Correction to: Flood hazard assessment and mapping of River Swat using HEC-RAS 2D model and high-resolution 12-m TanDEM-X DEM (WorldDEM)

Natural Hazards - The original article was updated and corrected due to numbering errors in Figure 8’s subfigures and the placement of some of the article’s other figures. Additional...     

Characterizing site response in the Attock Basin,Pakistan, using microtremor measurement analysis

The Attock Basin is situated close to the northwest of Pakistan. Recent seismic event of October 2015 (7.5M_w) near the Pakistan Afghanistan border has proved that the area of interest is seismically active and triggered a series of aftershocks of magnitude even greater than 6.5M_w. This seismic activity has posed danger to the future of the people and infrastructure especially to the northwestern part of the country. Therefore, site response analysis is essential for estimating local site conditions in response to seismic events. Ambient noise recordings were made at 50 sites within urban and semi-urban settlements in the Attock Basin to analyze the site response of the small but densely populated basin. At each of these sites, the fundamental frequency of the soft sediments (f ₀), the amplitude (A ₀) of corresponding H/V spectral ratios, the thickness of soft sediment (H) lying over competent lithology, and the soil vulnerability index (K _g) were studied. Results were correlated with sparsely available borehole data to enhance the credibility of the study conducted for microzonation and predicting the site response to earthquake seismicity in the Attock Basin. The soil vulnerability index was found to range from moderate to high. Results clearly showed that the study area exhibits low to moderate fundamental frequency with greater soft sediment thicknesses distributed throughout the study area. Moreover, higher impedance contrasts were found at most of the sites within the central part of the Attock Basin, thus reflecting a moderate to high susceptibility of damage in those regions in response to seismic events.     

An integrated multi-azimuth VSP study for fracture characterization in the vicinity of a well

We present the analysis of a multi-azimuth vertical seismic profiling data set that has been acquired in a tight gas field with the objective of characterizing fracture distributions using seismic anisotropy. We investigate different measurements of anisotropy, which are shear-wave splitting, P-wave traveltime anisotropy and azimuthal amplitude variation with offset. We find that for our field case shear-wave splitting is the most robust measure of azimuthal anisotropy, which is clearly observed over two distinct intervals in the target. We compare the results of the vertical seismic profiling analysis with other borehole data from the same well. Cross-dipole sonic and Formation MicroImager data from the reservoir section suggest that no open fractures intersect the well or are present within half a metre of the borehole wall. Furthermore, a detailed dispersion analysis of the sonic scanner data provides no indication of stress-induced seismic anisotropy along the logged borehole section. We therefore explain the azimuthal anisotropy measured in the vertical seismic profiling data with a model that contains discrete fracture corridors, which do not intersect the well itself but lie within the vertical seismic profiling investigation radius. We show that such a model can reproduce some basic characteristics of azimuthal anisotropy observed in the vertical seismic profiling data. The model is also consistent with well test data that suggest the presence of a fracture corridor away from the well. With this study we demonstrate the necessity of integrating different data types that investigate different scales of rock volume and can provide complementary information for understanding the characteristics of fracture networks in the subsurface.     

Geochemical modeling,fate distribution,and risk exposure of potentially toxic metals in the surface sediment of the Shyok suture zone,northern Pakistan

The objective of the current study was to assess the contamination of potentially toxic metals (PTMs) in weathered surface sediment, along stream tributaries, and surrounding area of the river Chitral, Shyok suture zone district Chitral, Pakistan. To understand the geochemical features of 113 sediment, samples were collected from the Mirkhani and Drosh area. Then, different statistical tools including the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), and ecological risk assessment (ERA) were used to unravel the origin, intensity, and exposure level of PTMs to control risk and restore the ecosystem within the study area. The results for the PTMs namely nickle (Ni), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and cobalt (Co) in Mirkhani and Drosh were in the following ranges: 10–150, 15–210, 15–250, 0.08–1.00, 10–70, 76–240 and 14–51; and 13–240, 17–210, 15–150, 0.08–0.60, 7–140, 47–150 and 13–36 mg/kg, respectively. In consequence, the potential ecological risk caused by Pb, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, and Zn is reflected by the percentages of samples with an ecological risk index (ERI) greater than one which were 100%, 91%, 100%, 100%, 92%, and 100%, respectively. However, the overall mean decreasing order of ecological risk of PTMs in the district Chitral was Pb > Ni > Cu > Co > Cr > Zn > Cd. Moreover, the PCA yielded 78% variability which indicated that mineral prospects play an important role in the contamination of sediment. Furthermore, the mineral phases of Pb and Zn suggested supersaturation, while that for Cd revealed unsaturation. The results of Igeo, ERI, and CA indicated contamination of PTMs in the study area. The ERI value of Pb, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, and Zn was higher than 1 suggesting an ecological risk in the study area. Moreover, the current study showed the dominance of geogenic contamination with major contributions from ultramafic rock and known mineral prospects. Therefore, contaminated sediment of the Shyok suture zone is extremely detrimental to the aquatic ecosystem of the study area.     

Vibration analysis of damaged and undamaged steel structure systems: cantilever column and frame

This paper presents the experimental and numerical studies conducted on a steel column and a steel frame structure using free vibration analysis. The effects of damages on structures were investigated, which were simulated by introducing multiple cracks at different locations in the experimental and numerical models. The acceleration responses of the test models, were recorded through an accelerometer, and were used to calibrate the numerical models developed in finite element based software. Modal frequencies of damaged and undamaged structures were compared and analyzed, to derive relationships for damaged and undamaged structures' frequencies in terms of crack depth. It was found that, due to the presence of cracks, the mechanical properties of a structure changes, whereby, the modal frequencies decrease. An approximately linear trend was observed for the frequency decrease with the increase in crack depth, which was also confirmed by the numerical models. The derived relationships were extended to further develop a mechanics-based damage scale for steel structures, to help facilitate structural health monitoring and screening of vulnerable structures.     

Observed failure modes of unreinforced masonry buildings during the 2015 Hindu Kush earthquake

On 26 th October 2015, an Mw 7.5 earthquake struck northern Pakistan, with its epicenter located 45 km southwest of Jarm in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. The earthquake resulted from reverse faulting at a depth of 210 km, resulting in 280 fatalities and substantial damage to some 109,123 buildings. Regional seismicity, characteristics of recorded strong motions, damage statistics, and building performance observations are presented. Earthquake damage was mostly constrained to seismic-deficient unreinforced masonry(URM) buildings. Typical failure modes included toppled minarets, partial or complete out of plane collapse of URM walls, diagonal shear cracking in piers, flexural cracking in spandrels, corner damage, pounding damage, and damage due to ground settlement. The majority of human loss resulted due to failure of URM walls and subsequent roof collapse. URM buildings located in rural hilly areas closer to the epicenter suffered more intense and frequent damage than urban URM buildings located farther away in larger cities.     

Structural styles,hydrocarbon prospects,and potential in the Salt Range and Potwar Plateau,north Pakistan

The Salt Range/Potwar Plateau (SRPP) is part of the Himalayan foreland and an important petroleum province in north Pakistan. The hydrocarbons are commonly produced from stacked Cambrian to Eocene clastic and carbonate reservoirs which have an average thickness of 1 km. These strata are overlain by at least 5 km of Miocene and younger continental molasse sedimentation in the deepest part of the foreland basin. Surface and subsurface (seismic interpretations and borehole data) geology combined with the timing and the patterns of sedimentation has allowed to interpret the deformation as thin skinned, with a detachment in weak Eocambrian evaporates and the development of ramp-and-flat structures, since about 8 Ma. We have reviewed the structural interpretations with new borehole logs, field geology, and reserve estimates in this paper to precisely define oil-field structures with a view on future exploration. As a result of this work, 12 oil fields are classified as three detachment folds, four fault-propagation folds, four pop-ups, and one triangle zone structure. The latter two are identified as better prospects with the last one as the best with estimated reserves of 51 million barrels of oil (MMBO). Hence, the triangle zones along with other ramp-and-flat structures from the North Potwar Deformed Zone (NPDZ) are recognized to provide potential future prospects. Finally, a 40-km-long structural cross section from NPDZ is used to discuss complex deformation of the triangle zone and duplex structures as future potential prospects. About 55 km of shortening across the NPDZ during Plio-Pleistocene time is calculated, which has important bearing on the geometry of prospects, reserve calculations, and the future exploration.     

Recognition of the time and level of emplacement of the Sillai Patti carbonatite complex,Malakand Division,Northwest Pakistan: Constraints from fission-track dating

The Sillai Patti carbonatite complex represents the second largest carbonatite body of the Peshawar Plain Alkaline Igneous Province of northern Pakistan. It is situated about 20 km west of Malakand, near Sillai Patti village. Here, the carbonatite occurs along a fault in the form of a sheet striking in the NNE–SSW direction and dipping towards south. The carbonatite body is about 12 km long and 2–20 m thick, predominantly intruded along the faulted contact of metasediments and granite gneiss but locally, within the metasediments.A fission-track age of 29.40 ± 1.47 Ma was obtained for the Sillai Patti carbonatite complex. Close resemblance of fission-track apatite age of this study with the fission-track as well as other high temperature radiometric ages from the same and the neighboring carbonatite complexes of the alkaline belt of northern Pakistan suggests emplacement of the Sillai Patti carbonatite complex at higher crustal level and subsequent extremely fast cooling to near ambient temperatures (<60 °C) required for the complete retention of fission tracks in apatite. The age data also point out that the fission-track age of 29.40 ± 1.47 Ma of this study is the age of intrusion of the carbonatitic magma of Sillai Patti carbonatite complex to shallow, near-surface level.Comparison of the uplift induced denudation rates of the region with the world data clearly reflects the presence of a post collisonal extensional environment in the region south of Main Mantle Thrust during Oligocene time. This strongly negates the idea of the earlier workers of emplacement of the carbonatite complexes of the Loe-Shilman and Sillai Patti areas along thrust faults during Oligocene.