Bedouin farms in the Saint Katherine mountainous area(South Sinai,Egypt)

This study aims to assess the natural and cultivated plant species in 26 Bedouin farms in Saint Katherine Protectorate(SKP),identify their soil and water characteristics,and assess the suitability of these farms for the cultivation of some wild medicinal plants.The farms were selected to represent wide wadis with deep sand and clay deposits,gorge-like wadis covered with rock fragments of different sizes,spot-like oases,and the Al Q'aa Plain.Using TWINSPAN(two-way indicator species analysis)and DCA(detrended correspondence analysis)techniques,the 26 farms were classified into 5 groups(Ⅰ-Ⅴ)based on their floristic composition of wild plants.These groups reflect an elevation gradient among the farms above sea level from a mean of 119 m to a mean of1,865m.A total of 73 wild species were recorded,with47 in groupⅡ(500-1,000 m)and 25 in group V(1,700 m).The common target species were Artemisia judaica,Acacia tortilis subsp.raddiana,Origanum syriacum subsp.sinaicum and Varthemia montana(34.6%-26.9%).The cultivated speciesnumbered 25,with 17 in groupⅡ(500-1,000 m) andⅡin groupⅣ(1,500-1,700 m).The common fruit trees were olive,grape,fig,apple,palm,almond,apricot and pomegranate(73.0%-42.3%).Based on the soil characteristics,13 farms belong to soil class 2that describes good soils with moderate limitations,and 12 belong to soil class 3 that describes moderately good soils,which can be used regularly for crops after proper treatment.     

Oxygen Fugacity and Water Activity during Thermal Peak and Retrogression of Granulites around the Sarvapuram Area,Karimnagar Granulite Terrane,Andhra Pradesh,India

The investigated area around Sarvapuram represents a part of the Karimnagar granulite terrane of the Eastern Dharwar Craton, India. Garnet–bearing gneiss is hosted as enclaves, pods within granite gneiss and charnockite. It is largely made up of garnet, orthopyroxene, cordierite, biotite, plagioclase, K–feldspar, sillimanite and quartz. The peak metamorphic stage is represented by the equilibrium mineral assemblage i.e. garnet, orthopyroxene, cordierite, biotite, plagioclase, sillimanite and quartz. Breakdown of the garnet as well as preservation of the orthopyroxene–cordierite symplectite, formation of cordierite with the consumption of the garnet + sillimanite + quartz represents the decompressional event. The thermobarometric calculations suggest a retrograde P–T path with a substantial decompression of c. 3.0 kbar. The water activity(XH2 O) conditions obtained with the win TWQ program for core and symplectite compositions from garnet–bearing gneiss are 0.07–0.14 and 0.11–0.16 respectively. The quantitative estimation of oxygen fugacity in garnet–bearing gneiss reveal log f O2 values ranging from-11.38 to-14.05. This high oxidation state could be one of the reasons that account for the absence of graphite in these rocks.     

Stochastic ground-motion simulation of two Himalayan earthquakes: seismic hazard assessment perspective

The earthquakes in Uttarkashi (October 20, 1991, M _w 6.8) and Chamoli (March 8, 1999, M _w 6.4) are among the recent well-documented earthquakes that occurred in the Garhwal region of India and that caused extensive damage as well as loss of life. Using strong-motion data of these two earthquakes, we estimate their source, path, and site parameters. The quality factor (Q _β ) as a function of frequency is derived as Q _β (f) = 140f ^1.018. The site amplification functions are evaluated using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio technique. The ground motions of the Uttarkashi and Chamoli earthquakes are simulated using the stochastic method of Boore (Bull Seismol Soc Am 73:1865–1894, 1983). The estimated source, path, and site parameters are used as input for the simulation. The simulated time histories are generated for a few stations and compared with the observed data. The simulated response spectra at 5% damping are in fair agreement with the observed response spectra for most of the stations over a wide range of frequencies. Residual trends closely match the observed and simulated response spectra. The synthetic data are in rough agreement with the ground-motion attenuation equation available for the Himalayas (Sharma, Bull Seismol Soc Am 98:1063–1069, 1998).     

Base Treated Cogon Grass (Imperata cylindrica) as an Adsorbent for the Removal of Ni(II): Kinetic,Isothermal and Fixed‐bed Column Studies

The adsorption of Ni(II) from aqueous solutions using base treated cogon grass or Imperata cylindrica (NHIC) was performed under batch and column modes. Batch experiments were conducted to determine the factors affecting adsorption such as pH, adsorbent dosage, initial nickel concentration, contact time and temperature. The fixed‐bed column experiment was performed to determine the practical applicability of NHIC and to obtain the breakthrough curve. Adsorption was fast as equilibrium was achieved within 60 min, and was best described by the pseudo second order model. According to the Langmuir model, a maximum adsorption capacity of 6.96 mg/g was observed at pH 5 and at a temperature of 313 K. Thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG⁰, ΔH⁰ and ΔS⁰ were calculated, and indicated that adsorption was a spontaneous and endothermic process. The mechanistic pathway of Ni(II) uptake was examined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The Thomas and Yoon‐Nelson models were used to analyze the fixed‐bed column data.     

Development of an infinite element boundary to model gravity for subsurface civil engineering applications

The accurate modelling of gravity is of crucial importance for a variety of issues including, but not restricted to, the identification of buried objects. Gravity is an unbounded problem, which causes challenges when applying numerical models, i..e.., it results in computational difficulties when specifying the relevant boundary conditions. In order to address this, previous research has tended to generate artificial boundary conditions, e.g., truncating the simulated domain and adding many unrealistic zero-density layers, which introduces more unknown parameters and unnecessarily excessive computational time. In order to overcome such inaccuracies, this paper proposes an innovative development of the finite element modelling technique, which represents a step change in the field of gravity forward modelling. A comprehensive formulation of an infinite element to reproduce the far-field boundary effect using only one layer of infinite elements is presented. The developed model considerably reduces the computational time while obtaining high degrees of accuracy. The model is validated against the exact solution of the problem, and its results show an excellent performance. The proposed method can significantly improve the postprocessing and interpretation stages of data analysis relevant to micro-gravity sensors. The new method is applied to subsurface civil engineering although its applicability is manifold.     

Shrinking greenery: Land use and land cover changes in Kurram Agency,Kohi Safid Mountains of north-western Pakistan

Deforestation and other Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes, driven by variety of physical and anthropogenic factors, have altered the mountainous environment. Mountains around the world including northern and north western belts of Pakistan are highly sensitive to deforestation and other LULC changes, which have profound impacts on various sectors of bio-physical and socio-economic systems. Assessment of LULC changes has high significance for protection, conservation and monitoring mountainous environment. The present study is an attempt to assess the landscape changes with particular reference to forest cover depletion in Kurram Agency located in the north western mountain belt of Pakistan. For detailed comparative analysis the study area has been divided into three sections, which coincide with the present administrative divisions of the Agency, i.e., Upper, Lower and Central Kurram. Temporal span of this study covers four decades. In this study, land use map of 1970 and land sat satellite imageries of 1987, 2000 and 2014 were used as spatial data sets. The images were processed and classified into six LULC classes through geospatial packages and change detection maps were prepared for each division and time period. Findings of the study reveal two trends in the four major LULC categories. Forest and rangeland have shrunk, on average, by 15% and 7.5% respectively while, bare soil and rocks outcrops have expanded by 89% and agriculture land by 7.2% in Kurram agency. The water bodies and snow cover have minor fluctuation in its land area. Major causes of shrinking greenery is attributed to high influx of Afghan refugees and high energy demand of growing population. However, with outflow of the refugees from Kurram agency the general trend in forest cover has reverted and deforestation rate has slowed down.     

Field evidences showing rapid frontal degeneration of the Kangriz glacier,western Himalayas,Jammu & Kashmir

Life cycle of glaciers in the Himalayan region has notably changed due to the climatic variability since last few decades. Glaciers across the world and specially the Himalayan glaciers have shown large scale degeneration in the last few decades. Himalayan glaciers serve as an important fresh water resource for the downstream communities, who are dependent on this water for domestic and other purposes. Therefore, glacier shrinkage and the associated hydrological changes pose a significant problem for regional-scale water budgets and resource management. These issues necessitate the regular and rigorous monitoring of the wastage pattern of the Himalayan glaciers in field and using satellite remote sensing data. In this work, we report rapid and enhanced degeneration of the frontal part of the Kangriz glacier, Jammu and Kashmir (J & K), in terms of surface melting, debris cover, snout characteristics and meltwater discharge. Ablation data acquired during 2016–2017 shows the average lowering of the frontal part of the glacier to be ~148 ± 34 cm, one-third of which was found to have occurred within a 13 day time period in September, 2017. Also, the quantum of ice melt was found to be inversely influenced (r = -0.84) by the debris thickness. 15 day meltwater discharge measurement revealed its strong relationship with snout disintegration pattern, evidenced twice during the said time period. Volume of water discharged from the glacier was estimated to be 7.91×10⁶ m³ for the measurement duration. Also, mean daily discharge estimated for the 15 days interval showed good positive correction (r = 0.78) with temperature indicating the direct dependency of the former on land surface temperature conditions of the region. Besides the lowering and discharge observations, the frequent ice-block break-offs at the glacier snout further enhance its overall drastic degeneration. The study suggests that, being the largest glacier in the Suru basin, the Kangriz glacier needs to be continuously monitored in order to understand its glacio-hydrological conditions.     

Effect of autocorrelation on temporal trends in rainfall in a valley region at the foothills of Indian Himalayas

This study examines the effect of autocorrelation on step and monotonic trends in seasonal and annual rainfall. Initially, for step change, modified-Pettitt test is applied in two ways. First, using the corrected and unbiased trend-free-pre-whitening (TFPWcu) approach. Second, using a new approach in which time series is modelled by intervention analysis for modified Pettitt test. Subsequently, for monotonic trends, Mann–Kendall (MK) and six approaches of modified Mann–Kendall (MMK) test are applied to NCDC data for period 1901–2012 and its sub-periods. Approaches of MMK include pre-whitening (PW), trend-free-pre-whitening (TFPW), TFPWcu, two Variance Correction Approaches (VCAs) based on empirical formula (VCA:CF1) and Monte-Carlo-Simulations (VCA:CF2) and long term persistence (MK-LTP). A single change point is identified in 1970 for annual and monsoon rainfall from original and modified-Pettitt’s test using TFPWcu, while time series modelling approach has not exhibited any change point. Process shift in rainfall series is also studied using CUSUM and multiple change points are identified using Segment-Neighbourhood method. Outcomes of MMK show that TFPWcu is able to efficiently limit the effect of autocorrelation and may be preferred over PW and TFPW. The VCA:CF2 is not dependent on whole autocorrelation structure and corrects variance of all data series using lag-1 autocorrelation and may be preferred over VCA:CF1. MK-LTP considers long term persistence and it has exhibited presence of weaker trends than exhibited by other approaches. VCA:CF2 and MK-LTP are used to study trends of rainfall in Dehradun.     

ACCURACY OF KINEMATIC WAVE AND DIFFUSION WAVE APPROXIMATIONS FOR TIME-INDEPENDENT FLOW WITH MOMENTUM EXCHANGE INCLUDED

Errors in the kinematic wave and diffusion wave approximation for time-independent (or steady-state) cases of channel flow with momentum exchange included were derived for three types of boundary conditions: zero flow at the upstream end, and critical flow depth and zero depth gradient at the downstream end. The diffusion wave approximation was found to be in excellent agreement with the dynamic wave approximation, with errors of less than 1% for KF²₀≥7·5 and up to 12% for KF²₀≤0·75 for the upstream boundary condition of zero discharge and finite depth, where K is the kinematic wave number and F₀ is the Froude number. The kinematic wave approximation was reasonably accurate except at the channel boundaries and for small values of KF²₀ (≤1). The accuracy of these approximations was significantly influenced by the downstream boundary condition both in terms of the error magnitude and the segment of the channel reach for which these approximations would be applicable. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.