Geology and Gold Mineralization in the Pan-African Rocks of the Adola Area, Southern Ethiopia

Primary and placer gold deposits are mined from the Pan-African Adola volcano-sedimentary sequence, in southern Ethiopia. Two major mineralized belts can be recognized: the Megado (‘Gold Belt’) and the Kenticha Belts. The Kenticha Belt is also known for its rare metal mineralization. Extensive exploration of the area resulted in two most important primary gold deposits of Lega Dembi and Sakaro. The primary gold deposits are classified into four classes based on their geological setting:

- auriferous veins, lodes, stockworks and silicified zones disseminated in schistose rocks

- gold associated with quartzite

- gold mineralization confined to conglomerates and meta-arkoses

- auriferous quartz veins in high grade gneiss rocks

This classification provides a useful guide for future exploration programme     

Regional groundwater flow modeling of the Geba basin,northern Ethiopia

Hydrogeology Journal - The Geba basin is one of the most food-insecure areas of the Tigray regional state in northern Ethiopia due to recurrent drought resulting from erratic distribution of...     

Phodong (Sikkim) earthquake of 14 February 2006 and its aftershocks—Coulomb stress analysis

The 14 February 2006 Phodong (Sikkim) earthquake of moderate magnitude (Mw 5.3) triggered several aftershocks that were recorded by a local seismic network. The thrust earthquake is part of the continuing earthquake activity in the Himalayan seismic belt region that occurs on the detachment or ramp under the Higher Himalaya. The aftershocks of the earthquake occurred in increased stress regions caused by the earthquake rupture. Triggering of aftershocks by such a moderate magnitude earthquake implies that the faults in the Himalaya are critically stressed and even a small change of stress, about 0.001–0.002 MPa, can trigger earthquakes on such faults.     

Attenuation of P- and S-waves in limestones

Ultrasonic compressional- and shear-wave attenuation measurements have been made on 40, centimetre-sized samples of water- and oil-saturated oolitic limestones at 50 MPa effective hydrostatic pressure (confining pressure minus pore-fluid pressure) at frequencies of about 0.85 MHz and 0.7 MHz respectively, using the pulse-echo method. The mineralogy, porosity, permeability and the distribution of the pore types of each sample were determined using a combination of optical and scanning electron microscopy, a helium porosimeter and a nitrogen permeameter. The limestones contain a complex porosity system consisting of interparticle macropores (dimensions up to 300 microns) and micropores (dimensions 5–10 microns) within the ooids, the calcite cement and the mud matrix. Ultrasonic attenuation reaches a maximum value in those limestones in which the dual porosity system is most fully developed, indicating that the squirt-flow mechanism, which has previously been shown to occur in shaley sandstones, also operates in the limestones. It is argued that the larger-scale dual porosity systems present in limestones in situ could similarly cause seismic attenuation at the frequencies of field seismic surveys through the operation of the squirt-flow mechanism.     

A Novel Hybrid Technique of Integrating Gradient-Boosted Machine and Clustering Algorithms for Lithology Classification

Natural Resources Research - The significant body of research on lithology identification in recent years has laid emphasis on the improvement of classification performance using hybrid machine...     

Modeling Dynamic Vegetation Response to Rapid Climate Change Using Bioclimatic Classification

Modeling potential global redistribution of terrestrial vegetation frequently is based on bioclimatic classifications which relate static regional vegetation zones (biomes) to a set of static climate parameters. The equilibrium character of the relationships limits our confidence in their application to scenarios of rapidly changing climate. Such assessments could be improved if vegetation migration and succession would be incorporated as response variables in model simulations. We developed the model MOVE (Migration Of VEgetation), to simulate the geographical implications of different rates of plant extirpation and in-migration. We used the model to study the potential impact on terrestrial carbon stocks of climate shifts hypothesized from a doubling of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration. The model indicates that the terrestrial vegetation and soil could release carbon; the amount of this carbon pulse depends on the rate of migration relative to the rate of climate change. New temperate and boreal biomes, not found on the landscape today, increase rapidly in area during the first 100 years of simulated response to climate change. Their presence for several centuries and their gradual disappearance after the climate ceases to change adds uncertainty in calculating future terrestrial carbon fluxes.     

Spatial and temporal variability of shoreline change in the Beaufort-Mackenzie region, northwest territories, Canada

Aerial photographs from 1972, 1985 and 2000 were analyzed to obtain measurements of coastal change in the Mackenzie Delta region of the Beaufort Sea. Changes from 1972 to 2000 are dominated by retreat of the shoreline with average annual retreat rates of –0.6 m a^–1, but ranging as high as –22.5 m a^–1. Rates vary significantly both between and within zones of similar exposure, morphology and coastal geology with the highest average rates located in areas that are most exposed to northwest winds. In general, decadal-scale rates of change have remained constant during the 28 years encompassed by this study.     

On the possible role of Rossby waves in the formation of the long-period Kuroshio meander off of Kumano Nada and Enshu Nada

It is pointed out that the rate of advance of a small transient meander east of Kyushu, which (according to the meager evidence available) seems to precede the formation of the large stable Kuroshio meander south of Kumano Nada and Enshu Nada, shows order of magnitude agreement with the barotropic Rossby wave velocity calculated on the assumption that the entire contiguous downstream flow (not merely the strong near-axis flow) behaves as a unified dynamical entity.     

Mitobs: A seismometer system for ocean-bottom earthquake studies

The MIT ocean-bottom seismometer is a free-fall, pop-up instrument capable of recording three components of seismic data on the sea floor for periods of at least one month. Data are recorded in digital format on a specially designed magnetic tape recorder. An event recording scheme and semiconductor memories assure both efficient data storage and preservation of first motion information. Sensors and recording electronics are housed in a cylindrical pressure vessel, which sits vertically atop an expendable base plate on the ocean bottom. Attached to the pressure case are three glass spheres for buoyancy. After a pre-set time interval, a motor-driven mechanical latch release frees the instrument to float to the ocean surface for recovery.