Potential Source Of Hazard Research Articles

Reduction of environmental risk of industrially developed territory through the early warning system: the example of northern and arctic territories of The Russian Federation

Within early warning and technological hazards, the need to notify, and to identify, assess and provide the necessary information about the sources of potential hazards is of particular importance. Since there may be causal links between natural and technological disasters, there are increasing concerns that the available knowledge base does not allow for timely warning or relief measures for many hazards.Any early warning system aims to reduce risk as a measure of potential environmental and economic damage. Such reduction, as a rule, is achieved by continuous study of information on the state of functioning of the naturaltechnical system. Hence the task of systematic collection, accumulation, processing and analysis of information arises. The system of continuous observation, control and analysis of the environmental situation for subsequent diagnosis and forecasting of the state of natural objects is realized within the framework of monitoring, which is performed at three levels – global (planetary), regional and local.The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is the largest region of the Russian Federation with a highly concentrated natural-resource potential, providing full-scale projects of national economic development of interregional and federal significance. Yakutia, the area of which is 20 % of Russia’s territory, is a giant natural enclave in geotechnical terms, the administrative boundaries of which cross many geographically heterogeneous ecosystems of seven neighboring territories (administratively independent subjects of ownership). The article considers and reveals the main directions of the early warning system to prevent socio-natural risk as applied to Yakutia, taking into account its natural-territorial uniqueness.

Impact of smartphone on mental health among medical undergraduates: A cross-sectional study.

Smartphones have become an indispensable part of almost everyone's life. India has now become the leading and second-largest Smartphone market in the world. It has been noted that the purpose of Smartphone usage has exceptionally changed over the past few years, especially among students, professionals, and the common man. Smartphones have now become essential and the need of the hour, and medical students are no exception. Smartphones can make "smart students smarter"! There are now 10,275 unique applications labeled under the "Medical" and "Healthcare and Fitness" categories. The common medical applications used are MedCalc, Drug Infusion, Flashcards, Encyclopedia, Merck Manual, Medscape, PubMed, Epocrates, MedlinePlus, Lab test applications, Medical Dictionary, Eponyms etc. Despite the advantages and needs of smartphones, they have proven to be a source of potential hazard to human health, not only physical but also mental, social, and emotional well-being. There is consistent evidence for co-morbidity (such as obesity, heart diseases, neck and back pain, etc.) between excessive smartphone use and other psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, obsessive and compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) similar to internet addiction. The significant association of this addiction with poorer sleep quality and higher perceived stress has been a cause for concern. Hence, further investigation to explore the association between smartphone addiction and mental health, this study was undertaken. Our study was undertaken in Dr VMGMC, Solapur, from June to August 2022, after obtaining approval from the ethical committee, approval number 172/22. Total voluntary participation for the study was 600 (from first to final year), and accordingly convenient sample size was taken. We found that out of the total participants, 42% of the participants had an average screen time of 4-6 h daily. A very small percentage of participants (4%) spent less than two hours in front of a screen. Alarmingly, 65% of the participants had an average screen time of more than 4 hours, which puts them at risk for the negative health impacts of prolonged screen time. Around 12% of them had symptoms of mild stress, 10.3% for mild anxiety, and 15.6% for mild depression. 10.6% had symptoms of moderate stress, 23.3% for moderate anxiety, and 16% for moderate depression. A small proportion of undergraduates, that is, 5%, 16%, and 11.6%, had symptoms of severe and extremely severe stress, anxiety, and depression, respectively. The study participants did not feel a lot of stress, anxiety, or depression symptoms when smartphones were used judiciously and mostly for non-social purposes (such as studying, listening to music, or watching videos). This investigation led us to the conclusion that there are some positive effects of smartphones on mental health. However, those who spent an excessive amount of time on their smartphones for social contact, with an average screen time of 5 h, showed signs of mild to moderate sadness, moderate anxiety, and tension, demonstrating that social media had a negative impact on the mental health of medical undergraduates. Therefore, efforts should be made to inform medical students about how using a smartphone is harming their mental health.

KONSEP SEGITIGA EPIDEMIOLOGIDI TEMPAT KERJA

The workplace is a potential source of hazards and risks for workers. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is a priority in efforts to reduce these risks through cooperation between employers and employees. Data from the International Labor Organization (ILO) shows a high number of deaths and injuries due to work accidents and work-related diseases. In Indonesia, reports from the Social Security Implementation Agency (BPJS) for employment reveal an increase in cases of work accidents from year to year. Occupational safety and health is an important factor in creating a proper working environment, with the concept of epidemiology helping to understand the host-agent-environment contribution. OHS protection efforts are crucial to reduce risks and improve well-being in the workplace.

An optimization method of multiscale storage tank target detection introducing an attention mechanism

Under the combined action of the expansion of the chemical industry zone and urban boundaries, urban areas exposed to danger are also increasing. As containers for chemical storage, storage tanks are potential sources of hazards. Conducting target detection for hazard risk analysis is essential. YOLOv5, a single-stage algorithm with good performance, accurately identifies most storage tanks with clear contours and evident positions; however, the identification effect is not good for storage tanks with small targets or unclear boundaries. This study proposes an optimized model based on the YOLOv5 model. First, the Coordinate Attention (CA) mechanism is introduced to make the model focus on the effective information of the target. Second, to improve the detection effect of small targets, the model adds a small target detection head and performs multiscale target detection. Finally, the EIOU loss function is employed instead of the CIOU loss function in the original model to improve the algorithm’s accuracy and speed. Experimental results show that the optimized model significantly improves the detection effect on small targets compared with the original YOLOv5 model. The number of small targets detected by the optimized model is significantly increased compared with the original model, and the size of the smallest targets detected by the optimized model is reduced by about twice compared with the original model. The model’s accuracy, recall rate, and mean average precision (mAP@0.5) are improved, which can be better applied to the detection of storage tanks.

A framework for the assessment of road network resilience: application to a densely populated urban context

Road networks include strategic and critical infrastructures that must operate effectively at any moment for the well-functioning of a country’s economy. In this context, the risk of traffic closure and/or limitations is constantly present due to a plurality of natural and man-made hazards. In this work, a novel framework for the assessment of road network resilience to both single and multiple hazards is proposed for applications to large road networks located in densely populated urban/extra-urban areas. Multiple potential sources of hazards and their potential consequences are identified. Strong interaction between the infrastructure and the urban or extra-urban area is considered. Disaster resilience is evaluated by considering both the infrastructure’s own assets – such as bridges and viaducts – and the buildings of the urban/extra-urban area where the infrastructure is located. This allows several interdependencies between the road network and buildings to be modelled and considered in the computations, such as the failure of some network connections due to the collapse of some buildings. The main resilience assessment is herein done with respect to earthquake ground motion. Then, some hints are provided for resilience assessment that also accounts for land monitoring data, allowing identification of the optimal connections in post-disaster efficiency assessment of the road network by incorporating information on geohazards from both terrestrial and satellite systems.

Laboratory Risk Assessment Based on SHELL-HACCP-Cloud Model

With the increasing demand and expanding scale of laboratories in colleges and universities, laboratory accidents frequently occur, seriously impacting personal health, schools, society, and the environment. Scientific and effective risk assessment is crucial to prevent accidents. Therefore, in order to effectively reduce the risk of chemical laboratories and minimize the frequency of accidents. This study employs the combination of the SHELL model and HACCP system to analyze the potential sources of hazards in hazardous chemical laboratories and establish a risk assessment index system. Based on the Cloud model, a dynamic risk assessment model for the laboratory is established to quantitatively evaluate the risk level of the evaluation results. In order to ensure the rationality of the assessment results, the subjective and objective weights are combined by the principle of minimizing information entropy. Case analysis proves the scientific validity of the evaluation results of the model, which can assist laboratory managers in formulating emergency plans and risk management mechanisms to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of experimental accidents. This approach ensures the safe and sustainable development of schools and laboratories, which is conducive to the progress of researchers’ scientific research results.

Development of a Corrosion Model Ofthermal Elenents of Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) result in accumulation of a significant amount of radioactive products during the process of their storage and the presence of a potential release of radioactive products, in the case of an accident that is a source of potential hazard and risk of radiation impact on the personnel, population and environment in general. The paper shows the microgalvanic corrosion element formed on the inner wall of fuel rods made of Zr + 1%Nb alloy and pellets made of uranium oxides, as well as the outer galvanic element of fuel rods and structural materials of the reactor made of steel of different grades. The hazards caused by corrosion damage and release of hazardous radioactive substances from the reactor based operating area are analyzed. The possibility of predicting the rate of corrosion damage using a mathematical model on the thermodynamic approach is determined and established.

Comparative Studies on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Health Workers towards Medical Waste Management in Two Developed Regions of the World

Background: Worldwide, healthcare waste still remains a challenge to public health and potential source of hazard to biosphere. Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of healthcare workers towards healthcare waste management was carried out in Sweden and Hungary for comparative analysis.
 Methods: Data was collected using a pretested questionnaire and analyzed using spss version 20.0. Total Sample size of 210 was used for the study; comprising of 105 from each area.
 Results: In Hungary, 11(10.5%) were male while 94(89.5%) were female. While Sweden comprised of 28(26.7%) male and 77(73.3%) female. In Sweden frequencies of 5.7%, 56.2%, 22.9%, 3.8%, 6.7% and 4.8% were recorded for age groups of <20 years, 20-30years, 31-40years, 41-50years,51-60years and ≥61years respectively. While amongst the Hungarian respondents, the respective age groups yielded frequencies of 1.0%, 18.1%, 21.0%, 36.2%, 17.1% and 6.7% respectively(p<0.05).More Doctors(63.8%) and Nurses(63.8%) in Hungary participated in the study than in Sweden(Doctors=15.2%;.Nurses=15.2%). The proportion of medical students was highest (32.4%) in Sweden than in Hungary (7.6%). According to educational qualifications, respondents with Bachelors degree occurred most in equal proportion (50.5%) in the two study areas. While those with doctorate degree recorded highest frequency of 11.4% in Sweden and least (1.0)% in Hungary. Respondents with masters degree occurred with frequencies of 27.6% and 21.0% in Hungary Sweden respectively. Result of respondents’ knowledge on healthcare waste shows that in Hungary, 81% of the respondents affirmed they are aware of waste management guidelines used in their hospital while in Sweden the proportion was 51.4%. Conversely, 19.0% of respondents from Hungary said they are not aware while in Sweden it was 26.7% and the remaining proportion (21.9%) said they don’t have idea. Where waste disposal guidelines exist, only 43.8% of Swedish respondents said they are aware of the contents while in Hungary, the proportion is high (81.0%). Those that responded “no” to the question;-meaning they are not aware of such guidelines occurred most (37.1%) in Sweden than in hungary(11.4%), though the proportion that said they don’t have idea is low in Hungary(7.6%) than in Sweden(19.0%) (P<0.05).Also from the result, few proportion (19.0% in Hungary; 24.8% in Sweden) of the respondents believed that disposal of hazardous waste is extra burden to them. While most of the respondents (76.2% in Hungary; 48.6% in Sweden) said “no” to the question;- meaning that disposal of hazardous waste is not extra burden to them. More (68.6%) of the respondents from Hungary said they have been educated/trained on waste handling than the Swedish respondents where 54.3% had education/training on waste handling. The proportion that was not trained was high in Sweden (41.9%) than Hungary (31.4%). However, knowledge and attitude on healthcare waste management yielded high percentage rating scores for Hungarian respondents than those of Sweden. On the contrary, Swedish respondents demonstrated more practice than Hungarian counterparts in the area of HBV vaccination (Sweden=90.5%; Hungary=6.7%), use of personal protective equipment (Sweden=93.3%; Hungary=91.4%), change of personal protective equipment (Sweden=52.4%; Hungary=19.0%).
 Conclusion: Good knowledge and attitude was noted in the two areas but more in Hungary while Practice was mostly demonstrated in Sweden. This stands as a useful tool to relevant stakeholders in health sectors in the two areas.

Simulation of Foreign Object Detection Using Passive Inductive Sensors in a Wireless Charging System for Electric Vehicles

During wireless charging of the traction battery of electrically powered vehicles, the active area between the ground and vehicle assemblies must be monitored for inductive power transfer. If metallic foreign objects enter this area, they interact with the magnetic field and can heat up strongly, and thus become a potential source of hazard. To detect such foreign objects, measurements based on passive inductive sensors have already been carried out in advance. However, a large number of factors influence the detectability of metallic foreign objects, such as the characteristics of the magnetic field of the ground assembly coil, the size, shape, position, orientation, and material composition of the foreign objects, or the design of the sensor coils. The related practical testing effort can be reduced if the characteristics of the charging system and the foreign object detection system can be simulated. Therefore, simulation models were developed within the scope of this work and validated with the help of practical measurements. These models were used in the next step to analyze new test arrangements that had not yet been investigated by measurement. In the simulations described here, precision in the range of 1 mV could be achieved. Cumulatively, many influencing factors can be easily investigated, and results can be generated in a largely automated manner and typically in a wider variety than with practical measurements.

INJURIES RISK ASSESSMENT FOR EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES AT THE MANUAL TRANSFERRING OF LOADS

The employment of persons with permanent functional changes in health state is a difficult issue taking into account the fact that, in addition to objective risks caused by the presence of equipment, vehicles and other sources of potential hazards in the production environment, there are subjective risks related to psychophysiological features of a person. The vulnerability of persons with disabilities, compared to other workers, leads to discrimination in employment on the workplaces, because employers tend to consider them as a potential direct or indirect source of increasing the level of injuries or accidents in the company. The lack of qualified specialists in most Ukrainian enterprises capable to assess the risks and implement the principle of reasonable adaptation of equipment and technological processes to the special needs of persons with disabilities determines the need to develop risk assessment methods that will allow effective management decisions to be made to ensure safety at employees' workplaces. The article proposes a method that allows assessing the risks of manual transferring of loads and takes into account the limitations of the life activities of persons with disabilities who, according to the conclusions of the medical and social expert commission, can do this work. The risk assessment methodology was developed on the basis of the international standard EN 1005-2 Safety of machinery – Human physical performance and adapted taking into account the peculiarities of the national legal framework. At the calculation of the risk, it is suggested to use a coefficient that depends on the degree of severity of life restrictions in relation to loads on the musculoskeletal system, established by the medical and social expert commission. This allows making the effective preventive decisions. For example, obtaining the value of the RІІ risk index at the level of 1.42 at the lifting a load weighing 10 kg, which is characterized as an unacceptable risk, can be adjusted both by changing the organization of the workplace and by reducing the weight of the load by 4 kg. The use of the methodology allows specialists who are responsible for the safety to assess risks and use the labour potential of employees without harming their health and increasing the level of industrial injuries. Keywords: risk, worker with disability, trauma, manual transferring of loads.

Long-Term Changes in and Conservation Guidelines for Water Caltrop (Trapa natans L.) in Two Reservoirs in Poland

Climate change, worsening freshwater quality, and anthropogenic factors have caused water caltrop to lose approximately 80% of its habitat in Poland since the early 1980s. The presence of this plant species has substantially changed since the end of the 19th century. Our aim in this study was to examine the habitat and conservation status of Trapa natans in the Szumirad reservoir and Nowokuźnicki pond reserve in Poland and to indicate sources of potential hazards for the analyzed population. To achieve this aim, we spatially analyzed the changes in the total reservoir area, dynamics of species population, physico-chemical parameters of water, and climatic data. For the Szumirad reservoir, we observed substantial changes in water caltrop quantity and condition. For the Nowokuźnicki pond reserve, we found a serious threat to the Trapa habitat posed by the developing Nupharo–Nymphaeetum albae association, which is a strong competitor of nymphaeids. The obtained results indicated that surface waters localized in protected areas might play an important role in maintaining the population of water caltrop. On the basis of our analyses of selected populations, we emphasize that present protection procedures should be supplemented with the active protection of the species.

Full-scale tests of transporting pipeline sections : A review and consequences to our investigations

Hydrocarbon transport pipelines' safe operation is an economic and environmental interest. These pipelines are typically designed for static loads, but during their long-time operation - due to pressure changes and environmental impacts - they are also subject to cyclical loads. The individual pipe sections are connected by girth welds, which represent potential sources of hazards in terms of damage. In order to assess the reliability of girth welds, full-scale tests are carried out under simple and complex loads. The purpose of this article is twofold. On the one hand, summarize the full-scale tests on transmission pipelines, with special attention to the tests on girth welds; on the other hand, based on this, draw conclusions for the design and implementation of our own full-scale tests.

Risk assessment of new ferry ship construction in Indonesia using the failure mode effect and analysis (FMEA) method

This study aims to identify, calculate the impact rating, and mitigate the effects on new ferry construction in Indonesian shipyards. The Risk Matrix method and Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) are employed to analyze risk levels. Data were collected through field observations and interviews regarding risks and potential delays in ship components. The results reveal 23 potential hazard sources, with two risks having the highest Risk Priority Number (RPN) values. Assessment based on the quality control section that causes delays in the arrival of ME/AE/pumps and other mechanical equipment 366.18. Assessment of the Project Leader process Delay in the assembly/fabrication/erect process 519.49. Part of production leadership Delay in assembly/fabrication/erecting processes 317.37. Based on the assessment of the three sections, high-risk potential occurs in ship hull work, Delays in assembly/fabrication/erect processes, and machining work Delays in the Arrival of ME/AE/Pumps and Machine Equipment. The risk matrix indicates high-risk ratings for component delays in ship hull work, medium risk for machining work, and the low risk for electrical work and other components. The next step is to assess the potential of domestic components and design a component availability model for new shipbuilding, including imported components. This research offers valuable insights for RoRo ferry shipping stakeholders, helping them understand the mechanisms causing delays in new ship construction and guiding efforts to reduce the risk of failure.

New insight into fate and transport of organic compounds from pollution sources to aquatic environment using non-targeted screening: A wastewater treatment plant case study

A variety of chemicals discharged into the aquatic environment by the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), which is a potential source of hazard to the ecological environment and human health. This study established a novel analytical method for all compounds using non-targeted screening to comprehensively explore the fate and transport of organic compounds from WWTP to aquatic environment. 3967 and 3636 features were detected in WWTP samples and river samples, respectively. Multi-level classification was applied to all identified compounds, and results showed that aliphatics were dominant in both abundance and response, accounting for an average of 35.49 % and 74.10 %, respectively. A total of 88 Emerging Contaminants (ECs), including 22 endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), 12 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), 12 pesticides, 10 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 5 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and 27 chemicals with other uses, were identified from all compounds, and their traceability analysis was performed. Furthermore, the contribution rate of organic compounds from WWTP effluent to river was calculated to be 33.60 % by the analysis of source-sink relationship. An in-depth and comprehensive exploration of the fate and transport of all organic compounds will help to provide guidelines for the treatment technologies and achieve the traceability of pollutants.

A CNN Based Anomaly Detection Network for Utility Tunnel Fire Protection

Fire accident is one of the significant threats to the urban utility tunnel (UUT) during operation, and the emergency response is challenging due to the compact tunnel structure and potential hazard sources involved. Traditional fire detection techniques are reviewed in this study, and it has been determined that their performance cannot satisfy the requirements for early fire incident detection. Integrating advanced sensing technologies and data-driven anomaly detection has recently been regarded as a feasible solution for intelligent safety system implementation. This article proposed an approach that utilized a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS) system and deep anomaly detection models to monitor the fire exotherm during the early stages of accidents. The variable fire exotherm is simulated with an embedded-system controlled electrical heating platform. Moreover, autoencoder (AE) based and convolutional neural network (CNN) based methods have been designed for anomaly detection. The temperature data collected from the FO-DTS in the experiment was employed as the training set for the data-driven models. Furthermore, the anomaly detection models were tested, and the results showed that the proposed CNN model can achieve a higher accuracy rate in detecting the simulated fire exotherm.

Redefining of potential dust explosion risk parameters for additives in the petrochemical manufacturing process

Petrochemicals are an indispensable part of our everyday life, necessitating large-scale production facilities. Additive aids play a pivotal role in the petrochemical production process, which are required for the final product to have certain desired properties. The additives used are prone to ignition and combustion, but are frequently overlooked as a source of potential hazard. This study examines the hazard profile of five common powder additives in the petrochemical manufacturing process. The inherent combustion and explosion characteristics were investigated in detail. Each sample’s potential to produce a dust explosion was evaluated based upon the parameter test results, e.g., minimum ignition energy (MIE), minimum ignition temperature (MIT), and minimum explosible concentration (MEC). MIT of all five samples was between 350 and 390 °C, and MEC was less than 45 g/m3. Two of the powders had a KSt explosion rating of “extremely strong” (St-3). After a comprehensive evaluation of dust explosion sensitivity and dust explosion severity, all five additive samples were categorised as high-level potential dust explosion risks. Process safety staff and engineers working with petrochemical production should be aware of the risks posed by dust additives and be prepared to implement more stringent loss prevention measures to curtail the likelihood of dust explosions.

Identification of Potential Hazard and Halal Control Points for Perishable Food During Food Logistics

Food logistics services is a fast-paced and globalized industry that enables short-lived and perishable supply chains transported from initial sources to customers within weeks, days, and sometimes hours. However, some concern arises as it poses several risks and exposes the food to hazards due to quick handling and the large volume involved. This paper briefly discusses the types of hazard associated with halal food logistics and identify the potential source of hazards that may occur during the activities. The study focuses on perishable food. The study identifies hazards during product handoffs or transfers at ports, transfer facilities, distribution centres (movement into or out of), and customer deliveries. The result established two out of the eight logistics activities evaluated to have control points (CP) and halal CP; which are storage temperature checks and product packaging and repackaging activity such as the need to do segregation, temperature control and packaging during food transport. The study suggests control measures to reduce or prevent the hazard. The information presented here is valuable for the food logistics providers in delivering products to the customer in adequate condition at the right time.

Analysis of Occupational Health and Safety Risks In The Manufacturing Industry With The Hirarc Method at PT. X

Batching plant is better known as a concrete processing plant, all of the tools are specially designed to mix or combine materials to form concrete. Sources of potential hazards that exist in the work environment are caused by the batching plant machine, the use of heavy equipment transportation, and office areas. The purpose of this study is to analyze the potential hazards that could occur in the work environment to carry out control or prevention at PT. X. This research was a quantitative descriptive study, to analyze occupational health and safety risks using the HIRARC method. The number of respondents was 4 people including management, SHE (Safety Health and Environment), and 2 operators of PT. X's batching plant. The variables of this research are risk identification, risk assessment, and risk control. The instruments used were observation, document review, and interviews using risk analysis guidelines with the HIRARC method. The results of this study indicate that the potential risks that could occur in the work environment include 14 work processes that could cause as many as 31 hazards with 42 potential hazards. The results of the research findings of hazard were grouped into 4 risk ratings, at a very high-risk rating there were 0 risks, at a high-risk rating there were 8 risks, at a medium risk rating there were 27 risks, and at a low-risk rating, there were 7 risks. Based on the result, it could be stated that this study, is the implementation of risk analysis using the HIRARC method as an effort to prevent potential hazards that could occur in the work environment at PT. X can be controlled by installing OHS signs, training workers, machine maintenance, maintaining the workplace/supervision at work, using equipment and working methods in safe conditions, providing PPE (masks, gloves, catelpak /vests, helmets, earmuffs/earplugs), involve competent workers to make a risk analysis with HIRARC

Pre-rig mobilization hazard evaluation in offshore oil and gas prospect drilling: A case study of TM field, offshore Niger Delta

TM Field, located offshore Niger Delta in the Gulf of Guinea (Nigeria), has been evaluated for potential drilling hazards prior to the drilling of a proposed oil well. This is in a region where potential hazards that could inhibit successful drilling exercise have not been adequately studied. The study adopted the modern technique of offshore geohazard evaluation that relies mainly on suites of geophysical and shallow geological investigations which include ocean bathymetry using multi-beam echo sounder, side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler, magnetic, and 2D-high resolution seismic reflection surveys. The results were integrated to draw inferences about the risk potential of the field. From the bathymetric survey, water depths were found to range from 345 m to 650 m LAT, with seabed relief being 305 m. Water depth at the proposed well location was found to be approximately 450 m and the seabed was found to slope in the northwestern direction. Seafloor gradient was computed as 0.05 across the whole area. Two shallow sub-surface stratigraphic units, labelled A and B, were delineated. Unit A was directly beneath the seafloor and seemed to be composed mainly of clayey/silty sand. Its thickness ranged from 6 m to 70 m across the study area. Unit B appeared to be a layer of sand and its total thickness was not fully delineated. Observable kinks and displacements at the flanks of seabed undulations/depressions on sub-bottom profiler sections suggested that the depressions may be fault-controlled. On the map generated from the marine magnetic data, a magnetic fault was delineated and this appeared to be coincident with the shallower of the two buried faults on the cross-line seismic section cutting through the proposed well-head location. Interpreted seismic reflection data presented this fault as being inactive. Most of the faults mapped, especially the buried ones, appeared to be inactive except a few. Regions with mapped amplitude anomalies are to be avoided during rig-mobilization operations. Though engineering conditions are expected to vary vertically since layers occur as intercalation, significant lateral variation is not expected within uniform layers of bed. Risk of punch-through associated with clayey formation is expected to be low because the geologic layers are not uniformly and entirely clay. The proposed well-head location was found to be free of potential hazard sources.

Integration of Geophysical Methods for Doline Hazard Assessment: A Case Study from Northern Oman

Subsurface formations with low compaction, often, due to the presence of underlying cavities, are potential sources of hazards. Thus, understanding the occurrence, properties, and extension of these weak zones poses a major concern in engineering geophysics. In this study, we examine the ability of geophysical methods to map weak areas over carbonates in Northern Oman. The weak zones are known to cause surface depression in many areas. The geophysical methods examined involve Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), Seismic Refraction Tomography (SRT), and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). This integrated geophysical survey was conducted near the Bimmah sinkhole, in the Quriya area, Northern Oman. The survey covers both an area with ground truth (low compaction sediments overlaying a cave) and a part with unknown subsurface properties. GPR velocity analysis using selected diffraction’s fitting helped to identify high-velocity anomalies that were attributed to the cavity. The GPR interpretation was calibrated with SRT and ERT. The former showed a clear drop in P-wave velocity and low ray coverage at the cavity zone, while the latter demonstrated high resistivity anomalies caused by the air filling the cavity. The scope was to examine the geophysical methods response, especially the GPR, and utilize the results of this preliminary approach for a wider exploration investigation in the area. The results from the study indicated that the GPR is capable to serve as a pioneer method in detecting the cavities. Hence, the GPR will cover large area in the site and the other two methods will be used as complementary for the final subsurface conditions’ evaluation.