Do coastal salt mudflats (sabkhas) contribute to the blue carbon sequestration?

Unlabelled: Blue carbon represents the organic carbon retained in marine coastal ecosystems. (an Arabic for "mudflats"), formed in tidal environments under arid conditions, have been proposed to be capable of carbon sequestrating. Despite the growing understanding of the critical role of blue carbon ecosystems, there is a current dispute about whether sabkhas around the Persian Gulf can contribute to carbon retention as a blue carbon ecosystem.

PAHs and hopanes in the surface sediments of Qatar coast and their ecological risks: Comparison with regional and global coastal regions.

The distribution, characteristics, sources and ecological risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and hopanes in the surface sediments collected along the Qatar coast were investigated. Concentration of ∑PAHs and hopanes ranged between 0.076 and 7.

Adaptation of sea turtles to climate warming: Will phenological responses be sufficient to counteract changes in reproductive output?

Sea turtles are vulnerable to climate change since their reproductive output is influenced by incubating temperatures, with warmer temperatures causing lower hatching success and increased feminization of embryos. Their ability to cope with projected increases in ambient temperatures will depend on their capacity to adapt to shifts in climatic regimes. Here, we assessed the extent to which phenological shifts could mitigate impacts from increases in ambient temperatures (from 1.

Retrieval of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in the Arabian Gulf water of arid region by Sentinel-2 data.

Suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in water increases temperature and turbidity, limits the photosynthesis of aquatic plants, and reduces biologically available oxygen. It is important to study SSC in the coastal waters of the Arabian Gulf. Thus, this study mapped the SSC of coastal water between Al Arish and Al Ghariyah in northern Qatar using the spectral bands of the MultiSpectral Imager (MSI) of Sentinel-2 by calculating the Normalized Difference Suspended Sediment Index and Normalized Suspended Material Index.

Variability of blue carbon storage in arid evaporitic environment of two coastal Sabkhas or mudflats.

Coastal Sabkhas are mudflats found in arid coastal regions that are located within the supratidal zone when high rates of evaporation lead to high salinity. While evaporitic minerals often accumulate underneath the surface, the microbial mats are present on the surface of Sabkhas. Coastal Sabkha, an under-studied ecosystem in Qatar, has the potential to store blue carbon.

Detection and assessment of marine litter in an uninhabited island, Arabian Gulf: A case study with conventional and machine learning approaches.

In 2018, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Qatar removed 90 t of marine litter (ML) from the Ras Rakan Island (RRI), a remote uninhabited island in the Arabian Gulf (hereinafter referred to as Gulf). To identify the sources of ML and understand the post-cleaning ML accumulation rate, a ML survey was conducted around RRI in 2019. A total of 1341 ML items were found around RRI with an average abundance of 3.

History of a disaster: A baseline assessment of the Wakashio oil spill on the coast of Mauritius, Indian Ocean.

Oil spills from tanker ships provide adverse and irreversible impacts of a pollutant over coastal and marine environments. Using Sentinel-1 and 2 satellite images, this baseline paper presents the detection, assessment, and monitoring of the aground and further oil spill from the Wakashio ship of August 06, 2020, on the Mauritius coast. The oil spill started on August 06, after cracks developed on the hull, and continued until the total breakup of the ship on August 15, 2020.

Sentinel-2 image transformation methods for mapping oil spill - A case study with Wakashio oil spill in the Indian Ocean, off Mauritius.

Although several indices have been constructed and available at the Index database (IDB) for Sentinel-2 satellite to map and study several earth resources, no indices have been developed to map oil spill. We constructed band ratios (5 + 6)/7, (3 + 4)/2, (11+12)/8 and 3/2, (3 + 4)/2, (6 + 7)/5 using the high-resolution MSI (multi-spectral instrument) visible-near infrared-shortwave infrared spectral bands of Sentinel-2 by summing-up the bands representing the shoulders of absorption features as numerator and the band located nearest to the absorption feature as denominator to discriminate oil spill, and demonstrate the potential of this method to map the Wakashio oil spill which occurred in the Indian Ocean, off Mauritius. The resulted images discriminated the oil spill well.

Hitchhiking of encrusting organisms on floating marine debris along the west coast of Qatar, Arabian/Persian Gulf.

The floating marine debris (FMD) and the associated rafting communities are one of the major stressors to ecosystem services, global biodiversity and economy and human health. In this study, assemblages of encrusting organisms on different types of stranded FMD along the west coast of Qatar, Arabian/Persian Gulf (hereafter referred to as 'Gulf') were examined. The analysis showed 18 fouling species belonging to 5 phyla (Annelida, Anthropoda, Bryozoa, Mollusca and Porifera) on the FMD.

Detection of Wakashio oil spill off Mauritius using Sentinel-1 and 2 data: Capability of sensors, image transformation methods and mapping.

Oil spill incidents contaminate water bodies, and damage the coastal and marine environment including coral reefs and mangroves, and therefore, monitoring the oil spills is highly important. This study discriminates the Wakashio oil spill, which occurred off Mauritius, located in the Indian Ocean on August 06, 2020 using the Sentinel-1 and 2 data acquired before, during and after the spill to understand the spreading of the spill and assess its impact on the coastal environment. The interpretation of VV polarization images of Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) C-band (5.

WorldView-3 mapping of Tarmat deposits of the Ras Rakan Island, Northern Coast of Qatar: Environmental perspective.

This study characterizes the spectral behavior of tarmats and maps the tarmat deposits found along the coast of Ras Rakan Island off Qatar using WorldView-3 (WV-3) sensor data. The laboratory spectra of tar materials showed diagnostic absorptions features at 0.6 and 1.

Factors influencing the vertical distribution of microplastics in the beach sediments around the Ras Rakan Island, Qatar.

Microplastic (MP) pollution is an emerging environmental problem, particularly in the marine environment, and nations are concerned about this issue. In this study, an attempt has been made to investigate the vertical distribution of MPs present in the beach sediments around the Ras Rakan Island of Qatar. Sampling was conducted at 9 locations, vertically to a depth of 30 cm with an interval of 5 cm.

Spatial distribution, structural characterization and weathering of tarmats along the west coast of Qatar.

Oil pollution resulting from natural and anthropogenic activities in the Arabian Gulf as well as oil residue in the form of tarmat (TM) deposited on the coast is a major environmental concern. The spatial distribution, chemical composition and weathering pattern of tarmat along the west coast of Qatar has been assessed based on the TM samples collected from 12 coastal regions. The range of TM distribution is 0-104 g m with an average value of 9.

Sources, spatial distribution and characteristics of marine litter along the west coast of Qatar.

The spatial distribution, sources and characteristics of marine litter (ML) from 36 locations spread over 12 beaches along the west coast of Qatar have been assessed. A total of 2376 ML items with varying sizes were found with an average abundance of 1.98 items/m.

Field and laboratory investigation of tarmat deposits found on Ras Rakan Island and northern beaches of Qatar.

Beaches of Ras Rakan Island, located off the northern tip of Qatar, are extensively contaminated by highly weathered tarmat deposits. The focus of this study is to determine the possible source of the contamination and complete a preliminary assessment of its potential environmental impacts. The field data collected at this site indicated that the tarmat residues contained highly weathered, black, asphalt-like material and the contamination problem was widespread.

Sex ratio, gonad development and fecundity of Miyakella nepa (Crustacea, Stomatopoda) of Pantai Remis coastal waters of Malaysia.

The sex ratio, gonad development and fecundity of Miyakella nepa (Latreille, 1828), in the coastal waters of Pantai Remis, Perak, were investigated from February 2012 to January 2013. Sex identification was done by identifying stomatopod's genitalia organs, and the ovaries were dissected out and preserved for further analysis. Female stomatopods with mature or near spawning stages were used for fecundity estimation.

Subcutaneous local anesthesia versus intravenous regional anesthesia for endoscopic carpal tunnel release: a randomized controlled trial.

Object: This study compares the effectiveness of subcutaneous infiltration of a local anesthetic agent (LA) versus intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA) during endoscopic carpal tunnel release.

Methods: Forty-four patients suffering from severe symptoms restricting normal daily activities-such as persistent loss of feeling in the fingers or hand, or no strength in the thumb in spite of prolonged nonsurgical treatment-and with electromyographically proven carpal tunnel syndrome were enrolled in this study. All underwent endoscopic carpal tunnel release.

Endoscopic Carpal Tunnel Release using a modified application technique of local anesthesia: safety and effectiveness.

Background: Local anesthesia is widely used for open carpal tunnel release. However, injection of local anesthesia as described by Altissimi and Mancini (1988) can interfere with endoscopic carpal tunnel release, by increasing the bulk of synovial layers and consequently result in worsening of the view.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety, efficacy using modified technique for application of local anesthesia.

The role of Helicobacter pylori in esophagitis and peptic ulcer disease in Iraq.

Objective: The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalences of Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection in symptomatic, but endoscopically normal patients as well as in patients with endoscopically and histologically proven esophagitis, gastritis, duodenitis, duodenal ulcer, and gastric ulcer.

Methods: The study extended over the period November 1999 through June 2000.

Frequency of unemployment among epileptic patients in Tikrit, Iraq.

Epilepsy is a chronic illness that affects all ages and which has long-term complications, such as impairment of employability. We estimated the unemployment rate among 100 epileptic patients attending two public medical clinics in Tikrit. The overall rate of unemployment was 33%.