Dynamical behavior of size-graded dust grains levitated in rotating magnetized astroplasmas

Our purpose is to examine the formation of different sheaths in rotating astroplasmas embedded in an ambient magnetic field. Sequel to our recent work (Das and Chakraborty in Astrophys. Space Sci., 2011) we remodeled our present study with the view to finding of robust sheath over the Earth’s Moon along with the formation of dust clouds therein. Based on using the pseudopotential analysis, a modified Sagdeev potential equation has been derived, which, in turns, quantifies the interaction of Coriolis force and magnetic field and to derive the different natures of sheath and dust atmosphere. The application of this result to the input numeric data of the lunar environment and dynamical behaviors of dust levitation has been studied. Our study finds that the dust particles having a spatial segregation within the sheath region form dust clouds in spaces.     

Energy dissipation in wave propagation in general-relativistic plasma

Based on a recent communication by the present authors the question of energy dissipation in magnetohydrodynamical waves in an inflating background in general relativity is examined. It is found that the expanding background introduces a sort of dragging force on the propagating wave such that, unlike the Newtonian case, energy gets dissipated as it progresses. This loss in energy having no special-relativistic analogue is, however, not mechanical in nature as in case of an elastic wave. It is also found that the energy loss is model dependent and also depends on the number of dimensions.     

Evidence for structural discordance in the inverted metamorphic sequence of Sikkim Himalaya: Towards resolving the Main Central Thrust controversy

Inverted metamorphism in the Himalayas is closely associated with the Main Central Thrust (MCT). In the western Himalayas, the Main Central Thrust conventionally separates high grade metamorphic rocks of the Higher Himalayan Crystalline Sequence (HHCS) from unmetamorphosed rocks of the Inner sedimentary Belt. In the eastern Himalayas, the Inner sedimentary Belt is absent, and the HHCS and meta-sedimentary Lesser Himalayan Sequence (LHS) apparently form a continuous Barrovian metamorphic sequence, leading to confusion about the precise location of the MCT. In this study, it is demonstrated that migmatitic gneisses of the sillimanite zone in the higher structural levels of the HHCS are multiply deformed, with two phases of penetrative fabric formation (S_1HHCS and S_2HHCS) followed by third folding event associated with a spaced, NW-SE trending, north-east dipping foliation (S_3HHCS). The underlying LHS schists (kyanite zone and lower) are also multiply deformed, with the bedding S₀ being isoclinally folded (F_1LHS), and subsequently refolded (F_2LHS and F_3LHS). The contact zone between the HHCS and LHS is characterized by ductile, top-to-the southwest shearing and stabilization of a pervasive foliation that is consistently oriented NW-SE and dips northeast. This foliation is parallel to the S_3HHCS foliation in the HHCS, and the S_2LHS in the LHS. Early lineations in the HHCS and LHS also show different dispersions across the contact shear zone, implying that pre-thrusting orientations of the two units were distinct. The contact shear zone is therefore interpreted to be a plane of structural discordance, shows a shear sense consistent with thrust movement and is associated with mineral growth during Barrovian metamorphism. It may well be considered to represent the MCT in this region.     

Felsic tuff from Rutland Island — A pyroclastic flow deposit in Miocene-sediments of Andaman-Java subduction complex

The bedded felsic tuff exposed in Rutland Island, Andaman, consists of two facies:

Extended Finite Element Method for the Analysis of Discontinuities in Rock Masses

The strength and deformability of rock mass primarily depend on the condition of joints and their spacing and partially on the engineering properties of rock matrix. Till today, numerical analysis of discontinuities e.g. joint, fault, shear plane and others is conducted placing an interface element in between two adjacent rock matrix elements. However, the applicability of interface elements is limited in rock mechanics problems having multiple discontinuities due to its inherent numerical difficulties often leading to non-convergent solution. Recent developments in extended finite element method (XFEM) having strong discontinuity imbedded within a regular element provide an opportunity to analyze discrete discontinuities in rock masses without any numerical difficulties. This concept is based on partition of unity principle and can be used for cohesive rock joints. This paper summarizes the mathematical frameworks for the implementation of strong discontinuities in 3 and 6 nodded triangular elements and also provides numerical examples of the application of XFEM in one and two dimensional problems with single and multiple discontinuities.     

Support and Information Effect Modeling for Recoverable Reserve Estimation of a Beach Sand Deposit in India

Application of geostatistics in estimating recoverable reserves of beach sand deposit is rare. This paper made an attempt to estimate local recoverable reserves using disjunctive kriging and discrete Gaussian model considering support and information effects for a beach sand deposit located in the eastern part of India. The dependence of different selective mining unit (SMU) sizes and different production sampling strategies on the estimated tonnage, metal quantity, and the ore tonnage versus metal quantity relationships has been examined. The results of the study show that nonlinear geostatistics should be used for more precise assessment of the grade, ore tonnage, and metal quantity and their relationships, which are necessary for recoverable reserve estimation. In selective mining operation, both support and information effects have significant influence on recoverable reserve. Recoverable reserve estimation based on SMU involves estimating grade distributions of mining unit with much bigger support than the available drill core sample data. Information effect comes into picture from the real scenario where the actual grades of the blocks remain unknown even during mining. At the mining stage, discrimination of ore and waste blocks is carried out based on estimated grades of the production samples and it is likely that the blocks might be misclassified as either ore or waste and thus sent to wrong destination. Information effect modeling makes the estimation more reliable by taking care of misclassification.     

Intercomparison of Oceansat-2 and ASCAT Winds with In Situ Buoy Observations and Short-Term Numerical Forecasts

Sea surface winds from the Oceansat-2 scatterometer (OSCAT) are important inputs to Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) recently updated the OSCAT retrieval algorithm in order to generate better products. An attempt has been made in this study to evaluate the updated OSCAT winds using buoy observations and the 6-hour short-term forecasts from the T574L64 model from the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) during the 2011 monsoon. The results of the OSCAT evaluation are also compared with those from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) on-board the Meteorological Operational Satellite-A (MetOp-A) which were evaluated in the same way. The root mean square differences (RMSDs) for wind speed and direction, are within 2?m?s^?1 and 20° for both scatterometers. The RMSDs for OSCAT are slightly higher than those for ASCAT, and this difference may be attributed in part to the difference in frequency and resolution of the scatterometer payloads. The bias and standard deviation for ASCAT winds are also lower than those for OSCAT winds with respect to the model short-range forecast, and this can be attributed to the regular assimilation of ASCAT winds in the model.     

Model dependence of transonic properties of accretion flows around black holes

We analytically study how the behaviour of accretion flows changes when the flow model is varied. We study the transonic properties of the conical flow, a flow of constant height and a flow in vertical equilibrium, and show that all these models are basically identical, provided that the polytropic constant is suitably changed from one model to another. We show that this behaviour is extendible even when standing shocks are produced in the flow. The parameter space where shocks are produced remains roughly identical in all these models when the same transformation among the polytropic indices is used. We present applications of these findings.