Optimum merger time-scales and binary evolution

A study of galaxy mergers, on the basis of the collisional theory, using galaxy models without halos and considering the evolution of the proginator galaxies only from a time when the gravitational interaction between them is physically significant, indicates that most of the mergers are affected in 2 to 3 orbital periods for progenitors of comparable mass: shorter and longer time-scales being underabundant. These results have a bearing on the evolution of binary galaxies; indicating that once the relative orbit of a binary is circularized, the components will merge during the subsequent orbit or the next one (in a time-scale ~ 10⁸ years). These results are also indicative of the fact that binary evolution is very likely to cause a gradual evolution of the fundamental plane occupied by paired ellipticals from that of isolated ellipticals. After the merger, the remnant is very likely to define a fundamental plane with a slightly different slope.     

Analysis of the 2003 Varunawat Landslide,Uttarkashi, India using Earth Observation data

Mass movements such as landslides in mountainous terrains are natural degradation processes and one of the most important landscape-building factors. Varunawat Parbat overlooking Uttarkashi town witnessed a series of landslides on 23 September 2003 and the debris slides and rock falls continued for 2 weeks. This landslide complex was triggered due to the incessant rainfall prior to the event, and its occurrence led to the blockage of the pilgrim route to Gangotri (source of the Ganges river) and evacuation of thousands of people to safer places. Though there was no loss of lives due to timely evacuation, heavy losses to the property were reported. High-resolution stereoscopic earth observation data were acquired after the incidence to study the landslide in detail with emphasis on the cause of the landslide and mode of failure. Areas along the road and below the Varunawat foothill region are mapped for landslide risk. It was found that the foothill region of the Varunawat Parbat was highly disturbed by man-made activities and houses are dangerously located below steep slopes. The potential zones for landslides along with the existing active and old landslides are mapped. These areas are critical and their treatment with priority is required in order to minimise further landslide occurrences.     

Comparison of TOPEX/POSEIDON Altimeter Derived Wind Speed and Wave Parameters with Ocean Buoy Data in the North Indian Ocean

Results of comparison exercises carried out between the state-of-the-art TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter-derived ocean surface wind speed and ocean wave parameters (significant wave height and wave period) and those measured by a set of ocean data buoys in the North Indian Ocean are presented in this article. Altimeter-derived significant wave height values exhibited rms deviation as small as ±0.3 m, and surface wind speed of ±1.6 m/s. These results are found consistent with those found for the Pacific Ocean. For estimation of ocean wave period, the spectral moments-based semiempirical approach, earlier applied on GEOSAT data, was extended to TOPEX/POSEIDON. For this purpose, distributions of first four years of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data and climatology over the North Indian Ocean were analyzed and a new set of coefficients generated for estimation of wave period. It is shown that wave periods thus estimated from TOPEX/POSEIDON data (for the subsequent two years), when compared with independent data set of ocean data buoys deployed in the North Indian Ocean, exhibit improved accuracy (rms ~ ±1.4 nos) over those determined earlier with GEOSAT data.     

Bayes estimation: A novel approach to derivation of internally consistent thermodynamic data for minerals,their uncertainties,and correlations. Part II: Application

Internally consistent thermodynamic data, including their uncertainties and correlations, are reported for 22 phases of the quaternary system CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O. These data have been derived by simultaneous evaluation of the appropriate phase properties (PP) and reaction properties (RP) by the novel technique of Bayes estimation (BE). The thermodynamic model used and the theory of BE was expounded in Part I of this paper. Part II is the follow-up study illustrating an application of BE. The input for BE comprised, among others, the a priori values for standard enthalpy of formation of the i-th phase, Δ_f H _i ⁰ , and its standard entropy, S _i ⁰ , in addition to the reaction reversal constraints for 33 equilibria involving the relevant phases. A total of 269 RP restrictions have been processed, of which 107 turned out to be non-redundant. The refined values for Δ_f H _i ⁰ and S _i ⁰ obtained by BE, including their 2σ-uncertainties, appear in Table 4; the Appendix reproduces the corresponding correlation matrix. These data permit generation of computed phase diagrams with 2σ-uncertainty envelopes based on conventional error propagation; Fig. 3 depicts such a phase diagram for the system CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂. It shows that the refined dataset is capable of yielding phase diagrams with uncertainty envelopes narrow enough to be geologically useful. The results in Table 4 demonstrate that the uncertainties of the prior values for Δ_f H _i ^Emphasis>0 , given in Table 1, have decreased by up to an order of magnitude, while those for S _i ⁰ improved by a factor of up to two. For comparison, Table 4 also lists the refined Δ_f H _i ⁰ and S _i ⁰ data obtained by mathematical programming (MAP), minimizing a quadratic objective function used earlier by Berman (1988). Examples of calculated phase diagrams are given to demonstrate the advantages of BE for deriving internally consistent thermodynamic data. Although P-T curves generated from both MAP and BE databases will pass through the reversal restrictions, BE datasets appear to be better suited for extrapolations beyond the P-T range explored experimentally and for predicting equilibria not constrained by reversals.     

Significance of transition between Talchir Formation and Karharbari Formation in Lower Gondwana basin evolution — A study in West Bokaro Coal basin, Jharkhand, India

Basal part of the Gondwana Supergroup represented by Talchir and Karharbari Formations (Permo-Carboniferous) records an abrupt change-over from glacio-marine to terrestrial fluviolacustrine depositional environment. The contact between the two is an unconformity. Facies analysis of the glacio-marine Talchir Formation reveals that basal glaciogenic and reworked glaciogenic sediments are buried under storm influenced inner and outer shelf sediments. Facies associations of the Karharbari Formation suggest deposition as fluvio-lacustrine deposits in fault-controlled troughs. An attempt has been made in this paper to explain the sedimentation pattern in Talchir and Karharbari basins, and the abrupt change-over from glacio-marine to terrestrial fluviolacustrine depositional environment in terms of glacio-isostacy.     

Riddle of arsenic in groundwater of Bengal Delta Plain—role of non-inland source and redox traps

In the Bengal Delta Plain (BDP) the primary arsenic sourcing appears to be different from the global scenario. Here, the Terminal Pleistocene–Holocene depositional platform, the interactive early Holocene depositional morphology with fluvio-estuarine and marine incursions played a crucial role for arsenic sourcing and enrichment. The lenticular silt-fine sand layer between anoxic clay beds favoured entrapment of dissolved organic carbon with decayed phyto-planktons debris. The Terminal Pleistocene–Holocene transgression and regression processes may have acted as major events in the BDP. Interestingly, at the end of the last glacial maxima, the Pleistocene delta had undergone block movements, wherein some parts of the platform were raised above the level of Holocene deposition. Those blocks were found to be free from arsenic in the groundwater. The sea, during re-emerging inundation (10–7 ka BP), has witnessed a monsoon-induced environment in the BDP with the resultant oscillation of sea level leading to higher upsurge towards the north. This might have resulted in the marine incursion and inundation in pre-existing land depressions. Meanwhile arsenic entrapments through marine incursion as well as enrichment in the presence of organic carbon/DOC and/or Fe/Mn/Al catalytic agents could have developed into localised redox traps. It may be of relevance that due to the repetitive transgressive–regressive phases in Holocene, resulting in periodic exposure and weathering of iron-bearing minerals and consequent iron enrichment in the aquifer system. The iron, thus present, had free charge to host arsenic as a sink. It appears that arsenic, wherever found, would likely be of atypical localised exhaustible phenomenon, both in horizontal and vertical context. It also rationalises the cause of the absence of arsenic in the other nearby Pleistocene platform, which has not come across Holocene interaction and marine incursion, as to the likely limiting condition for the search for arsenic in the BDP or beyond.     

Estimation of near surface soil moisture in a sloping terrain of a Himalayan watershed using ENVISAT ASAR multi‐incidence angle alternate polarisation data

Soil moisture is one of the important input variables in hydrological and water erosion models. The extraction of information on near surface soil moisture from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is well established mostly for flat terrain and using low incidence angle single polarisation data. The ENVISAT advanced SAR (ASAR) data available in multiple incidence angles and alternate polarisation modes were investigated in this study for soil moisture estimation in sloping terrain. The test site was Sitla Rao watershed in the Lesser Himalayas of northern India. Empirical models were developed to estimate near surface soil moisture in bare agricultural fields using alternate polarisation ASAR data. Both soil moisture and surface roughness field measurements were performed during the satellite passes. Backscatter from medium incidence angle (IS‐4) and vertical‐vertical (VV) polarisation signal is correlated better with volumetric soil moisture content compared to other incidence angles. The model parameters were further improved, and soil moisture estimation was refined by combining medium incidence angle (IS4) vertical‐horizontal polarisation response as another variable along with VV polarisation response. The effect of slope on the radar backscatter was minimized by incorporating local incidence angles derived from an ASTER DEM. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deformation behavior of migmatites: insights from microstructural analysis of a garnet–sillimanite–mullite–quartz–feldspar-bearing anatectic migmatite at Rampura–Agucha,Aravalli–Delhi Fold Belt,NW India

International Journal of Earth Sciences - In the present study we investigate the microstructural development in mullite, quartz and garnet in an anatectic migmatite hosted within a Grenvillian-age...     

Hydrogeochemical characteristics and its role in controlling arsenic mobilization in a shallow aquifer

The relevance of groundwater hydrogeochemistry to explain the occurrence and distribution of arsenic in groundwater is of great interest. The insightful discussions on the control of shallow groundwater (< 50 m) hydrogeochemistry in arsenic mobilization are known to be a viable tool to explain the arsenic menace in shallow groundwater. The present investigation emphasizes the hydrogeochemical driver and/or control over the reductive dissolution of Fe-bearing host minerals and thereby releasing arsenic into the shallow groundwater of the study area. The study suggests that hydrogeochemical evolution is mainly governed by carbonate minerals dissolution, silicate weathering, and competitive ion-exchange processes in the shallow aquifers (< 50 m). The present study also indicates the prevalence of carbonate minerals dissolution over silicate weathering. The emergence of Cl⁻ concentration in the shallow groundwater founds the possibilities of anthropogenic inputs into the shallow aquifers (< 50 m). The reducing environment in shallow aquifers (< 50 m) of the study area is evident in the reductive dissolution of Fe- bearing shallow aquifer minerals which absorb arsenic in the solid phase and mobilize arsenic onto shallow groundwater. The study opted for many statistical approaches to delineate the correlation among major and minor ionic constituents of the groundwater which are very helpful to understand the comprehensive mechanism of arsenic mobilization into shallow groundwater.

     

Dwellers’ perception toward the Urban services of Panskura Municipality,India: an application of importance-performance models

The provision of urban service and citizens’ satisfaction is an important key issue in urban planning. Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is an effective and widely applicable technique to explore consumer’s satisfaction. IPA helps to prioritize the management strategies for urban services using the IPA. Purpose of the present study is to assess the performance of urban services and citizen’s satisfaction level of Panskura municipality using IPA models and improvement index. A total of 629 valid household responses are collected with the help of the door-to-door primary survey technique. The study reveals that all the selected seven urban services have significant importance-performance gap except water supply. Residents of the Panskura municipality are very much satisfied with the water supply service because of the very minimum improvement score. The combined result of IPA matrices and improvement index suggests residents are dissatisfied to a great extent with the performance of four urban services, i.e. health, economy, transportation and sanitation. These urban services require a problem-solving urgent action for restoration of the performance status. The improvement and prioritization of urban service are also required to fulfil the demand of target groups.