Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Kathleen Hartnett White
Texas Public Policy Foundation, USA
Keynote: E- The Great Energy Enrichment
Time : 10:35-11:15
Biography:
Kathleen Hartnett White is Distinguished Senior Fellow and Director of the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin, Texas. She is author of “Fueling Freedom: Exposing the Mad War on Energy” released by Regnery Publishing in late May 2016. She is former Chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and has served on multiple other commissions and many public, private and non-profit boards to include the Journal of Regulatory Science. She is a contributor to The Hill and her commentaries have appeared in many national publications including Investor’s Business Daily, Washington Examiner, Forbes, Roll Call, National Review and Daily Caller. And she regularly testifies to US Congressional Committees. She is a cum laude Graduate of Stanford University (BA and MA) and held Post-graduate Academic Fellowships at Princeton University and Texas Tech School of Law.
Abstract:
Climate policies, now institutionalized, to eliminate human use of hydrocarbons risk loss of prodigious gains in human welfare achieved over the last 150 years. These unprecedented improvements in the physical parameters of human life were achieved through theoretical and practical/engineering advances in the geosciences. As a necessary condition of the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels have vastly improved living conditions across the world. Energy is often an elusive concept to the average person and to the physicist. Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman: “It is very, very difficult to get energy right”. Natural energy system is now intertwined with man-made energy system. Rate of economic growth rose in lockstep with increasing consumption of fossil fuels throughout the 20th Century. Basic energy realities challenge assumed role of renewables (wind, solar and biomass) to supplant hydrocarbons within a few decades. Measures of energy density and power density reveal the contrast of energy systems based on diffusing massive store of versatile, reliable hydrocarbons versus concentrating diffused and variable renewable energy sources. The hallmark of hydrocarbon energy enrichment was a radical, rapid, and then sustained expansion of the productive powers of economy. For the first time, income gains accrued to the poorest and average worker rather than the already wealthy allowing the emergence of a middle class. Hydrocarbon energy as necessary condition of the human enrichment: Lifespan is three times higher, average income is ten times higher, natural gas fertilizer increased agricultural productivity by 40-60%. Fossil fuels provide raw materials for thousands of product. Mankind’s carbon footprint has shrunk man’s physical footprint on the natural world. Innovative technology dramatically reduced genuine environmental pollution in prosperous countries.
Keynote Forum
Giuseppe Gambolati
University of Padova, Italy
Keynote: May Underground Gas Storage Induce/Trigger Anthropogenic Seismicity?
Time : 11:35-12:15
Biography:
Giuseppe Gambolati graduated with honors in Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin. After a brief stint as assistant of Applied Mechanics, was hired by IBM Research Center in Venice therein completing a scientific career to senior researcher. There he developed, among many other activities, the first model of anthropogenic land subsidence in Venice (1973). In 1980 he became Professor of Numerical Methods in Engineering at the University of Padua. In 2008 he received the Excellent Contributions Award of IACMAG (International Association for Computers Methods and Advances in Geomechanics) for “significant contributions in research, academic activities and professional service in different regions of the globe ”. In 2011 he was elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union for “his unique and seminal contributions to geomechanical aspects of subsurface fluid flow”.
Abstract:
Underground gas storage (UGS) represents an increasingly widespread approach to cope with the need for a concentrated energy demand in many countries worldwide. Gas is injected in depleted deep reservoirs during the hot season when consumption is limited and withdrawn in the cold season mainly for heating. The UGS operations involve a gas pore pressure fluctuation between a maximum close to the value pi prior to field development and a minimum usually larger than the lowest pore pressure experienced by the field during its primary production life. The risk of a possible seismicity of anthropogenic origin is connected with the likely reactivation of existing faults in the reservoir and its surroundings. The high (i.e. yearly) frequency variation of the pore pressure generally confines the volume where changes occur to the reservoir volume without importantly affecting the formations closest to the hydrocarbon field, i.e. the upper caprock and the lateral/bottom aquifers (the so called waterdrive).The risk of inducing seismicity is therefore restricted to those cases where existing faults/thrusts cross or bound the gas bearing strata. The prospective fault reactivation caused by UGS activity is herein investigated by an advanced 3-D transversally isotropic Finite Element (FE) – Interface Element (IE) elasto-plastic geomechanical model implemented into the Emilia reservoir, Italy, which is used as a representative test case. The gas field was developed during the 1960s and later converted to UGS from the mid 1970s. Two reversed faults cross the field and confine the aquifers hydraulically connected to the reservoir. Gas storage/withdrawal is ongoing with pressure p ranging approximately between pi in October/November and 60%pi in April/May with a p fluctuation on the order of 50 bars. The FE-IE model is quite successfully calibrated using the vertical and west-east land displacements measured by advanced persistent scatterer interferometry over the period 2003-2010 with a most realistic evaluation of the shear modulus G of the rock hosting the activated portion of the faults. It is shown that the rock stress variations are basically confined within the gas field and negligibly propagate into the caprock and the waterdrive. Based on the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion, IEs allow for the prediction of the fault activated area A, located at the reservoir depth, as expected, and slip displacement d. A few parametric scenarios are investigated to address the major uncertainties of the geomechanical fault properties, i.e. cohesion c and friction angle Φ of the fault materials, and the initial stress regime (passive or compressive basin). The magnitude M of the prospective seismic events induced/triggered by the fault reactivation is assessed by an empirical relation derived from seismological theories and used worldwide. M turns out to be correlated to the activated volume A·d and the shear modulus G. With G = 3.9·104 bar, as provided by the calibration of the geomechanical model, the prediction points out that M does not exceed 1 in the most conservative scenario, namely c = 0 bar and Φ = 30°, entirely instantaneous slip and a passive stress basin. With c = 10 bar and a compressive stress regime, both most plausible conditions for the investigated reservoir, the fault practically does not activate with M decreasing to negative values. Consistent with the records from a local micros seismic network, the study provides conclusive evidence that the UGS activity for the case addressed herein is not a matter of concern in relation to the risk of induced anthropogenic seismicity.
Keynote Forum
Rattan Lal
The Ohio State University, USA
Keynote: Soil and the Anthropocene
Time : 09:30-10:00
Biography:
Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, The Ohio State University, and an Adjunct Professor of University of Iceland. He received B.S. from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; M.S. from IARI, New Delhi and Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. He served as Sr. Research Fellow with the University of Sydney, Australia (1968-69), Soil Physicist at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria (1970-87), and Professor of Soil Science at OSU (1987-to date). He has authored/co-authored 798 refereed journal articles and 436 book chapters, has written 19 and edited/co-edited 63 books. He is included in the Reuter Thompsons 2014 and 2015 list of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds, and among the most cited scientists.
Abstract:
The so-called “Anthropocene” may have been set-in-motion with the dawn of settled agriculture about 10 millennia ago, but accelerated with the onset of Industrial Revolution ~circa 1750. An increase in access to food through settled agriculture increased human population (billion) from 0.002-0.02 during the hunter/gatherer era to ~1 in 1800, 1.7 in 1900, 2.5 in 1950, 6.1 in 2000, 7.5 in 2016 and projected to 9.7 by 2050 and 11.2 by 2100. The environmental impact (I=PAT, where P is population, A is affluence, and T is technology) includes deforestation, alterations of biogeochemical cycling of elements (C, N, P) and water, soil degradation (erosion, salinization, C and nutrient depletion), loss of biodiversity, eutrophication of natural water, and global climate change. Atmospheric concentration of CO2 increased from ~280 ppm around 1750 to > 400 ppm at present, along with increase in concentration of other radiatively-active gases including CH4 (722 ppb to 1883 ppb) and N2O (270 ppb to 327 ppb). The magnitude of C emitted into the environment from pre-historic era to 2010 is estimated at 456 Pg compared with that of 200 Pg from fossil fuel combustion. Presently, 38% of Earth’s land surface is used for agriculture, 70% of the global fresh water withdrawal is used for irrigation, and 30-35% of global greenhouse gas emissions are contributed by agriculture. Yet, 1 in 7 persons are food-insecure and 2-3 in 7 are malnourished. Nonetheless, soil matters, because solution to global issues lies in sustainable intensification of soils by producing more from less.
- Environmental ScienceGeosciencesGeographySoil Science
Location: Salon 5 & 6
Session Introduction
Yoshiharu Mitoma
Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Japan
Title: Solvent-free and non-heating decontamination processing of radioactive cesium in contaminated soils using nano-Fe/Ca/CaO/[PO4] dispersion
Biography:
Yoshiharu Mitoma, PhD (Engineering, Kyushu University, 1997) is now a Professor at the Prefectural University of Hiroshima. He was awarded the Young Chemist Award from the Asian Chemical Congress (2005, Seoul, Korea) and from the International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology (Houston, Texas, USA). He was a Peer in Juries for different projects of two Japanese ministries (MEXT and METI). Currently, his studies specifically examine new dechlorination methods for use with dioxin and dioxin-like compounds using nanoparticles under dry or environmentally friendly conditions. His research also elucidates new solidification and immobilization methods for toxic heavy metals in soil.
Abstract:
Subsequent to the tragic Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant event, large areas of urban and agricultural soils were polluted with radioactive 134Cs and 137Cs, which have been trapped in various clays. A conventional decontamination method is to suspend the polluted soil in water to remove fine soil particles. However, this method entails several shortcomings such as large amounts of wastewater involved or its freezing during winter. Therefore, much attention has been devoted to dry decontamination methods. Given these circumstances, we developed a new method using nano-Fe/Ca/CaO composite material as a reagent for the immobilization and separation of stable and radioactive cesium species in contaminated soil under dry conditions. After grinding contaminated soil with nano-Fe/CaO, nano-Fe/Ca/CaO, and nano-Fe/Ca/CaO/[PO4], approximately 31, 25, and 22 wt% magnetic soil fractions were separated, with 133Cs immobilization of about 78, 81, and 100%, respectively. When actual radioactive cesium contaminated soil obtained from the Fukushima region was treated with nano-Fe/Ca/CaO/[PO4], approximately 27.3/72.7 wt% of magnetic and non-magnetic soil fractions were separated. The highest amount of entrapped 134/137Cs was found in the magnetically separated soil fraction of lowest weight (i.e. 80% Cs in 27.3% soil). The Cs immobilization in either magnetic or non-magnetic soil fractions was 100%. The morphology and mineral phases of the nano-Fe/Ca/CaO/[PO4] treated soil were characterized using SEM-EDS, EPMA, and XRD analyses. EPMA and XRD patterns indicate that the main fraction of enclosed/bound materials on treated soil includes Ca/PO4 associated crystalline complexes. These results suggest that a simple grinding treatment with nano-Fe/Ca/CaO/[PO4] might be a highly efficient immobilization and separation method for actual radioactive-cesium-contaminated soil.
Emberga Terhemba Theophilus
Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Nigeria
Title: Spectral re-evaluation of the magnetic basement depth over yola arm of upper Benue Trough, Nigeria using aeromagnetic data
Time : 13:30-14:00
Biography:
Emberga Terhemba Theophilus is presently a PhD Student at Federal University of Technology, Owerri, School of Physical Science, studying Applied Geophysics. He is a Lecturer with Federal Polytecnic Nekede in the Department of Physics/Electronics. He has published more than 17 papers in reputed journals.
Abstract:
The aeromagnetic data have been used to re-evaluate parts of the Upper Benue Trough, Nigeria using spectral analysis technique in order to appraise the mineral accumulation potential of the area. The regional field was separated with a first order polynomial using Polyfit program. The residual data was subdivided into 24 spectral blocks using OASIS MONTAJ software program. Two prominent magnetic depth source layers were identified. The deeper source depth values obtained ranges from 1.56 km to 2.92 km with an average depth of 2.37 km as the magnetic basement depth; while for the shallower sources, the depth values ranges from -1.17 km to 0.98 km with an average depth of 0.55 km. The shallow depth source is attributed to the volcanic rocks that intruded the sedimentary formation and this could possibly be responsible for the mineralization found in parts of the study area.
Ahmed M El Shishtawy
Tanta University, Egypt
Title: Impact of natural environment on the development of remote areas: Siwa Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt
Biography:
Ahmed M El Shishtawy has completed his MSc and PhD degrees from the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. He worked in the Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, after his return from USA in 1990 and he is now working as a Professor Emeritus in the same department. He has supervised more than 30 MSc and PhD theses and published more than 50 articles and attended more than 30 conferences in Egypt and abroad. He has worked in different disciplines in Egypt and Oman and is now working as Vice Executive Director of Tanta University Unit for Management Projects.
Abstract:
The study of the impact of the natural "Therapeutic" environment, known as balneology, has now become an important issue that many individuals and societies encourage for. This study aims to provide possible ways to benefit from natural resources (including mineral waters) for local communities, especially in desert areas, through the development of "Eco-Tourism"; a tool to reduce poverty of desert communities and protect natural and societal environmental resources. Also, to convert harmful local natural threats to opportunities through the development of safe and cure environment which provides sustainable development in such remote areas. Utilizing mineral waters as a part of preventative medicine is a main goal of this study. A considerable number of health problems can be cured by hot spring therapies, especially burns, hypertension, diabetes, gout, muscle aches, hemorrhoids, etc. In addition to hot springs, geologic materials such as mud and sand have been used for therapeutic purposes; sand baths are popular therapeutic practice. The Egyptian Western Desert oases area represents models for the desert regions of very rich natural resources and community-based eco-tourism attraction, but its services and the level of its economic life are considered poor. Siwa Oasis is located approximately 50 km east of the Libyan border and about 560 km from Cairo. The oasis is laying 12-18 meters below sea level and extends 82 Km long with a width varying between 2 and 20 km. The economic base of the oasis is agriculture, of which dates and olives are the principal produces. A large number of natural springs (about 146 springs) and more than 1000 wells are present in the Siwa area. All occurrences of thermal water (T>350C) are from deep wells (Nubian Sandstone aquifer). The temperatures of Nubian paleowater are in the range of 35.4-48.30C; with two exceptions of 61.80C and 61.30C in wells Kifar and Qara, respectively. Until today, all thermal water pumped in Siwa area is used for irrigation purposes only.
Biography:
Mary J Thornbush received her Doctorate from the University of Oxford (UK) in 2006 and graduated from the University of Toronto (Ontario, Canada) with MSc (2001) and Hon BSc (1998) degrees. She has Post-doctoral research experience from the Oxford University Centre for the Environment (2006-2007), University of Birmingham (UK, 2010-2015), and Brock University (Ontario, Canada, 2015-2016). She has over 50 publications. She has delivered numerous presentations in North America and Europe since 2000. Her contributions to editing include special issues in academic journals (since 2012) and books published by Elsevier, Springer, and Bentham Science (since 2014).
Abstract:
Even though sinkhole occurrences continue to receive media attention, more research is needed in the Geosciences. This paper examines the suitability of this work as a Geomorphology application from a Physical Geography standpoint. More specifically, it aims to examine an existing online dataset in search of any spatial-temporal trends in sinkhole formation in Florida counties where there are limestone deposits. Although dates have been reported for known reported sinkholes, considerations have not particularly focused on the temporal span of occurrences. By examining the seasonality of sinkhole occurrence, for example, it is possible to discern any effects of heating or cooling associated with processes that are connected to temperature and seasonal climate. This study is relevant to an understanding of climate change impacts on the formation and appearance of these erosional landforms.
Fatah Ramdhan
Padjadjaran University, Indonesia
Title: Analysis of changes in soil physical properties as an indicator of pollution in North Jakarta
Time : 15:00-15:30
Biography:
Fatah Ramdhan is the student of Universitas Padjadjaran in Geophysics Department. He is in his last semester in Geophysics Department, Universitas Padjadjaran and is going to get his Bachelor of Science in Geophysics. He will get his thesis on Mining. He is active in geophysics organizations such as Society of Exploration Geophysicist (SEG), Himpunan Mahasiswa Geofisika Indonesia (HMGI), HMGF Pedra and Universitas Padjadjaran. He was researching about landslide victims who were heaped by landslide, using resistivity analysis. In another research, he was researching about model of arsenic distribution patern in Garut, West Java.
Abstract:
This research was done in North Jakarta to analyze changes in soil physical properties as indicators of environmental pollution using geophysical methods based on electricity and combined by chemical analysis. 20 samples of soil were taken from two different sites. The first site is along Jalan Yos Sudarso, and the second site is along the banks of Kali Sunter. The length of each site is 1 kilometer, with spacing point of sample as far as 100 meters. Each sample was tested in laboratory to observe the value of total dissolved solid (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC) and pH, by assumed normal condition weather. The results of laboratory tests showed an average value of TDS to be 118.2 ppm, EC amounted to 236.4 μS/cm and pH was shown to be alkaline, which means that the area has been a polluted environment. Increasing TDS value was followed by increasing EC value and the graph showed a linear relationship between both of them. Environmental pollution was predicted to be caused by the contributions of vehicle exhaust fumes and industrial pollution. Pollution pattern tended to increase towards the north approaching traffic line, harbor and industry.
Reza Zahmatkesh Sarughi
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran
Title: Appraisal of the static parameters of rock mass deformation (D) by seismology and seismic petit tests
Biography:
Reza Zahmatkesh Sarughi has completed his Bachelor of Science in Geology from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and is studying for his Master’s degree in Seismology also in the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. He has published 3 articles in Geology magazines in the past three years.
Abstract:
In the implementation of enormous projects, such as dams which put huge forces on anchors and location foundation, or the digging of a tunnel which causes extraction of a huge stone and distribution of power from the initial condition, the knowledge of physical parameters of the rock mass can provide some answers. With the geo-physic seismology methods, elastic and dynamic modulus of stone mass can be discovered. These moduli are very important in recognizing the nature of the rock mass. One of these moduli is called the Young’s modulus which resists the axial deformation under axial tension in the elastic range of the rock. In the tensions applied to the stone mass for a long time, the stone will show a non-elastic behavior. The knowledge gained from this behavior is crucial. The static parameter of deformation of the stone mass (D) is a parameter that can cover both elastic and non-elastic behaviors. In order to achieve the static parameter of deformation, there are several rock mechanic tests which require time and money. One procedure that can reduce the amount of time and cost to some extent is known as seismic petit method. This method is based on the frequency shear wave measures that the recipient received with the help of linear relation between the measured frequencies of associated static modules and change shape. This is obtained from load testing e-page static modulus which can be morally deformed rock mass in various parts of the estimate. Evaluation of the results was done on clay plate held in exploratory dam tunnel of Mashhad (Kardeh).
Biography:
Anar Samedi recently received his BSc in Geography from University of Calgary, and is completing BGIS from Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. He currently works as Research Assistant at University of Calgary. His research interests include glaciology and climate change, air quality and population respiratory health monitoring (last research was conducted in conjunction with Health Canada). He has 7 publications so far.
Abstract:
The objectives of this research were to: 1) Visualize the retreat of Saskatchewan glacier over the temporal period of 1957 to 2016; 2) create a digital geo-database with GIS-ready data of Saskatchewan glacier; 3) measure the distance of glacial retreat between the years of 1957 and 2016; 4) visualize the temperature change of the study region from 1957 to 2016; 5) visualize the rate of rainfall, snowfall, total precipitation and temperature change rate; 6) find correlation between the temperature data and rate of retreat of the glacier and 7) develop a model that will allow predicting future trends of glacial retreat. Following questions were answered: What areas of the Saskatchewan glacier receives the highest amount of solar radiation; what are the future temperature/volume change of the Saskatchewan; what is the volume of ice preserved from the proposed methodology; and value of GIS use for analysis of glacial data. Project Scope: Determine the areas of high insolation on the glacier; estimate the change in volume over years; and project the future trends of the glacier. Correlation between the recession rate and change in temperature was proven by visually comparing the change of temperature and glacier retreat maps. The glacier reacts to the increase of temperature by retreating towards its origin. The mechanism by which the glacier is retreating is the increase in ablation zone, which disturbs the glacier mass balance.