Hydrogeochemical Features of Thermal Waters of South Trungbo (Central Vietnam)

The results of studying the features of the hydrogeological structure and chemical and isotope composition of thermal waters from the central part of Vietnam that are characterized by intense manifestations of intrusive magmatism are presented. It is established that low–and high–thermal waters with temperature varying within 30–85°C are developed in the area under study. The value of total mineralization of the hydrotherms ranges from 0.05 to 10.05 g/dm³. It is assumed that the circulation of thermal waters that are different in temperature and chemical composition occurs at two levels. The regular change of the hydrotherm composition in the direction from mineralized chloride sodium, including with increased Ca content, to fresh sodium bicarbonate is revealed. The ratio of δ¹⁸O–δ²H isotopes indicates that the water component is based on meteoric water. In the coastal areas, there is an isotope shift towards the ocean waters, which is also confirmed by the hydrogeochemical data. The key factors for forming the chemical composition of the thermal waters in South Trungbo are their genetic type, the interaction processes in the “water–rock–gas–organic substance” system, and their equilibrium–nonequilibrium state.     

Flood-prone area mapping using machine learning techniques: a case study of Quang Binh province,Vietnam

Natural Hazards - Vietnam’s central coastal region is the most vulnerable and always at flood risk, severely affecting people’s livelihoods and socio-economic development. In...     

Predicting rock size distribution in mine blasting using various novel soft computing models based on meta-heuristics and machine learning algorithms

Blasting is well-known as an effective method for fragmenting or moving rock in open-pit mines. To evaluate the quality of blasting, the size of rock distribution is used as a critical criterion in blasting operations. A high percentage of oversized rocks generated by blasting operations can lead to economic and environmental damage. Therefore, this study proposed four novel intelligent models to predict the size of rock distribution in mine blasting in order to optimize blasting parameters, as well as the efficiency of blasting operation in open mines. Accordingly, a nature-inspired algorithm (i.e., firefly algorithm – FFA) and different machine learning algorithms (i.e., gradient boosting machine (GBM), support vector machine (SVM), Gaussian process (GP), and artificial neural network (ANN)) were combined for this aim, abbreviated as FFA-GBM, FFA-SVM, FFA-GP, and FFA-ANN, respectively. Subsequently, predicted results from the abovementioned models were compared with each other using three statistical indicators (e.g., mean absolute error, root-mean-squared error, and correlation coefficient) and color intensity method. For developing and simulating the size of rock in blasting operations, 136 blasting events with their images were collected and analyzed by the Split-Desktop software. In which, 111 events were randomly selected for the development and optimization of the models. Subsequently, the remaining 25 blasting events were applied to confirm the accuracy of the proposed models. Herein, blast design parameters were regarded as input variables to predict the size of rock in blasting operations. Finally, the obtained results revealed that the FFA is a robust optimization algorithm for estimating rock fragmentation in bench blasting. Among the models developed in this study, FFA-GBM provided the highest accuracy in predicting the size of fragmented rocks. The other techniques (i.e., FFA-SVM, FFA-GP, and FFA-ANN) yielded lower computational stability and efficiency. Hence, the FFA-GBM model can be used as a powerful and precise soft computing tool that can be applied to practical engineering cases aiming to improve the quality of blasting and rock fragmentation.     

Prediction of Rock Size Distribution in Mine Bench Blasting Using a Novel Ant Colony Optimization-Based Boosted Regression Tree Technique

Natural Resources Research - In this paper, we used artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to investigate the relation between the rock size distribution (RSD) and blasting parameters for rock...     

A study of coral reef resilience and implications of adaptive management and rehabilitation in Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

The Province of Khanh Hoa, Vietnam, is located in the western South China Sea and boasts a shoreline of 385 km and many islands. Previous studies have indicated the extreme diversity and abundance of coral reefs in its waters as compared with other coastal provinces of Vietnam. A study on the resilience of coral reefs against increased surface water temperature and anthropogenic impact is conducted at 19 reef sites in 2015. At each site, a series of parameters (e.g., coral covers, genus diversity, and coral recruitment, substratum heterogeneity, depth, water exchange level, and sediment deposit and water temperature) are measured quantitatively or semi-quantitatively. The measured data are rated based on the relationship between the parameter values and coral susceptibility; the consideration that reef health reflects the biological capability to adapt to environmental changes and the recruitment potential if bleached; and positive or negative influences of physical factors in the mitigation of thermal stress and protecting corals from bleaching. A cumulative analysis enables researchers to divide the studied reefs into four categories based on varying levels of reef health to support resilience, recovery, and vulnerability in the case of increased water temperature. Relevant management interventions for each category and other supporting activities are suggested to enhance management effectiveness and to plan the rehabilitation of coral reefs for biodiversity conservation and touristic development, taking into account the involvement of related stakeholders.     

Flash flood susceptibility mapping using a novel deep learning model based on deep belief network,back propagation and genetic algorithm

Flash floods are responsible for loss of life and considerable property damage in many countries.Flood susceptibility maps contribute to flood risk reduction in areas that are prone to this hazard if appropriately used by landuse planners and emergency managers.The main objective of this study is to prepare an accurate flood susceptibility map for the Haraz watershed in Iran using a novel modeling approach(DBPGA) based on Deep Belief Network(DBN) with Back Propagation(BP) algorithm optimized by the Genetic Algorithm(GA).For this task, a database comprising ten conditioning factors and 194 flood locations was created using the One-R Attribute Evaluation(ORAE) technique.Various well-known machine learning and optimization algorithms were used as benchmarks to compare the prediction accuracy of the proposed model.Statistical metrics include sensitivity,specificity accuracy, root mean square error(RMSE), and area under the receiver operatic characteristic curve(AUC) were used to assess the validity of the proposed model.The result shows that the proposed model has the highest goodness-of-fit(AUC = 0.989) and prediction accuracy(AUC = 0.985), and based on the validation dataset it outperforms benchmark models including LR(0.885), LMT(0.934), BLR(0.936), ADT(0.976), NBT(0.974), REPTree(0.811), ANFIS-BAT(0.944), ANFIS-CA(0.921), ANFIS-IWO(0.939), ANFIS-ICA(0.947), and ANFIS-FA(0.917).We conclude that the DBPGA model is an excellent alternative tool for predicting flash flood susceptibility for other regions prone to flash floods.     

An improved SPH method for saturated soils and its application to investigate the mechanisms of embankment failure: Case of hydrostatic pore‐water pressure

The method of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) has recently been applied to computational geomechanics and has been shown to be a powerful alternative to the standard numerical method, that is, the finite element method, for handling large deformation and post‐failure of geomaterials. However, very few studies apply the SPH method to model saturated or submerged soil problems. Our recent studies of this matter revealed that significant errors may be made if the gradient of the pore‐water pressure is handled using the standard SPH formulation. To overcome this problem and to enhance the SPH applications to computational geomechanics, this article proposes a general SPH formulation, which can be applied straightforwardly to dry and saturated soils. For simplicity, the current work assumes hydrostatic pore‐water pressure. It is shown that the proposed formulation can remove the numerical error mentioned earlier. Moreover, this formulation automatically satisfies the dynamic boundary conditions at a submerged ground surface, thereby saving computational cost. Discussions on the applications of the standard and new SPH formulations are also given through some numerical tests. Furthermore, techniques to obtain the correct SPH solution are also proposed and discussed throughout. As an application of the proposed method, the effect of the dilatancy angle on the failure mechanism of a two‐sided embankment subjected to a high groundwater table is presented and compared with that of other solutions. Finally, the proposed formulation can be considered a basic formulation for further developments of SPH for saturated soils. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lagrangian meshfree particles method (SPH) for large deformation and failure flows of geomaterial using elastic–plastic soil constitutive model

Simulation of large deformation and post‐failure of geomaterial in the framework of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) are presented in this study. The Drucker–Prager model with associated and non‐associated plastic flow rules is implemented into the SPH code to describe elastic–plastic soil behavior. In contrast to previous work on SPH for solids, where the hydrostatic pressure is often estimated from density by an equation of state, this study proposes to calculate the hydrostatic pressure of soil directly from constitutive models. Results obtained in this paper show that the original SPH method, which has been successfully applied to a vast range of problems, is unable to directly solve elastic–plastic flows of soil because of the so‐called SPH tensile instability. This numerical instability may result in unrealistic fracture and particles clustering in SPH simulation. For non‐cohesive soil, the instability is not serious and can be completely removed by using a tension cracking treatment from soil constitutive model and thereby give realistic soil behavior. However, the serious tensile instability that is found in SPH application for cohesive soil requires a special treatment to overcome this problem. In this paper, an artificial stress method is applied to remove the SPH numerical instability in cohesive soil. A number of numerical tests are carried out to check the capability of SPH in the current application. Numerical results are then compared with experimental and finite element method solutions. The good agreement obtained from these comparisons suggests that SPH can be extended to general geotechnical problems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local disappearance of bivalves in the Azores during the last glaciation

The Pleistocene (Eemian) outcrops of Lagoinhas and Prainha, located at Santa Maria Island (Azores), were investigated and their fossil mollusc content reported. These studies revealed that the last glaciation affected two groups of molluscs: the ‘warm‐guest’ gastropods with West African or Caribbean affinities (e.g. Conus spp., Cantharus variegatus, Bulla amygdala, Trachypollia nodulosa) and shallow bivalve species mainly associated with sandy habitats (Ensis minor, Lucinella divaricata, and probably Laevicardium crassum). In this paper we focus on this group of bivalves, which has since locally disappeared from the Azores. We relate the local disappearance of these bivalves in the Azores with the lack of sand in the shelf. The specific characteristics of the Santa Maria shelf combined with the sea‐level drop during the Weichselian prevented deposition of the lowstand deposits and permitted erosion of the previous ones, leaving the shelf without a sediment cover. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Livelihoods and co-management in the Tam Giang lagoon,Vietnam

The Tam Giang – Cau Hai lagoon is a microcosm of the complex social-ecological challenges experienced in similar systems throughout Southeast Asia. Intensification and rapid change in livelihood strategies (production and gear type) have increased conflict and placed a significant strain on aquatic resources in the lagoon. Such changes are compounded by near-shore agricultural development and urbanization. In the long-term, resolving livelihood conflicts and sustaining ecosystems will require a shift in the planning and management model from one that is top-down and enforcement driven, to one involving greater decision making and management authority at the local level. Drawing on experiences with a long-term action research process in the lagoon, this paper examines the challenges and opportunities of implementing a co-management approach. Of particular focus is the growing recognition among authorities of the value of engaging local fishers and fish farmers in participatory process to resolve complex livelihood challenges, and the development of local management bodies (newly formed Fishing Associations) as a basis for emerging co-management of aquatic resources.