interpreted as the result of coastal drifting and the subsequent transport of the former Sebennitic Nile branch sediments eastward by the predominant longshore current and by Aeolian processes. The blown sand grains accumulated to form a belt of coastal sand dunes with longitudinal and crescentic forms. Urbanization of the coast has severely altered the landscape. Gaps and damaged dunes are included within the dune belt. The dunes natural cycle of advance and retreat is upset and attains its destruction phase. The consequences of its destruction are numerous and lead to hazardous impacts on the shoreline, coastal building and the nearby international highway.     

Linear and stratified sampling-based deep learning models for improving the river streamflow forecasting to mitigate flooding disaster

Natural Hazards - Due to the need to reduce the flooding disaster, river streamflow prediction is required to be enhanced by the aid of deep learning algorithms. To achieve accurate model of...     

Evaluation of Combined Base Soil Erodibility and Granular Filter Efficiency

Filters managed in zoned dams are designed according to criteria based on the grain size distribution of both filter and eroded soil. However, the constriction size distribution of the filter is the key parameter which governs the filter retention process of flowing eroded particles. To assess the filter efficiency regarding eroded particles, several filters and base soils are tested in a vertical cell with a configuration coupling erosion and filtration processes. For setting the boundary condition of eroded particles at the filter inlet, hole erosion test (HET) was performed on the base soil. The investigation of the evolution of filter behavior shows that the void ratio and the grain shape are of a great influence on filter efficiency. A new approach of filter clogging was proposed by evaluating a damage index which is affected by various parameters such as the ratio D₁₅/d₈₅ and the size of eroded particles. An approach linking the geometrical parameters (damage index) to the hydraulic conductivity leads to an estimation of the filter performance which provides a more quantifiable and realistic criterion. The results indicate that even existing criteria were not met; the tested filters remain efficient as regards to experimental data. An analytical approach based on constrictions size distribution was used and pore reduction was matched with experimental results.

     

Hydrochemical characteristics and seasonal variations in groundwater quality of an alluvial aquifer in parts of Central Ganga Plain,Western Uttar Pradesh,India

The present study was undertaken to assess major ion chemistry of groundwater in parts of the Central Ganga Plain and observe seasonal variations in its chemical quality. Systematic sampling was carried out during November 2005 and June 2006. The major ion chemistry of groundwater shows large variations, so much so that at times the meteoric signature seems to be completely obliterated. In many samples the concentrations of SO₄, NO₃ and F are above the permissible limit for human consumption. The graphical treatment of major ion chemistry helps in identifying four types of groundwater. All possible ionic species such as NaCl, KCl, NaHCO₃, NaSO₄, KNO₃, NaNO₃, CaHCO₃, MgHCO₃, MgSO₄ are likely to occur in groundwater system. The observed chemical variations may be attributed to sediment water interaction, ion exchange, dissolution mechanisms and anthropogenic influences such as application of fertilizers and effluents from sugar factories and paper mills. A general increase in TDS is observed in samples during June 2006. The increase in salinity is attributed to evaporation from water table, irrigation return flows, anthropogenic activities and below average rainfall in 2005 and 2006. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Two Cu–Co sulfide phases and contrasting fluid systems in the Katanga Copperbelt, Democratic Republic of Congo

The Katanga Copperbelt is the Congolese part of the well-known Central African Copperbelt, the largest sediment-hosted stratiform Cu–Co province on Earth. Petrographic examination of borehole samples from the Kamoto and Luiswishi mines in the Katanga Copperbelt recognized two generations of hypogene Cu–Co sulfides and associated gangue minerals (dolomite and quartz). The first generation is characterized by fine-grained Cu–Co sulfides and quartz replacing dolomite. The second generation is paragenetically later and characterized by coarse-grained Cu–Co sulfides and quartz overgrown and partly replaced by dolomite. Fluid inclusion microthermometric data were collected from two different types of fluid inclusions: type-I fluid inclusions (liquid + vapor) in the quartz of the first generation and type-II fluid inclusions (liquid + vapor + halite) in the quartz of the second generation. The microthermometric analyses indicate that the fluids represented by type-I and type-II fluid inclusions had very different temperatures and salinities and were not in thermal equilibrium with the host rock.Petrographic and microthermometric data indicate the presence of at least two main hypogene Cu–Co sulfide phases in the Katanga Copperbelt. The first is an early diagenetic typical stratiform phase, which produced fine-grained sulfides that are disseminated in the host rock and frequently concentrated in nodules and lenticular layers. This phase is related to a hydrothermal fluid with a moderate temperature (115 to 220 °C, or less if reequilibration of inclusions has occurred) and salinity (11.3 to 20.9 wt.% NaCl equiv.). The second hypogene Cu–Co phase produced syn-orogenic coarse-grained sulfides, which also occur disseminated in the host rock but mainly concentrated in a distinct type of stratiform nodules and layers and in stratabound veins and tectonic breccia cement. This second phase is related to a hydrothermal fluid with high temperature (270 to 385 °C) and salinity (35 to 45.5 wt.% NaCl equiv.).A review of available microthermometric and ore geochronological data of the Copperbelt in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia supports the regional presence of the two Cu–Co phases proposed in our study. Future geochemical analyses in the Copperbelt should take into account the presence of, at least, these two Cu–Co phases, their contrasting fluid systems and the possible overprint of the first phase by the second one.     

Spatial distribution of regionalized variables on reservoirs and groundwater resources based on geostatistical analysis using GIS: case of Rmel-Oulad Ogbane aquifers (Larache,NW Morocco)

In many countries of the world, groundwater is the main source of water in arid and semiarid regions. The scarcity of water is one of the main issues in Morocco. The coastal aquifer system of Rmel-Oulad Ogbane is recognized as one of the most important aquifers in Morocco and is very well known for their role in industrial, economic, and social development. However, this role is confronted to climate change impacts and heavy abstraction rates leading to a major decline in the groundwater levels and may eventually cause a deficit water balance of the aquifer as well as a degradation of the freshwater quality by seawater intrusion. The objective of this research is to identify and evaluate the distribution and spatial changes of regionalized variables on reservoirs and groundwater resources using geostatistical analysis in Geographic Information System (GIS) software. The prediction of these variables was performed using an interpolation method: ordinary kriging in a GIS. The normality test and trend analysis were applied to each variable to select the appropriate semivariogram model (SVM) and check the results using cross-validation (CV). Hence, several kriged maps of reservoirs and water resources have been produced to be exploited by the decision maker. The studied variables related to reservoirs and hydrodynamic data have a strong spatial dependence, which show correlations in specific direction, while the hydrochemical data are mainly related to groundwater mechanisms, such as advective-diffusive transport, without any autocorrelation between data.