Earth Science Malaysia (ESMY)

This study was carried to understand socioeconomic factors affecting knowledge and adaption of climate change among farmers of Banke district, with the hope that knowledge about climate change and their adaption strategy can be targeted properly among farmers and their empowerment can be achieved. All the farmers from Bageshwori Village Development committee were the target population for this study. Ninety households were selected as sampling respondents for this study. The study showed that 42.22% of the respondents know about climate change. The study revealed that 35% of the respondents know about climate change through self-experiences by comparing the past and present events of climatic parameters. Local radio and social organization were the main source of their knowledge about climate change, covering share of 27% and 23% of the respondents’ means of knowledge. Age, gender and education of household head, contact to the extension workers, farming experience, presence of NGO/INGO and access to mass media found to be determinants of awareness of climate change with positive effect, except for household head age. Gender of household head, total annual income of family, farming experience, access to mass media, education of household head, farm size, presence of NGO/INGO and contact to extension workers were found to be determinants of climate change adoption. No decision is taken in vacuum, peoples’ surrounding, and experience surely affects. So, to move forward and achieve climate smart agriculture these socioeconomic factors should be accounted while planning and implementation of program, project or policies.

One way of identifying our MFSs is to look out for shale tops of high acoustic properties within a shale interval that corresponds to the lowest resistivity values and widest separation between neutron and density values. The TSTs culminate to a MFS as it comprises the deposits accumulated from the onset of coastal transgression until the time of maximum transgression of the coast, just prior to renewed regression (SepmStrata, 20). The seismic character of the shales within these TSTs could vary factoring the effect of depth trends, hence a need to understand the trend with increasing depth and thereby increased compaction. From generated synthetic, using the seismic responses at interfaces within the lithologies cut across by one of our HP well in the Central Swamp depobelt, a study integrating Reflectivity Pattern Analysis (RPA) and Sequence Stratigraphic analysis was carried out to understand the behavior of our shales within the TSTs. Key bounding surfaces which subdivide the strata into contemporaneously deposited sediment packages were identified from well log responses from a complete suite of logs which included Gamma Ray, Resistivity and Porosity logs. It was observed that shales in the TSTs were of higher acoustic properties compared to sales in the HSTs.

Flood is one of the natural disasters that occurs mostly due to climate characteristics and locations. The application of SWAT has categorized the subbasins and identify them on the basis of parameters. The use of GIS technology produces the flood risk zone through the 3D ArcScene 10.3. the ArcGIS 10.3 and ArcSWAT 2012 were employed for the analysis of the result. The remote sensing data from ASTER DEM was also been used for providing the high-resolution platform. One of the significance of this study is the identification of 25 different sub-basins with their individual parameters that make easiear to classify and explore. The 3Dsimulation produces different categories of flood risk zone from very high vulnerability of flood to no flood risk zone. All these are confined within the 25 subbasins parameters obtained from the catchment area of Terengganu. The model designed in this study is clearly going to be useful for planning as well as management not only in Terengganu but entire Malaysia or similar environment.

The relation between concentration and discharge is not normally homogenous during the storm event, often producing hysteretic loops. In this study relations between sediment concentration and water discharge for hydrologic events are studied by analyzing temporal graphs (discharge and concentration versus time) in terms of spread and skewness. The hysteresis types of the discharge and concentration of 170 storm events have been analyzed to identify the relations between hysteretic loops and the associated controlling factors in the Saf Saf and Kebir West basins. Surveys of suspended sediment concentration and water discharge are being carried out at gauging stations. The selected storm events are based on samples having many sediment concentrations at water discharges. Comparing C/Q ratios at a given discharge on the rising and falling limbs of hydrographs is providing a consistent, reliable method for analyzing C-Q relations. Four common classes of such relations are determined such as single-valued line, clockwise loop, counterclockwise loop and figure eight. The plot of points has exhibited a hysteresis loop which is explained by the variability of sediment concentrations during storm events and seasonal effects. The most frequent floods at Saf Saf and Kebir West rivers are clockwise and single-valued line (62% and 59% of floods respectively) that have brought 73% and 81% of the total sediment flux. Intra-annual variability is very high. Over 31-years, the three biggest floods at each Saf Saf and Kebir West rivers have cumulated 97% and 68% of the total sediment flux and are of two classes.

Okpella area is the eastern extension of the Igarra Schist Belt, Southwestern Nigerian Basement Complex. The area comprises granite gneiss, metasedimentary rocks and Pan-African intrusives. Metasedimentary rocks occurring in the area include garnet-biotite schist, marble and calc-silicate gneiss, quartzite and Banded Iron Formation (BIF). The Pan-African intrusives include granite, charnockite, hybrid rocks, pegmatite, aplite and basic dykes. Structural data of rocks in the area suggest the presence of two contrasting structural trends. The older one which appears restricted to the granite gneiss, calc-silicate gneiss and garnet-biotite schist trends ENE-WSW to EW with moderate dips to the south. The latter NW-SE to NS trend is pervasive and occurs in all the metasediments and granite gneiss. These two trends are related to two deformational episodes and probably two orogenic periods. All the metasediments show affinity for sedimentary parentage, the granite gneiss is probably of igneous origin while the intrusives are magmatic. The charnockite-granite hybrid rock probably represents a zone of magma mixing between two contrasting magmas that were emplaced contemporaneously. The occurrence of carbonate bodies in association with deformed pelites as well as the complete absence of metavolcanics in the area suggests deposition in a miogeosynclinal-continental environment along which crustal distention has occurred. A sequence of nine geological events is suggested for the evolution of the area as deduced from field observation.

Streaming current is induced by the relative motion between a fluid and a solid surface under a fluid pressure difference. In this work, a theoretical model for the streaming current coefficient in porous media is firstly developed based on the fractal theory. The proposed model is then compared with experimental data in the literature and other models. It seems that the prediction from the proposed model is in better agreement with the experimental data than the other models. Therefore, the proposed model may be an alternative approach to predict the streaming current coefficient from the zeta potential, rock parameters and fluid properties. It is also proved that fractal theory is the alternative and useful means for studying the transport phenomenon in porous media.

This study employs improved magnetic data analyses and enhancement techniques to map and interpret the lithological and structural features around Akure and its environs. Several forms of filtering processes were performed to improve and enhance the Total Magnetic Intensity (TMI) data and other reduced data that were later produced. The analysed results of the upward continuation to 500 m and 1 km revealed the attitudes of deep-seated basement rocks and anomalous structures with regional trend of NW-SE direction, as well as depth of structures that ranged beyond 1 km. On the other hand, derivatives images revealed lineaments/faults: F1-F’1, F2-F’2, F3-F’3 (minors) and F4-F’4trendingNNE-SSW, N-S, NE-SW, minor (ENE-WSW and E-W) and NW-SE respectively, while the folded and in-folded rocks evinced northwards plunging axes. Based on mineralogical composition, four amplitude zones were revealed on the Analytic Signal (AS) image, which include every high zone as migmatite complexes; intermediate zone as migmatite-gneiss and charnockite complexes; fairly low zone as granite-gneiss and granite complexes, and low zone as quartzite ridge/complex. The large causative bodies delineated from the pseudo-gravity revealed density of about 0.133g/cc in susceptibility. The total depth estimates to top of magnetic sources ranged from 53m to 1.98km for shallower and deeper sources respectively. This study, therefore, suggests different rock types of varying mineralogical compositions, tectonic framework and structural deformations that led to change in density of rocks in the study area.

This research work assessed the gully erosion susceptibility of Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria using the GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation approach. The objectives were to identify susceptible areas, examine and evaluate the causes as well as the impacts and recommend possible control measures. The multi-criteria evaluation approach of pairwise comparison by Analytical Hierarchy Process was used to calculate and assign criteria weights to the 5 erosion factors. The pairwise comparison matrix was tested using Saaty Consistency Ratio to ensure accuracy. The five erosion controlling factors were analyzed in the GIS environment and prioritized as rainfall erosivity (R factor, 36%), soil erodibility (K factor, 30%), slope (LS factor, 19%), vegetative cover (C factor, 9%) and conservation practice (P factor, 6%) in order of importance. The susceptibility map was produced and validated by ground truthing. Gully initiations are widespread in the study area. Dormant gullies at Umulu, Ihim and Amuro are well-vegetated with bambusa vulgaris. The active gullies at Elemaga-Ibere and Amaegbu-Ariam are within the moderate to high susceptible areas. The major anthropogenic causes of erosion in the study area include sand mining, bad farming practices, lumbering, poor drainage system and abandoned road constructions. The impacts included the destruction of roads and houses, isolation of communities, loss of farmlands and silting of streams. Tree planting and regrassing, engineering and structural designs to channel runoff, proper road design, improved farming practices and engaging in sensitization of all stakeholders targeted on early stage preventive measures were recommended. The GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation approach has proved both useful and effective in the mapping of gully erosion susceptibility in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria.

Urban development in wetland ecosystems for human settlement, transport networks, exploration /exploitation of natural resources, agriculture and industrial development is one of the biggest menace to wetland change and management. To estimate future urban expansion is very crucial for urban planners and environmental managers in fastest growing cities. This study aims to examine the saltwater/freshwater ecosystem and urban land use change in Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria. Sources of data for this study were acquired from a time series of landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) with Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) images were used to derive land use and land cover maps of the Port-Harcourt metropolis. This study revealed that both freshwater wetland and saltwater wetlands ecosystem occupied 46.99% (18837.1 Ha) of the total classes. This may be the result of wetland being in an undisturbed nature without any conversion or alteration for use. The urban land use change of Port-Harcourt metropolis had changed dramatically during the period of 29 years. The two wetlands (saltwater and freshwater wetland) sum up to a total of 40% (16497.5 Ha) which indicates that there is pressure on wetland use such as plant products harvested from fuel wood, human settlement, urban agriculture, sand dredging, sanitation, water pollution and industrial activities from oil companies within the metropolis. Efforts should be made to increase knowledge, sensitization, consultation, stakeholder’s participation and awareness on the wetlands values and wise use economy through dissemination of information, using appropriate techniques and training of adequate staff as well as the need for sound wetland policies, laws and legislation for sustainable use, management and control in conservation of wetland.

A paleontological research was conducted in Labuan in pursue of the foraminiferal species of benthic species. Fifteen mudstone samples from Temburong Formation were taken and successfully extracted an amount of benthic foraminifera. The Labuan Island is consists of two major depositional environment; deep-marine and shallow-marine environment, which is highly valuable geologically but the samples were all of Crocker Formation and Temburong Formation to investigate the fossils content of the turbidite sequence. The Temburong Formation comprises of mainly flysch deposit. All of the benthic foraminifers were processed and extracted accordingly using the standard paleontological method with additional method of adding 25ml to 30ml of Hydrogen peroxide. A total of 37 species were found and identified, consist of hyaline and agglutinated group. Thus, the Temburong Formation is considered as deep-sea deposition with the evidence of deep-marine agglutinated foraminifers assemblages ranging from bathyal to abyssal.