Numerical modeling of long waves in shallow water using Incremental Differential Quadrature Method

Incremental Differential Quadrature Method (IDQM) as a rapid and accurate method for numerical simulation of Nonlinear Shallow Water (NLSW) waves is employed. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first endeavor to exploit DQM in coastal hydraulics. The one-dimensional NLSW equations and related boundary conditions are discretized in space and temporal directions by DQM rules and the resulting system of equations are used to compute the state variables in the entire computational domain. It was found that the splitting of total simulation time into a number of smaller time increments, could significantly enhance the performance of the proposed method. Furthermore, results of this study show two main advantages for IDQM compared with other conventional methods, namely; unconditional stability and minimal computational effort. Indeed, using IDQM, one can use a few grid points (in spatial or time direction) without imposing any stability condition on the time step to obtain an accurate convergent solution.     

Structural and petrological evidence for the continuation of the Isfahan fault system across the Urumieh-Dokhtar zone of central Iran

The Isfahan fault system, a north-trending, dextral strike-slip fault across the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, represents the boundary between the northwestern and the southeastern parts of the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone and it terminates in the north at the southern boundary of the Urumieh-Dokhtar zone. This paper focuses on the continuation of the Isfahan fault system across the Urumieh-Dokhtar zone north of Isfahan city. The Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic assemblage belt is located along the active margin of the Iranian plate and the Arabian plate. The Karkas fault strikes nearly north-south, has a length of about 40 km, a normal component of movement, and it truncates the Urumieh-Dokhtar zone. Due to the location of this fault and the mechanism similar to the Isfahan fault system, the Karkas fault can be considered a continuation of the Isfahan fault system that has been displaced dextrally by the southwestern bordering faults of the Urumieh-Dokhtar zone. The unique juxtaposition association of the Silurian volcanic rocks in the Urumieh-Dokhtar zone, near the Karkas fault, provides an important evidence regarding the major role of this fault in the geological evolution of the region. The Silurian volcanic rocks outcrop in two districts of the study area and generally are composed of basalts. The alkaline basalt composition is determined from mineralogy and immobile elements geochemistry. The geotectonic setting diagrams classified the Silurian volcanic rocks as the within plate basalts. Thus, an intracontinental rifting under extensional tectonic regime can be inferred as the setting that controlled formation of these volcanic rocks. They were created by an alkaline to transitional magmas generated due to low partial melting at depth. The alkaline basalts were most likely derived from an asthenosphere-dominated mantle source due to extension and partial melting. The north trending extensional faults affected thinned overlying continental lithosphere in the Paleozoic era, facilitating magma penetration and eruption.     

Artificial Neural Network as a Tool for Backbreak Prediction

Backbreak is one of the destructive side effects of the blasting operation. Reducing of this event is very important for economic of a mining project. Involvement of various parameters has made the backbreak analyzing difficult. Currently there is no any specific method to predict or control the phenomenon considering all the effective parameters. In this paper, artificial neural network (ANN) as a powerful tool for solving such complicated problems is used to predict backbreak in blasting operation of the Sangan iron mine, Iran. Network training was fulfilled using a collected database of the practiced operation including blast design details and rock condition. Trying various types of the networks, a network with two hidden layers was found to be optimum. Performance of the ANN model was compared with statistical analysis using datasets which were kept apart from the original database. According to the obtained results, for the ANN model there existed a higher correlation (R² = 0.868) and lesser error (RMSE = 0.495) between the predicted and measured backbreak as compared to the regression model. Also, sensitivity analysis revealed that the inputs rock factor and number of rows are the most and the least sensitive parameters on the output backbreak, respectively.     

Estimation of sediment load and erosion of different geological units: A case study from a basin of north-eastern Iran

Erosion of geological units and sediment load in rivers can be considered as the serious problems in recent decades.Increasing sediment loads generate major hazards for water resources development,particularly in terms of loss of reservoir storage due to sedimentation and siltation of water distribution systems.In this paper,the performance of four sediment rating curve (SRC) development methods was evaluated for the Shirin Darreh River(SDR) basin (1750 km2),located in North Khorasan Province,Iran.Data of flow discharge (Q) and suspended sediment flux (SSF)(Q-SSF pairs,N=957)and daily flow discharge,recorded by the Regional Water Company of North Khorasan (RWCNK) at the Qaleh-Barbar (QB) gauging site during 1989-2018were used.The flow discharge classification method performed best by meeting the desired criteria of most statistical indices,including normalized root mean square error (NRMSE),mean bias error (MBE),mean absolute error (MAE),index of agreement (d),and coefficient of determination (R~2).Based on the optimized method,the rate of suspended sediment transportation at the study site was estimated about2.7×10~6 ton year~(-1).Erodibility of the exposed formations in the study area was estimated based on a factorial scoring model (FSM).Three indices,focused on the outcrop and erodibility,were calculated for the geological units at sub-basin and total scales.Marl deposits are the most extensive geological unit in the three sub-basins and the maximum formation outcrop ratio (FOR) and participation in erosion (PCE)were obtained for these rocks at total scale.In fact,marl unit can be regarded as the main source to supply the suspended sediments in the study basin.     

Identification of hidden faults using determining velocity structure profile by spatial autocorrelation method in the west of Mashhad plain (Northeast of Iran)

Characterizing the subsurface structure is an important parameter for the improvement of seismic hazard assessment.Due to the tectonic complexity of the earth,s...     

Steady critical discharge rates from vertical and horizontal wells in fresh–saline aquifers with sharp interfaces

In this study, the critical (or maximum) discharge rates before saline water enters a well were determined for vertical and horizontal wells in a freshwater aquifer which is separated from a static saline aquifer by a sharp interface. Flow around the well was solved by integration of a point sink solution along the well axis, and both the critical discharge rate and critical interface rise were determined through a comparison of the heads and vertical gradients at the saline–fresh water interface. The rates were determined for vertical and horizontal wells with various lengths and depths for different aquifer salinities. Results were generalized by drawing dimensionless type curves. The results showed that the dimensionless total critical discharge rates are higher for the longer horizontal wells and longer vertical wells with a certain bottom depth, and they almost linearly decrease with well depth at rates of 0.7–0.9. For the dimensionless well length of 0.2, the dimensionless total discharge rate of a horizontal well is about 0.1 more than that of a vertical well with the same length and well-top depth. Also, the critical discharge rates per unit length of well are inversely proportional to well length and remarkably higher for shallower wells. Additionally, the critical pumping rate is proportional to the salinity difference of the aquifers. These results were confirmed by comparison to existing solutions for vertical wells with dimensionless lengths of 0.2, 0.5 and 0.6, and for critical interface rises in the range of 0.75–0.9.     

Using inverse modeling and hierarchical cluster analysis for hydrochemical characterization of springs and Talkhab River in Tang-Bijar oilfield,Iran

Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and inverse modeling (PH REdox EQuilibrium (in C language) (PHREEQC)) were simultaneously useful approaches in interpreting surface water hydrochemistry within Talkhab River in the Tang-Bijar oilfield, Iran, where large uncertainties exist in the understanding of the water quality system. Q-mode HCA applied to the data revealed three major surface water associations distinguished on the basis of the major causes of variation in the hydrochemistry. The three water groups were classified as upstream waters (group 1: Ca–SO₄), intermediate waters (group 2: Ca–SO₄–Cl), and downstream waters (group 3: Na–Cl). Geochemical reaction models were constructed using PHREEQC to establish the reactions associated with the different mineral phases through inverse modeling. The hydrochemical compositions of the water groups and the mass balance calculations indicate that the dominant processes and reactions responsible for the hydrochemical evolution in the system are (1) dissolution of evaporites, (2) precipitation of carbonate minerals, (3) silicate weathering reactions, (4) limited mixing with saline water, and (5) ion exchange.     

APG:A novel python-based ArcGIS toolbox to generate absence-datasets for geospatial studies

One important step in binary modeling of environmental problems is the generation of absence-datasets that are traditionally generated by random sampling and can undermine the quality of outputs.To solve this problem,this study develops the Absence Point Generation(APG)toolbox which is a Python-based ArcGIS toolbox for automated construction of absence-datasets for geospatial studies.The APG employs a frequency ratio analysis of four commonly used and important driving factors such as altitude,slope degree,topographic wetness index,and distance from rivers,and considers the presence locations buffer and density layers to define the low potential or susceptibility zones where absence-datasets are gener-ated.To test the APG toolbox,we applied two benchmark algorithms of random forest(RF)and boosted regression trees(BRT)in a case study to investigate groundwater potential using three absence datasets i.e.,the APG,random,and selection of absence samples(SAS)toolbox.The BRT-APG and RF-APG had the area under receiver operating curve(AUC)values of 0.947 and 0.942,while BRT and RF had weaker per-formances with the SAS and Random datasets.This effect resulted in AUC improvements for BRT and RF by 7.2,and 9.7％from the Random dataset,and AUC improvements for BRT and RF by 6.1,and 5.4％from the SAS dataset,respectively.The APG also impacted the importance of the input factors and the pattern of the groundwater potential maps,which proves the importance of absence points in environmental bin-ary issues.The proposed APG toolbox could be easily applied in other environmental hazards such as landslides,floods,and gully erosion,and land subsidence.     

Application of Rock Mass Characterization for Determining the Mechanical Properties of Rock Mass: a Comparative Study

The results of geotechnical explorations, engineering geological investigation (including laboratory and in situ tests) and field observations have been used, along with borehole logging charts, to obtain the rock mass geotechnical data. Based on the data, the rock mass along the Sabzkuh water conveyance tunnel route was classified by rock mass rating (RMR), Q-system (Q), rock mass index (RMi) and geological strength index (GSI) (3 methods). A new series of correlations were established between the systems based on the data collected from the study area. These relationships were then compared with those reported in the literature, and two new relations were recommended. The classifications were utilized to calculate mechanical properties (rock mass strength and deformation modulus) of the rock mass along the tunnel according to available empirical relations, and to distinguish the upper-bound and lower-bound relations.