Late Miocene normal faulting beneath the northern Nile Delta: NNW propagation of the Gulf of Suez Rift

The north Egyptian continental margin has undergone passive margin subsidence since the opening of Tethys, but its post-Mesozoic history has been interrupted by tectonic events that include a phase of extensional faulting in the Late Miocene. This study characterizes the geometry and distribution of Late Miocene normal faulting beneath the northern Nile Delta and addresses the relationship of this faulting to the north–northwestwards propagation of Red Sea–Gulf of Suez rifting at this time. Structural interpretation of a 2D grid of seismic reflection data has defined a Tortonian–Messinian syn-rift megasequence, when tied to well data. Normal fault correlations between seismic lines are constrained by the mapping of fault-related folds. Faults are evenly distributed across the study area and are found to strike predominantly NW–SE to NNW–SSE, with some N–S faults in the north. Faults are interpreted to be <10 km in length, typically in the range 3–6 km. This suggests that rifting in the northern Nile Delta did not proceed beyond a continental rift initiation phase, with distributed, relatively small-scale faults. This contrasts with the Gulf of Suez Rift, where faulting continued to a more evolved fault localization phase, with block-bounding faults >25 km in length. Results suggest that future studies could quantify fault evolution from rift initiation to fault linkage to displacement localization, by studying the spatial variation in faulting from the northern Nile Delta, south–southeastwards to the Gulf of Suez Rift.     

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.     

Numerical Modelling Investigation of Wave Interaction on Composite Berm Breakwater

China Ocean Engineering - The breakwaters have experienced many changes during their construction history. These changes have been considered to improve their performance, depending on their...     

Tectonic deformation and subsurface active fault trends of El-Faiyum province,Egypt as deduced by seismicity and potential field data

We utilized the seismicity and the potential field data to study the tectonic deformation and to delineate the seismically active subsurface tectonic trends of El-Faiyum area. To accomplish these goals, we analyzed and interpreted the seismicity data, the reduced to pole total magnetic intensity, and the Bouguer anomaly maps. We also used the spatial distribution of the recent seismic events and the focal mechanism to outline the local seismic zones that control the seismicity of the study area and to determine the sense of the motion along the subsurface active faults. The focal mechanism of the recent seismic events and the interpreted subsurface tectonic faults from the potential field data reflect strike-slip movements with normal components along the subsurface active faults. The gravity and magnetic maps show a NE-SW regional trend with low gravity and magnetic values. The NE-SW regional trend extends across the whole area and could be related to the Pelusium Megashear fault. A NE-SW trend with high gravity and magnetic exists at the northern part and coincides with the Kattania Uplift and the basaltic flows in Gabal Qatrani area. The gravity and magnetic maps also reveal several local anomalies with different polarities, amplitudes, and extensions, which reflect anticlinal and synclinal structures on the basement surface. The seismotectonic map, generated by linking the basement structure map and the spatial distribution of the recent earthquake foci, reveals the dominant tectonic trends and the subsurface active faults.     

Textural relations,P-T path,polymetamorphism and also geodynamic significance of metamorphic rocks of the Aligudarz-Khonsar region,Sanandaj-Sirjan zone,Iran

The metamorphic rocks of the Aligudarz-Khonsar region can be divided into nine groups: slate, phyllite, sericite schist, biotite-muscovite schist, garnet schist, garnet-staurolite schist, staurolite schist, mylonitic granite, and marble. In this metamorphic region, four phases of metamorphism can be identified (dynamothermal, thermal, dynamic and retrograde metamorphism) and there are three deformation phases (D1, D2 and D3). Paleozoic pelagic shales experienced prograde metamorphism and polymetamorphism from the greenschist to amphibolite facies along the kyanite geotherm. The metapelites show prograde dynamothermal metamorphism from the greenschist to amphibolite facies. Maximum degree of dynamothermal metamorphism is seen in the Nughan bridge area. Also development of the mylonitic granites in the Nughan bridge area shows that dynamic metamorphism in this area was more intense than in other parts of the AligudarzKhonsar metapelitic zone. The chemical zoning of garnets shows three stages of growth and syn-tectonic formation. With ongoing metamorphism, staurolite appeared, and the rocks reached amphibolite facies, but the degree of metamorphism did not increase past the kyanite zone. Thus, metamorphism of the pelitic sediments occurred at the greenschist to amphibolite facies (kyanite zone). Thermodynamic studies of these rocks indicate that the metapelites in the Aligudarz-Khonsar region formed at 490–550°C and 0.47–5.6 kbar.