Composite use of numerical groundwater flow modeling and geoinformatics techniques for monitoring Indus Basin aquifer, Pakistan

The integration of the Geographic Information System (GIS) with groundwater modeling and satellite remote sensing capabilities has provided an efficient way of analyzing and monitoring groundwater behavior and its associated land conditions. A 3-dimensional finite element model (Feflow) has been used for regional groundwater flow modeling of Upper Chaj Doab in Indus Basin, Pakistan. The approach of using GIS techniques that partially fulfill the data requirements and define the parameters of existing hydrologic models was adopted. The numerical groundwater flow model is developed to configure the groundwater equipotential surface, hydraulic head gradient, and estimation of the groundwater budget of the aquifer. GIS is used for spatial database development, integration with a remote sensing, and numerical groundwater flow modeling capabilities. The thematic layers of soils, land use, hydrology, infrastructure, and climate were developed using GIS. The Arcview GIS software is used as additive tool to develop supportive data for numerical groundwater flow modeling and integration and presentation of image processing and modeling results. The groundwater flow model was calibrated to simulate future changes in piezometric heads from the period 2006 to 2020. Different scenarios were developed to study the impact of extreme climatic conditions (drought/flood) and variable groundwater abstraction on the regional groundwater system. The model results indicated a significant response in watertable due to external influential factors. The developed model provides an effective tool for evaluating better management options for monitoring future groundwater development in the study area.     

The transition of a line plume to round plume

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Buoyant turbulent plumes are often categorized by their geometry and described as either round plumes, issuing from a point source, or line/planar plumes, issuing...     

Hydrostratigraphy and hydrogeology of the western part of Maira area, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: a case study by using electrical resistivity

Hydrostratigraphy and hydrogeology of the Maira vicinity is important for the characterization of aquifer system and developing numerical groundwater flow models to predict the future availability of the water resource. Conventionally, the aquifer parameters are obtained by the analysis of pumping tests data which provide limited spatial information and turn out to be costly and time consuming. Vertical electrical soundings and pump testing of boreholes were conducted to delineate the aquifer system at the western part of the Maira area, Khyber Pakhtun Khwa, Pakistan. Aquifer lithology in the eastern part of the study area is dominated by coarse sand and gravel whereas the western part is characterized by fine sand. An attempt has been made to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer system by establishing a relationship between the pumping test results and vertical electrical soundings by using regression technique. The relationship is applied to the area along the resistivity profiles where boreholes are not drilled. Our findings show a good match between pumped hydraulic conductivity and estimated hydraulic conductivity. In case of sparse borehole data, regression technique is useful in estimating hydraulic properties for aquifers with varying lithology.     

New generation Amberlite XAD resin for the removal of metal ions: A review

The direct determination of toxic metal ions, in environmental samples, is difficult because of the latter's presence in trace concentration in association with complex matrices, thereby leading to insufficient sensitivity and selectivity of the methods used. The simultaneous removal of the matrix and preconcentration of the metal ions, through solid phase extraction, serves as the promising solution. The mechanism involved in solid phase extraction (SPE) depends on the nature of the sorbent and analyte. Thus, SPE is carried out by means of adsorption, ion exchange, chelation, ion pair formation, and so forth. As polymeric supports, the commercially availableAmberlite resins have been found very promising for designing chelating matrices due to its good physical and chemical properties such as porosity, high surface area, durability and purity. This review presents an overview of the various works done on the modification of Amberlite XAD resins with the objective of making it an efficient sorbent. The methods of modifications which are generally based on simple impregnation, sorption as chelates and chemical bonding have been discussed. The reported results, including the preconcentration limit, the detection limit, sorption capacity, preconcentration factors etc., have been reproduced.     

People’s dependency on forest resources and contributions of forests to the livelihoods: a case study in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh

The study was conducted to investigate people’s forest dependency and contributions of forests to the livelihoods in the three hill districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh. The study revealed that forest resources contribute significantly to rural community’s livelihoods and economic well-being. Using generalized logistic regressions, this study has also investigated the socioeconomic factors that affect people’s dependency on forest resources of CHT. The study revealed that people’s income from forest and forest-related occupation was positively aligned with their forest dependency. However, their education level significantly reduced their dependency on forest resources. Thus, educating the forest-dependent people and supporting alternative income generation activities should be appreciated for effective forest management in CHT. This study will be helpful to forest and environmental policy makers for CHT.     

Assessment of strontium and calcium levels in Pakistani diet

To cope with nuclear emergency effectively due to ingestion of fission fragment (90)Sr, adequacy of nutritionally and radiologically important elements strontium and calcium was studied in typical Pakistani diet and baseline analytical data were generated. Concentrations of strontium and calcium were measured by using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) techniques. Daily dietary intake of strontium and calcium varied from 0.9 to 5.7 mg and 217 to 713 mg with the geometric mean value x geometric standard deviation of 2.6 x 1.7 and 487.1 x 1.4 mg d(-1), respectively. The average Sr concentration in the Pakistani diet was 1.4 times higher while Ca concentration was 0.4 times lower than the recommended values of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The calculated Sr/Ca ratio 5.3E-03 was also higher than the ICRP value. The study depicts that the strontium concentration in the Pakistani diet is adequate, while the calcium concentration is inadequate according to international standards and needs improvement.     

Implications and concerns of deep-seated disposal of hydrocarbon exploration produced water using three-dimensional contaminant transport model in Bhit Area, Dadu District of Southern Pakistan

A three-dimensional contaminant transport model has been developed to simulate and monitor the migration of disposal of hydrocarbon exploration produced water in Injection well at 2,100 m depth in the Upper Cretaceous Pab sandstone, Bhit area in Dadu district of Southern Pakistan. The regional stratigraphic and structural geological framework of the area, landform characteristics, meteorological parameters, and hydrogeological milieu have been used in the model to generate the initial simulation of steady-state flow condition in the underlying aquifer’s layers. The geometry of the shallow and deep-seated characteristics of the geological formations was obtained from the drilling data, electrical resistivity sounding surveys, and geophysical well-logging information. The modeling process comprised of steady-state simulation and transient simulation of the prolific groundwater system of contamination transport after 1, 10, 30 years of injection. The contaminant transport was evaluated from the bottom of the injection well, and its short- and long-term effects were determined on aquifer system lying in varying hydrogeological and geological conditions.     

Determining the depositional pattern by resistivity–seismic inversion for the aquifer system of Maira area,Pakistan

Velocity and density measured in a well are crucial for synthetic seismic generation which is, in turn, a key to interpreting real seismic amplitude in terms of lithology, porosity and fluid content. Investigations made in the water wells usually consist of spontaneous potential, resistivity long and short normal, point resistivity and gamma ray logs. The sonic logs are not available because these are usually run in the wells drilled for hydrocarbons. To generate the synthetic seismograms, sonic and density logs are required, which are useful to precisely mark the lithology contacts and formation tops. An attempt has been made to interpret the subsurface soil of the aquifer system by means of resistivity to seismic inversion. For this purpose, resistivity logs and surface resistivity sounding were used and the resistivity logs were converted to sonic logs whereas surface resistivity sounding data transformed into seismic curves. The converted sonic logs and the surface seismic curves were then used to generate synthetic seismograms. With the utilization of these synthetic seismograms, pseudo-seismic sections have been developed. Subsurface lithologies encountered in wells exhibit different velocities and densities. The reflection patterns were marked by using amplitude standout, character and coherence. These pseudo-seismic sections were later tied to well synthetics and lithologs. In this way, a lithology section was created for the alluvial fill. The cross-section suggested that the eastern portion of the studied area mainly consisted of sandy fill and the western portion constituted clayey part. This can be attributed to the depositional environment by the Indus and the Kabul Rivers.     

Assessment of background levels of trace metals in water and soil from a remote region of Himalaya

Selected trace metals were estimated by atomic absorption spectrometry in the water and soil samples collected from the remote region of Himalaya. The soil samples were analysed for soluble and acid extractable fraction of trace metals. In water samples, Ca, Na, Mg and K emerged as dominant contributors, whereas, Ca, Na, K, Mg, Fe and Pb were estimated at comparatively higher levels in the water extract of the soil. In case of acid extract of the soil samples, Ca, K, Fe, Mg, Mn and Na were found at elevated concentrations. Based on mean levels of the metals, following decreasing concentration order was observed in water samples: Ca > Na > Mg > K > Pb > Co > Cu > Zn > Mn > Cr > Fe > Cd > Li, however, in the acid extract of the soil, following order was noted: Ca > K > Fe > Mg > Mn > Na > Pb > Zn > Cr > Li > Cu > Co > Cd. The correlation study revealed appreciably diverse mutual relationships of trace metals in the water and soil samples. The multivariate cluster analyses exhibited divergent apportionment of trace metals in water and soil samples. Among the trace metals, Cd, Pb, Li, Zn, Cr, Cu, Mn and Co exhibited extreme to significant anthropogenic enrichment in the soil samples, while the rest of the metals were mostly contributed by the natural processes.     

Airborne and allergenic fungal spores of the Karachi environment and their correlation with meteorological factors

Airborne fungal spores are well known to cause respiratory allergic diseases particularly bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, rhino-conjunctivitis and allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis in both adults and children. In order to monitor and analyze airborne fungal flora of the Karachi environment, an aeromycological study was conducted using a Burkard 7-Day Recording Volumetric Spore Trap from January to December 2010. The data recorded from the Spore Trap was further analyzed for percent catch determination, total spores concentration, seasonal periodicities and diurnal variations. Cladosporium spp (44.8%), Alternaria spp. (15.5%), Periconia spp (6.1%), Curvularia spp (2.1%), Stemphylium spp (1.3%) and Aspergillus/Penicillium type (1%) emerged to be major components constituting more than 70% of the airborne fungal flora. Cladosporium, Curvularia and Stemphylium displayed a clear seasonal trend, while there were no clear seasonal trends for other fungal spore types. Diurnal variations were observed to be mainly having daytime maxima. Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient analysis was conducted using various weather parameters. The various fungal types showed a negative correlation with heat index, dew point, wind velocity and wind chill. However, a positive correlation was found with humidity, rain and barometric pressure. In fact, Alternaria, Bipolaris and Periconia showed a negative correlation with temperature, while Cladosporium and Periconia showed a negative correlation with heat index, dew point, wind velocity and wind chill. The barometric pressure was positively correlated with Cladosporium. On the basis of these findings, it can be concluded that a number of fungal spores are present in the atmosphere of Karachi throughout the year, with certain atmospheric conditions influencing the release, dispersion, and sedimentation processes of some genera. It is expected that clinicians will use the identified fungal flora for diagnosis and treatment and/or adopt preventative measures for allergic individuals.