The role of a strong far-infrared radiation field in line excitation and cooling of photodissociation regions and molecular clouds

We have theoretically studied the influence of a far-infrared radiation (FIR) field from H_π region on the cooling by C and O atoms, C⁺ ion and CO molecule in a photodissociation region, and a molecular cloud associated with H_π region (hereinafter referred as H_I region) at low temperatures (T _k≤200 K). Comparisons have been made for cooling with and without FIR for two extreme abundances (10⁻⁴ and 10⁻⁷) of the mentioned species for temperatures ranging between 10 and 200K and an hydrogen particle density range 10 cm⁻³≤n _o≤ 10⁷ cm³. The cooling by the species with low line-splitting (C_I, C_π and CO) is significantly influenced by the radiation field for temperaturesT _k < 100 K while the effect of radiation field on cooling by O_I is significant even at higher temperatures (T _k > 100 K). The effect of FIR field on the cooling of CO from low rotational transitions is negligibly small, whereas it is considerable for higher transitions. In general, the cooling terms related to the short-wavelength transitions are more affected by FIR than those related to longer wavelengths. It is also demonstrated here that in the determination of thermal structure of an HI region the dust grains play an important role in the heating of gas only through photoelectron emission following irradiation by far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation, as the infrared radiation from the dust is too small to have substantial effect on the cooling. It is found that in the H_π /H_I interface the FIR field from grains in the H_π region is not capable of modifying the temperature of the warmest regions but does so in the inner part where the temperature is low enough.     

The near-field tsunami amplitudes caused by submarine landslides and slumps spreading in two orthogonal directions

The aim of this study is to present the solutions for the near-field tsunami amplitudes caused by submarine landslumps and slides spreading in two orthogonal directions. A linearized shallow water wave theory is derived. The transform techniques (Fourier and Laplace transform) are used for the solution of Laplace equation. The results show that if the ratio of the velocties is v₁/v₂=0.1, the numerical results are almost the same as the values obtained for one dimensional movement of the slumps and slides. But, when the ratio of the velocties is v₁/v₂=1, obtained normalized peak amplitudes, η_max/ζ₀ are smaller than the numerical values for one dimensional solution. It is concluded that normalized peak amplitudes for the models are small because of the interaction of the velocities. Numerical examples are presented for various parameters.     

Community structures of coral reefs around Peninsular Malaysia

Coral community structures at eleven fringing reef sites were investigated along the coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Estimated coverage of coral communities is examined by applying quantitative digital image analysis to the line transect method. Four coral community types were characterized by dominant genera and lifeforms: Acropora branching community, Montipora-Acropora community, Porites massive community, and Heliopora community. Live coral coverage in all study sites ranged from 17.9% to 68.6%. Most reefs were in “fair” condition while some reefs were shown to be in “poor” condition. Coral community structures among the study sites were divided into the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia with a dominant Porites massive lifeform, and the east coast with a variety of lifeform categories of Montipora and Acropora. Physical effects such as the monsoon wind regime and sedimentation are likely to influence the formation of dominant coral communities around Peninsular Malaysia.     

Relative Sea Level Changes in Maldives and Vulnerability of Land Due to Abnormal Coastal Inundation

Oceanic Islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have extremely small land areas, usually less than 500 km2, with maximum height about 4 m above sea level. The Republic of Maldives is an independent island nation in the Indian Ocean south of Sri Lanka which stretches vertically in the Indian Ocean from 07° 06'N - 0° 42'S. The land area of this island country is about 300 km2, and none of Maldives' 1190 islands has an elevation more than 3 m above sea level. In fact the Maldives has the distinction of being the flattest country on earth, making it extremely vulnerable to the effects of global warming. Of the south Asian countries, the Maldives is the most vulnerable nation, facing severe consequences as a result of global warming and sea level rise (SLR). Because of their obvious vulnerability to SLR, the Government of Maldives is very much concerned about climate change. As global warming and the related SLR is an important integrated environmental issue, the need of the hour is to monitor and assess these changes. The present article deals mainly with the analysis of the tidal and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data observed at Male and Gan stations along the Maldives coast in the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively. The objective of the analysis is to study the trends of these parameters. Trend analysis is also performed on the corresponding air temperature data of both stations. The results show that Maldives coastal sea level is rising in the same way (rising trend) as the global sea level. The mean tidal level at Male has shown an increasing trend of about 4.1 mm/year.Similarly at Gan, near the equator,it has registered a positive trend of about 3.9 mm/year.Sea level variations are the manifestations of various changes that are taking place in the Ocean-Atmosphere system. Therefore, the variations in SST and air temperature are intimately linked to sea level rise. It is found that SST and air temperature have also registered an increasing trend at both stations. The evidence of rising trends suggest that careful future monitoring of these parameters is very much required. Tropical cyclones normally do not affect the Maldives coast. However, due to its isolated location, the long fetches in association with swells generated by storms, that originated in the far south have resulted in flooding. Thus the rising rate of sea level with high waves and flat topography have increased the risk of flooding and increased the rate of erosion and alteration of beaches.     

Variations of Surface Air Temperature Over the Land Areas in and Around the Bay of Bengal

The inter-annual variation and linear trends of the surface air temperature in the regions in and around the Bay of Bengal have been studied using the time series data of monthly and annual mean temperature for 20–40 years period within 1951–1990. The study area extends from Pusma Camp of Nepal in the north and Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia in the south and between 80--100 ° E. The annual variation of temperature has also been studied using the mean monthly temperature for the variable time frames 1961–1975, 1976–1990 and 1961–1990. The trend of temperature has been analyzed using linear regression technique with the data from 1961–1990, which showed that the warming trend is dominant over the study areas except for a few stations. It has been found that Nepal shows predominant warming trends. Bangladesh and the adjacent areas of India and the northern part of Bay of Bengal adjacent to the Bangladesh coast have shown strong warming trends of the annual temperature with maximum at Dhaka (0.037 °C/year). The near equatorial zone, i.e., southern India, Sri Lanka and part of Thailand and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) shows warming trends in the annual mean temperature with strong warming at Pamban and Anuradhapura (around 0.04 °C/year). The cooling trends have been observed at a few stations including Port Blair, Yangoon and Cuttack. Further analysis shows the presence of prominent ENSO scale of variations with time period 4–7 years and 2–3 years for almost all the stations. The decadal mode with T >7 years is present in some data series. The results of the variations of temperature with respect to the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) show that SOI has some negative correlation with temperature for most of the stations except those in the extreme northeast. It has been found that positive anomaly of temperature has been observed for El Niño events and negative anomaly for the La Nina events.     

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of a middle Miocene alluvial fan to cyclic shallow lacustrine depositional system in the Calatayud Basin (NE Spain)

ABSTRACT The middle Miocene sedimentary fill of the Calatayud Basin in north‐eastern Spain consists of proximal to distal alluvial fan‐floodplain and shallow lacustrine deposits. Four main facies groups characteristic of different sedimentary environments are recognized: (1) proximal and medial alluvial fan facies that comprise clast‐supported gravel and subordinate sandstone and mudstone, the latter exhibiting incipient pedogenic features; (2) distal alluvial fan facies, formed mainly of massive mudstone, carbonate‐rich palaeosols and local carbonate pond deposits; (3) lake margin facies, which show two distinct lithofacies associations depending on their distribution relative to the alluvial fan system, i.e. front (lithofacies A), comprising massive siliciclastic mudstone and tabular carbonates, or lateral (lithofacies B) showing laminated and/or massive siliciclastic mudstone alternating with tabular and/or laminated carbonate beds; and (4) mudflat–shallow lake facies showing a remarkable cyclical alternation of green‐grey and/or red siliciclastic mudstone units and white dolomitic carbonate beds. The cyclic mudflat–shallow lake succession, as exposed in the Orera composite section (OCS), is dominantly composed of small‐scale mudstone–carbonate/dolomite cycles. The mudstone intervals of the sedimentary cycles are interpreted as a result of sedimentation from suspension by distal sheet floods, the deposits evolving either under subaerial exposure or water‐saturated conditions, depending on their location on the lacustrine mudflat and on climate. The dolomite intervals accumulated during lake‐level highstands with Mg‐rich waters becoming increasingly concentrated. Lowstand to highstand lake‐level changes indicated by the mudstone/dolomite units of the small‐scale cycles reflect a climate control (from dry to wet conditions) on the sedimentation in the area. The spatial distribution of the different lithofacies implies that deposition of the small‐scale cycles took place in a low‐gradient, shallow lake basin located in an interfan zone. The development of the basin was constrained by gradual alluvial fan aggradation. Additional support for the palaeoenvironmental interpretation is derived from the isotopic compositions of carbonates from the various lithofacies that show a wide range of δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values varying from ?7·9 to 3·0‰ PDB and from ?9·2 to ?1·7‰ PDB respectively. More negative δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values are from carbonate‐rich palaeosols and lake‐margin carbonates, which extended in front of the alluvial fan systems, whereas more positive values correspond to dolomite beds deposited in the shallow lacustrine environment. The results show a clear trend of δ¹⁸O enrichment in the carbonates from lake margin to the centre of the shallow lake basin, thereby also demonstrating that the lake evolved under hydrologically closed conditions.     

RKRV Potential Energy Curves, Dissociation Energies, γ-Centroids And Franck-Condon Factors Of YO, CrO, BN, ScO, SiO And AlO Molecules

The potential energy curves for the electronic ground states of astrophysically important YO, CrO, BN, ScO, SiO and AlO molecules are constructed techniques using the five-parameter Hulburt-Hirschfelder function. The estimated dissociation energies are 7.235±0.15, 4.337 ± 0.09, 3.917 ± 0.09, 6.899 ± 0.14, 8.181 ± 0.17 and 5.202 ± 0.11 eV for YO, CrO, BN, ScO, SiO and AlO, respectively. The estimated D₀ values are in reasonably good agreement with literature values. The r-Centroids and Franck-Condon factors for the bands of B^{2 +} – X^{2 +} of YO, B⁵ –X⁵ > of CrO, A³ – X³ of BN, B^{2 +} –X^{2 +} of ScO, E^{1 +} – X^{1 +} of SiO and D^{2 +} – X^{2 +} and B^{2 +} –X^{2 +} of AlO molecules have been determined. The Franck-Condon factors are evaluated by the approximate analytical method of Jarmain and Fraser. The absence of the bands in these systems is explained.     

Enhancement of In Situ Bioremediation of BTEX-Contaminated Ground Water by Oxygen Diffusion from Silicone Tubing

A field study of oxygen-enhanced biodegradation was carried out in a sandy iron-rich ground water system contaminated with gasoline hydrocarbons. Prior to the oxygen study, intrinsic microbial biodegradation in the contaminant plume had depleted dissolved oxygen and created anaerobic conditions. An oxygen diffusion system made of silicone polymer tubing was installed in an injection well within an oxygen delivery zone containing coarse highly permeable sand. During the study, this system delivered high dissolved oxygen (DO) levels (39 mg/L) to the ground water within a part of the plume. The ground water was sampled at a series of monitors in the test zone downgradient of the delivery well to determine the effect of oxygen on dissolved BTEX, ground water geochemistry, and microbially mediated biodegradation processes. The DO levels and Eh increased markedly at distances up to 2.3 m (7.5 feet) downgradient. Potential biofouling and iron precipitation effects did not clog the well screens or porous medium. The increased dissolved oxygen enhanced the population of aerobes while the activity of anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogens decreased. Based on concentration changes, the estimated total rate of BTEX biodegradation rose from 872 mg/day before enhancement to 2530 mg/day after 60 days of oxygen delivery. Increased oxygen flux to the test area could account for aerobic biodegradation of 1835 mg/day of the BTEX. The estimated rates of anaerobic biodegradation processes decreased based on the flux of sulfate, iron (II), and methane. Two contaminants in the plume, benzene and ethylbenzene, are not biodegraded as readily as toluene or xylenes under anaerobic conditions. Following oxygen enhancement, however, the benzene and ethylbenzene concentrations decreased about 98%, as did toluene and total xylenes.