Transitions toward co-management: The process of marine resource management devolution in three east African countries

Communities are increasingly empowered with the ability and responsibility of working with national governments to make decisions about marine resources in decentralized co-management arrangements. This transition toward decentralized management represents a changing governance landscape. This paper explores the transition to decentralisation in marine resource management systems in three East African countries. The paper draws upon expert opinion and literature from both political science and linked social-ecological systems fields to guide exploration of five key governance transition concepts in each country: (1) drivers of change; (2) institutional arrangements; (3) institutional fit; (4) actor interactions; and (5) adaptive management. Key findings are that decentralized management in the region was largely donor-driven and only partly transferred power to local stakeholders. However, increased accountability created a degree of democracy in regards to natural resource governance that was not previously present. Additionally, increased local-level adaptive management has emerged in most systems and, to date, this experimental management has helped to change resource user's views from metaphysical to more scientific cause-and-effect attribution of changes to resource conditions.     

Impaired Functions in Nile Tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1757), from Polluted Waters

Oreochromis niloticus is an endemic species in the River Nile and represents the main object of fishery in the Nile Delta Lakes of which Lake Maryût is the smallest and most polluted. Due to current pollution problems, fish production in the lake greatly declined. Besides fish biology, this study considered a wide array of water databases in selected sites along the lake. Hydrologic and biologic data were compared to that of a reference fish hatchery. Water concentrations of ammonia, manganese, nickel, cadmium, lead and mercury proved hazardous to fish, whereas chromium, copper, iron, zinc, pH, alkalinity, hardness, phosphate, nitrate, and nitrite always fell within acceptable levels. Physiologic evaluation of O. niloticus pointed out improper growth, protein inadequacy, and functional impairment in fish inhabiting polluted sites, in particular the lake main basin. These were reflected by data of specific formulae as RNA/DNA and the relative RNA content (r) in cells of the liver and gill arches as well as by the relative mobilization of serum protein fractions. It seems, however, that growth competence is additionally affected by the stress impact exerted upon fish by massive population numbers in some cramped commercial ponds.     

A synthetic approach integrating surface and subsurface data for prospecting deep aquifers: the Southeast Tunisia

The Southeast Tunisia has remarkable thermal springs that have been used for bathing since many years. Currently, studies are being carried out to investigate the possible use of the hot water for heating buildings and for greenhouses. Springs with discharge temperatures between 26.8 and 58°C exist in the area. The flow rates range between 7 and 66 l/s with total dissolved solids (TDS) varying between 2,020 and 4,030 mg/l. Both geological–hydrogeological setting and the similarity in chemical characteristics between the Zarat spring and nearby water wells suggest that the hot water from this spring may be related to the Senonian aquifer. However, the hydrogeothermal approach shows that the depth of the reservoir that supplies the Zarat spring is greater than that of the Senonian aquifer. In fact, geothermometry approach indicates that fluids emerging from the Lower Cretaceous sandstones reach temperatures of approximately 78°C at depth, while the fluid temperature from the nearby water wells is 32°C. Through the integration of various types of data we found that the thermal water of Southeast Tunisia is of meteoric origin. This water infiltrates deeply into the Lower Cretaceous sandstones and reaches a high temperature before rising upwards to supply the hot springs and well discharge zones. It appears that the upward movement of hot water from the deep aquifers to shallow ones is probably due to the abundant fractures in the area.     

A Neuro-Fuzzy modeling for prediction of solar cycles 24 and 25

The paper presents a Neuro-Fuzzy model to predict the features of the forthcoming sunspot cycles 24 and 25. The sunspot time series were analyzed with the proposed model. It is optimized based on Backpropagation scheme and applied to the yearly smoothed sunspot numbers. The appropriate number of network inputs for the sunspots data series is obtained based on sequential forward search for the Neuro-Fuzzy model. According to the model prediction the maximum amplitudes of the cycles 24 and 25 will occur in the year 2013 and year 2022 with peaks of 101±8 and 90.7±8, respectively. The correlation and error analysis are discussed to ensure the performance of the proposed Neuro-Fuzzy approach as a predictor for sunspot time series. The correlation coefficient between Neuro-Fuzzy model forecasted sunspot number values with the actual ones is 0.96.     

Expansion of cavities in layered elastic system

Theoretical formulations to the problem of expansion of spherical and cylindrical cavities in a layered elastic system are presented. The medium surrounding the cavity is assumed to consist of several layers, and each is idealized as a linear elastic solid. The solutions are expressed in matrix forms and can be obtained using a programmable calculator. The developed solutions are of some importance in geomechanics. The spherical cavity solution can be used to compute the settlement of single axially loaded piles. The predicted settlement using the analysis outlined herein agrees reasonably well with one case of field measurements. The cylindrical cavity solution can be used to manifest the effect of disturbed mass at the cavity wall on the stress–strain and deformation characteristics of the intact mass.     

Prospection géoélectrique pour l'étude de l'aquifère thermal des calcaires récifaux, Hmeïma–Boujabeur (Centre ouest de la Tunisie)

The Hmeïma–Boujabeur zone is considered as an important geothermal province for Tunisia. The reef limestone, characterized by intense fracturation and important karstification, confers them the property to be a regional thermal aquifer. A geophysical study based on two complementary geoelectrical methods, the Electrical Sounding (ES) and Magneto-Telluric Sounding (MTS), turned out to be very efficient to provide a complete electrical image of the underground until about 1-km depth. The synthetic approach integrating all data allowed us to delimit the favourable area for thermal water exploitation. To cite this article: M. Gouasmia et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Hydrogeological and mixing process of waters in deep aquifers in arid regions: south east Tunisia

This study addresses the hydrogeochemistry of thermal and cold waters from south east Tunisia. Temperature intervals are 38.5–68 °C and 22–27.8 °C for thermal water and cold water, respectively. Three distinct hydrogeological systems supply water either for irrigation or for drinking; they are: (1) the Continental Intercalaire geothermal aquifer (CI), (2) the Turonian aquifer and (3) the Senonian aquifer. A synthetic study including hydrochemical, hydrogeological and geothermal approaches have been applied in order to evaluate the inter-aquifers water transfer in south east of Tunisia. By using silica geothermometers and saturation indices for different solid phases, estimated thermal reservoir temperature varies between 52 and 87 °C and between 75 and 110 °C, respectively. Based on chemical and thermal data, mixing, which occurs between the ascending deep geothermal water and shallow cold water, is about 57 % cold water.     

Electrokinetic Stabilization of Soft Soil Using Carbonate-Producing Bacteria

The carbonate (CO ₃ ^?2 ) produced by Sporosarcina pasteurii was injected electrokinetically to enhance the mechanical properties of soft clay soils. In this method the Ca²⁺ was injected into the anode chamber and moved towards the cathode by electromigration and electroosmotic flow. Then the released CO ₃ ^?2 from a blend of bacteria and urea was injected into the cathode chamber. The CO ₃ ^?2 ions were moved from the cathode to the anode under electromigration mechanism. The CaCO₃ was precipitated in the presence of calcium in porous medium of the soil, and consequently increased the shear strength of the soil. The polarity reversal was applied to have a homogeneous distribution of CaCO₃.