Isotope geochemistry of the Miocene and Quaternary carbonate rocks in Rabigh area,Red Sea coast,Saudi Arabia

The Rabigh area, a coastal region north of Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia contains raised Quaternary coral reefal terraces and reworked coral fragments mixed with sand and gravel. This area has a thin exposure Lower Miocene shallow marine carbonate rocks that laterally pass into evaporites. The Miocene carbonate and evaporite rocks conformably overly the Lower Miocene siliciclastic sequence, are in turn capped by the Harrat basaltic boulders. The Miocene carbonates are made up of dolomitic packstone, wackestone and mudstone, whereas the overlying Quaternary reefal terraces are composed of coral boundstone and grainstones.The Quaternary reefal terraces of Rabigh area have been dated using the uranium-series dating method to obtain precise dates for these corals. The calculated ages (128, 212 and 235 ka) indicate that deposition took place during high sea level stands associated with interglacial times during Oxygen Isotope Stages (OIS) 5 and 7. The youngest age (128 ka) clearly corresponds to stage 5e of the last interglacial period. The obtained ages correlate well with those of the emerged reefs on the Sudanese and Egyptian coasts at the western side of the Red Sea. The broad distribution of wet climate, pluvial deposits on the continents and high sea level stands indicate a wide geographical range of the interglacial events of the Oxygen Isotope Stages (OIS) 5 and 7.The oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of the Miocene and Quaternary carbonate rocks in Rabigh area show a broad range of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O. The Quaternary carbonate rocks have significantly higher δ¹³C than the Miocene ones, but low δ¹³C values of the Miocene samples likely indicate a high contribution of carbon from organic sources at the time of deposition. Linear trends are evident in both groups of samples supporting the likelihood of secondary alteration.     

Undrained behaviour of Changi sand in triaxial and plane-strain compression

The results of an experimental study of the undrained behaviour of Changi sand under axisymmetric and plane-strain conditions are presented. K₀ consolidated undrained plane-strain tests and K₀ or isotropically consolidated triaxial tests on very loose and medium dense specimens were conducted. The undrained behaviour of sand at very loose and medium dense states under plane-strain conditions was characterised and compared with that under axisymmetric conditions. It was observed that the undrained behaviour of very loose and medium dense sand under plane strain is similar to that under axisymmetric conditions. However, because of the formation of shear bands in plane-strain tests, the post-peak behaviour of medium dense sand in plane strain is different from that in triaxial tests. It was also established that an instability line for plane-strain conditions can be defined in a way similar to that for axisymmetric conditions. Using the state parameter, a unified relationship between the normalised slope of instability line and the state parameters can be established for both axisymmetric and plane-strain conditions. Using this relationship, the instability conditions established under axisymmetric conditions can be used for plane-strain conditions.     

Effect of vehicle–pavement interaction on dynamic response of rigid pavements

In the present paper, dynamic response of rigid pavements subjected to moving vehicular loads is presented using an analytical procedure based on the finite element method. The vehicle–pavement interaction effects are taken into account while developing the solution algorithm. The concrete pavement is discretized by finite and infinite beam elements. Infinite elements are helpful in appropriate modeling of end conditions. The main purpose of the development of infinite elements is to model the unbounded domain. The underlying soil medium is modeled by Pasternak model which assumes the existence of shear interaction between the spring elements. The moving vehicle is represented by a mass supported by a spring-dashpot system. The vehicle -pavement interaction force is modeled with Dirac-delta function. Dynamic equilibrium equation is solved with Newmark-Beta integration scheme. It has been observed that the dynamic interaction between the moving load and the pavement has significant effect on pavement response. Parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of vehicle–pavement interaction (VPI) and soil parameters on the response of pavement.     

Individual and societal risk owing to landslides in the Campania region (southern Italy)

This paper deals with the estimation of both individual and societal risks owing to landslides in the Campania region (southern Italy) thanks to the availability of an extensive catalogue of historical incident data spanning from the 5^th century up to now. Individual risk is estimated by computing the landslide mortality rate. Societal risk is measured by plotting the annual frequency F of events causing N or more fatalities against the number N of fatalities (i.e. an F–N curve). The results obtained show that in Campania both individual and societal risks owing to landslides are very high when compared to similar risks of the Italian territory. Moreover, the analysis of the incident data clearly highlights the most prone areas to catastrophic events, essentially related to the occurrence of flow-like fast-moving phenomena, where the societal risk is proved to be one of the highest in Europe.     

Experimental investigations on the elastic parameters and uniaxial compressive strength of slate under freeze–thaw cycles

ABSTRACT

In this study, uniaxial compression experiments with seven different bedding angles and six numbers of freeze–thaw cycles were conducted to investigate the influences of freeze–thaw cycles on the elastic parameters and the uniaxial compressive strength of slate. The laws of the elastic parameters, uniaxial compressive strength and failure characteristics were analysed, and a new uniaxial compressive strength prediction model that considers the bedding angle and the number of freeze–thaw cycles as control variables was established and verified using the experimental data. The results showed that the uniaxial compressive strength, elastic modulus and shear modulus decreased exponentially with an increasing number of freeze–thaw cycles. However, the Poisson’s ratio increased linearly with an increasing number of freeze–thaw cycles. The uniaxial compressive strength initially decreased and then increased with increasing bedding angle. There are three forms of failure occurred during the tests: when the bedding angle was 0°≤β ≤ 26.6°, the splitting failure and shear failure occurred at the same time; when the bedding angle was 26.6°≤β ≤ 83.0°, sliding failure occurred along the bedding plane; and when the bedding angle was 83.0°≤β ≤ 90°, splitting failure occurred along the axial direction of sample.     

Prediction of berm geometry using a set of laboratory tests combined with teaching–learning-based optimization and artificial bee colony algorithms

Understanding sediment movement in coastal areas is crucial in planning the stability of coastal structures, the recovery of coastal areas, and the formation of new coast. Accretion or erosion profiles form as a result of sediment movement. The characteristics of these profiles depend on the bed slope, wave conditions, and sediment properties. Here, experimental studies were performed in a wave flume with regular waves, considering different values for the wave height (H₀), wave period (T), bed slope (m), and mean sediment diameter (d₅₀). Accretion profiles developed in these experiments, and the geometric parameters of the resulting berms were determined. Teaching–learning-based optimization (TLBO) and artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithms were applied to regression functions of the data from the physical model. Dimensional and dimensionless equations were found for each parameter. These equations were compared to data from the physical model, to determine the best equation for each parameter and to evaluate the performances of the TLBO and ABC algorithms in the estimation of the berm parameters. Compared to the ABC algorithm, the TLBO algorithm provided better accuracy in estimating the berm parameters. Overall, the equations successfully determined the berm parameters.     

Organic geochemical study of source rocks and natural gas and their genetic correlation in the eastern part of the Polish Outer Carpathians and Palaeozoic–Mesozoic basement

Geochemical characteristics of organic matter in the profiles of Dukla, Silesian, Sub-Silesian and Skole units of the Polish Outer Carpathians and of the Palaeozoic–Mesozoic basement in the Dębica-Rzeszów-Leżajsk-Sanok area were established based on Rock-Eval, vitrinite reflectance, isotopic and biomarker analyses of 485 rock samples. The Oligocene Menilite beds have the best hydrocarbon potential of all investigated formations within the Dukla, Silesian, and Skole units. The Ordovician, Silurian, Lower Devonian and locally Middle Jurassic strata of the Palaeozoic–Mesozoic basement are potential source rocks for oil and gas accumulated in Palaeozoic and Mesozoic reservoirs. Thirty one natural gas samples from sandstone reservoirs of the Lower Cretaceous-Lower Miocene strata within the Outer Carpathian sequence and eight from sandstone and carbonate reservoirs of the Palaeozoic–Mesozoic basement were analysed for molecular and isotopic compositions to determine their origin. Natural gases accumulated both in the Outer Carpathian and the Palaeozoic–Mesozoic basement reservoirs are genetically related to thermogenic and microbial processes. Thermogenic gaseous hydrocarbons that accumulated in the Dukla and Silesian units were generated from the Menilite beds. Thermogenic gaseous hydrocarbons that accumulated in the Sub-Silesian Unit most probably migrated from the Silesian Unit. Initial, and probably also secondary microbial methane component has been generated during microbial carbon dioxide reduction within the Oligocene Menilite beds in the Dukla Unit and Oligocene-Lower Miocene Krosno beds in the Silesian Unit. Natural gases that accumulated in traps within the Middle Devonian, Mississippian, Upper Jurassic, and Upper Cretaceous reservoirs of the Palaeozoic–Mesozoic basement were mainly generated during thermogenic processes and only sporadically from initial microbial processes. The thermogenic gases were generated from kerogen of the Ordovician-Silurian and Middle Jurassic strata. The microbial methane component occurs in a few fields of the Dukla and Silesian units and in the two accumulations in the Middle Devonian reservoirs of the Palaeozoic–Mesozoic basement.