Tectonic significance of Triassic mafic rocks in the June Complex,Sanandaj–Sirjan zone,Iran

This study concentrates on the petrological and geochemical investigation of mafic rocks embedded within the voluminous Triassic June Complex of the central Sanandaj–Sirjan zone (Iran), which are crucial to reconstruct the geodynamics of the Neotethyan passive margin. The Triassic mafic rocks are alkaline to sub-alkaline basalts, containing 43.36–49.09 wt% SiO₂, 5.19–20.61 wt% MgO and 0.66–4.59 wt% total alkalis. Based on MgO concentrations, the mafic rocks fall into two groups: cumulates (Mg# = 51.61–58.94) and isotropic basaltic liquids (Mg# = 24.54–42.66). In all samples, the chondrite-normalized REE patterns show enrichment of light REEs with variable (La/Yb)_N ratios ranging from 2.48 to 9.00, which confirm their amalgamated OIB-like and E-MORB-like signatures. Enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements and depletion in high field strength elements (HFSE) relative to the primitive mantle further support this interpretation. No samples point to crustal contamination, all having undergone fractionation of olivine + clinopyroxene + plagioclase. Nevertheless, elemental data suggest that the substantial variations in (La/Sm)_PM and Zr/Nb ratios can be explained by variable degrees of partial melting rather than fractional crystallization from a common parental magma. The high (Nb/Yb)_PM ratio in the alkaline mafic rocks points to the mixing of magmas from enriched and depleted mantle sources. Abundant OIB alkaline basalts and rare E-MORB appear to be linked to the drifting stage on the northern passive margin of the Neotethys Ocean.     

A novel continuous magnetic nano-Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript>/perlite fixed bed reactor for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of dyes: reactor structure

In the present work, a continuous catalytic wet peroxide oxidation fixed bed reactor was employed to treat a simulated wastewater sample with malachite green dye, as a contaminant. Natural perlite particle-supported nano-Fe₃O₄ catalyst was used as a fixed bed inside a reactor, and it was immobilized by a persistent magnetic field. The range of (perlite) particle sizes was from 100 to 1000 nm. The effects of various operating parameters, including temperature of the reactor, pH, initial hydrogen peroxide concentration and initial dye concentration, were investigated on the percentage removal of malachite green dye. Load of catalyst of 2 g and volumetric flow rate of 1 L/h were selected for all the tests. Maximum malachite green degradation was 99.5 ± 0.3%. This removal percentage was attained at temperature of 80 °C, pH = 6, initial dye concentration of 6 mg/L and initial hydrogen peroxide concentration of 100 mg/L. The process was isotherm, and the catalyst showed high catalytic activity in the steady-state condition. The loss of catalyst was less than 0.3%.     

Effect of Drain Pipes on Uplift Force and Exit Hydraulic Gradient and the Design of Gravity Dams Using the Finite Element Method

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The effects of diameter and location of drain pipes on the uplift force and exit hydraulic gradient for a gravity dam are investigated. A numerical model...     

Variances in the projections,resulting from CLIMEX,Boosted Regression Trees and Random Forests techniques

The aim of this study was to have a comparative investigation and evaluation of the capabilities of correlative and mechanistic modeling processes, applied to the projection of future distributions of date palm in novel environments and to establish a method of minimizing uncertainty in the projections of differing techniques. The location of this study on a global scale is in Middle Eastern Countries. We compared the mechanistic model CLIMEX (CL) with the correlative models MaxEnt (MX), Boosted Regression Trees (BRT), and Random Forests (RF) to project current and future distributions of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.). The Global Climate Model (GCM), the CSIRO-Mk3.0 (CS) using the A2 emissions scenario, was selected for making projections. Both indigenous and alien distribution data of the species were utilized in the modeling process. The common areas predicted by MX, BRT, RF, and CL from the CS GCM were extracted and compared to ascertain projection uncertainty levels of each individual technique. The common areas identified by all four modeling techniques were used to produce a map indicating suitable and unsuitable areas for date palm cultivation for Middle Eastern countries, for the present and the year 2100. The four different modeling approaches predict fairly different distributions. Projections from CL were more conservative than from MX. The BRT and RF were the most conservative methods in terms of projections for the current time. The combination of the final CL and MX projections for the present and 2100 provide higher certainty concerning those areas that will become highly suitable for future date palm cultivation. According to the four models, cold, hot, and wet stress, with differences on a regional basis, appears to be the major restrictions on future date palm distribution. The results demonstrate variances in the projections, resulting from different techniques. The assessment and interpretation of model projections requires reservations, especially in correlative models such as MX, BRT, and RF. Intersections between different techniques may decrease uncertainty in future distribution projections. However, readers should not miss the fact that the uncertainties are mostly because the future GHG emission scenarios are unknowable with sufficient precision. Suggestions towards methodology and processing for improving projections are included.     

Effects of rainfall patterns on runoff and rainfall-induced erosion

Rainfall-induced erosion involves the detachment of soil particles by raindrop impact and their transport by the combined action of the shallow surface runoff and raindrop impact.Although temporal variation in rainfall intensity(pattern)during natural rainstorms is a common phenomenon,the available information is inadequate to understand its effects on runoff and rainfall-induced erosion processes.To address this issue,four simulated rainfall patterns(constant,increasing,decreasing,and increasing-decreasing)with the same total kinetic energy were designed.Two soil types(sandy and sandy loam)were subjected to simulated rainfall using 15 cm×30 cm long detachment trays under infiltration conditions.For each simulation,runoff and sediment concentration were sampled at regular intervals.No obvious difference was observed in runoff across the two soil types,but there were significant differences in soil losses among the different rainfall patterns and stages.For varying-intensity rainfall patterns,the dominant sediment transport mechanism was not only influenced by raindrop detachment but also was affected by raindrop-induced shallow flow transport.Moreover,the efficiency of equations that predict the interrill erosion rate increased when the integrated raindrop impact and surface runoff rate were applied.Although the processes of interrill erosion are complex,the findings in this study may provide useful insight for developing models that predict the effects of rainfall pattern on runoff and erosion.     

Improved performance‐based seismic assessment of buildings by utilizing Bayesian statistics

This paper addresses two important issues of concern to practicing engineers and researchers alike in application of performance‐based seismic assessment (PBSA) methodology on buildings: (i) the number of ground motion records required to exercise PBSA—current practice (FEMA P‐58‐1) requires eleven or more pairs of motions for this purpose, and (ii) the time and effort associated with performing the number of nonlinear response history analyses required to exercise PBSA. We present a method for exercising of PBSA that employs classical linear modal analysis to develop a first estimate (i.e., a priori) of probability distribution of loss, followed by utilizing Bayesian statistics to update this estimate using estimates of loss obtained by utilizing a small number of nonlinear response history analyses of a detailed model of the building (i.e., posterior). The proposed technique is used to assess the distribution of monetary loss of two case studies, a 4‐story reinforced concrete moment‐resisting frame building and a 20‐story steel moment‐resisting frame building, both located in Los Angeles, for a ground motion hazard with 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years. The efficiency of the proposed PBSA method is demonstrated by showing the similarity between the distribution of monetary loss at each story of case study buildings obtained from the traditional/sophisticated PBSA methodology and the proposed PBSA method in this study. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Novel Method for Dye Removal: Ionic Liquid‐Based Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Extraction (IL‐DLLE)

A novel, simple, fast, and efficient ionic liquid‐based dispersive liquid–liquid extraction (IL‐DLLE) has been applied to extract and remove Congo Red (CR; a carcinogenic textile dye) from aqueous solutions. In this methodology a binary solution, containing the extraction solvent (1‐hexyl‐3‐methylimmidazolium bis(trifluormethylsulfonyl) imid) and a suitable disperser solvent, was rapidly injected into the water sample containing CR dye. Therewith, a cloudy solution was formed, and most of the dye molecules were extracted into fine IL droplets and removed from aqueous phase. The effects of pH, type, and amount of IL, initial concentration of the dye, type and volume of the dispersant, and concentrations of salt on the extraction of the dye were studied. Experimental surveys were also accomplished for recovery of the IL by applying a reverse dispersive liquid–liquid extraction using acidic stripping solutions.     

Validation of ground‐motion simulations for historical events using MDoF systems

The study presented in this paper addresses the issue of engineering validation of Graves and Pitarka's (2010) hybrid broadband ground motion simulation methodology with respect to some well‐recorded historical events and considering the response of multiple degrees of freedom (MDoF) systems. Herein, validation encompasses detailed assessment of how similar is, for a given event, the seismic response due to comparable hybrid broadband simulated records and real records. In the first part of this study, in order to investigate the dynamic response of a wide range of buildings, MDoF structures are modeled as elastic continuum systems consisting of a combination of a flexural cantilever beam coupled with a shear cantilever beam. A number of such continuum systems are selected including the following: (1) 16 oscillation periods between 0.1 and 6 s; (2) three shear to flexural deformation ratios to represent respectively shear‐wall structures, dual systems, and moment‐resisting frames; and (3) two stiffness distributions along the height of the systems, that is, uniform and linear. Demand spectra in terms of generalized maximum interstory drift ratio (IDR) and peak floor acceleration (PFA) are derived using simulations and actual recordings for four historical earthquakes, namely, the 1979 M_w 6.5 Imperial Valley earthquake, 1989 M_w 6.8 Loma Prieta earthquake, 1992 M_w 7.2 Landers earthquake, and 1994 M_w 6.7 Northridge earthquake. In the second part, for two nonlinear case study structures, the IDR and PFA distributions over the height and their statistics, are obtained and compared for both recorded and simulated time histories. These structures are steel moment frames designed for high seismic hazard, 20‐story high‐rise and 6‐story low‐rise buildings. The results from this study highlight the similarities and differences between simulated and real records in terms of median and intra‐event standard deviation of logs of seismic demands for MDoF building systems. This general agreement, in a broad range of moderate and long periods, may provide confidence in the use of the simulation methodology for engineering applications, whereas the discrepancies, statistically significant only at short periods, may help in addressing improvements in generation of synthetic records. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating the Sensitivity of Image Fusion Quality Metrics to Image Degradation in Satellite Imagery

Referring to the high potential of topographic satellite in collecting high resolution panchromatic imagery and high spectral, multi spectral imagery, the purpose of image fusion is to produce a new image data with high spatial and spectral characteristics. It is necessary to evaluate the quality of fused image by some quality metrics before using this product in various applications. Up to now, several metrics have been proposed for image quality assessment; which are also applicable for quality evaluation of fused images. However, it seems more investigations are needed to inspect the potentials of proposed Image Fusion Quality Metrics (IFQMs) to registration accuracy, especially in high resolution satellite imagery. This paper focuses on such studies and, using different image fusion quality metrics, experiments are conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of such metrics to a set of high resolution satellite imagery covering urban areas. The obtained results clearly reveal that these metrics sometimes do not behave robust in the whole area and also their obtained results are inconsistence in different patch areas in comparison with the whole image. These limitations are in minimum situation for an image quality metric such as SAM and are completely tangible for image quality metrics such as ERGAS in case of multi modal and DIV and CC from mono modal category.