Risk of dike failure due to flow slides

Flow slides may affect the stability of dikes. A flow slide is an instability of a submerged slope caused by liquefaction of loose, (medium) fine sand. Whether a flow slide will occur depends on the properties of the sand, which are a function of its density, and the geometry of the slope, as determined by wave and current induced scour and sedimentation. The influence of sand properties and the geometry parameters on the risk of flow slides are discussed. The application of a flow slide prediction method to an example and a risk analysis is briefly discussed.     

Deep structure of the northeastern margin of the Parnaiba Basin, Brazil, from magnetotelluric imaging

The magnetotelluric (MT) method has been applied to the determination of the deep resistivity structure of the northeastern margin of the Parnaiba Basin. Transient electromagnetic (TEM) and MT data were collected in early 1999 along a 95 km long N–S line, extending from the coast across the projected subcrop position of a discontinuous fault found to the west of the study area that is believed to be a possible basin‐bounding fault. The MT data were processed to yield the TE‐ and TM‐mode responses and then corrected for static shift using central‐loop and single‐loop TEM data, respectively. Regularized 2D MT inversion was subsequently undertaken using a structured initial model with the near‐surface constrained by TEM inversion results. As a consistency check, we performed another set of 2D inversions using different smooth initial models. The various optimal 2D inversion models show clearly the presence of a major basement trough, over 2 km deep, located about 70 km from the coast. We interpret it as possibly marking the main basin margin and suggest that it may have implications for groundwater resource development in the area.     

Provenance,weathering, and paleoenvironment of the Upper Cretaceous Duwi black shales,Aswan Governorate,Egypt

The mineralogy and geochemistry of the Upper Cretaceous Duwi black shales of Nile Valley district, Aswan Governorate, Egypt, have been investigated to identify the source rock characteristics, paleoweathering, and paleoenvironment of the source area. The Duwi Formation consists mainly of phosphorite and black shales and is subdivided into three members. The lower and upper members composed mainly of phosphorite beds intercalated with thin lenses of gray shales, while the middle member is mainly composed of gray shale, cracked, and filled with gypsum. Mineralogically, the Duwi black shales consist mainly of smectite and kaolinite. The non-clay minerals are dominated by quartz, calcite, phosphate, dolomite, feldspar, with little gypsum, anhydrite, iron oxides, and pyrite. Based on the CIA, PIA, and CIW values (average?=?84, 94, 95, respectively), it can be concluded that the litho-components of the studied shales were subjected to intense chemical weathering and reflect warm/humid climatic conditions in the depositional basin. The provenance discrimination diagram indicates that the nature of the source rocks probably was mainly intermediate and mafic igneous sources with subordinate recycled sedimentary rocks (Nubia Formation). Geochemical characteristics indicate that the Duwi black shales in Nile Valley district were deposited under anoxic reducing marine environments.     

Effects of natural and calcined poultry waste on Cd, Pb and As mobility in contaminated soil

The reuse of waste materials as soil additives could be a welcome development in soil remediation. The mobility of Cd, Pb and As in a contaminated soil was investigated using natural and calcined poultry wastes (eggshell and chicken bone), CaCO₃ and CaO at different application rates (0, 1, 3 and 5 %). The chemical composition accompanied with mineralogical composition indicated that CaCO₃ and CaO were the major components in natural and calcined eggshells, respectively, while hydroxyapatite (HAP) dominated the natural and calcined chicken bones. The results showed that soil pH tended to increase in response to increasing application rates of all soil additives. The effectiveness of the additives in reducing Cd, Pb and As mobility was assessed by means of chemical extractions with 0.1 N HCl for Cd and Pb or 1 N HCl for As, according to Korean Standard Test (KST) method. Both calcined eggshell and chicken bone were equally effective with CaO or CaCO₃ in reducing the concentration of 0.1 N HCl-extractable Cd from 6.17 mg kg^?1 to below warning level of 1.5 mg kg^?1, especially at the highest application rate. The application of calcined eggshell, CaO and CaCO₃ also decreased the concentration of 0.1 N HCl-extractable Pb from 1,012 mg kg^?1 to below warning level of 100 mg kg^?1. The Pb concentration decreased significantly with an increasing application rate of chicken bone, but remained above warning level even at the highest application rate. On the contrary, natural and calcined chicken bones led to a significant increase in the mobility of As when compared with the control soil. These findings illustrate that calcined eggshell in particular is equally effective as pure chemical additives in stabilizing Cd and Pb in a contaminated agricultural soil. The presence of As in metal-contaminated soils should be taken into consideration when applying phosphate-containing materials as soil additives, because phosphate can compete with arsenate on adsorption sites and result in As mobilization.     

Assessment of the reliability of supervised classifications of Landsat-7, ASTER,and SPOT-5 multispectral data in rock unit discriminations of Jabal Daf-Wadi Fatima area,Saudi Arabia

Multispectral, multiresolution remotely sensed data were processed to emphasize geological interpretation of Jabal Daf-Wadi Fatima area. The investigated area is situated in the central western part of Saudi Arabia and geologically consists of igneous and metamorphosed rocks overlain by sedimentary sequence belonging to the Arabian-Nubian Shield. Three sets of digital satellite data, Landsat-7 ETM+, ASTER, and SPOT-5, were used in this study. The application of image processing techniques enables to identify and delineate the lithologic units and the structural features of the study area. The results of this study indicate that the confusion matrix of the three maximum likelihood supervised classifications of the three datasets shows that the Landsat ETM+ bands scored the best degree of average and overall accuracy (77 and 78%, respectively). This classification distinguishes most of the rock units for mapping in the investigated area. The supervised classification of ASTER and SPOT bands has lower degrees of accuracy than the classified Landsat data. The supervised classification of SPOT bands has a degree of average and overall accuracy of 66 and 67%, respectively, but it is the best for distinguishing the spectral signatures of the different members of Fatima Formation (lower, middle, and upper members). The statistical analyses of the confusion matrices of classifications and the interpretation of the produced classified thematic maps revealed that the classification accuracy does not necessary depend on the spatial resolution of satellite data. The data of the highest spatial resolution such as SPOT data are also very useful in emphasizing and classifying the rock units of a small outcrop area. The detailed geological map of Jabal Daf-Wadi Fatima area is interpreted in this work from supervised classified images of different resolutions as well as the structure map of this area. This study shows that it is preferable to use the supervised classifications of multiresolution data for rock unit discrimination in detailed field mapping.     

Seepage Through Earth Dams with Internal Cut Off

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Failure in earth dams mainly occurs due to seepage to the unprotected downstream face of the dam. Therefore, many precautions are taken into consideration...     

A theoretical analysis and control study of open-circuit grinding

Regrinding is an essential step in many mineral processing flowsheets as a final preparatory step for mineral separation. It is normally carried out in open-circuit ball mills or rod mills. Wide fluctuations occurring in the hardness and size distribution of feed materials to regrinding mills result in a nonuniform product fineness and processing inefficiency. Using a previously developed regrinding model, this paper presents the dynamic analysis and design considerations of a control system for open-circuit grinding, using the traditional P-, PI-, and PID-control algorithms. This study shows the utility of simple analysis techniques in designing a mineral process control system with special attention given to the effect of sampling and analysis time on control system performance.     

Importance of aquatic macrophyte for invertebrate diversity in large subtropical reservoir

The abundance and preferences of individual invertebrate populations (including zooplankton) closely associated with the substrates provided by aquatic plant structures and open-water areas of Lake Nasser were quantified in this study in order to gain understanding of the importance of submerged macrophyte for invertebrate diversity, and their relation to water properties. The following water parameters were measured: temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved salts, electrical conductivity, turbidity, total suspended solids, carbonate, bicarbonate, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, sulphate, silica, potassium, total hardness, calcium and magnesium.Five macrophyte species were recorded: Myriopyllum spicatum, Najas horrida, Potamogeton schweinfurthii, Potamogeton pectinatus and Vallisneria spiralis. In total 67 invertebrate species were recorded, comprising 39 Rotifera, 12 Cladocera, 4 Copepoda, 4 Insecta, 2 Protozoa, 2 Ostracoda and one species of Turbellaria, Tardigrada, Annelida and Nematoda. Thirty-seven species were exclusively epiphytic, 11 species were collectively planktonic and 19 species were found in both habitats. The greatest abundance of epiphytic invertebrates occurred in association with N. horrida-P. schweinfurthii community.The results indicated that total suspended solids (TSS), TH and NO₂ are the most influential water variables on the distribution of the aquatic macrophyte samples and their invertebrate communities. Also, the study indicates that water variables have a higher impact on the aquatic macrophytes than on the associated invertebrate populations. P, NO₃, K, Na, Mg, Cl and DO were the most influential water variables that dictate the distribution of invertebrate groups recorded in the open-water zone. Water temperature, electric conductivity, pH, NO₂, SO₄⁻⁻, SiO₃⁻, CO₃⁻⁻ and turbidity have a lesser influence of the distribution of the invertebrates recorded in this zone.