Modern Advances in Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences Vol. 4

120 sediment samples collected along a 47 km transect from Ikot Abasi to Eket, southern Nigeria were subjected to granulometric analysis to determine their textural characteristics and depositional processes. Standard sedimentological methods involving sieve analysis were utilized to determine the various size distributions for each sample. Sediment size distribution is a reflection of the fluidity factor of the depositing medium and the energy factor of the environment of deposition. This was further subjected to statistical treatment (mean grain size, median, sorting, kurtosis, skewness, bivariate and multivariate analyses). Results show that the samples are very fine grain to pebbly (3.23 to -1.53) ? diameter in size and varies from very poorly sorted to very well sorted (2.069 to 0.294) ? with about 86% of the samples being poorly sorted. The sediments are predominantly leptokurtic (91%), with only few (9 samples) being platykurtic (range 8.148 to -1.082) ? and are coarse to very fine skewed in nature. The dominant modes of transportation reflected by these sediments are saltation and surface creep attributed mostly to current and channel action. Bivariate analysis revealed that most of the sediments are associated with fluvial processes of deposition with beach processes being subordinate. Multivariate analysis showed that shallow marine agitated environment mostly characterized the sediments of this study area. CM pattern for the sediments reveal deposition was mainly by graded suspension to bottom suspension and rolling. These features characterize sediments deposited by fluvio-deltaic processes dominated by tractive current patterns in a shallow marine depositional environment. The sediments along the studied transect show energy setting associated with a mix of high and relaxed energy at different times during depositional process, reflected in their moderate sorting, predominantly positively skewed and leptokurtic nature.

Petrographic analysis and textural distribution of the sediments of the Mamfe formation were to determine their provenance, paleoclimate and paleoenvironment. These sediments were subjected to sedimentological studies involving grain size analysis, pebble morphometry and thin section petrography. From the results of grain size analysis, the mean grain size, inclusive standard deviation, graphic skewness and kurtosis yielded average values of 0.94 ?, 1.30 ?, 0.1 ?, and 1.20 ? respectively. These results show that the sandstones have representatives of fine to coarse grain sizes; they are poorly sorted with dominance positively skewed suggesting a fluvial origin for the sediments. Bivariate analysis also suggests that fluvial processes exerted major control on transportation and deposition of the sediments. Results from pebble morphometric parameters including elongation ratio (ER), flatness ratio (FR), maximum projection sphericity index (MPSI), oblate-prolate index (OPI) and sphericity (S) all fall within acceptable limits for fluvial deposits. These suggests dominance of fluvial actions during deposition. Plots of Sphericity vs. OP index and particle form triangular diagram also indicates the pebbles were shaped predominantly by fluvial action. From petrographic analysis, feldspar and rock fragments contributed less of the sediment framework constituents compared with the composition of quartz. The sandstones are therefore described as texturally and mineralogically immature, arkosic to sub-arkosic arenites sourced from uplifted basement rocks and deposited in a humid climatic condition.

Soil erosion is a natural phenomenon, but human activities accelerate it between ten to forty times the natural occurrences. It therefore calls for mitigating measure to curb the effects of erosion since soils form at a slower rate than they are destroyed. A study on land use activities and their effects on soil erosion was conducted in the upland ecosystem in Kenya, Kajulu hills. The study assessed the effectiveness of the mitigation measures adopted by the residents to ease the effects erosion on the hill slopes. A sample size of 295 households out of 1600 households engaged in various mitigating practices was used. The study collected data on the magnitude of soil (kg) lost from the arable lands using collector ditch technique. The data were analyzed using frequency distribution tables and Man U-test. The result showed a double amount (1.198 kg/m²) of soil lost on the arable land without mitigation measures as compared to plots under cut off ditches (0.615 kg/m²) and vegetative strips (0.904 kg/m²) with Man U=7. These findings were above the world wide estimation of soil erosion on arable mountainous regions which range between 1.3-40.kg/m²/year (13-40T/Ha/year) as it was based on one rainy season. The findings showed that the mitigation measures adopted by the farmers to check the effects of soil erosion were effective with Man U=7 under the cut off ditches and vegetative strips.

This work presented the design steps and calculation for each unit of the water treatment plant (WTP), due to its crucial role domestically and drinking purpose. It also illustrated and designed the procedures of the water processing units by estimating water demand and designing the unit process. The objectives of this work were to evaluate the water demand for a certain community and to present design steps and calculations for the required units of a WTP. The design of the WTP units was applied to Greater-Zab River water for the selected location in Erbil City-Iraq. The quality and quantity of the Greater-Zab River water at various times were statistically analyzed and presented. The units of the treatment processes involved intake, coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, adsorption (optional), filtration, disinfection, storage, and pumping. The calculations and detailed drawings of the units were displayed, the average discharge and population used for the WTP design were 60,000 m3/day and 200,000, respectively. Besides, the calculation required some of the parameters to be estimated as field data, which were taken into consideration. The outline results of each unit of the WTP were tabulated. The quality and quantity of the surface water source affected the WTP design.  It can be concluded that this work can be used as a source for designing other WTP units. A number of factors such as the age of WTP, maintenance, economical and political situations, technical problems, and water demand had a great impact on the removal efficiency of the WTP units.

Climate change is possibly the most significant environmental challenge and possess serious threats to sustainable development in the world and more so in developing countries. Impact of climate change affects ecosystems, water resources, food and health. The most adverse effect of climate change is global warming. To adapt to the change and overcome the threats of climate change several climate-resilient agro-technologies have been introduced under the National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) Project. The present study was conducted in Lakhimpur District of Assam to measure the extent of adoption of the climate-resilient agro-technologies introduced under the NICRA Project by the participant and non-participant farmers. A total of 160 farmers, 80 NICRA participant farmers and 80 non-participant farmers were interviewed. Findings revealed that the majority of the participant farmers (68.75 per cent) had a medium extent of adoption followed by 17.50 per cent with a low extent of adoption of climate-resilient agro-technologies. Only 13.75 per cent of the participant farmers were found to have a high level of adoption of climate-resilient agro-technologies. Among the non-participant farmers, majority of them (75.00 per cent) had a low extent of adoption followed by 17.50 per cent with a medium extent of adoption of climate-resilient agro-technologies. Only a very small proportion of them (7.50 per cent) had a high extent of adoption of climate-resilient agro-technologies. This implies that existing extension educational efforts made under the project need to be strengthened and streamlined to enhance the knowledge level of participant farmers on climate-resilient agro-technologies.

The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence and concentrations of heavy metals in spring waters and determine its suitability for human consumption. Eight (8) heavy metals (Mn, Cu, Pb, Fe, Zn, Cd, Cr and Ni) were recorded. Manganese, chromium, lead, iron and cadmium exceeded acceptable limits, which could be attributed to geogenic source exacerbated by seasonal and anthropogenic influences.  The values of some of these metals were high and could pose serious health risk to the consumers of spring waters. Therefore, spring waters may not be suitable for drinking but can used for other domestic purposes.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) becomes a point of focus globally due to its harmful effects on the environment and human health if it is not managed properly. MSW was proved globally to be used as a resource, and it has a major opportunity in the realm of conversion technologies. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the enablers and barriers to six different MSW management (MSWM) technologies adopted in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in order to ensure the successful adoption of these technologies that are Anaerobic Digestion (AD), Incineration, Pyrolysis, Gasification, Composting and Re-fused Derived Fuel (RDF). This study provides sufficient information to the decision and policy-makers for the processes of selection and adoption of the MSWM technologies in Bahrain, using a qualitative approach “mainly semi-structured interviews” with experts and then Thematic Analysis using nvivo12 software. The results show that the main themes that enablers and barriers fall under are: political (e.g. national waste management strategy), technical (e.g. segregation at source), managerial (e.g. capacity building), social (e.g. public awareness), economic (e.g. incentives to investment) and environmental (e.g. air quality). It is highly recommended to focus on reducing, reuse and recycle principle, as the best way to manage waste in Bahrain. In addition, source segregation must be applied; as a starting point. This study concluded that in order to succeed in the MSWM technologies adoption, the resulted barriers should be over-come. Furthermore, Incineration was recommended as the best solution to manage MSW which has the least barriers and most enablers in Bahrain as per the experts.

The processes that affect sediment quality in drainage systems show high dynamics and complexity. However, relatively little information is available on the influence of both catchment characteristics and meteorological conditions on sediment chemical properties, as those issues have not been widely explored in research studies. This paper reports the results of investigations into the content of selected heavy metals (Ni, Mn, Co, Zn, Cu, Pb, and Fe) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments from the stormwater drainage systems of four catchments located in the city of Kielce, Poland. The influence of selected physico-geographical catchment characteristics and atmospheric conditions on pollutant concentrations in the sediments was also analyzed. Based on the results obtained, statistical models for forecasting the quality of stormwater sediments were developed using artificial neural networks (multilayer perceptron neural networks). The analyses showed varied impacts of catchment characteristics and atmospheric conditions on the chemical composition of sediments. The concentration of heavy metals in sediments was far more affected by catchment characteristics (land use, length of the drainage system) than atmospheric conditions. Conversely, the content of PAHs in sediments was predominantly affected by atmospheric conditions prevailing in the catchment. The multilayer perceptron models developed for this study had satisfactory predictive abilities; the mean absolute error of the forecast (Ni, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Pb) did not exceed 21%. Hence, the models show great potential, as they could be applied to, for example, spatial planning for which environmental aspects (i.e., sediment quality in the stormwater drainage systems) are accounted. The approach proposed in this study involved the development of forecasting models. They can be widely used as a tool supporting spatial planning and development.

During this research the geotechnical properties of Kaolin rocks white and colored has been studies. An experimental program was undertaken to study the effect of the presence of iron oxides (Fe₂O₃) on the geotechnical properties for the white and colored kaolin rocks. White Kaolin clay give the geotechnical properties more than the colored kaolin The iron oxide in colored kaolin destroyed the internal structure of the Kaolinitic mineral and decrease the crystallinity degree are decreasing and created porous because of influences of the oxidation. We can determine the (G dyne, K dyne, B, ?) parameters from (Vp, Vs) and we can determine (Easta) from (E dyne).The effect of compressive strength for white and colored kaolin show during: modulus Ratio, toughness modules) so that colored kaolin is weaker than white kaolin, because of effect of iron oxides on structure. The value of decreased resistance of white kaolin rocks higher rate than colored kaolin rocks.

Ecological diversity is the degree at which life forms varies within the context of a particular ecosystem, biome, or entire planet. This encompasses all species of plants, animals and microorganisms, the ecosystem, and ecological processes of which they belong. The Kimbi Fungom National Park is reported to be relatively less diverse compared to other national parks of Cameroon. This might be due to the configuration of the landscape and habitat types. The main objective of this study is to determine the species composition, structure and diversity in the heterogeneous landscape of the Kimbi Fungom National Park defined by different habitat types. The park was divided into 20 blocks and 10 blocks were randomly selected for this flora survey. In each block, a 1 km line transect was established with 5 quadrates of 20 × 20 m. These transects were laid to cut across four major vegetation types (lowland rainforest, gallery forest, woodland and grassland savanna). A total of 2831 stems ³1 cm circumference were identified and measured. This belongs to 222 species, in 54 families. Fabaceae, Rubiaceae and Euphorbiaceae were found to be the most dominant plant families. Tree density and basal area were lowest in the grassland while it was highest in the lowland forest. Species composition and diversity varied with vegetation type and landscape configuration. The lowland and gallery forest were characterized by high diversity and similar species composition shown by the Shannon diversity index of 3.8 and forest 3.75, respectively. Three species from our survey were known to be endemic to Cameroon (Allophyllus bullatus, Cleistopholis staudtii and Magnistipula butayei) while 6 species were known to be vulnerable; Afzelia africana, Afzelia bipindensis, Allophyllus bullatus, Entandrophragma angolense, Hallea stipulosa, and Quassia sanguine. The management, preservation systems including local population and habitat regeneration will therefore be highly advantageous to save this protected area from destruction, save their flora and fauna species from local extinction and to maintain a viable population size in the face of growing anthropogenic activities.

There is a growing awareness on the importance of indigenous technical knowledge and the necessity of its integration into modern knowledge in order to address problems related to natural resource conservation. However, there is a lack of study that demonstrates clearly how the two types of knowledge systems could be successfully integrated together. This paper presents such a framework that has been developed through a participatory geographical information systems (GIS) approach with the Teso Community in Kenya. Data were collected using a variety of research instruments such as structured questionnaires, in-depth and face-to-face interviews, focussed group discussions, content analysis of literature, environmental check lists, and using the GIS techniques for assessing the status of the bio-physical environment. The process of developing such a framework comprises five key building blocks including stakeholder engagement, establishment of resources targeted for rehabilitation, establishment of community and scientific points of convergence and divergence, a decision on community and expert resolutions and the adoption of community-based project implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The study recommends that the developed framework could be easily replicated in other rural communities that have similar bio-physical environmental conditions if found successful in sustainably managing natural resources. The local community members will through the guidance of the elders use their indigenous knowledge to map out and analyze the natural resources targeted for conservation to ascertain the extent of degradation.