Workshop on Sand Dune Accumulations and Ground-Water Basins in the Eastern Sahara, U.S.-Egypt Workshop

说明：该奖项将为“东撒哈拉沙丘堆积和地下水盆地研讨会”提供部分支持。它将由来自美国的El-Baz博士与埃及开罗沙漠研究中心副主任Ibrahim Himida博士合作组织。其中高级科学家17人，博士后3人，研究生1人。其中7名来自美国，5名来自撒哈拉东部地区的发展中国家。撒哈拉东部是地球上最干燥的地方。它的沙洲和沙丘区是由风成的活动雕刻而成的，大部分被地形洼地包围着。可追溯到32万年前的洪积期循环似乎与间冰期相对应，间冰期表明了主要的全球气候变化以及由此产生的干湿交替。也有人认为雨水和地表水通过下面的岩石渗透，储存在多孔层和裂缝带中。这样的水首先会在内陆洼地积聚，形成湖泊。由河流和溪流携带的沉积物可能是堆积成沙丘的沙子的来源。研讨会要回答的问题是：沙丘地能否被视为地表以下地下水存在的指标？讲习班将包括收集有关数据和陆地卫星图像，为埃及和该区域其他国家编写关于研究题目的国别报告。范围：该奖项支持七名美国科学家，包括两名初级科学家和一名研究生，与来自埃及和撒哈拉东部其他国家的科学家以及一些欧洲科学家一起，在研讨会和实地研究中进行一项重要研究，以确定观察到的沙丘与地下水存在之间的可能关系。该项目除了获得与沙丘形成有关的有趣科学问题的答案外，还可能导致美国科学家和该地区科学家确定可能的联合研究。该项目得到了INT和EAR的支持。

Description: This award is to provide partial support for a `Workshop on Sand Dune Accumulations and Groundwater Basins in the Eastern Sahara.` It will be organized by Dr. El-Baz from the U.S. in cooperation with Dr. Ibrahim Himida, Deputy Director, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt. Participants will include 17 senior scientists, 3 post-doctoral fellows, and one graduate student. Of the total, seven will be from the U.S. and five from developing countries in the region of the eastern Sahara. The eastern Sahara is the driest place on earth. Its sandsheets and dune fields, which are sculptured by aeolian activity, are largely enclosed in topographic depressions. Cycles of pluvial periods that date back to 320,000 years ago appear to correspond to interglacial stages, which indicate major global climate changes and the resulting alternation of wet and dry episodes. It is also thought that the rain and surface water seeped through the underlying rocks to be stored in porous layers and fracture zones. Such water would have first accumulated in inland depression forming lakes. The sediment that were carried by rivers and streams would have served as the source of the sand that accumulated into dunes. The question to be answered by the workshop is: can sand dunes fields be considered indicators of the presence of groundwater below the surface? The workshop will include collection of pertinent data as well as Landsat images, the preparation of country reports on research topics for Egypt and for the other countries included in that region. Scope: This award supports seven U.S. scientists, including two junior scientists and a graduate student, to work with scientists from Egypt, and other countries in the eastern Sahara, and with a number of European scientists in a workshop and a field study on an important study to determine the possible relationship between the observed sand dunes and the presence of ground water. This project is likely to result in identification of possible joint research by U.S. scientists and scientists of the region, in addition to obtaining answers to the interesting scientific questions related to the formation of sand dunes. This project is being supported by INT and EAR.