The Cimmerian Orogeny in northern Iran: tectono-stratigraphic evidence from the foreland

From the Permian onwards, the Gondwana-derived Iran Plate drifted northward to collide with Eurasia in the Late Triassic, thereby closing the Palaeotethys. This Eo-Cimmerian Orogeny formed the Cimmeride fold-and-thrust belt. The Upper Triassic–Middle Jurassic Shemshak Group of northern Iran is commonly regarded as the Cimmerian foreland molasse. However, our tectono-stratigraphic analysis of the Shemshak Group resulted in a revised and precisely dated model for the Triassic–Jurassic geodynamic evolution of the Iran Plate: initial Cimmerian collision started in the Carnian with subsequent Late Triassic synorogenic peripheral foreland deposition (flysch, lower Shemshak Group). Subduction shifted south in the Norian (onset of Neotethys subduction below Iran) and slab break-off around the Triassic–Jurassic boundary caused rapid uplift of the Cimmerides followed by Liassic post-orogenic molasse (middle Shemshak Group). During the Toarcian–Aalenian (upper Shemshak Group), Neotethys back-arc rifting formed a deep-marine basin, which developed into the oceanic South Caspian Basin during the Late Bajocian–Late Jurassic.     

Watershed classification by remote sensing indices: A fuzzy c-means clustering approach

Determining the relatively similar hydrological properties of the watersheds is very crucial in order to readily classify them for management practices such as flood and soil erosion control. This study aimed to identify homogeneous hydrological watersheds using remote sensing data in western Iran. To achieve this goal, remote sensing indices including SAVI, LAI, NDMI, NDVI and snow cover, were extracted from MODIS data over the period 2000 to 2015. Then, a fuzzy method was used to clustering the watersheds based on the extracted indices. A fuzzy c-mean (FCM) algorithm enabled to classify 38 watersheds in three homogeneous groups. The optimal number of clusters was determined through evaluation of partition coefficient, partition entropy function and trial and error. The results indicated three homogeneous regions identified by the fuzzy c-mean clustering and remote sensing product which are consistent with the variations of topography and climate of the study area. Inherently, the grouped watersheds have similar hydrological properties and are likely to need similar management considerations and measures.     

Settlement of inhomogeneous consolidating soils—I: The single-drained layer under confined compression

The settlement and excess pore pressure are calculated for a column of water-saturated clay in which the permeability and/or shear modulus vary with depth. Several fairly general laws of variation are investigated. In each case, the soil is assumed to have a permeable top surface and to rest on an impervious substrate. For all the variations examined, in which the shear modulus increases with depth below the surface but the permeability of the soil remains constant, the deflection at a given instant after imposition of the load decreases and the degree of settlement increases with increasing rate at which the change with depth takes place. It is found that, when the variation over the height of the column is one order of magnitude or less, the curve of degree-of-consolidation versus time is reasonably wellapproximated by the curve for a homogeneous soil whose modulus equals the depth-averaged value. When, in addition, the permeability decreases with depth, the approximation becomes less accurate. The same approximation, for moderate increase in shear modulus with depth, predicts satisfactorily the process of dissipation of excess pore pressure at a given depth, but breaks down when the variation in modulus is large. Finally, it is shown that the effect of variable modulus on the settlement is greater than of a comparable variation in permeability.     

TOPSAR wave spectra model and coastal erosion detection

This paper presents work done utilizing TOPSAR data to detect shoreline change along the Terengganu coast (Malaysia). TOPSAR data were used to extract information on wave spectra. This wave spectra information was then used to model shoreline changes by investigating the wave refraction patterns. From these patterns, the volume transport at several locations was estimated. The shoreline change model developed was designed to cover a 20 km stretch of shoreline of Kuala Terengganu. The model utilized data from aerial photographs, TOPSAR data and ground truth data. The location of sedimentation and erosion along the shoreline of Kuala Terengganu was estimated. The wave spectra extracted from TOPSAR data showed wavelengths ranging from 20 m to 175 m. The main direction of the waves given by the spectra was from the northeast. The wave refraction patterns varied, showing both convergence and divergence, indicating erosion and sedimentation locations, respectively. A comparison between the TOPSAR shoreline change model and aerial photographs and ground truth data showed a significant relationship. Finally, the regression model showed that erosion occurred particularly at Sultan Mahmed Airport, at a rate of −1.5 m/year. The maximum rate of sedimentation along the 20 km stretch was 1 m/year.     

Electrical structure of the tectonically active Kalabsha Fault, Aswan, Egypt

In this work, we use the magnetotelluric (MT) method to detect geoelectrical conductivity anomalies in the Earth's crust and link them to local seismic activity. This application affords the unusual opportunity to study the percolation of water from a lake into a fault system and its effect on the induced seismicity. MT measurements were carried out in the period range 0.0046–420 s at nine sites along a 15 km-long North–South profile crossing the Kalabsha Fault, on the western bank of Lake Aswan. Data were analysed by 2D simultaneous inversion of both polarisations. The resulting model is compared with the local seismicity map and reveals the conductive signature of the fault, as well as geological and tectonic stresses prevailing in the Aswan area. Our MT investigations show the following features:

The measured MT strike aligns with the seismic epicentre axis corresponding to the Kalabsha Fault.

While crossing the Fault, enhanced conductivity is found down to depths of 5 km on a 1–2 km profile segment.

At mid-crustal depths (20 km), a very high conductive body is found to coincide with the main seismic cluster in the Aswan area.

These observations indicate that seismic activity and high electrical conductivity are related. The link between them is the presence of crustal fluids which are presumably the cause of the high conductivity observed. Their presence is also required to trigger the observed seismicity. In addition, we explain the lower conductivity of the local upper crust in terms of stress-modulated rock porosity. We believe that these results are of general significance, as they could explain the mid-crustal seismicity of tectonically active zones.     

An instantaneous 3-D analysis of turbulent flow in the wake of a hemisphere

Instantaneous three-dimensional velocity fields in the wake of a hemisphere located on an open channel bed are obtained by using multi-section flow visualization and a Mass-Consistent model. Instantaneous pictures of the organized structures are taken at a short time interval to investigate their behaviors at high Reynolds number. At high Reynolds number, the large vortex in the hemisphere wake is similar to the hairpin vortex observed at low Reynolds number. However, the long legs of the hairpin in the streamwise direction are not observed. A secondary hairpin vortex has been generated on the upstream side of the large hairpin vortex. Instantaneous spatial distributions of fluctuating velocity, vorticity production, etc. are presented and discussed.     

Two-dimensional development of the dynamic coupled consolidation scaled boundary finite-element method for fully saturated soils

The scaled boundary finite-element method is a powerful tool used to analyse far-field boundary soil–structure interaction problems. In this paper, the method is extended to include Biot's coupled consolidation in order to deal with fully saturated soil as a two-phase medium. The advantages of this method are explained in this paper. The detailed formulation considers the general two-dimensional (2D) analysis case, accounting for body forces and surface tractions in both bounded and unbounded media.     

Hydrogeochemical characterization and groundwater quality assessment in Al-Hasa,Saudi Arabia

Fifty groundwater samples were collected from Al-Hasa to analyze the pH, electrical conductivity (EC, dS m^?1), total dissolved solids (TDS), major anions (HCO₃^?, CO₃^2?, Cl^?, SO₄^2?, and NO₃^?), major cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺), and total hardness. The analyzed data plotted in the Piper, Gibbs, and Durov diagrams, and water quality index (WQI) were calculated to evaluate the groundwater geochemistry and its water quality. The results reveal that most of the investigated samples are Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, SO₄^2?, Cl^? and Na⁺, and HCO₃^? water types using the Piper diagram. Na⁺?>?Ca²⁺?>?Mg²⁺ are the dominant cations, while Cl^??>?HCO₃^??>?SO₄^2??>?CO₃^2? are the dominant anions. Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) values varied from 0.79 to 10; however, the Kelly ratio (KR) ranged between 0.1 and 2.2. The permeability index (PI) showed that well water is suitable for irrigation purposes with 75% or more of maximum permeability. The US salinity diagram revealed that the water quality classes of studied waters were CIII-SI, CIII-SII, and CIV-SII, representing height hazards of salinity and medium- to low-sodium hazard. The water quality index (WQI) results indicated that total dissolved solids are out of the drinking water standard limits in Saudi Arabia. The WQI revealed that 38% of the studied wells were considered as poor water (class III), 52% are found as very poor water class (IV), and 10% are unsuitable water for drinking class (V).     

Statistical Evaluation of CPT and CPTu Based Methods for Prediction of Axial Bearing Capacity of Piles

Piles are structural members made of steel, concrete, or wood installed into the ground to transfer superstructure loads to the soil. Nowadays, many structures are built on poor lands, and therefore piles have crucial roles in such structures. Performing in-situ tests such as cone penetration (CPT) and piezocone penetration tests (CPTu) have always been of great importance in designing piles. These tests have a brilliant consistency with reality, and as a result, the outcome data can be used in order to achieve reliable pile designing models and reduce uncertainty in this regard. In this paper, the capability of various CPT and CPTu based methods developed from 1961 to 2016 has been investigated using four statistical methods. Such CPT and CPTu based methods are adopted for direct prediction of axial bearing capacity of piles using CPT and CPTu field data. For this purpose, 61 sets of field data prepared from CPT and CPTu have been collected. The data sets were utilized in order to calculate the axial bearing capacity of piles (Q_E) through 25 different methods. In addition, the measured axial pile capacities (Q_M) have been collected, recorded and prepared from field static load tests, respectively. Then, four different statistical approaches have been applied to assess the accuracy of these methods. Finally, the most reliable and accurate methods are presented.