Eastern Drainage Research Articles

Evaluation of the Water Quality of the Drainage Alhfar in Al-Diwaniyah Governorate According to the Iraqi Guide WQI

A study was conducted on the eastern drainage of the Euphrates River (Alhfar) in Diwaniyah at three stations, summer and winter. The drainage Alhfar was evaluated using the WQI and Was selected 12 parameters, namely (PH, E.C, TDS, Turb., T.H, Cl, Mg, Ca, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd), From the results, it is noted that the first site recorded (302, 290) in summer and winter, respectively, according to WQI, while the second site recorded (294.5, 298.8) in summer and winter, respectively, The WQI value for the third site was (310 a, 380), according to WQI the water in the first and second sites was very poor water due to the increase in the proportion of determinants. In the third site, the water was unsuitable water because the WQI was very high in summer and winter.

Taxonomic revision of Phoxinus minnows (Leuciscidae) from Caucasus, with description of a new narrow-ranged endemic species

Taxonomic revision of Phoxinus from the Caucasus revealed two distinct species. One species, P. colchicus, was known from eastern drainage of Black Sea, but was recorded also in the middle reach of the Kuban (Sea of Azov basin), for the first time. The Kuban population represents a genetically unique sub-lineage of P. colchicus. Its ancestors might have colonized the Kuban system through the event of ancient river capture. Another species inhabits only the Adagum River basin in the lower Kuban and represents a new narrow-ranged endemic species – Phoxinus adagumicus sp. nov. According to mtDNA phylogeny (COI and cytb), P. adagumicus sp. nov. represents deeply divergent and one of the two early branched lineages of the genus Phoxinus being distant to other species (min. p-distance = 0.074) including geographical neighbors – P. chrysoprasius from Crimean Peninsula and P. colchicus from the Caucasus. The new species differs from most Phoxinus species by frequently occurring single-row pharyngeal teeth (modal formula 5–4). The narrow geographic range (ca. 55 km in length and 15–20 km in width) and high anthropogenic load on local water systems suggests the new species is under threat and needs protection.

A decentralized multi-agent framework for urban flood management

A decentralized multi-agent framework for urban flood management

Geographical distribution of freshwater fishes in Saudi Arabia.

Species presence/absence data in different water bodies in different regions of Saudi Arabia were collated from the literature and collected from field surveys to determine the geographical distribution of fish species in the country. Freshwater fish are mainly located in drainages in the south-west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both in the lowlands (western drainage systems) and highlands (eastern drainage systems) of the Sarawat Mountain Range. The eastern drainage systems were dominated by three endemic species, while the western drainage systems had a variety of endemic and non-native species. Ten non-native fish species were reported, mainly in artificial water bodies in the north and east of the country, but also in dams located in Al Baha Region, Abha and Rabigh, meaning both western and eastern drainage systems are being colonised by non-native species such as Oreochromis and Carassius species.

Algunos aspectos limnológicos abióticos de las cuencas de los ríos Limay y Neuquén con especial referencia al embalse Ramos Mexía

The Negro river tributaries are the Limay and Neuquen rivers, which constitute the Andean eastern drainage system betweem 36" and 41" S. Huge reservoirs have been constructed, as a part of a hydroelectric power program and also for flood control purposes.
 Morphometric and lithological differences accounts for thermal and chemical distinctive fractures between these reservoirs.
 The Ramos Mexía impoundment and Pellegrini off-channel reservoir are wind mixed all over the year, while in the deeper Los Barreales and Mari Menuco stratification develops during the summer.
 The annual heat budget of the Ramos Mexía has been raughly estimated in 36131, 30760 and 31047 cal cm-2 for the years 1978, 1979-1980 and 1980-1981 respectively. These estimates are higher than those for others lakes situated on the Andes mountains in a region of more oceanic climate.
 The waters of the system are well oxygenated, neutral and soft. The Limay basin waters are the more diluted, with an average conductivity of 30 μScm-1 near the glacial lake Nahuel Huapi, and 67 μScm-1 in the Ramos Mexía artificial lake. Conductivity seasonal changes are related with discharge flow rate patterns and with level changes in the reservoirs. The Neuquen basin waters present conductivities ranging from 75 μScm-1 near the Andes, to 250 μScm-1 in Mari Menuco reservoir, while the Pellegrini attains to 3600 μScm-1.
 Both rivers (and R. Mexía artificial lake) have calcium-bicarbonate type waters, beeoming richer in sulphate and sodium as they move seaward through a semiarid region. In Los Barreales and M. Menuco reservoirs bicarbonate and sulphate may change their relative positions during the annual hydrologic cycle. The Pellegrini dosed basin belong to the sulphate-chloride sodium type.
 Reactive silica concentration is rather high throughout the year, without showing depletion to any important extent due to biogenic activity, except in the Pellegrini artificial lake.

Effects of Automatic Hyperparameter Tuning on the Performance of Multi‐Variate Deep Learning‐Based Rainfall Nowcasting

AbstractRainfall nowcasting has become increasingly important as we move into an era where more and more storms are occurring in many countries as a result of climate change. Developing an accurate rainfall nowcasting model could provide insights into rainfall dynamics and ultimately could prevent significant damages. In this paper, deep neural networks (DNNs) and numerical weather predictions (NWPs) are applied for rainfall and runoff forecasting in an urban catchment with a complex drainage system. DNNs are among the most accurate models for rainfall nowcasting. However, the design and training of DNNs are usually complicated. This paper combines different convolutional, long short‐term memory (LSTM)‐based networks and NWPs using ensemble techniques (i.e., bagging, random forest, and adaboost methods) with automatic hyperparameter tuning for multi‐step rainfall nowcasting. The relative humidity, air temperature, and previous rainfall sequences are considered the inputs of the DNNs. We focus on applying two hyperparameter tuning methods (i.e., random search and tree structured Parzen estimator) to improve the performance of the proposed rainfall nowcasting models. The proposed framework was applied to the eastern drainage catchment (EDC) in Tehran city. The results illustrate that the utilization of automatic hyperparameter tuning along with multivariate DNNs, NWPs, and ensemble techniques could improve the nowcasting performance (10%–25%) compared to the traditional univariate models. Also, Adaboost is more accurate than other ensemble techniques in predicting both extreme and normal rainfall events with average RMSE of 0.765, and random forest obtain better results when predict sub normal rainfall events with overall RMSE of 0.315. The proposed framework is applicable to different climates and catchments.

Relative lake level reconstructions for glacial Lake Agassiz spanning the Herman to Campbell levels

Lake Agassiz was the largest North American pro-glacial lake during the last deglacial period, and the routing of the overflow is hypothesized to have affected thermohaline circulation and in turn, global climate. Here an existing glacial isostatic adjustment model is applied to Campbell beach strandline data to synthesize and correlate published radiocarbon- and OSL-dated lake level indicators in an effort to produce relative lake-level curves and a drainage history. The curves highlight where the water level history of Lake Agassiz is well understood, and where additional work is necessary. Many OSL-dated strandlines between 14.5 and 13.2 ka record meltwater routing through a southern outlet to the Gulf of Mexico during this time, and that lake levels fell due to sill incision and glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). Oxygen isotope records from marine sediments tracking continental runoff, plus deglacial isochrones, suggest eastern outlets to the Atlantic Ocean opened at around 13.2 ka, near the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) stadial, but the evidence within the basin is scant. At some point during the YD, Lake Agassiz overflow shifted to a northwestern outlet into the Arctic Ocean, and the reconstructed lake levels track lake-level rise driven by uplift of the northwestern outlet, which eventually transferred water to the southern outlet to create the Campbell level of Lake Agassiz. The apparent shallow water depth (∼4 m) of overflow at the southern outlet relative to earlier phases suggests multiple active outlets at this time (northwestern, southern, and perhaps eastern). Oxygen isotope records from the Gulf of Mexico indicate overflow via the southern outlet occurred in two brief phases, likely explained by an oscillating ice margin that regulated overflow. Considerable work remains to assess the timing of deglaciation to understand when Lake Agassiz first drained east and north. Lacking are details of eastern drainage and any dated stratigraphic record of likely lake level fluctuations during the Younger Dryas. • Applies a GIA model to reconstruct paleo beach and outlet sill elevations. • Relative lake level curve matches available stratigraphic data. • Paucity of data continues for early Moorhead phase water levels. • Southern outlet routing agrees well with Gulf of Mexico meltwater record.

Adaptive precipitation nowcasting using deep learning and ensemble modeling

• Six DNNs and three corrected NWP models are used for adaptive rainfall nowcasting. • Outputs of individual models are fused using some ensemble techniques. • KGE, R 2 , and RMSE indices are used to determine the best adaptive nowcasting model. • Different events are selected to evaluate the forecasting abilities of the models. • Rainfall nowcasting models are applied to the eastern drainage catchment of Tehran. Accurate rainfall nowcasting is necessary for real-time flood management in urban areas. In this paper, some deep neural networks (DNNs) are developed for rainfall nowcasting with lead-time of 5 min. To increase the accuracy of the DNNs, their outputs are fused with the predictions of some numerical weather prediction (NWP) models using three ensemble models (i.e., bagging, random forest, and adaboost). The bias of NWPs is corrected using the quantile mapping technique. The ensemble models are compared with the DNNs and NWP models in terms of the accuracy of predictions. To reduce the run time of the proposed rainfall nowcasting models to be applicable for real-time urban flood management, they are executed using a parallel computing algorithm on the central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU). To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed models, they were applied to the eastern drainage catchment (EDC) of Tehran city in Iran. More than 29,000 observed rainfall data were used for training and cross validating the proposed models. The results illustrated that the accuracy, coefficient of determination, of the ensemble models is at least 10% better than the DNNs in most rainfall events.

Risks involved in vertical shafts construction for the eastern drainage tunnel in Mexico

This article describes the main stages involved in the construction of the vertical shafts (large-diameter vertical wells), which are necessary for the subsequent construction of the tunnel´s sections. The different risk situations existing during the construction of the Eastern Drainage Tunnel in the valley of Mexico City (in Spanish, "Tunel Emisor Oriente") are analyzed. In order for this 52 km-long and 7.5 m-wide tunnel to carry part of the city’s sewage, 25 shafts must first be built, ranging from 55 to 150 meters deep. The magnitude of such a project implies working in different geographical areas and varied geological strata involving the presence of groundwater, which increases the risks due to possible landslides or flooding during excavation. As digging will occur in different types of soil, varying procedures must be used depending on soil type. Likewise, due to the magnitude of this kind of project, detailed scheduling and planning are required as simultaneous works on different fronts are necessary to meet deadlines. The study mentions that, while projects like these involve high risks for workers, analysis of activities and situations are conducted precisely to demonstrate that such risks can be considerably reduced.

Deciphering relationships between the Nicobar and Bengal submarine fans, Indian Ocean

• The submarine fans are the eastern and western parts of a single depositional system. • Sediment provenance was predominantly supplied by Himalaya-derived material. • A progressive upward decrease in sedimentary and increase in higher-grade metamorphic detritus. • In the Pliocene, the fans had different sediment supply routes from different Himalayan sources. • Tectonically driven changes in the Brahmaputra-Ganges rivers influenced fan sedimentation. The Nicobar Fan and Bengal fans can be considered as the eastern and western parts, respectively, of the largest submarine-fan system in the world. This study presents the integrated results of petrographic and provenance studies from the Nicobar Fan and evaluates these in the context of controls on sedimentation. Both fans were predominantly supplied by Himalaya-derived material from the main tectono-stratigraphic sequences as well as the Gangdese arc. A lack of volcanic material in the Nicobar Fan rules out sources from the Sumatra magmatic arc. Overall, the petrographic data shows a progressive decrease in sedimentary detritus and corresponding increase of higher-grade metamorphic detritus up-section. Changes in sediment provenance and exhumation rates in the Himalaya are seen to track changes in sediment accumulation rates. High sediment accumulation rates in the Bengal Fan occurred at ∼13.5–8.3 Ma, and in the Nicobar Fan from ∼9.5–5 Ma. Both fans show peak accumulation rates at 9.5–8.3 Ma (but with the Nicobar Fan being about twice as high), and both record a sharp drop from ∼5.5–5.2 Ma, that coincided with a change in river drainage associated with the Brahmaputra River diverting west of the uplifting Shillong Plateau. At ∼5 Ma, the Nicobar Fan was supplied by an eastern drainage route that finally closed at ∼2 Ma, when sediment accumulation rates in the Nicobar Fan significantly decreased. Sediment provenance record these changes in routing whereby Bengal Fan deposits include granitoid sources from the Namche Barwa massif in the eastern syntaxis that are not seen in the Nicobar Fan, likely due to a more localised eastern drainage that included material from the Indo-Burman wedge. Prior to ∼3 Ma, source exhumation rates were rapid and constant and the short lag-time rules out significant intermediate storage and mixing. In terms of climate versus tectonic controls, tectonically driven changes in the river network have had most influence on fan sedimentation.

Historical Distal Lahar Deposits on the Remote Eastern-Drainage of Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador

Abstract Cotopaxi is an active stratovolcano, located 60 km SE of Quito. During historical times, Cotopaxi experienced at least five eruptive cycles triggering major lahars which descended along all three main fluvial systems: Pita (north), Cutuchi (south) and Tambo-Tamboyaku (east). Northern and southern lahar deposits have been studied for decades, due to their impact on large populated areas. In contrast, the eastern deposits have only been occasionally mentioned. However, historical reports suggest that the AD 1744, 1768 and 1877 eruptions triggered lahars in the eastern drainage, which caused damage in this remote zone. These lahars flowed more than 120 km downstream crossing the uninhabited Eastern Cordillera until reaching the Amazon lowlands where rural-indigenous settlements were located. In this study, two different historical lahar deposits were recognized and characterized at the eastern lowlands. Several samples were collected in order to perform geochemical analyses of the juvenile blocks, grain size distribution, and componentry analyses of the proximal and distal eastern zones. Finally, inundation areas, deposit volumes and peak discharges were estimated. The results allowed us to make a detailed characterization of the deposits, which is valuable information for future investigations and which allows a better understanding of the potential consequences of a similar future event.

Origin of the Redwater River Drainage Basin Determined by Topographic Map Interpretation: Eastern Montana, USA

Topographic and geologic map interpretation strongly suggests the eastern Montana Redwater River valley eroded headward across large southeast-oriented ice-marginal melt water floods. The north-oriented Redwater River heads in an area to the south of recognized continental glaciation and flows into the recognized glaciated region before joining the east-oriented Missouri River. Detailed topographic maps show the eastern drainage divide is asymmetric with steeper slopes on the Redwater River side and is crossed by shallow dry valleys linking northwest-oriented Redwater River tributaries with southeast-oriented streams that flow as barbed tributaries to the northeast-oriented Yellowstone River. The western drainage divide is also crossed by shallow dry valleys linking northwest-oriented drainage routes to north-oriented Missouri River tributaries with southeast-oriented and barbed tributaries to the northeast- and north-oriented Redwater River. Alluvium from upstream Yellowstone River source areas found within the Redwater River drainage basin suggests the Redwater River and much longer Yellowstone River valleys eroded headward from a continental ice sheet margin as headward erosion of the larger Yellowstone River valley across the southeast-oriented flood flow was supplemented by northeast- and north-oriented flow moving at the present day Redwater-Yellowstone River drainage divide elevation.

Age, growth and reproductive biology of threatened westslope cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi inhabiting small mountain streams.

Age, growth and reproductive characteristics of six westslope cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi populations were studied in the south-western Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. Sagittal otoliths were collected from 605 fish ranging in size from 36 to 250 mm (fork length). The maximum detected age (13 years for females and 12 for males) was higher than has been reported previously in published literature; but no significant differences in age distributions between males and females were found. Length growth rates, estimated using the von Bertalanffy growth function, showed that males and females had similar growth rates. Sex ratios varied between 0.3 to 2.0 females per male. Age and size at 50% maturity were greater for females than males (4.9 years and 139 mm v. 3.7 years and 125 mm). Mature females were yearly spawners with highly variable fecundities (mean ± S.D. = 223 ± 94) and their ovaries contained both developed and undeveloped eggs. Across all populations, mean instantaneous mortality rate (Z) was estimated as 0.555, annual survival rates for 0-1 year-old fish were 3.2 and 57.4% for older fish. An altitudinal distribution gradient was observed, with older fish occupying upper stream reaches. This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of biological characteristics and structure of O. c. lewisi populations inhabiting small, mountain streams and should provide useful basic information for management policies of this threatened species in eastern drainage of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

نصوص غير منشورة من مدينة بيكاسي موقع تل أبو عنتيك

يقع تل (أبو عنتيك) في منطقة تحد ثلاث محافظات، هي بابل من ناحية الطليعة والنجف الاشرف بالقرب من ناحية الحرية والقادسية ناحية المهناوية([i]) ويبعد نحو(50 كم) جنوب مدينة بابل التاريخية([ii])، ويقع الى الغرب من مدينة مرد الاثرية على بعد نحو (15 كم)([iii])، والموقع في منطقة تشتهر حاليا بالزراعة مثل زراعة النخيل والشلب على وجه الخصوص([iv]). يخترق التل في وسطه مبزل بعرض (20م) يعرف بالحفار او المبزل الشرقي وهناك مبزل اخر يقع الى الغرب منه يعرف باسم القوسي وحفر لغرض تجفيف مياه الاهوار في عام 1994م، وترتفع اعلى نقطة في التل عن مستوى سطح البحر بمقدار 20م([v]).
 وكانت الاراضي المحيطة بذلك التل سهلية خصبة وصالحة للزراعة وقبل عقود من الزمن غمرتها مياه هور ابن نجم وهو من اهوار الشامية والمشخاب([vi])، وسبب هذا الغمر في اختفاء معالمه حتى غاب عن انظار مفتشي الاثار الذين عملوا على مسح المواقع الاثرية في المقاطعات الزراعية وخاصة الخاضعة منها الى تسوية حقوق الاراضي في ثلاثينيات القرن الماضي، اشرت الهيئة العامة للاثار والتراث في سجلاتها وخرائطها وقتئذ تلين اثريين تربط بينهما قناة اروائية قديمة، وهما على مسافة يسيرة من تل ابو عنتيك يعرف الاول باسم (زغيتان) وهو الى الجنوب الغربي منه فيما يعرف الثاني باسم (جغيمان) في الشمال الغربي وتبلغ مساحتهما مع تل ابو عنتيك تسعة كيلو متر مربع وتشكل كلها على الارجح مستوطنا ، وتشير اللقى السطحية للتل الاول (زغيتان) انه يعود الى العصر البابلي القديم([vii]).
 
 ([i]) باسمة جليل عبد، نصوص مسمارية غير منشورة من العهد البابلي القديم من (تل أبو عنتيك)، اطروحة دكتوراه غير منشورة، جامعة بغداد، كلية الاداب، قسم الاثار 2003، ص 1.
 ([ii]) احمد كامل محمد ” ملاحظات عامة على النصوص المسمارية من تل ابو عنتيك للموسمين الثاني والثالث 2000 -2001‟، سومر، مج 50، (1999-2000)، ص1.
 ([iii]) نشأت علي عمران، تل ابو عنتيك (بيكاسي) من العصر البابلي القديم في ضوء التنقيبات الاثارية للمواسم (1999-2002) (دراسة تحليلية)، رسالة ماجستير غير منشورة، جامعة بغداد، كلية الاداب، قسم الاثار 2011م، ص10.
 ([iv]) سعد سلمان فهد الشويلي، نصوص مسمارية غير منشورة من العصر البابلي القديم من تل بزيخ (زابلام ) وابو عنتيك (بيكاسي)، اطروحة دكتوراه غير منشورة، جامعة بغداد، كلية الاداب، قسم الاثار، (2010)، ص 21.
 ([v]) احمد كامل محمد، المصدر السابق، ص 1.
 ([vi]) احمد كامل محمد، المصدر نفسه، ص1، وينظر كذلك نشأت علي عمران، المصدر السابق، ص11.
 ([vii]) احمد كامل محمد، المصدر نفسه، ص1

The effects of mining subsidence and drainage improvements on a waterlogged area

Subsidence caused by mining can lead to serious waterlogging problems. In this study, numerical simulation was used to predict both subsidence and waterlogging in a coal-mining area. Changes in the phreatic surface and the area of waterlogging caused by mining subsidence were estimated for various mining scenarios using field measurements and simulation analysis. The results of the numerical simulation for the area of waterlogging caused by existing mining subsidence agreed well with the measured results. The simulation results showed that further mining will cause additional subsidence and increase the extent of the waterlogged areas. The numerical simulation method was used to analyze the effects of improvements to the drainage system for different mining scenarios. The improvements included additional drainage channels and raising the height of river embankments to prevent flooding. The results showed that the western drainage improvements have decreased the water table by about 1.0–1.3 m after mining of the No.2 coal seam, while the eastern drainage improvements would decrease the water table by about 2.0 m after mining of the No.4 coal seam. Thus, the area of waterlogging could be effectively managed.

Riesgos laborales implícitos en la construcción de las lumbreras para el túnel emisor oriente en México

This article describes the main stages involved in the construction of the shafts (large-diameter vertical wells), which are necessary for the subsequent construction of the tunnels.The different risk situations present during the construction of the Eastern Drainage Tunnel (in Spanish, “Tunel Emisor Oriente”-TEO) are analyzed. In order for this 52 km-long and 7.5 m-wide tunnel to carry sewage, 25 shafts must firstbe built ranging from 55 to 150 meters deep. The magnitude of such a project implies working in different geographical areas and varied geological strata involving the presence of groundwater, which increases the risks due to possible landslides or flooding during excavation. Sincedigging will occur in different types of soil, varying procedures must be used depending on soil type. Likewise, due to the magnitude of this kind of project, detailed scheduling planning is required as simultaneous work on different fronts is necessary to meet deadlines. The study mentions that, while projects like these involve high risks for workers, analysis of activities and situations is conducted precisely to demonstrate that such risks can be considerably reduced.

Hydrological Budget for the Eastern Drainage Basins in the West Bank

Hydrological Budget for the Eastern Drainage Basins in the West Bank

The Tintah-Campbell gap and implications for glacial Lake Agassiz drainage during the Younger Dryas cold interval

Abstract Reconstructions of glacial Lake Agassiz paleogeography and drainage have been an important contribution to formulating a hypothesis in which glacial Lake Agassiz drainage to the Atlantic Ocean initiated the Younger Dryas cold interval. This study evaluates the lake level and outlet history of Lake Agassiz as recorded by strandlines visible on lidar digital elevation models from North Dakota and Minnesota. The former lake levels are warped due to glacial isostatic adjustment. Older levels have experienced more uplift and therefore have more curvature. The strandline data establish that the Moorhead lowstand of Lake Agassiz was bracketed by the strongly diverging Campbell and Tintah lake levels, which creates a vertical gap between the former lake levels. This gap exists due to a lake level drop of ∼90 m when the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat opened a lower outlet, which must have been a northwest outlet to the Arctic Ocean. By applying an exponential decay rebound model, this event dates to 12,180 ± 480 cal yr BP, post-dating the beginning of the Younger Dryas at 12,900 cal yr BP. Eastern drainage outlets to the Atlantic Ocean through the Laurentian Great Lakes that were contemporaneous with the onset of the Younger Dryas cannot be ruled out, but if these outlets existed, their duration of occupation was short-lived and not characterized by significant drawdown events within glacial Lake Agassiz.

Morphological characteristics of interactions between deserts and rivers in northern China

Abstract Arid regions are affected by long-term interactions between various factors including water and wind. Recent research has concentrated on aeolian–fluvial interactions in dryland environments, including the important role of rivers in providing sand and spaces for deserts development, as well as the influences of aeolian activity upon river landforms. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive data at the large watershed scale to support such research. In this study, we analyzed statistically the morphological parameters related to twelve deserts and ten watersheds in dryland regions of northern China using remote sensing data, maps of desert and watershed distributions, and classification of aeolian landforms. Results indicate that, in view of the relationship between deserts and rivers, the geomorphic structures of drainage basins in northern China can be overall divided into five large drainage zones: northwestern drainage (ND), western drainage (WD), drainage of northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (PD), middle drainage (MD) and eastern drainage (ED). In the terms of percent area of desert in drainages, it can be sequenced as WD > MD > ND > ED > PD. For percent area of shifting dunes in deserts, WD > PD > MD > ED > ND. Considering the classification of aeolian dunes, transverse dune dominates in all drainages, and its proportion can be sorted as PD > ED > MD > WD > ND. There is a significant difference in their morphological parameters between interior and exterior watersheds. In exterior watersheds, desert area, shifting dune or transverse dune areas are not significantly associated with drainage area respectively, but interior watersheds have good correlations between them. And in three rivers of Tarim Basin, along with increasing distance from the river bank, the types of aeolian dune (complexity) increased step-wisely, implying that sand dune extends along the river terrace. Those data and preliminary findings confirm that the rivers are indispensable to the development and evolution of deserts, performing as channels (‘arteries’) and platforms (‘skeletons’) in providing sand sources and spaces.

Assessing the Success of the Lunawa Restoration Project Six Years Post Restoration

The Lunawa lagoon, receives large amounts of untreated industrial effluents and domesticwaste water due to its industrialized and urbanized setting. As a result, the once pristinelagoon progressively deteriorated, ultimately becoming a health hazard to those living inclose proximity. Many restoration programmes, of differing magnitudes, were undertakenfrom time to time; the most recent being that by the Coast Conservation Department in 2007.The objective of the present study is to assess the status of the lagoon in terms of waterquality and avifaunal diversity six years after restoration. This study was conducted from April to July 2013 during which selected water qualityparameters in surface water were monitored at ten stations across the lagoon each month. Anavifaunal survey was also conducted along six transects twice a month over the four months.On each day birds were observed between 0700 and 1000 hrs at equally spaced points alongthese transects. The levels of many of the parameters were significantly different betweensites. The ranges recorded were pH: 7.0 - 10.4, salinity: 0.7-8.1 ppm, conductivity: 4.7 -4058.0 μS, turbidity: 4.29-69.32 NTU, dissolved oxygen (DO): 2.3 – 14.9 mgl-1, BiologicalOxygen Demand (BOD)5day: 7.9 - 23.2 mg l-1, nitrate: 1.4 - 8.4 mg l-1, phosphate: 0.0 - 4.9 mgl-1 and chloride: 461.5 - 2875.5 mg l-1. The mean values for conductivity and BOD weresignificantly lower (p< 0.05) and DO significantly higher (p< 0.05), than the values reportedfor the lagoon prior to restoration. Although recorded previously in lagoon water, the heavymetals, Cr, Pb, and Cu were not detected during the present study. Zn (0.31 mg l-1) was onlydetected from the eastern drainage basin. Thus the present status suggests gradualtransformation of the water quality in the lagoon since restoration. The avifaunal survey didnot show similarly positive trends. A total of 31 resident species of terrestrial and aquaticbirds were recorded during the present survey. The mean abundance of the birds on each daywas 57. Both these values were lower than that reported in previous surveys. It wasnoteworthy though is the re-colonization of some species such as the spot-billed pelican, piedking fisher, white ibis, and the grey heron. It is likely that the major reasons for the lowabundance of birds at present is the absence of riparian vegetation and trees along the banksof the lagoon, which were cleared (but replanted since) during the process of restoration. The improvement of the water quality of the lagoon over the six years post restorationindicates that these efforts have been successful. It appears that it is too premature to arrive atconclusions with regard to the bird community. But, with time, the re-establishment of thebank vegetation would very likely facilitate recolonization of a more diverse bioticcommunity.