Petrogenesis of the Az Zabirah south zone bauxite ore deposits,central northern Saudi Arabia

Arabian Journal of Geosciences - The bauxite ore deposits are mainly found around the Az Zabirah area in the central northern part of Saudi Arabia. The age of the Az Zabirah bauxites was suggested...     

Provenance,weathering, and paleoenvironment of the Upper Cretaceous Duwi black shales,Aswan Governorate,Egypt

The mineralogy and geochemistry of the Upper Cretaceous Duwi black shales of Nile Valley district, Aswan Governorate, Egypt, have been investigated to identify the source rock characteristics, paleoweathering, and paleoenvironment of the source area. The Duwi Formation consists mainly of phosphorite and black shales and is subdivided into three members. The lower and upper members composed mainly of phosphorite beds intercalated with thin lenses of gray shales, while the middle member is mainly composed of gray shale, cracked, and filled with gypsum. Mineralogically, the Duwi black shales consist mainly of smectite and kaolinite. The non-clay minerals are dominated by quartz, calcite, phosphate, dolomite, feldspar, with little gypsum, anhydrite, iron oxides, and pyrite. Based on the CIA, PIA, and CIW values (average?=?84, 94, 95, respectively), it can be concluded that the litho-components of the studied shales were subjected to intense chemical weathering and reflect warm/humid climatic conditions in the depositional basin. The provenance discrimination diagram indicates that the nature of the source rocks probably was mainly intermediate and mafic igneous sources with subordinate recycled sedimentary rocks (Nubia Formation). Geochemical characteristics indicate that the Duwi black shales in Nile Valley district were deposited under anoxic reducing marine environments.     

Discussion of “Interfacing the geographic information system,remote sensing,and the soil conservation service-curve number method to estimate curve number and runoff volume in the ASIR region of Saudi Arabia” by Fawzi S. Mohammad,Jan Adamowski

The soil conservation service curve number (SCS-CN) method is one of the most commonly used methods to compute the direct runoff from a rainfall event. Since the method was established, numerous researches were undertaken to improve the method through accurate estimation of its parameter and especially the curve number (CN). However, the essence of the SCS method, as an event-based Hortonian mechanism method, remained unchanged. The main assumption of the method related to the rainfall input is that the rainfall is continuous in time and uniform over the watershed. Mohammad and Adamowski (2015) paper apparently used the SCS method to estimate the annual runoff using the annual rainfall as one cumulative rainfall input value, which is a violation of the event-based principle of the method and of the assumption of the continuity of the rainfall event.To re-estimate the average annual runoff more realistically for the Asir region, Saudi Arabia, daily rainfall data from 14 rainfall stations are used for calculating the resulting runoff depths, on a daily event-by-event rainfall basis, throughout the whole simulation period. The resulting runoff depths are added for each year, and the total cumulative annual runoff values for each year are averaged to get the average annual runoff. The runoff values based on the previously mentioned procedure are an upper limit of the actual average annual runoff as the underlying SCS equations discard evaporation and similar long-term losses. Nevertheless, the average runoff values obtained in the discussion paper are an order of magnitude (at least five to tenfold) lower than the ones of the original paper. An equation is proposed to obtain a more realistic estimate of the average annual runoff, to be used with the average annual rainfall as an input, if the annual value is the only available rainfall information.     

Detrital zircon provenance analysis in the Zagros Orogen,SW Iran: implications for the amalgamation history of the Neo-Tethys

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The Zagros Orogen developed as a result of Arabia–Eurasia collision. New in situ detrital zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopic analyses from a Cenozoic...     

Indirect Effects of Salinity and Temperature on Kuwait’s Shrimp Stocks

Discharge of the Shatt Al-Arab is believed to be a dominating component of the northern Arabian Gulf’s ecology and largely responsible for productivity of Kuwait’s fisheries. With major construction of dams on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Turkey, river discharge has been substantially reduced, and flooding essentially eliminated. We attempted to relate river flow and shrimp landings indirectly by correlating 19 years of salinity and temperature data from Kuwait’s waters with corresponding annual shrimp landings. For green tiger prawns (Penaeus semisulcatus), the combination of October salinities and January temperatures provided the best correlation (r = 0.67) with landings in the following shrimping season. For the combined landings of jinga and kiddi shrimps (Metapenaeus affinis and Parapenaeopsis stylifera, respectively), December salinity during season and May temperature prior to season resulted in the best correlation (r = 0.87). Landings of these two species also correlated well with spring and summer temperatures. Under normal conditions, late winter or early spring temperatures prior to fishing season influence recruitment of the green tiger prawn, whereas December salinities during harvest season influence the abundance of jinga–kiddi shrimps. With further reductions in the Shatt Al-Arab discharge and the elimination of flood events, Kuwait’s shrimp landings will most likely decrease over time.     

Effect of Macrophysical Parameters of Clouds on Broadband Solar Radiation (295-2800 nm) at a Subtropical Location

The present study describes the effect of clouds(macro-physical parameters) on global solar radiation(G).Data from four years of hourly measurements of G on a horizontal surface were used.These data were collected at the South Valley University(SVU) meteorological research station(26.2°N,32.7°E,96 m above mean see level.In addition,the cloud modification factor for G(CMFG) was estimated in three cases:high-level,mid-level,and low-level clouds.For every level,the variation of hourly CMFG as a function of cloud amount(CA) was illustrated.A third-order polynomial between hourly values of CMFG and CA was established.Furthermore,the effect of CA in the attenuation of G relative to its corresponding value in cloudless conditions is discussed.For cloud cover > 88%,G was reduced by 54%,34%,and 28% by low-,mid-,and high-level clouds,respectively.     

Present state of geodynamic properties of Kalabsha area, nortwest of Aswan Lake, Egypt

Aswan Lake is the second largest man-made lake in the world. Its filling started 1964 and reached the maximum water level in 1978. An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 took place in 1981 along the most active fault near the lake (Kalabsha fault). This earthquake was follwed by a tremendous number of smaller events that continue till now.Seismicity and the underground water table around the lake are monitored continuously through a radio-telemetered network. A local geodetic network was established around parts of the active faults in the northwestern part of the High Dam Lake, for monitoring vertical and lateral movements. The Kalabsha local geodetic network (the first one) was established around an active part of the Kalabsha fault in 1983. Precise geodetic measurements have benn carried out twice a year since 1984.On the basis of the repeated geodetic measurements, seismicity of the area and geophysical as well as geological data, the present state of the geodynamical properties of the Kalabsha area is studied.Remarkable horizontal movements were detected; they are correlated with the seismicity of the area and are attributed to the differential loading by the lake. The Kalabsha fault is a right-lateral strike-slip motion on an E-W plane. The magnitude of the movements detected along the fault is variable for the different epochs of measurements and is correlated with both seismicity and water loading in the lake.