Spatial prediction model and its application to chemistry of atmospheric precipitation in Jordan

This study is concerned with the spatial variability of some wet atmospheric precipitation parameters such as; pH, conductivity (EC). The study also depicts the spatial variability of some ions (cations and anions) of atmospheric precipitation in Jordan such as, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺, HCO₃⁻, Cl⁻, NO₃⁻ and SO₄²⁻. The basis of the work is to establish a relationship through the cumulative semivariogram technique between the distance ratios and the spatial dependence structure of the chemical composition of atmospheric precipitation. All semivariogram models are constructed in this study in order to understand the behavior of the spatial distribution. The spatial distributions of rainwater parameters show differences from station to station which is expressed in terms of angle, where the larger the angle the weaker the correlation. The semivariogram (SV) models are constructed to show the variation of the rainfall chemistry in Jordan. The SV models show weak correlation between mountain and leeside mountain stations, i.e. mountain and desert stations. On the other hand, good correlations are observed when transferring from south to north of the country. The larger is the found angle, the weaker is the correlation. For most of the SV model the correlation is found to be very weak between desert and mountainous locality. The Standard Regional Dependence Factor (SRDF) is used for prediction of the distribution of rain fall parameters. It shows the relative error between observed and predicted values of rainwater parameters. The overall regional relative error between the observed and estimated concentrations remains less than 15%.     

Karst system developed in salt layers of the Lisan Peninsula,Dead Sea,Jordan

The Lisan Peninsula, Jordan, is a massive salt layer accumulated in the inner part of the Dead Sea’s precursory lakes. This tongue-shaped, emergent land results in a salt diapir uplifted in the Dead Sea strike-slip regional stress field and modified by the water level fluctuations of the last lake during the Holocene. These two elements, associated with dissolution caused by rainfall and groundwater circulation, resulted in an authentic karst system. Since the 1960s, the Dead Sea lowering of 80 cm to 1 m per year caused costly damages to the industrial plant set up on the peninsula. The Lisan karst system is described in this article and the components of the present dynamic setting clarified.     

赫氏黄盖鲽受精卵孵化与仔幼鱼培育初步研究

于１９８６年，用人工受精的卵孵化或经驯养自然产卵、孵化室内饲育的方法，进行了人工培苗试验，结果表明：在繁殖期的４－５月份，捕自海内的亲鱼，经催产或驯养，均可在室内产卵孵化。在室内用硅菏、等鞭金藻、扁藻、贻贝幼体、皱褶臂尾轮虫、齿虫幼体和贝肉组成的饵料系列作饵料；受精卵和幼体在水温９．５－２５℃、盐度２９．２－３１．６‰，ｐＨ７．８８－８．１７，ＤＯ８．７－６０．７ｍｇ／Ｌ，ＮＨ４－Ｎ４４－１１８μ     

Evaluating sediment yield at King Talal Reservoir from landslides along Irbid–Amman Highway

With a capacity of 86 MCM, King Talal Reservoir is considered a major water supply in Jordan. It was built exclusively to irrigate the land in the Jordan Valley. Unexpectedly, the design capacity of the reservoir was confronted by the elevated sediment inflows during and after the construction of the Irbid–Amman Highway in 1987. Since then the annual sediment inflow measured at the mouth of the reservoir was higher than expected in a similar year. Notably, the over-wet season of 1991/2, as a result of six major landslides along the highway, registered the highest sediment inflow into the reservoir. In the present work the fractional contribution of these landslides to total sediment yield at the reservoir was evaluated. The evaluation was made by applying the well-known erosion model, AGNPS (Young et al., USDA Conservation Research Report 35, 1987). To calibrate the model, it was successively applied from 1980/1 to 1990/1 on the measured sediment data before the occurrence of landslides. With a slight tune-up of some of the King Talal watershed erosion variables, fairly good agreement was obtained in some years. However, the disagreement noticed in other years might be attributed to some conservation measures practised in the watershed. Because the serious landslides occurred in the wet season of 1991/2, the model was run for the two scenarios in this year: with and without landslides. The difference in results represents the contribution of landslides to sediment yield at the reservoir. It is concluded, based on these results, that landslides, if continued without control, will definitely jeopardize the design capacity of the reservoir.     

Paleoearthquake Features as Indicators of Potential Earthquake Activities in the Karameh Dam Site

Prehistorical earthquake induced features, such as faults, folds, fissures, and slumps have been discovered during the Karameh dam construction. The dam is located close to the plate tectonics boundary formed by the active Jordan Valley Fault. Of most importance are those known as the fold-type deformations ``décollement type of structure' which are well preserved in the laminated Lisan formations. These features show that historical moderate to strongly sized earthquake activities are likely to have been originated in the vicinity of the dam site. Such features may well provide valuable information for identification of areas of highly strong earthquake regions.     

Chemical Composition of Wet Precipitation in Irbid, Jordan

Rainwater samples were collected in Irbid city using 24 hour sampling periods from December 1996 to April 1998. All samples were analyzed for major cations (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺), major anions (Cl^–, NO₃ ^– and SO₄ ^2–) and pH. High levels of Ca²⁺ and SO₄ ^2– were observed. Together, Ca²⁺ and SO₄ ^2– made up more than 52.4% of the total ion mass, while Ca²⁺ alone contributed over 39.0% of the total cation. The majority of the rain samples collected had pH values higher than 5.6. The average pH was 6.4±0.9. High values of pH are attributed to the neutralization by natural alkaline local dusts which contain large fractions of calcite. Correlation and mineralogical analyses indicated that Ca²⁺, K⁺ and fractions of Na⁺, SO₄ ^2– and Mg²⁺ are of crustal origin. Results of the present study suggested that the atmospheric composition in the city is strongly influenced by natural sources rather than anthropogenic.     

Fate of Pesticides and Their Transformation Products: First Flush Effects in a Semi‐Arid Catchment

Although it is known for many years, that transformation products (TPs) of pesticides are often more persistent, mobile, and sometimes more toxic than the parent compound, former catchment scale studies of substance release and flushing effects focused only on the parent compound. In this study, four river points were sampled in the Hula Valley, Israel, and samples were analyzed in the lab for chlorpyrifos (CP) and endosulfan residues (including transformation products; TPs). Sampling results of the first rainfall in autumn 2009 identified a strong release of most substances to the rivers. First flush effects of these substances were assessed regarding the risk for drinking water supply and ecology, like fresh water invertebrates and fish. Although, these substances were found in Jordan River water during the first significant rainfall the observed levels are below international drinking water guideline values with no adverse effects on human health in the region. However, the observed CP and chlorpyrifos oxon (CPO) levels are above the acute toxicity for fresh water invertebrates and fish. The study shows that the Hula Valley was an important source of pesticides and TPs at the Upper Jordan River basin and that substance flushing is extremely important for pesticides‐monitoring campaigns.     

Radiochemistry of sediments from the southern Dead Sea, Jordan

 A sediment core from the southern Dead Sea was analyzed using gamma spectroscopy as well as ²¹⁰Pb dating in order to ascertain if any radioactive contamination could be detected and to determine the sedimentation rates in the area. Results of this study show no presence of man-made radionuclides in the area. Sedimentation rates were determined to be between 0.25 and 0.4 g/cm²/year. (∼0.5 cm/year), which is in line with what would be expected assuming carbonate layers are annual varves. Received: 31 January 1997 · Accepted: 11 March 1997     

Hydrogeochemical modeling of the water seepages through Tannur Dam,southern Jordan

This paper reveals the geochemical processes of dissolution, precipitation and cation exchange that took place during water–rock interaction between water seepages through the Tannur Dam. The Schoeller diagram indicates that there are three major water types originating during water–rock interaction. The first water type is characterized by low salinity that ranges from 1,300 to 2,800 µs/cm, which represents the reservoir water and the water in the right side of the central gallery. The second water type is in the left side of the central gallery, which exhibits medium salinity that reaches about 4,400 µs/cm. The third water type is characterized by very high salinity that reaches a value of around 8,500 µs/cm and represents the water in the right existing adit. The increase of salinity can be explained due to the dissolution of carbonate and sulfate minerals that form the matrix of the foundation and the abutment rocks, and the dissolution of the grout curtain, which is composed of cement and bentonite. Hydrogeochemical modeling, using a computer code PHREEQC, was used to obtain the saturation indices of specific mineral phases, which might be related to interaction with water seepages, and to identify the chemical species of the dissolved ions. The thermodynamic calculations indicate that most of the water samples were undersaturated with respect to gypsum, anhydrite and halite, and were saturated and/or supersaturated with respect to calcite and dolomite. Ca(HCO₃)₂ is the primary water type, as a result of dissolution of carbonate minerals such as calcite and dolomite prevailing at the dam site. However, cation-exchange processes are responsible for the formation of the Na₂SO₄ water type from the CaSO₄ type that formed due to the dissolution of gypsum.