Interbasinal marker intervals—A case study from the Jurassic basins of Kachchh and Jaisalmer,western India

The Kachchh Basin and the Jaisalmer Basin are two neighboring Mesozoic sedimentary basins at the western margin of the Indian craton. The Jurassic succession of the Kachchh Basin is more complete and more fossiliferous than that of the Jaisalmer Basin. Consequently, intrabasinal correlation of the sedimentary units has been possible in the Kachchh Basin, but not in the Jaisalmer Basin. However, some marker beds existing in the Kachchh Basin can be recognized also in the Jaisalmer Basin. Ammonite evidence shows that they are time-equivalent. The following four units form marker intervals in both basins: (1) the pebbly rudstone unit with Isastrea bernardiana and Leptosphinctes of the Kaladongar Formation (Kachchh Basin) and the Isastrea bernardiana-bearing rudstone of the Jaisalmer Formation (Jaisalmer Basin) both represent transgressive systems tract deposits dated as Late Bajocian; (2) bioturbated micrites with anomalodesmatan bivalves within the Goradongar Yellow Flagstone Member (Kachchh Basin) and bioturbated units in the Fort Member (Jaisalmer Basin) represent maximum flooding zone deposits of the Middle to Late Bathonian; (3) trough-crossbedded, sandy pack- to grainstones of the Raimalro Limestone Member (Kachchh Basin) and the basal limestone-sandstone unit of the Kuldhar section of the Jaisalmer Formation (Jaisalmer Basin) correspond to Late Bathonain transgressive systems tract deposits; and (4) ferruginous ooid-bearing carbonates with hardgrounds of the Dhosa Oolite member (Kachchh Basin) and the middle part of the Jajiya Member (Jaisalmer Basin) are Oxfordian transgressive systems tract deposits. The fact that in both basins similar biofacies prevailed during certain time intervals demonstrates a common control of their depositional history. As the two basins represent different tectonic settings, the most likely controlling factors were the relative sea-level changes produced by eustatic processes, a common subsidence history of the northwestern margin of the Indian craton, and the paleoclimate.     

Deep Structure of the Swiss Alps,Results of NRP 20. Edited by O. A. Pfiffner,P. Lehner,P Heitzmann,St. Müller and A. Steck,Birkhauser Verlag,Basel 1997, 380pp.

Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica -     

Comment on the paper “The Relationship between Multifractal and Entropy Properties of Seismic Noise in Kamchatka and Irregularity of the Earth’s Rotation” by A.A. Lyubushin,G.N. Kopylova,and Yu.K. Serafimova

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth - Abstract—In my comment on the paper by A.A. Lyubushin, G.N. Kopylova, and Yu.K. Serafimova, I focus on the problem of legitimacy of seismological data...     

Reply to the Comment by V.A. Saltykov on the Paper “The Relationship between Multifractal and Entropy Properties of Seismic Noise in Kamchatka and Irregularity of the Earth’s Rotation” by A.A. Lyubushin,G.N. Kopylova,and Yu.K. Serafimova

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth -     

Comment on Hearty,P.J. and O'Leary,M.J., 2008. Carbonate eolianites,quartz sands,and Quaternary sea-level cycles,Western Australia: A chronostratigraphic approach. Quaternary Geochronology 3: 26–55

A proposal that the yellow sands which commonly overlie Pleistocene eolianites along the west coast of Western Australia may have their origin from major extensions of inland deserts during times of severe aridity, is refuted on several grounds. The eolianites typically are deeply degraded remnants of the original coastal dunes, which contained a high content of non-calcareous detritus. Hence plentiful residual sand will accumulate during weathering of a dune. Studies on heavy mineral content of the yellow sands have shown that there is an inland ageing trend consistent with local derivation from successive dune belts, and have also pointed to local sources for yellow color in the sand, without need to postulate a distant source. Localized denudations have however occurred, during which sand is blown inland to leave tracts of bared limestone. No remnants of the alleged desert extensions exist in the hinterland of the coastal belt.     

A.—A. I. H. S.—I. A. S. H.

Abstract

When a river flows into a reservoir, the solid materials it carries sink to the bottom thus reducing the potential reservoir capacity. The suspended load of eight major western rivers flowing into Kainji Lake was determined as a part of the investigation of the suspended sediment of the reservoir. The sediment content in each sample was determined in parts per million.

On the whole the results of this study is in agreement with the previous conclusion that the sediment load of the Niger was low. A range of 29–221 ppm was observed within the reservoir whereas the concentration in the inflowing rivers varied from 122–953 ppm. It was however not possible to determine the total sediment load because discharge data were lacking.

The data presented herein confirm the earlier conclusion that the rate of silting is slow but indicate that locally high rate of sediment supply should give cause for anxiety regarding the possible growth of deltas as the months of these rivers.

The full potential of this study is difficult to assess at this stage but it has revealed a number of problem areas worth looking into in future years. A number of future studies believed to be capable of giving the necessary data for operation and management of the reservoir are recommended.     

A) A.I.H.S.—I.A.S.H.

Abstract

Mathematical models are the means to characterize variables quantitatively in many groundwater problems. Recent advances in applied mathematics have perfected what is now called Adomian's decomposition method (ADM), a simple modelling procedure for practical applications. Decomposition exhibits the benefits of analytical solutions (i.e. stability, analytic derivation of heads, gradients, fluxes and simple programming). It also offers the advantages of traditional numerical methods (i.e. consideration of heterogeneity, irregular domain shapes and multiple dimensions). In addition, decomposition is one of the few systematic procedures for solving nonlinear equations. By far its greatest advantage is its simplicity of application. It may produce simple results for preliminary simulations, or in cases with scarce information. The method is described with simple applications to regional groundwater flow. Many applications in groundwater flow and contaminant transport are available in the literature.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor Xi Chen

Citation Serrano, S.E., 2013. A simple approach to groundwater modelling with decomposition. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (1), 1–9.     

FFECTS OF FLOW INTENSITY, OBSTACLE ALIGNMENT AND CROSS-SECTION GEOMETRY ON SCOUR AT BRIDGE ABUTMENTS"?CARDOSO, A.H., SANTOS, J.S. and ROCA, M.

1 FLOW INTENSITY, PF Local scour processes differ between clear-water (sub-threshold) and live-bed (post-threshold) conditions of sediment transport on the channel bed ahead of the bridge abutment. As described by Melville and Coleman (2000), the stage of sediment transport can be represented by the mean velocity ratio U/Uc, termed the flow intensity. For U/Uc 1, clear-water conditions pertain, while live-bed scour occurs for U/Uc > 1. The variation of local scour depth at bridge …     

Commentary on “Earthquake Depths in the Crimea–Black Sea Region” by V.E. Kulchitsky,B.G. Pustovitenko and V.A. Svidlova

It is well known that the results of determining earthquake parameters depend to a large extent on data processing algorithms and velocity models of the seismic wave propagation medium used in solving hypocenter problems. In 1992, V.Yu. Burmin developed a hypocentric algorithm that minimizes the functional of distances between the points corresponding to the theoretical and observed travel times of seismic waves from an earthquake source to recording stations. The determination of the coordinates of earthquake hypocenters in this case is much more stable than for the commonly used minimization of the functional of discrepancies in the seismic wave arrival times at a station. Using this algorithm and the refined velocity model of the medium, V.Yu. Burmin and L.A. Shumlyanskaya reinterpreted the earthquake parameters for the Crimea–Black Sea region. The most important result of this reinterpretation was the conclusion about the occurrence of deep earthquakes with a source depth of more than 60 km in the region. This result contradicts the conventional beliefs about the seismicity of the region and therefore aroused strong criticism from experts directly involved in compiling the existing catalogs of regional earthquakes. These comments and criticisms are presented by V.E. Kulchitsky with coauthors in a work published in this issue of the journal. In the present paper, we analyze the comments in detail and respond. In particular, we show that the previously used methods of seismic data processing made it highly unlikely by default that deep earthquakes would appear in the results. As an example, we refer to the use of travel-time curves for depths down to 35 km. It is clear that deep earthquakes could not have been found with this approach.     

Comment on the paper “CAWSES November 7–8, 2004, Superstorm: Complex Solar and Interplanetary Features in the Post-Solar Maximum Phase,” B. T. Tsurutani,E. Echer,F. L. Guarnieri,and J. U. Kozyra,Geophys. Res. Lett. 35 (2008)

The solar sources of the magnetic storms of November 8 and 10, 2004, are analyzed. The preliminary results of such an analysis [Yermolaev et al., 2005] are critically compared with the results of the paper [Tsurutani et al., 2008], where solar flares were put in correspondence with these magnetic storms. The method for determining solar sources that cause powerful magnetospheric storms is analyzed. It has been indicated that an optimal approach consists in considering coronal mass ejections (CMEs) as storm sources and accompanying flares as additional information about the location of CME origination.