Elastic thickness estimates at northeast passive margin of North America and its implications

Global estimates of the elastic thickness (Te) of the structure of passive continental margins show wide and varying results owing to the use of different methodologies. Earlier estimates of the elastic thickness of the North Atlantic passive continental margins that used flexural modelling yielded a Te value of ~20–100 km. Here, we compare these estimates with the Te value obtained using orthonormalized Hermite multitaper recovered isostatic coherence functions. We discuss how Te is correlated with heat flow distribution and depth of necking. The E–W segment in the southern study region comprising Nova Scotia and the Southern Grand Banks show low Te values, while the zones comprising the NE–SW zones, viz., Western Greenland, Labrador, Orphan Basin and the Northern Grand Bank show comparatively high Te values. As expected, Te broadly reflects the depth of the 200–400°C isotherm below the weak surface sediment layer at the time of loading, and at the margins most of the loading occurred during rifting. We infer that these low Te measurements indicate Te frozen into the lithosphere. This could be due to the passive nature of the margin when the loads were emplaced during the continental break-up process at high temperature gradients.     

GEOGRAPHY AS MELODY IN MUTTUSVAMI DIKSHITA'sINDIAN MUSICAL WORKS*

ABSTRACT. The life and works of Muttusvami Dikshita (1775–1834), a luminary of South Indian Karnatak classical music, abound in spatiocultural symbolisms of integration and harmony. Dikshita'speregrinations symbolize a cultural circuit of Hindu pilgrimage. His studies of North Indian Hindustani music at Varanasi (formerly Benares), and his transplantation of them throughout South India, make him an active agent of cultural diffusion, harmonizing cultural traditions through spatiosymbolic anchors. The religious expression of his musical genius, his songs, and his melodies contributed to linking linguistically and politically disparate regions of eighteenth‐ and nineteenth‐century India. The works of Dikshita affirm India'scultural continuity and underscore its enduring cultural empathies and similarities.     

Bacterial response to contrasting sediment geochemistry in the Central Indian Basin

In order to investigate whether geochemical, physiographic and lithological differences in two end‐member sedimentary settings could evoke varied microbe–sediment interactions, two 25 cm long sediment cores from contrasting regions in the Central Indian Basin have been examined. Site TVBC 26 in the northern siliceous realm (10°S, 75·5°E) is organic‐C rich with 0·3 ± 0·09% total organic carbon. Site TVBC 08 in the southern pelagic red clay realm (16°S, 75·5°E), located on the flank of a seamount in a mid‐plate volcanic area with hydrothermal alterations of recent origin, is organic‐C poor (0·1 ± 0·07%). Significantly higher bacterial viability under anaerobic conditions, generally lower microbial carbon uptake and higher numbers of aerobic sulphur oxidizers at the mottled zones, characterize core TVBC 26. In the carbon‐poor environment of core TVBC 08, a doubling of the ¹⁴C uptake, a 250 times increase in the number of autotrophic nitrifiers, a four‐fold lowering in the number of aerobic sulphur oxidizers and a higher order of denitrifiers exists when compared with core TVBC 26; this suggests the prevalence of a potentially autotrophic microbial community in core TVBC 08 in response to hydrothermal activity. Microbial activity at the northern TVBC 26 is predominantly heterotrophic with enhanced chemosynthetic activity restricted to tan‐green mottled zones. The southern TVBC 08 is autotrophic with increased heterotrophic activity in the deepest layers. Notably, the bacterial activity is generally dependent on the surface productivity in TVBC 26, the carbon‐rich core, and mostly independent in TVBC 08, the carbon‐poor, hydrothermally influenced core. The northern sediment is more organic sink‐controlled and the southern sediment is more hydrothermal source‐controlled. Hydrothermal activity and associated rock alteration processes may be more relevant than organic matter delivery in these deep‐sea sediments. Thus, this study highlights the relative importance of hydrothermal activity versus organic delivery in evoking different microbial responses in the Central Indian Basin sediments.     

Equatorial electrojet in the Indian region during the geomagnetic storm of 13–14 November 1998

The geomagnetic storm of November 1998 is a unique event where IMF-Bz remained southward with values exceeding –15 nT for more than a day. The SYM/H index decreased from about 07 hr on 13 November 1998 reaching a minimum of about –120 nT around midnight of 13–14 November 1998. Features of the equatorial electrojet in the Indian region are studied during the geomagnetic storm event of 13–14 November 1998, based on the geomagnetic data from the chain of observatories in India. Sudden northward turning of IMF-Bz for a very short duration around 08 hr on 13 November 1998 resulted in a small and very short duration counter electrojet. A strong (–50 nT) and a long duration counter electrojet, right from 08 to 13 hr on 14 November 1998 was observed resulting in the absence of equatorial Es at Thumba. Absence of the equatorial ionization anomaly was also observed as seen from the ionograms over Thumba and ionspheric data from Ahmedabad. The delayed effect on 14 November 1998 is due to the disturbance dynamo effect.     

Phylogenetic analysis and biological characteristic tests of marine bacteria isolated from Southern Ocean (Indian sector) water

Fifty-seven bacteria were isolated from Southern Ocean(Indian sector) water samples which were collected from different latitude and longitude of the ocean. All the isolates were able to grow at 4°C, 20°C, 37°C and tolerable Na Cl concentration up to 13.5%(w/v). 29 out of 57 isolates were identified using 16 S rDNA amplification and the sequences were submitted to National Center for Biotechnology Information(NCBI). All the isolates were classified by using Ribosomal Database Project(RDP) and found that isolates belongs to Proteobacteria and Bacteriodes. The average G+C content was 56.4%. The isolates were screened for the presence of extracellular enzymes, viz. amylase, catalase, urease, esterase, lipase and protease. The disc diffusion method is used to screen antibiotic production by the isolates against four pathogenic bacteria, viz. Salmonella typhimurium(NCIM 2501),Staphylococcus aureus(NCIM 2122), Bacillus subtilis(NCIM 2193), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa(NCIM 2036).Nine out of 29 were found to be antibiotic producer.