Growth trends and changes in small towns in Saudi Arabia (1974–1993)

This study examines some of the factors affecting growth and change in small towns in Saudi Arabia (1974–1993), namely, their relative location and population size. The study hypothesizes that small town's rate of growth increases with distance from the nearest large city and that small towns' having larger population in 1974 will likely be the ones to grow more in 1993. The research data were obtained from population censuses of 1974 and 1993. Findings indicate that there is a positive but low association between small towns population growth rate and distance from the nearest large city and a strong negative relationship between growth rate and town population size.     

Thermal metamorphism of primitive meteorites—I. Variation of six trace elements in Allende carbonaceous chondrite heated at 400–1000°C

Determination by neutron activation of 6 trace elements retained in Allende (C3) samples heated at 400–1000°C for 1 week in a low-pressure (initially ~10^?5 atm H₂) atmosphere reveals loss of small proportions of Ga and Se and large proportions of Bi, In and Tl-Co being unaffected. The retentivity patterns for the 5 volatile elements differ and in no way duplicate a step-function. In contrast to these trace elements, sulfur is initially present in discrete mineral(s) and visually it appears to be released over a narrow temperature range. Elements are lost more easily from powder than from chips but the difference is ≤35 per cent. Above 600°C, the process of loss appears due to process(es) with apparent activation energies of 2 kcal/mole (Bi, Tl), 4 kcal/mole (Se) and 22 kcal/mole (In). Loss of Bi, Se and Tl below 600°C involves higher apparent activation energies. Two-element correlation diagrams involving Bi, In and Tl are consistent with the idea that trends among highly-volatile elements in enstatite chondrites arise from metamorphism.     

Weathering and biokarst development on marine terraces,northwest Morocco

Weathering features are described from an arid coastal area in northern Morocco which are indicative of invasive chasmolithic and endolithic microbial communities. Active weathering of marine terraces and karst development is associated with endolithic and epilithic algae responsible for boring, disintegration of matrix and mineral fabrics, solution and biomineralization that undermines the marine carbonate platform. Evidence of a range of biological weathering agents remains preserved, speci?cally calci?ed ?laments and sporangial material. An abundance of ?laments and spores representative of a consortium of algae, fungi, cyanobacteria and lichens is associated with the most denuded outcrops. The array of microbes contributes to the formation of the stromatolites to depths of 0·5 m within the limestone substrate. The preservation of stromatolites is supported by calci?cation of spores and ?laments, with trapping and binding of carbonate held in suspension by vadose waters. The pervasive weathering on this sector of coastline has important practical implications for coastal planning and development authorities in Morocco. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Porphyry Cu deposits linked to episodic growth of an underlying parental magma chamber

Saindak is one of the typical porphyry Cu deposits (PCDs) in the Chagai magmatic arc in Pakistan. Ore-forming porphyries at Saindak PCD are mainly composed of tonalite. Here, we use geochemistry of apatite enclosed in plagioclase phenocrysts from the ore-forming tonalite to constrain the releasing and recharging processes of S and Cl in the underlying parental magma chamber during PCD mineralization. Although apatite inclusions have homogeneous intra-grain S and Cl compositions, there is significant inter-grain S and Cl variations in apatite inclusions located from core to rim in the hosting plagioclase. Such inter-grain S and Cl variation in apatites are coupled with the core-to-rim trends of An, FeO and Mg contents of the hosting plagioclase phenocryst. It indicates that the Saindak PCD likely formed by episodic injection of primitive magmas during the growth of an underlying magma chamber, rather than by one major injection or by addition of mafic melt derived from different source region. Each primitive melt injection introduced essential ore-forming materials such as S and Cl, which were rapidly and effectively released to the coexisting fluids, causing mineralization. Once primitive melt injection stops, signaling the end of growth of underlying magma chamber, mineralization will cease quickly although the hydrothermal system can still survive for a long time. However, the later released fluids are relatively depleted in ore-forming materials, and thus have lower capability to generate mineralization. Accordingly, predominant porphyry-type mineralizations occurred during the growth rather than waning stage of a magmatic system.

     

Site dependent and spatially varying response spectra

The goal of this study is to provide a stochastic method to investigate the effects of the randomness of soil properties due to their natural spatial variability on the response spectra spatial variation at sites with varying conditions. For this purpose, Monte Carlo Simulations are used to include the variability of both incident ground motion and soil parameters in the response spectra by mean of an appropriate coherency loss function and a site-dependent transfer function, respectively. The approach is built on the assumption of vertical propagation of SH type waves in soil strata with uncertain parameters. The response spectra are obtained by numerical integration of the governing equation of a single-degree-of-freedom(SDOF) system under non-stationary site-dependent and spatially varying ground motion accelerations simulated with non-uniform spectral densities and coherency loss functions. Numerical examples showed that randomness of soil properties significantly affects the amplitudes of the response spectra, indicating that as the heterogeneity induced by the randomness of the parameters of the medium increases, the spectral ordinates attenuate.     

Response of infaunal macrobenthos to the sediment granulometry in a tropical continental margin–southwest coast of India

Surficial sediment samples, collected from the continental margin of the southwest coast of India in July 2004, were examined for the grain size and soft-bottom macrobenthic fauna, to understand the sediment granulometry and its effect on the faunal distribution. Samples were collected using Smith-McIntyre Grab, from 20 to 200 m depth range, consisting of mid-shelf, outer shelf and slope. Fine-grained sediment located in the mid shelf and supported low faunal abundance. Polychaetes constituted the bulk of the fauna. Feeding guild changed with depth and sediment granulometry. Coexistence of deposit feeders and carnivores in outer shelf and deposit feeders and filter feeders in the slope region indicated the effective utilization of different food resources. In general, richness and diversity were high in the southern region. Depth wise, the diversity and abundance were relatively high in the 50–75 m depth range. Correlation and BIO-ENV analysis showed that combination of different factors such as sediment texture, sediment sorting and depth were found to influence the distribution of macrobenthos. Hence, spatial variations observed in benthic community were presumably linked to the variations in sediment granulometry and the energy level conditions prevailing in the area.     

Groundwater protection from cadmium contamination by permeable reactive barrier in Qian'an of Jilin,China

This research studies the reliability of an activated carbon permeable reactive barrier in removing cadmium from a contaminated shallow aquifer.Laboratory tests have been performed to characterize the equilibrium and kinetic adsorption properties of the activated carbon in cadmium-containing aqueous solutions.A 2D numerical model has been used to describe pollutant transport within a groundwater and the pollutant adsorption on the permeable reactive barrier(PRB).In particular,it has been considered the case...     

Cretaceous Environments of Afghanistan:A Synthesis Based on Selected Sections

The Cretaceous of Afghanistan is marked by great facies diversity. The evolution of Cretaceous basins is part of a complex accretionary history involving three distinct tectonic units namely the Asian (Russian) Block separated from the Indian plate by a rather well defined transcurrent fault (Chaman-Nuski). The southwestern component is representedby the Iran-Afghanistan plate. The Lower Cretaceous of the Asian Block is represented by the Red-Grit Series which isconformable to the underlying Upper Jurassic sequences. The transition is marked by evaporitic facies dominated by salt,gypsum and marl deposits. In south Afghanistan volcanic rocks occur at Farah, with the emplacement of plutonics inwest-central Afghanistan. The Upper Cretaceous of north Afghanistan is marked by richly fossiliferous, lime stone-dominated sequences. The Upper Cretaceous of southern Afghanistan is marked by strong ophiolitic magrmatism.     

Estimation of chlorophyll fluorescence under natural illumination from hyperspectral data

This paper reports a series of laboratory and field measurements of spectral reflectance under artificial and natural light conditions which demonstrate that effects of natural chlorophyll fluorescence are observable in the reflectance red edge spectral region. These are results from the progress made to link physiologically-based indicators to optical indices from hyperspectral remote sensing in the Bioindicators of Forest Sustainability Project. This study is carried out on twelve sites of Acer saccharum M. in the Algoma Region, Ontario (Canada), where field measurements, laboratory-simulation experiments, and hyperspectral CASI imagery have been carried out in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 campaigns. Leaf samples from the study sites have been used for reflectance and transmittance measurements with the Li-Cor Model 1800 integrating sphere apparatus coupled to an Ocean Optics Model ST1000 fibre spectrometer in which the same leaves are illuminated alternatively with and without fluorescence-exciting radiation. A study of the diurnal change in leaf reflectance spectra, combined with fluorescence measurements with the PAM-2000 Fluorometer show that the difference spectra are consistent with observed diurnal changes in steady-state fluorescence. Small canopies of Acer saccharum M. have been used for laboratory measurements with the CASI hyperspectral sensor, and under natural light conditions with a fibre spectrometer in diurnal trials, in which the variation of measured reflectance is shown experimentally to be consistent with a fluorescence signature imposed on the inherent leaf reflectance signature. Such reflectance changes due to CF are measurable under natural illumination conditions, although airborne experiments with the CASI hyperspectral sensor produced promising but less convincing results in two diurnal experiments carried out in 1999 and 2000, where small variations of reflectance due to the effect of CF were observed.     

Groundwater investigation in Kuala Selangor using vertical electrical sounding (VES) surveys

Integrated geoelectrical and hydrochemical surveys were used to investigate and delineate different types of groundwater in the Kuala Selangor alluvial aquifer. Previous hydrogeological borehole investigation showed that this aquifer contains several types of groundwater in relation to its salinity. The high salinity of the groundwater in some areas is believed to be due to either saltwater intrusion from the nearby sea or river infiltration during high tide season. The vertical electrical sounding (VES) method was employed to study and map the subsurface variation of resistivity in the area. For each sounding measurement, a total spread length of 300 m was obtained with a vertical depth penetration of about 60 to 75 m. Chemical analysis of the groundwater samples taken from both shallow and deep boreholes was carried out for the water quality determination. A total of 45 VES stations were succesfully established along three parallel roads with a direction almost perpendicular to the coastal line. The distance between stations varies from 1 to 2 km with a maximum length of about 60 km surveyed line. Results of the vertical electrical soundings as well as the hydrochemistry of the groundwater samples show that the soil and groundwater in the study area can be grouped into fresh and brackish water zones. The subsurface resisitivity sections derived from the VES study suggest that the area is dominated by brackish soil and groundwater zones, especially in the area towards the coast. This result appears to agree well with the groundwater pumped from boreholes scattered around in the area. Water drawn from boreholes near the coast showed higher salinity compared to the water pumped from inland boreholes. Chloride values greater than 250 mg/L are considered to represent the brackish zones whilst values less than 250 mg/L represents zones of fresh soil and groundwater.