Occurrence of Nummulitic coralline limestone from offshore Palar Basin,Bay of Bengal,India

Abstract

Palar basin is located between Pennar and Cauvery sedimentary basins of East coast of India in Bay of Bengal, northeast Indian Ocean. Sea floor drill (Wire-line Autonomous Coring System – WACS) with operational capability of up to 3000?m water depth was developed to collect long cores from deep sea floor for geotechnical and ocean resource assessment studies. During the drilling operation it encountered Nummulitic coralline limestone of Lower Eocene age at 18 meters below the seafloor (mbsf) at 850?m water depth indicating carbonated platform presence for the first time at the study region. Bathymetry contour from Naval Hydrography Chart and General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) has revealed the presence of shallow mounds from 50 to 200?m depth closure contour near the sampling site at 850?m water depth which might be a submerged carbonated structure. Since, Nummulites are shallow water dwelling fauna (<20?m depth) but its occurrence at 18 mbsf in 850?m water depth is recorded because of the advancement in technology tool for long core sampling by means of sea floor drill.     

Check dam positioning by prioritization of micro-watersheds using SYI model and morphometric analysis — Remote sensing and GIS perspective

Sediment Yield Index (SYI) model and results of morphometric analysis have been used to prioritize watersheds and to locate sites for checkdam positioning in Tarafeni watershed in Midnapur district. West Bengal. Various thematic maps such as land use/land cover, slope, drainage, soil etc. were prepared from 1RS ID LISS III digital data, SOI toposheets of 1:50,000 scale and other reference maps. Morphometric parameters such as bifurcation ratio (R_b). drainage density (D_d), texture ratio (T), length of overland flow (L_o), stream frequency (F_u), compactness coefficient (C_c), circularity ratio (R_c), elongation ratio (E_r), shape factor (B_s) and form factor (R_f) were computed. Automated demarcation of prioritization of micro-watersheds was done by using GIS overlaying technique by assigning weight factors to all the identified features in each thematic map and ranks were assigned to the morphometric parameters. Five categories of priority viz., very high, high, medium, low and very low, were given to all the watersheds in both the methods. Sixty-two micro-watersheds using SYI method and twenty-three micro-watersheds using morphometric have been prioritized as very high priority. Final priority map was prepared by considering the commonly occurred very high-prioritized micro-watersheds in both SYI model and morphometric analysis. Twenty-four suitable sites were identified for check dam construction in 21 highly prioritized watersheds. It is proved that integrated study of SYI model and morphometric analysis yield good result in prioritization of watersheds.     

Model Tests and Field Experiments for Fragmentation Assessment During Ringhole Blasting in BG Panels

Experimental blasts were conducted in concrete blocks of known strengths to correlate field results in Blasting Gallery (BG) panels of GDK-10 Incline for improving fragmentation of coal to an optimum level so that blasted coal could easily be lifted totally by remote controlled LHDs and thereby mitigating the possibility of occurrence of spontaneous heating in BG districts before exhaustion of the panel. Various charge loading parameters and consequent breakage results were critically analyzed to arrive at a constructive conclusion, which could satisfactory improve the blast results.     

Estimation of petrol and diesel adulteration with kerosene and assessment of usefulness of selected automobile fuel quality test parameters

Kerosene is common adulterant utilized for mixing with diesel. Five fuel-adulterant mixtures in different proportions by volume were prepared and individually tested for density and kinematic viscosity. The mixtures were administered to six light cargo vehicles and the tail pipe exhaust emission was tested for opacity value. No appreciable density variation at different levels of adulteration was observed. Density was within the prescribed value even at higher adulteration. Considerable decrease in kinematic viscosity, a departure from prescribed viscosity, was noted at higher adulteration level. The percent opacity value decreased sharply even at small level of adulteration. The probable amount of kerosene present as an adulterant in diesel dispensed at filling stations in Kathmandu city ranged between 35% and 50%. The observations suggest density test is not a good indicator of diesel adulteration. Kinematic viscosity and opacity value are useful diesel adulteration test parameters. Existing diesel adulteration warrants initiation of strict compliance regulation.     

Comparison of ordinary and disjunctive kriging in an Indian iron ore deposit

This paper presents the results of disjunctive kriging applied to a supergene iron ore deposit of Bailadila Range of India. Disjunctive kriging is applied firstly to compare estimates of the blocks by ordinary kriging and secondly to estimate benchwise local recoverable reserves of the orebody. Good agreement exists between block estimates by ordinary kriging and disjunctive kriging except for peripheral blocks with less borehole information. Estimation of benchwise reserves shows that the behavior of the distribution of grades is different in various benches. The study shows that disjunctive kriging can be applied successfully for estimation of local recoverable reserves in the case of a good grade hematite iron ore deposit.     

Magnetic interpretation of pairs of sheets and their equivalence to dykes

Magnetic anomaly profiles over two thin sheets separated by a small distance resemble those of dykes andvice versa. Interpretation of anomalies over a pair of sheets based on the magnetic properties of dykes predicts a dyke whose centre lies midway between the positions of the sheets. The dyke, on the other hand, is magnetically equivalent to a pair of sheets, both lying at the same depth and having the same magnetization.The magnetic anomalies due to a pair of sheets can be interpreted by framing linear equations between the anomalies and their distances measured from an arbitrary reference. Application of this method to anomalies of dipping sheets with a finite depth extent is indicated.     

Paleomagnetism of certain constituents of the Bay St. George sub-basin,western Newfoundland

Paleomagnetic studies have been made of certain constituents of the Bay St. George sub-basin. Specifically, results are reported from the Spout Falls Formation (Tournaisian), the Jeffreys Village Member of the Robinsons River Formation (Visean), and the Searston Formation (Namurian-Westphalian). The following magnetizations have been isolated: Spout Falls A (Tournaisian) with D = 343.5°, I = ?22.7°, k = 61.2, α₉₅ = 7.1° and the corresponding pole at 28.6°N, 139.5°E (4.5°, 8.5°); Spout Falls B (Kiaman) with D = 166.7°, I = 12.2°, k = 51.7, α₉₅ = 10.7° and the corresponding pole at 34.5°S, 42.7°W (5.5°, 10.9°); Jeffreys Village A (Visean) with D = 351.2°, I = ?27.3°, k = 54.0, α₉₅ = 7.6° and the corresponding pole at 26.5°N, 130.7°E (4.5°, 8.3°); Searston A (Namurian) with D = 161.7°, I = 11.7°, k = 107, α₉₅ = 7.4° and the corresponding pole at 33.9°S, 37.2°W (3.8°, 7.5°); and Searston C with D = 111.6°, I = ?13.8°, k = 28.8, α₉₅ = 14.5° and the corresponding pole at 19.6°S, 19.0°E (7.6°, 14.8°). After comparison with paleopoles of similar ages derived from eastern and western Newfoundland rocks, from constituents of the east coast basin and for interior North America, it is concluded that: (1) it is unlikely that any large scale relative motion took place since the Early Carboniferous between eastern and western Newfoundland; (2) it is unlikely that any north-south relative motion took place between the east coast basin and the Bay St. George sub-basin; and (3) the Bay St. George sub-basin results do not support the earlier proposed displaced terrane hypothesis of the northern Appalachians in as much as the motions during the Carboniferous are not supported. There is evidence of the northward motion of the Appalachians and North America as a whole during the Carboniferous. The magnetostratigraphic horizon marker in the Carboniferous separating a dominant normal and reversed magnetization on the older side and an entirely reversed (Kiaman) magnetization on the younger side may be placed in the Bay St. George sub-basin at the base of the Searston Formation.     

Influence of lithology and fluid flow on the temperature distribution in a sedimentary basin: A case study from the Cold Lake area, Alberta, Canada

A detailed study of the groundwater and terrestrial heat flow was carried out over an area of 23,700 km² west of Cold Lake, Alberta, which is part of the western Canada sedimentary basin. The information for the study was provided from data from 3100 wells drilled in the area. The screening and processing of thousands of stratigraphic picks, drillstem test data, bottom hole temperatures and formation water chemistry data was performed mainly using a specially designed software package. As a result, every stratigraphic unit is characterized by appropriate hydraulic and thermal parameters.

A sequence of aquifers, aquitards and aquicludes was differentiated. The groundwater flow in the Paleozoic aquifers is regional in nature and mainly horizontal. The flow in the Cretaceous aquifers is of intermediate type, mainly downward oriented. In general, the permeability of the Cretaceous and Paleozoic strata has such low values that the fluid velocity is less than 1 cm/yr.

The convective heat transport in the hydrostratigraphic sequence is negligible with respect to the conductive heat transfer, as shown by the Peclet number of the fluid and heat flow in porous media. The flow of the terrestrial heat flux from the Precambrian basement of the sedimentary basin to the atmosphere is controlled by the variability in the thermal properties of the formations in the basin.

The geothermal gradients were computed by hydrostratigraphic unit using a linear regression fit to the temperature data. As expected, they show higher values for the less conductive layers, and lower values for the more conductive ones. The weighted average, or the integral geothermal gradient of the whole sedimentary column, was computed by considering the difference between the temperature measured at the Precambrian basement and the annual average temperature at the surface. The areal distribution of the integral geothermal gradient (with an average of 22.0 mK/m) shows a strong correlation with the lithology.

The areal temperature distribution for each hydrostratigraphic unit was analyzed by mapping the deviation of the measured value from the computed geothermal gradient. The lateral heat flow from warmer to colder areas is one order of magnitude smaller than the vertical heat flow. In the more homogeneous units, the lateral heat flow presents a trend that seems to reflect the geometry and lithology.