Earth Sciences Pakistan (ESP)

Zhob Ophiolite complex is composed of three detached blocks named Omzha, Ali Khanzai and Naweoba blocks. The crustal plutonic section of the Naweoba block is mapped and divided into gabbro and granite. Based on petrographical studies, the gabbros fell in the domain of gabbro, gabbronorite, and hornblende gabbro while granitic rocks fell in the vicinity of quartz-rich granitic rocks, granodiorite, plagiogranite and tonalite. Gabbroic rocks cover the maximum area of the crustal plutonic section and are usually medium-grained while at many places the grain size is quite large to be seen with naked eyes. Minerlogically gabbroic rocks consist of orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, amphibole and plagioclase. These rocks maybe the fragments of main crustal plutonic section of the Zhob ophiolite. The granitic rocks having mafic minerals dominted in the eastern portion, while the felsic minerals dominted ones are in the west. The eastern side of the granitic body is compact and massive compared to western portion which is quite altered and shattered. Granitic rocks are composed of plagioclase, alkali feldspar and quartz where rutile and Cr-spinel exist in trace amounts. The gabbros of Naweoba block may have formed in a magma chamber as a result of fractional crystallization. While the granites maybe a late magmatic differentiate from the same magma chamber. The close correlation of gabbroic and granitic rocks of Naweoba block with Muslim Bagh, Khanozai and Bela ophiolites suggests their formation in supra subduction zone setting.

Rapid population growth and high rate of urbanization make municipal solid waste management a challenging task for municipalities. Lack of sufficient infrastructural facilities worsen this challenging situation. To curb this, transfer stations, which are facilities located close to residential areas and are used to receive and hold waste temporarily until it is transported to distant landfills. It reduces waste transportation cost and provide a place for waste segregation. In Lahore open transfer station is built near river Ravi and residential areas which is creating air and land pollution. This study is carryout to select the suitable location for waste transfer station in Lahore that meets the USEPA criteria. Buffer command of Arc GIS is used for site selection. Best suitable sites selected for Lahore in this analysis are UC Sultanki and UC Chandrai where more buffers are joint during buffer analysis. Furthermore, cost estimation for the construction and operation of both waste transfer stations are done.

Nearly two-third part of earth cover by water and this water is not for drinking from this only one percent is only for human use and which is not of sufficient to fulfill the human needs as water is the base of life so to overcome this water shortage problems there are different techniques which are helpful for the treatment of water like Desalination, phytoremediation, reverse osmosis, filtration, chlorination, coagulation and flocculation. As above-described processes solar water distillation is one of the most economic and renewable technique which is easily available everywhere. Many varieties of solar still are now developed regarding design like symmetric solar still, Asymmetric solar still, inclined single slope still, double slope still Steeped solar still and vacuum tube solar still etc. There are different natural factors which effect the yield of water purification like solar radiation, water depth in the basin, ambient temperature, and wind speed. These solar still are successful in arid atmosphere like in continent Africa and some parts of Asia where there is water shortage and irradiance values are higher there. Solar still working principle is to evaporate water in the basin and condense it on glass inner surface and then collect it in the collector. Conventional solar stills are less productive as compared to stills with vacuum tubes and steeped solar still in which internal reflectors were used.

Twenty-one benthic foraminiferal species were originally erected from the Southern Tethys, 13 species from Egypt, and 8 species from Pakistan. Some of these species were recorded from different localities in the Northern Tethys: France, Spain, Italy, North Atlantic, Slovenia and Gulf of Biscay. Textularia crookshanki, Trifarina esnaensis and Cibicidoides libycus in France and North Atlantic, Orthokarstenia nakkadyi and Cibicidoides pseudoacutus in France and Spain, Eponides lotus in Italy and Gulf of Biscay, Siphogaudryina africana in France and Italy, Asterigerina brencei in Spain and Slovenia. Another 9 Southern Tethyan foraminiferal species were recorded in France (Spiroplectinella esnaensis, Astacolus vomeriformis, Vaginulinopsis nammalensis, Reussella johnstoni, Angulogavelinella abudurbensis, Cibicidoides nammalensis, Planulina sinaensis, Asterigerina cuniformis, Elphidiella africana), 2 species in Spain (Verneuilina aegyptiaca, Coleites galeebi), and one species in Italy (Haplophragmoides desertorum), and Hungary (Bathysiphon saidi).

Six Early Paleogene small Rotaliid benthic foraminiferal species of the genus Ornatanomalina Haque are common in Pakistan and some of them are recorded from some localities in the Southern Tethys (Iraq, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria), as well as Northern Tethys (Italy, France): O. acuta, O. crookshanki, O. elegantula, O. geei, O. glaessneri, O. hafeezi. Another one of the illustrated species of Pakistan is believed to be new: O. pakistanica Anan, n. sp. Moreover, another one species of the genus was recorded earlier from the Early Eocene rocks of the United Arab Emirates (UAE):O. ennakhali. The taxonomic status of the genus Ornatanomalina Haque with the other related genera, as Thalmannita (Bermúdez) and Saudella Hasson are also discussed.

This study presents the results of the analysis and interpretation of aeromagnetic data over part of Adamawa trough with the aim of investigating the hydrocarbon potential of the study area. The study area is located between latitude 8.50oN and 9.50oN and longitudes 11.50oE and 12.50oE. The Total magnetic intensity map of the study area was subjected to regional/residual separation. Three depth estimating techniques applied on the residual map to determine the thickness of sediments in the study area were Source parameter imaging, Euler deconvolution and spectral method. The results of these methods corroborate; the SPI, Euler Deconvolution and Spectral method shows a thick sedimentation of 4.42 km, 4.20 km and 4.17 km at the north-eastern part of the study area respectively. The SPI, Euler deconvolution and the Spectral method reveal shallow depth of 0.06 km, 0.10 km and 0.42 km at the southeast, southern and southwest part of the study area respectively. The maximum sedimentary thickness of above 4 km obtained in this study at the north-eastern part of the study area which corresponds to Numal might be sufficient for hydrocarbon maturation and accumulation. The study area was found to have a good prospect for hydrocarbon exploration.

Landslides are amongst the most damaging natural hazards in Malaysia. The study of landslides has drawn nationwide attention mainly due to increasing awareness of the socio-economic impact of landslides, as well as the increasing pressure of urbanization. Landslide Hazard Identification (LHI) is part of the process used to evaluate if any particular situation, item, thing, etc. may have the potential to cause harm. The description of LHI should include the location, volume (or area), classification and velocity of the potential landslides and any resultant detached material, and the probability of their occurrence within a given period of time. In this paper, we present the results of the measurement for the subsurface resistivity within by using the pole-dipole electrode array and present the 2D view of each resistivity profile. The result presented successfully detect the dominant layer consists of interbedded sandstone and shale of the Crocker Formation with highly weathered. This both layers have high porosity and potential to contain high water content which can trigger landslide to occur. Besides that, there are several boulders zone (weathered to fresh rock) that can be found at the top of the subsurface profile at about 1.5m to 15m in depth. The bedrock layer was estimated to be found at 4m to 32.5m in depth from the original ground and one possible fault line that had been identified. This fault line believed plays a role in the occurrence of landslide in which rock materials have lower strength compared to surrounding rocks. High density of fault means lower stability. Therefore the faut line have been regarded as a critical factor in triggering landslide in the study area. The results of these study findings are expected to be used as uniform guidelines and principles are very useful and have integrity in providing coordination of standards or policies for each planning activities for new development in the future. As a result of the lack of concern for the developer of the concept of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) or balancing and control of environmental health, the results of this study can also be used as a yardstick to party developers who intend to develop a high ground and hillside in deciding whether to continuing development planning or not.

The world is facing soil, air and water pollution problems which may arise the soil degraded, global warming, food shortage and droughts. For our future generations we have to develop sustainable environment technologies. Many studies have addressed some scientific aspects and have been limited focus on the commercial implementation based on urban food production industrial-scale production in rural areas small scale farming is developed in different countries for education and decoration inside buildings. We must encourage the sustainable small farming as indoor fish farming which is the farming of the new millennium aquaponic is a structure of closed-loop combine the elements of hydroponics and aquaculture which could contribute the addressing these problems. This system emphasis on improvement through management and integration of the living components and the bio filter system. From trickling bio filters and plant uptake of aquaculture wastewater results in improved water and nutrients use efficiency and conversation. The challenge to sustainability centers on balancing the aquaculture system environment for the optimum growth of these organism’s maximum production outputs and minimize effluent discharges to the environment emission and might develop the future application of aquaponic for food security.

Weeds are one of the major threats to the natural environment. They are destroying native habitats, threatening native plants and animals, and choking our natural systems including rivers and forests. Aiming to explore the existing situation of weed infestation and assessing its impact, present research work was conducted in south Punjab region, focusing on District Layyah and Muzaffargarh. Weed flora of wheat crop at 3 sites i.e. Nawan Kot, Fethpur, and Karor Lal-e-son in district Layyah; and three sites (Kot Addu, Chowk Sarwar Shaheed, and Sultan Nagar) in district Muzaffargarh was observed using quadrat method. Ten quadrats measuring 1.0 m2 were randomly selected to record the data. From each quadrat soil samples (from top 3 cm) were also taken. Different ecological parameters (i. e. Frequency (%) density (%), (%), relative density (%), relative frequency (%) and important value (%) were worked out using proper formulae. Weed species related to 9 families were classified into different frequency classes. Two most important families of these sites were found Poaceae and Papilionaceae each one represented by four species. Chenopodium album, Cynodon dactylon and Anagallis arvensis were observed the most frequent species at these sites.

Geophysical investigation using electrical sounding technique was carried out in Tanke community Ilorin, in order to characterize or explore ground water potential. The top soil resistivity values vary from 68.1Ωm to 65.1Ωm and thickness varying between 1.7m to 9.9m. The second layer resistivity values varies from 32.9Ωm to 651.1Ωm and the thickness vary from 2.9m to 12.7m.The third layer is the weathered basement with resistivity and thickness values varying between 22.6Ωm to 9562.6Ωm and 7.8m to 51.1m.The fourth layer is the partly weathered and fractured basement with resistivity and thickness values varying between 101Ωm to 2100Ωm and 80.1m to 124m while the fifth layer is apparently fresh basement whose resistivity values vary from 154.9Ωm to 7130Ωm with an infinite depth. The study further reveal VES 3, 4, and 5 as productive fractures within the weathered basement while other VES points are not productive.