Assessment of sand encroachment in Kuwait using GIS

Assessment of sand encroachment in Kuwait using Geographical Information System (GIS) technology has been formulated as a Multi-Criteria Decision Making problem. The Delphi method and Analytical Hierarchy Process were adopted as evaluating techniques, in which experts’ judgments were analyzed for objectively estimating and weighting control factors. Seven triggering factors, depicted in the form of maps, were identified and ordered according to their priority. These factors are (1) wind energy; (2) surface sediment; (3) vegetation density; (4) land use; (5) drainage density; (6) topographic change and (7) vegetation type. The factor maps were digitized, converted to raster data and overlaid to determine their possible spatial relationships. Applying a susceptibility model, a map of sand encroachment susceptibility in Kuwait was developed. The map showed that the areas of very high and high sand encroachment susceptibility are located within the main corridor of sand pathway that coincides with the northwesterly dominant wind direction.     

Kuwaiti national assembly — 1992 a study in electoral geography

The study of electoral geography in Kuwait has proven to be an interesting field for its reflection of a regional and national democratic approach in governing the state. The first consultative council was established in 1920, to be followed by the first legislative council in 1938 formed by means of elections. These two councils gave way to the first formation of a state parliament in 1963. Its history was faltered a number of times firstly in 1976 and secondly in 1986.Following the liberation, Kuwait restored its parliamentary life and elections took place on October, 5th 1992. Elections results were different to those of the previous ones where tribalism and sectarianism (Sunnis vis-a-vis Shiites) had little effect on the final results of the votes. Nevertheless, religious fundamentalist movements succeeded in winning more seats than in the past.Kuwaitis in general have become convinced that democracy is the right path for ruling the country, therefore Kuwaitis are very eager to see the success of their parliamentary experience not just for them but for the sake of the entire Gulf region.     

Potentiality of Zubair Formation for deep slurry injection in Kuwait

Selection of a suitable reservoir for fluid storage depends on the reservoir characteristics including permeability, porosity, depth, and reservoir volume. A prospective injection site requires certain quantitative or qualitative value for every parameter involved in a selection criterion. The Barremian?Clower Aptian Zubair Formation, at the Burgan oilfield in southern Kuwait, was selected as a potential site for a deep slurry injection project. The Zubair Formation is a major siliciclastic wedge; the target zone (second sand layer) ranges in thickness from 85.3 to 115.8?m with lateral extension measuring 35 by 20?km. The Zubair Formation parameters were evaluated, using log information, provided by Kuwait Oil Company, from three existing oil wells in the Burgan oilfield, and applying Nadeem and Dusseault (Environ Geosci 14(2):61?C71, 2007) geological assessment model for deep slurry injection. The results of the model show that the Zubair Formation is an excellent reservoir to receive injected slurried waste.     

Morphological characteristics and development of coastal nabkhas, north-east Kuwait

The coastal aeolian nabkhas, in Kuwait, are mostly elongated, with an average length of about 10 m, an average width of 3.7 m, and an average height of 0.65 m. The horizontal component of the nabkha dune (HC: the mean of the length and width of nabkha dune), developed around Nitraria retusa, was measured and compared with the height of the shrub. A second-polynomial function was found to best fit the set of data. The fitting identified three trends of the development of the nabkhas. Initially, as the height of shrubs (H) increases, the HC increases linearly until it reaches approximately 10 m. When H exceeds 2 m, the effect of shrub height becomes ineffective in trapping more sediments; that is, reaching an equilibrium condition, before a decrease in shrub height effectiveness occurs. Sediments of the nabkha crest and wings, left and right sides, are subjected to high energy winds, and therefore, they are generally coarser and better sorted than those of the tail or the nose. Minor differences are noted in the textural characteristics and the mineral composition of nabkha sediments and those of other aeolian landforms found in upwind nabkha field; this indicates that the sediments were derived from the nearby sources.     

Dust fallout characteristics within global dust storm major trajectories

Satellite images from 2000 to 2010 were used to identify major dust trajectories within seven major deserts in the world. The fallen dust from these trajectories were collected and analyzed. The fallen dust rates tend to be lower downwind. The average samples of the world's fallen dust are negatively skewed trimodal with dominancy of silt size fractions (61 %). Most of the fallen dust within major dust trajectories is fining downwind. The fallen dust from the eastern zones (Taklimakan, Gobi, and Australian deserts) are characterized by higher percentages of feldspars and clay minerals, low carbonate content, and grain surface area in comparison to the Western zones (Sahara and Arabian deserts). The Western Sahara Desert dust is differentiated by the highest depositional rates and average quartz percentage (66 %). The dust samples in this zone contain low carbonates and grain surface area compared to dust from the Eastern Sahara Desert. The dust samples within Northern Arabia and Ethiopian-south Arabia zones show the highest average of carbonate amounts and grain surface area.     

Origin of sulfur and mode of gypsum formation in central Iraqi soils

The δ18O and δD values of gypsum crystallization water together with δ18O and δ34S of sulfates were used as reliable techniques to study source of sulfur and mode of gypsum formation in selected central Iraqi soils.Six representative pedons on different geologic units were studied.The slope of 3.2 for δ18O and δD plot of gypsum crystallization water showed that evaporation was the major process of gypsum deposition in the study area.The mean δ34S value of +17.58 ‰ showed that Cretaceous sea sulfate followed by Tertiary is the source of sulfur in studied soils.The heavier δ34S value(+17.58 ‰) of the study area compared to central Iran(+13.5 ‰) proved that gypsum in central Iraq soils has been formed in the later stage of evaporation and that Iraqi landforms were cut off from the Tethys seaway after central Iran was evolved.     

Textural variations within different representative types of dune sediments in Kuwait

Samples were collected from the surfaces of four types of typical dunes in order to identify variations in textural characteristics over their bodies. These dunes are barchan, climbing dune, falling dune, and nabkha. Statistical parameters vary from position to another and show that each dune has its own characteristics. It is well recognized that all the sediments of the studied dunes tend to be finer from borders toward the mid dune. Histograms and bivariate diagrams successfully differentiate between different localities within all studied dunes. The climbing dune shows high uniformity where medium sand represents the mean grain size of 91% of collected samples. Samples from barchan and falling dune show lowest variability in statistical parameter values compared to other dunes. On the other hand, nabkha sediments are more variable and show higher values of average statistical parameters. All studied dunes are coarser than surrounding dunes in regional areas and other comparable dunes. But particularly, the barchan sediments in Kuwait are characterized by larger grain size, better sorting than other comparable dunes in the upwind (Iraq) and downwind (Saudi Arabia) and other parts of the world.     

Heavy metal concentrations in roadside-deposited sediments in Kuwait city

In the present study, roadside-deposited sediment samples collected from Kuwait city district, in Kuwait, were analyzed for specific heavy metals (As, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn). Contamination assessment status of heavy metals in roadside sediments was made using mathematical models in terms of enrichment factor (EF), geoaccumulation index (I _geo), and contamination factor (CF). The sediments showed remarkably high levels of all the metals, except Ni, above background concentrations in the following order (As, Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, and Cr). CF and I _geo revealed overall moderately uncontaminated and moderate contamination, respectively, but the EFs for all metals ranged between moderate and significant enrichment.     

Sand transport and deposition within arrays of non-erodible cylindrical elements

The study concerns sand deposition within a regular array of vertical cylinders placed in the path of a sand-laden wind. Twelve wind tunnel experiments using three preselected shear velocities (28·78, 32·86 and 45·1 cm s⁻¹), with associated rates of sand feed (0·3, 2·0 and 3·8 g cm⁻¹ s⁻¹), and four roughness element concentrations (λ = 0·046, 0·092, 0·184 and 0·369) were carried out to evaluate the factors that affect sand deposition and sand flux in the presence of immobile rough elements. The measurements showed that as the concentration of non-erodible elements increased, the percentage reduction in the initial sand flux increased and a particularly sharp reduction occurred when λ ≥ 0·18. The pattern of reduction was found to be q_red = q_eq (d/H) [Δy/(Δy−d)](0·68 −3·5λ) when λ ≤ 0·18, and q_red = q_eq(d/H)[Δy/(Δy−d)](0·025) when λ > 0·18, where q_eq is the equilibrium rate of sand transport arriving at the best bed, d is the diameter of the cylinder, H is the height of the cylinder, and Δy is the width of unit area associated with a cylinder. The experimenal results also showed that the sand flux downstream of the array started to increase immediately upon the commencement of burial of the array's cylinders. Thus the sand deposition and sand flux along an array consisting of regularly distributed, non-erodible elements were shown to be neither uniform nor steady. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.