Earthquake hazard in Northeast India — A seismic microzonation approach with typical case studies from Sikkim Himalaya and Guwahati city

A comprehensive analytical as well as numerical treatment of seismological, geological, geomorphological and geotechnical concepts has been implemented through microzonation projects in the northeast Indian provinces of Sikkim Himalaya and Guwahati city, representing cases of contrasting geological backgrounds — a hilly terrain and a predominantly alluvial basin respectively. The estimated maximum earthquakes in the underlying seismic source zones, demarcated in the broad northeast Indian region, implicates scenario earthquakes of M _W 8.3 and 8.7 to the respective study regions for deterministic seismic hazard assessments. The microzonation approach as undertaken in the present analyses involves multi-criteria seismic hazard evaluation through thematic integration of contributing factors. The geomorphological themes for Sikkim Himalaya include surface geology, soil cover, slope, rock outcrop and landslide integrated to achieve geological hazard distribution. Seismological themes, namely surface consistent peak ground acceleration and predominant frequency were, thereafter, overlaid on and added with the geological hazard distribution to obtain the seismic hazard microzonation map of the Sikkim Himalaya. On the other hand, the microzonation study of Guwahati city accounts for eight themes — geological and geomorphological, basement or bedrock, landuse, landslide, factor of safety for soil stability, shear wave velocity, predominant frequency, and surface consistent peak ground acceleration. The five broad qualitative hazard classifications — ‘low’, ‘moderate’, ‘high’, ‘moderate high’ and ‘very high’ could be applied in both the cases, albeit with different implications to peak ground acceleration variations. These developed hazard maps offer better representation of the local specific seismic hazard variation in the terrain.     

Spatial and temporal variations of physicochemical and heavy metal pollution in Ramganga River—a tributary of River Ganges,India

The River Ganges being the most sacred river and lifeline to millions of Indians in serving their water requirements is facing excessive threat of pollution. Under various river management and conservation strategies for its protection, the assessment of water quality of its main tributary Ramganga River is lacking. This study focuses on assessment of physicochemical and heavy metal pollution of the Ramganga River by application of multivariate statistical techniques. Sampling of Ramganga River at sixteen sampling sites was carried out in three seasons (summer, monsoon and winter) of 2014. The collected water samples were analyzed for physicochemical parameters and heavy metals. Results from cluster analysis (CA) of the data divided the whole stretch of the river into three clusters as elevation from 1304 to 259 m as less polluted, from 207 to 154 m as moderately polluted and from elevation 154 to 139 m as high-polluted stretches with anthropogenic as main sources of pollution in high-polluted stretch. Principal component analysis of the seasonal dataset resulted in three significant principal components (PC) in each season explaining 72–8% of total variance with strong loadings (>0.75) of PC1 on fluoride (F^?), chloride (Cl^?), sodium (Na⁺), calcium (Ca²⁺), magnesium (Mg²⁺), bicarbonate (HCO₃ ^?), total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity. Temporal variation by one-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) showed significant seasonal variation was in the pH, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, turbidity, HCO₃ ^?, F^?, Zn, cadmium (Cd) and Mn (p < 0.05). Turbidity showed approximately a twofold increase in monsoon season due to rainfall in the catchment area and subsequent flow of runoff into the river. Concentration of HCO₃ ^?, F^? and pH also showed similar increase in monsoon. The concentration of Zn, Cd and Mn showed an increasing trend in summers compared to monsoon and winter season due to dilution effect in the monsoon season and its lasting effect in winters.     

A spatial–temporal analysis of low birth weight prevalence in Georgia, USA

Low birth weight (LBW), defined as a live birth weighing <2,500 g, is a significant public health problem in the United States, especially a few states including Georgia. Although much work has been done to study the epidemiology of LBW in various regions, the spatial–temporal patterns of LBW prevalence in Georgia remain unclear to a large degree. This paper investigates the temporal trend of LBW rates over a time span of 11 years and the spatial clusters of LBW prevalence in the state of Georgia at the county level. Comparison is also made between race and gender groups, and between county groups of different socioeconomic statuses to uncover disparities. Results showed a steady and prevalent increase of LBW rate in the state over the study period. Three counties and two county clusters with significantly higher LBW rates than the state rate were detected for 1999–2001, while one more county and two more county clusters of high LBW rates were detected for 2007–2009. More urbanized counties were found to have a relatively lower LBW rate when compared with the less urbanized ones as groups. The findings from this paper are expected to provide valuable insights to better understanding the etiology of LBW and more effective allocating prenatal health care resources in the future.     

Risk assessment of flood disaster in Shanghai based on spatial–temporal characteristics analysis from 251 to 2000

As one of the top 20 cities exposed to flood disasters, Shanghai is particularly vulnerable because it is exposed to powerful floods and poorly prepared. However, it is unclear to understand the evolution process of floods and the variation of flood risk in Shanghai during the past 1,000 years. This paper analyzed the spatial–temporal characteristics of flood disaster and evaluated the integrated risk of flood disaster in Shanghai based on the historical flood data from 251 to 2000. The results show that flood disaster in Shanghai was divided into storm surge-induced flood, rainstorm-induced flood and overbank flood. Flood disaster in Shanghai presents rising trend with time and mainly occurs in summer and autumn. Moreover, the flood disaster is dominated by rainstorm-induced flood, especially after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Additionally, flood risk in different areas of Shanghai between the years 251–1949 and 1950–2000 changed significantly. Shanghai urban area, Jinshan District and Chongming County belong to increased flood risk area; Baoshan, Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian, Pudong and Minhang District belong to decreased flood risk area. The integrated risk of flood disaster in Shanghai has presented spatial disparities evidently at present. Shanghai urban area is most likely to suffer flood disaster; Baoshan, Jiading and Minhang District have medium flood risk rank; and Jinshan, Songjiang, Fengxian, Pudong, Qingpu and Chongming County show low flood risk at present. The combined effect of urbanization, sea-level rise, land subsidence and the poor capacity of flood prevention facilities will give rise to the risk of flood in the next several decades. These results provide very important information for the local government to improve flood risk management.     

Types,characteristics, and time–space distribution of molybdenum deposits in China

Molybdenum exploration activity in China has accelerated tremendously during the past decade owing to the continuous, increasing demand for Earth resources. China possesses the largest Mo reserves in the world (exceeding 19.6 Mt). The major ore deposits are of porphyry, porphyry–skarn, skarn, vein, and sedimentary types. Porphyry molybdenum deposits contain 77.5% of the Chinese Mo reserves, with lesser amounts in porphyry–skarns (13%), skarns (5.1%), and veins (4.4%). Exploitation of sedimentary-type molybdenum deposits thus far has been uneconomical. The six Mo provinces are in the Northeast China, Yanliao, Qinling–Dabie, middle–lower Yangtze River Valley, South China, and Sanjiang areas. We recognize six ore-forming periods: (1) Precambrian (>541 Ma), (2) Palaeozoic (541–250 Ma), (3) Triassic (250–200 Ma), (4) Jurassic–Early Cretaceous (190–135 Ma), (5) Cretaceous (135–90 Ma), and (6) Cenozoic (55–12 Ma). The abundance of Mo ore deposits in China reflects the occurrence of multiple periods of tectonism, involving interactions between the Siberian, North China, Yangtze, India, and Palaeo-Pacific plates. Precambrian molybdenum deposits are related to Mesoproterozoic volcanism in an extensional setting. Palaeozoic Cu–Mo deposits are related to calc-alkaline granitic plutons in an island arc or a continental margin setting. Triassic Mo deposits formed in the syn-collision–postcollision tectonic setting between the Siberian and North China plates and between the North China and Yangzi plates. Jurassic–Early Cretaceous molybdenum deposits formed along the eastern margin of Asia and are associated with the palaeo-Pacific plate-subduction tectonic setting. Cretaceous Mo deposits are related to high-K calc-alkaline granitic rocks and formed in a lithospheric thinning setting. Cenozoic molybdenum deposits formed in a collision setting between the Indian and Eurasian continents and the subsequent extensional setting.     

Spatial and temporal distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in finegrained sediments of the East China Sea

The nearshore mud area along the Changjiang （Yangtze River） estuary and the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, and the distal mud area to the southeast of Cheju Island, Korea are the modem accumulative centers, thus, being the ＂sinks＂ of pollutants such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons （PAHs） in the East China Sea （ECS）. PAHs of surface sediment samples from the mud areas of the ECS and a ^210Pb dating sediment core collected using a gravity core from the coastal mud area in the ECS were quantified by GC/MSD with the internal standard materials.     

Geology and geochemistry of the Degana pluton—A proterozoic rapakivi granite in Rajasthan,India

Summary The Degana pluton hosts one of the few known tungsten deposits in India It is an epizonal, moderately high silica pluton emplaced during the Proterozoic in a posttectonic setting. Though homogeneous in composition, it displays textural heterogeneity from coarse-grained hypidiomorphic to fine-grained porphyritic to hypabyssal granite porphyry. Genetically related rhyolites are also present. Coherency of geochemical and mineralogical attributes in the Degana pluton can be explained by fractional crystallisation. Complex variety of hydrothermal and pneumatolytic features is also present. At shallow depths, emanation differentiation has led to progressive enrichment of Li, Rb, and W. Both the plutonic and volcanic phases of the magma show development of rapakivi texture and other diagnostic characteristics of the rapakivi granites.The Degana granite is a specialised granite and classified as an A-type intraplate anorogenic granite of mantle plume origin. The mineralogy and chemistry of the Degana pluton compares well with the various rapakivi granites of south-eastern Fennoscandia. Chemical and textural characteristics of the Degana pluton provide a constraint on the formation of the rapakivi texture when interpreted in terms of experimentally determined phase equilibria. The mantling process is interpreted as a result of pressure fluctuations due to escape and recharging of volatiles (e.g., H2O and F) accompanying the emplacement of the magma.

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Geologie und Geochemie des Degana-Plutons—ein proterozoischer Rapakivi Granite in Rajasthan, Indien

Zusammenfassung Der Degana Pluton enhält eine der wenigen in Indien bekannten Wolfram-Lagerstätten. Es handelt sich hier um einen epizonalen Pluton mit höheren Si-Gehalten, der während des Proterozoikums in ein posttektonisches Setting intrudiert wurde. Obwohl er in seiner Zusammensetzung homogen ist, zeigt er Heterogenität auf dem texturellen Bereich, die von grobkörnig hypidiomorph bis feinkörnig porphyritisch und schließlich bis zu hypabyssischen Granitporphyren reicht. Genetisch verwandte Rhyolite kommen im Untersuchungsgebiet auch vor. Übereinstimmende geochemische und mineralogische Parameter können auf fraktionierte Kristallisation zurückgeführt werden. Eine komplexe Vielfalt von hydrothermalen und pneumotolytischen Erscheinungen ist bemerkenswert. In geringen Tiefen hat die Emanations-Differentiation zu einer progressiven Anreicherung von Li, Rb und W geführt. Sowohl die plutonischen als auch die vulkanischen Erstarrungsprodukte des Magmas zeigen die Entwicklung von Rapakivi-Texturen und anderen diagnostischen Eigenschaften der Rapakivi-Granite.Der Degana-Granit ist ein spezialisierter Granit und ist als ein anorogener Intraplattengranit des A-Typs zu klassifizieren, der auf einen mantle plume zurückgeführt wird. Die Mineralogie und Chemie des Degana-Plutons läßt sich gut mit der verschiedener Rapakivi Granite im südöstlichen Fennoskandien vergleichen. Chemische und texturelle Eigenheiten des Degana Plutons ermöglichen eine Eingrenzung der Bildung von Rapakivi Texturen, sofern sie im Sinne experimentell bestimmter Phasen-Gleichgewichte interpretiert werden. Die Entstehung von Überwachsungen einzelner Kristalle wird als Resultat von Druckschwankungen interpretiert, die auf das Entweichen und die Neuzufuhr von volatilen Phasen (i.e. H₂O und F) im Gefolge der Platz nahme des Magmas zurückzuführen sind.

     

Long hiatus in Proterozoic sedimentation in India: Vindhyan,Cuddapah and Pakhal Basins — A plate tectonic model

Most of the Proterozoic basins in India, viz. the Vindhyan, the Cuddapah and the Pakhal Basins have experienced long hiatus between the upper and the lower group of rocks. It is proposed that the older group of rocks of Paleoproterozoic period (∼1.9–1.6 Ga) formed during the rifting phase caused by large scale magmatism in respective basins possibly due to plume tectonics. On the other hand, the younger group of rocks of Neoproterozoic (∼1.0–0.7 Ga) are formed during the final phase of convergence after mountain building that supplied sediments. These geological processes explain large scale disturbances in the older group of rocks during subsequent convergence and collision as they usually occurred along the rifted margins of the cratons. These processes also explain the undisturbed nature, devoid of magmatic rocks of the younger group of rocks and hiatus of about 0.5–0.6 Ga in each case. It is suggested that the plume that was responsible for these rifting of the Indian cratons during Paleo-Mesoproterozoic might have also been responsible for the break up of contemporary Columbian agglomeration in this section. Same model can be used to explain the formation of Proterozoic basins and related hiatus any where else where similar geological environment exist.     

Spatial and temporal distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fine- grained sediments of the East China Sea

The nearshore mud area along the Changjiang (Yangtze River) estuary and the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, and the distal mud area to the southeast of Cheju Island, Korea are the modern accumulative centers, thus, being the “sinks” of pollutant…     

A rapid and direct method for organic nitrogen analysis in environment

Organic nitrogen is omnipresent in nature. The variations of dissolved organic nitrogen （DON） concentration are usually a result of microbial activity, anthropogenic influence, and/or other physical-chemical processes （e.g. photo-mineralization）. Therefore, DON serves as an important indicator for aquatic life cycles and water qualities. However, current DON detection methods inevitably produce exaggerated standard deviation, due to their inherent subtraction processes, as shown in the below equation. Consequently, they are incapable of propelling further understandings of the DON occurrence, DON role in nutrient recycling, and DON potential human toxicity as well. SDON=（STN2＋SDIN^2）0.5, where： S=standard deviation in an effort to overcome the barricade, the primary goal of this study is to develop a membrane pretreatrnent unit using electro-dialysis （EDI） process. Similar to the well-known mechanism used in dissolved organic carbon （DOC） analysis, which employs acidification and following purging to eliminate the inorganic carbon species, this study believes that EDI could significantly （〉99%） remove the dissolved inorganic nitrogen （DIN） species （i.e., ammonia, nitrite and nitrate） and concurrently retain most of organic nitrogen materials. By grafting the pretreatment unit with a total nitrogen （TN） analyzer, the system then enables direct detection of DON. Meanwhile, EDI discriminates nitrogen not only on size differences, but also on electrostatic force that separates nitrogen species according to their charge, thus making it more advantageous than other membrane technologies. Results showed that this approach was successfully used to separate inorganic from organic nitrogen for the selected water samples, including model amino acids, natural organic water ＆ isolates （i.e., humic substance）, and wastewater plant effluents. The EDI process was able to reduce more than 99% of inorganic nitrogen species within 2 hours under a 40-voltage operation condition, ending up with negligible DIN. Meanwhile, it retained more than 90% of organic matter （in terms of DOC） for natural water samples and 80% for wastewater effluent samples, meaning that DON can be analyzed directly without sacrifising significant organics. In addition, the EDI unit deleted other inorganic anions such as bicarbonate, chloride, sulfate, and phosphate, too, implying that this unit might also be applied to other organic matter like organic chloride, sulfur, phosphorous, etc.     

Assessing landslide vulnerability from soil characteristics—a GIS-based analysis

Hilly regions are prone to landslides that cause heavy losses of life and properties every year. A number of researches and analyses are carried out in the GIS environment to identify landslide vulnerability in the region. The important conditioning factors identified by the researchers are slope, geological, geomorphologic features, and land use coupled with triggering factors like rainfall and a few of the anthropogenic activities. Soil forms the uppermost part of the earth crust, and it is expected that various soil characteristics like depth, surface texture, depth texture, soil erosion, hydraulic conductivity, stoniness, etc., play significant roles in causing landslide in the area. These factors have been ignored so far by most researchers while identifying landslide hazard-prone areas. This paper attempts to assess the vulnerability status in parts of East Sikkim, India, by integrating the influence of the various soil attributes. A composite index called soil stability value was determined by aggregating the weights assigned to different soil parameters. Finally, based on the soil stability values, the study area was classified into least vulnerable, moderately vulnerable, and most vulnerable zones of landslide occurrences. Comparison between the vulnerability zones and the actual landslide occurrences yielded a 90% agreement with the density of landslides in the most vulnerable zone, demonstrating the efficacy of soil characteristics as potential indicators of landslide events.     

Heavy mineral distribution and characterisation of ilmenite of Kayamkulam — thothapally Barrier Island, southwest coast of India

Mineral concentration and ilmenite characterization of the Thothapally — Kayamkulam Barrier Island of the southern Kerala has been studied. 96.86% concentrations of heavy minerals are recorded in the surficial and core samples (4 m) in the southern Kayamkulam and northern Thothapally areas. The total heavy mineral content decreases with depth. The primary heavy mineral suite of the surficial and core samples consists of ilmenite, sillimanite, zircon, garnets, rutile, monazite and magnetite. Longshore current and onshore-offshore movements of sediment during the southwest monsoon are primarily responsible in sorting of the heavy minerals. TiO₂ content in ilmenite is significantly higher in the Kayamkulam core sediments than the surface samples. XRD analysis supports intensive weathering and alteration leading to the higher TiO₂ concentration. Higher percentage of ferric iron than ferrous iron in the core samples reveals that considerable weathering occurred under burial condition. SEM examination of ilmenite grains reveal the presence of solution pit, chemical leaching, corrosion and replacement textures, supporting the intense epigenetic alteration and weathering under subaerial condition and post-depositional changes by water-table condition.     

Spatial–temporal characteristics of surface water quality in the Taihu Basin,China

Taihu Basin is one of the most developed and industrialized regions in China. In the last two decades, rapid development of economy as well as an increase in population has resulted in an increase of pollutants produced and discharged into rivers and lakes. Much more attention has been paid on the serious water pollution problems due to high frequency of algal blooming. The dataset, obtained during the period 2001–2002 from the Water Resources Protection Bureau of the Taihu Basin, consisted of eight physicochemical variables surveyed monthly at 22 sampling sites in the Taihu Basin, China. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) were used to identify the characteristics of the surface water quality in the studied area. The temporal and spatial variations of water quality were also evaluated by using the fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) method. PCA extracted the first two principal components (PCs), explaining 86.18% of the total variance of the raw data. Especially, PC1 (73.72%) had strong positive correlation with DO, and was negatively associated with COD_Mn, COD, BOD, NH₄ ⁺–N, TP and TN. PC2 (12.46%) was characterized by pH. CA showed that most sites were highly polluted by industrial and domestic wastewater which contributed significantly to PC1. The sites located in the west of Lake Taihu were influenced by farmland runoff which may contribute to nitrogen pollution of Lake Taihu, whereas the monitoring sites in the eastern of Lake Taihu demonstrated that urban residential subsistence and domestic wastewater are the major contaminants. FSE indicates that there is no obvious variance between 2001 and 2002 among most sites. Only several sites free from point-source pollution appear to exhibit good water quality through the studied period.     

Heavy metal distribution and contamination in soils of Thane–Belapur industrial development area,Mumbai, Western India

There is a growing public concern over the potential accumulation of heavy metals in soil, owing to rapid urban and industrial development in the last decade in India. Therefore, an attempt was made to investigate the pollution caused due to excessive accumulation of heavy metals in soils near Thane–Belapur industrial belt of Mumbai. Soil samples were collected from surrounding industrial areas and were analyzed for toxic/heavy metals by X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The analytical results indicate that the soils in the study area were enriched with Cu, Cr, Co, Ni and Zn. The concentration ranges were: Cu 3.10–271.2 mg/kg (average 104.6 mg/kg), Cr 177.9–1,039 mg/kg (average 521.3 mg/kg), Co 44.8–101.6 mg/kg (average 68.7 mg/kg), Ni 64.4–537.8 mg/kg (average 183.6 mg/kg) and Zn 96.6–763.2 mg/kg (average 191.3 mg/kg). The visualization of spatial data is made by preparing distribution maps of heavy metal concentration in soils and co-relation diagrams. These results highlight the need for instituting a systematic and continuous monitoring of the study area for heavy metals and other forms of pollution to ensure that pollution does not become a serious problem in future.     

Spatio‐temporal trend analysis of drought in the GAP Region,Turkey

Natural Hazards - Drought is considered to be one of the most devastating natural disasters. In recent years, determination of historical droughts has gained more importance. This can be attributed...     

Bulk organic matter characteristics in the Pichavaram mangrove – estuarine complex,south-eastern India

The Pichavaram mangrove ecosystem is located between the Vellar and Coleroon Estuaries in south-eastern India. To document the spatial-depth-based variabilities in organic matter (OM) input and cycling, five sediment cores were collected. A comparative study was carried out of grain-size composition, pore water salinity, dissolved organic C (DOC), loss-on-ignition (LOI), elemental ratios (C/N and H/C), pigments (Chl a, Chl b, and total carotenoids), and humification indices. Sand is the major fraction in these cores ranging from 60% to 99% followed by silt and clay; cores from the estuarine margin have high sand content. In mangrove forests, pore-water DOC concentrations are high (32 ± 14 mg L⁻¹), whereas salinity levels are low (50 ± 5.5‰). Likewise, LOI, organic C and N, and pigment concentrations are high in mangroves. OM is mainly derived from upstream terrestrial matter and/or mangrove litter, and marine OM. The humification indices do not vary significantly with depth because of rapid OM turnover. The bulk parameters indicate that the Vellar and Coleroon Estuaries are more affected by anthropogenic processes than mangrove forests. Finally, greater variability and sometimes lack of specific trends in bulk parameters implies that the 2004 tsunami caused extensive mixing in sediments.     

A new schedule for copper chemical speciation analysis in soil and water sediment

The speciation of heavy metals is very important to evaluate their environmental impact. This issue has become an interested topic many decades ago and many significative studies were carried out such as direct detecting, calculation with mathematical model represented in recent years as well as Tessier＇s work in 1979, BCR＇s work in 1993, etc. In all of them, the methods recommended by Tessier and BCR are most often used in practical study today. But it should be seen that experimental schedule and agents define these methods including BCR＇s method, which improved on Tessier＇s method, only. In many cases, there always are deviations between analytical results and real content of the speciation. Otherwise, steps of the extraction experiment are always strict and excessive in the experimental process. The method, which is fitting to extract the speciation of bioavailability and easy to assess the effect of metals in the environment, is very anticipant. In this paper, the sequential three steps schedule of speciation analysis of copper in soil and water sediment is discussed as an example based on the comparative results of experimental analysis with the schedules of BCR＇s （mended by Rauret et al. in 1999） and TDPA （diethylenetriamine pentacetic acid） extraction, respectively. The results from sequential three steps method and other methods recommended by prevenient work suggest that the analytical schedule of sequential three steps of separating speciation （the speciation of easy effect to life-form, the speciation available to life-form, and the speciation of no effect to life-form） is valuable for copper speciation analysis in soil and sediment. Because of easy process and saving time to evaluate its availability for life form,