An analytical source function for a coupled hybrid wave model

An analytical form for the source function is formulated by comparing the fetch-limited approximation of the Ocean Wave Transport equation and the empirical equation for the fetch-dependent wave forecast nomograms. The source function thus generated has been utilised in the numerical model based on Toba’s formulation of wave transport equation and tested for the seas around the Indian subcontinent (5°S to 25°N latitude; 45°E to 100°E longitude). The grid averaged hindcast wave heights are found to be moderately matching with the GEOSAT altimeter measured significant wave heights of the 1987–1989 period, particularly for waves higher than 1 meter.     

Some results of induced polarisation surveys for sulphide mineralisation in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat,India

Some results of induced polarisation surveys carried out for the exploration of sulphide mineralisation in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, employing both frequency-domain and time-domain techniques, are presented. A few typical examples of I.P. results along with borehole sections and results of conventional geophysical surveys have been incorporated. Frequency-domain and time-domain I.P. data have been compared for selected areas.Borehole data pertaining to several areas investigated have corroborated the I.P. results fairly well.     

Geologic setting,genesis and transformation of sulfide deposits in the northern part of Khetri copper belt,Rajasthan, India — an outline

The present study is confined to the northern part of the Khetri copper belt that extends for about 100 km in northern Rajasthan. Mineralization is more or less strata-bound and is confined to the garnetiferous chlorite schist and banded amphibolite quartzite, occurring towards the middle of the Proterozoic Delhi Supergroup. Preserved sedimentary features and re-estimation of the composition of the pre-metamorphic rocks suggest that the latter were deposited in shallow marine environment characterized by tidal activity. Cordierite-orthoamphibole-cummingtonite rock occurring in the neighbourhood of the ores is discussed, and is suggested to be isochemically metamorphosed sediment. The rocks together with the ores were deformed in two phases and metamorphosed in two progressive and one retrogressive events of metamorphism. Study of the host rocks suggests that the maximum temperature and pressure attained during metamorphism are respectively 550–600°C and < 5.5 kb. Principal ore minerals in Madan Kudan are chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, pyrite and locally magnetite. In Kolihan these are chalcophyrite, pyrrhotite and cubanite. Subordinate phases are sphalerite, ilmenite, arsenopyrite, mackinawite, molybdenite, cobaltite and pentlandite. The last two are very rare. Gangue minerals comprise quartz, chlorite, garnet, amphiboles, biotite, scapolite, plagioclase and graphite. The ores are metamorphosed at temperatures > 491°C. Sulfide assemblages are explained in terms of f_{S 2} during metamorphism. Co-folding of the ore zone with the host rocks, confinement of the ores to the carbonaceous pelites or semi-pelitic rocks, strata-bound and locally even stratiform nature of the orebodies, lack of finite wall rock alteration, metamorphism of the ores in the thermal range similar to that for the host rocks, absence of spatial and temporal relationship with the granitic rocks of the region led the authors to conclude that the entire mineralization was originally sedimentary-diagenetic. Any loss of primitive features and development of incongruency are due to subsequent deformation and metamorphism to which the ores and their hosts were together subjected.     

Ripple marks in intertidal Lower Bhander Sandstone (late Proterozoic), Central India: A morphological analysis

The late Proterozoic, intertidal Lower Bhander Sandstone (Bhander Group, Vindhyan Supergroup) developed around Maihar, central India, is characterized by alternations of sandstone and shale in different scales and shows profuse ripple marks of widely varying morphology. Visual examination of their external morphology led to the identification of wave ripple, current ripple and others of intermediate character.Standard deviation and average of ripple spacing and height of symmetrical and assymmetrical ripples show genetically significant differences analogous to those obtained by Harms (1969) for wave- and current-generated ripples. Different dimensionless parameters, e.g., R.I., R.S.I., S.I., etc., processed separately for the two types of ripples, show a wide variation in their range which encompasses the total spectrum of values stipulated for wave and current ripples. However, the frequency of any particular genetic type of ripple differs widely when analysed in terms of different dimensionless parameters. Several scatter plots, prepared after Tanner (1967) also indicate the presence of various genetic types of ripples, but there are ripples for which results remain inconclusive. Furthermore, scatter plots involving the vertical form index (ripple length/ripple height) and median grain size of a few asymmetrical ripples, following Reineck and Wunderlich (1968a), led to the discrimination between current ripple and wave ripple and the distinction is grossly consistent with the results obtained by other means.Ripple spacing, ripple index and grain-size data of a few representative samples of ripples of possible wave origin, analysed after Tanner (1971) and Allen (1979) indicate that they were generated in a shallow basin with restricted fetch.Internally, the ripples, irrespective of their symmetry, are often characterized by unidirectional bundles of foresets consisting of rhythmically alternating sand and mud laminae. The sets of cross-laminae may be complexly organized with planar or curved erosional boundaries separating them. In many instances internal structures typical of wave ripples are also noted.Inconsistencies, however, exist between the results obtained by application of different criteria in interpretation of these ripple marks. The limitations in applicability of     

Tropospheric disturbance of 17–21 December 1974 and its effect on microwave propagation

A number of troposphere-monitoring experiments were pressed into service during a large tropospheric disturbance which lasted for several days in December 1974. The experiments operated intensively included a monostatic Sodar system, a satellite radio beacon receiver at very low elevation angles, Meteorological Radiosondes, a 250-kW weather radar, a microwave LOS link and a microbarograph. This multi-pronged campaign yielded very useful results and the correspondences between various observations were striking. The Sodar and microwave link observations were visibly affected only when N reached a value of about –70 units; however, the satellite beacon observations showed anomalous behaviour even for lower N values. Rather spectacular coincidences occurred on one night: the large fading (up to 10 db) in the LOS link; highly disturbed conditions displayed in the entire Sodar range; the largest tropospheric effect on the satellite beacon system; and the most active superrefraction of the radar echoes. It was also noticed that these effects are obvious only during nights, while they remain masked or dampened in the sun-lit hours.     

MHD instability due to non-homogeneity and non-uniformity of magnetic field in gravitating medium and its consequences in the central region of galaxies

The MHD wave instabilities due to non-uniform magnetic field and non-homogeneity of density have been studied. The reference (coordinate) system considered here is cylindrical type. The General Dispersion Relation (GDR) for the wave propagation in a gravitating but non-relativistic region has been derived. Similar to common knowledge, the said non-uniformities have been found to be responsible for the instability of the system. But interestingly many instability factors are produced due to presence of two types of non-uniformities simultaneously. This theory may add more clues for the event of instabilities, formation of hot plasma-bed in Galactic Central Region, and mass out-flow from there. Many conditions for instabilities could be obtained from GDR deduced here. However, a few conditions for critical wavelength of the MHD wave have been obtained in terms of system parameters (like gradient of magnetic field and rotation). This theory, in turn, may be helpful for the better understanding of the Explosion Theory of formation of outer structure of Galaxies like ours.     

Cosmology and Astrophysics using the Post-Reionization HI

We discuss the prospects of using the redshifted 21-cm emission from neutral hydrogen in the post-reionization epoch to study our Universe. The main aim of the article is to highlight the efforts of Indian scientists in this area with the SKA in mind. It turns out that the intensity mapping surveys from SKA can be instrumental in obtaining tighter constraints on the dark energy models. Cross-correlation of the HI intensity maps with the Ly α forest data can also be useful in measuring the BAO scale.     

The Kabanga Ni sulfide deposit, Tanzania: I. Geology, petrography, silicate rock geochemistry, and sulfur and oxygen isotopes

The Kabanga Ni sulfide deposit represents one of the most significant Ni sulfide discoveries of the last two decades, with current indicated mineral resources of 23.23 Mt at 2.64% Ni and inferred mineral resources of 28.5 Mt at 2.7% Ni (Nov. 2008). The sulfides are hosted by a suite of ∼1.4 Ga ultramafic–mafic, sill-like, and chonolithic intrusions that form part of the approximately 500 km long Kabanga–Musongati–Kapalagulu igneous belt in Tanzania and Burundi. The igneous bodies are up to about 1 km thick and 4 km long. They crystallized from several compositionally distinct magma pulses emplaced into sulfide-bearing pelitic schists. The first magma was a siliceous high-magnesium basalt (approximately 13.3% MgO) that formed a network of fine-grained acicular-textured gabbronoritic and orthopyroxenitic sills (Mg# opx 78–88, An plag 45–88). The magma was highly enriched in incompatible trace elements (LILE, LREE) and had pronounced negative Nb and Ta anomalies and heavy O isotopic signatures (δ¹⁸O +6 to +8). These compositional features are consistent with about 20% contamination of primitive picrite with the sulfidic pelitic schists. Subsequent magma pulses were more magnesian (approximately 14–15% MgO) and less contaminated (e.g., δ¹⁸O +5.1 to +6.6). They injected into the earlier sills, resulting in the formation of medium-grained harzburgites, olivine orthopyroxenites and orthopyroxenites (Fo 83–89, Mg# _opx 86–89), and magmatic breccias consisting of gabbronorite–orthopyroxenite fragments within an olivine-rich matrix. All intrusions in the Kabanga area contain abundant sulfides (pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and minor chalcopyrite and pyrite). In the lower portions and the immediate footwall of two of the intrusions, namely Kabanga North and Kabanga Main, there occur numerous layers, lenses, and veins of massive Ni sulfides reaching a thickness of several meters. The largest amount of high grade, massive sulfide occurs in the smallest intrusion (Kabanga North). The sulfides have heavy S isotopic signatures (δ³⁴S wr = +10 to +24) that broadly overlap with those of the country rock sulfides, consistent with significant assimilation of external sulfur from the Karagwe–Ankolean sedimentary sequence. However, based partly on the relatively homogenous distribution of disseminated sulfides in many of the intrusive rocks, we propose that the Kabanga magmas reached sulfide saturation prior to final emplacement, in staging chambers or feeder conduits, followed by entrainment of the sulfides during continued magma ascent. Oxygen isotope data indicate that the mode of sulfide assimilation changed with time. The heavy δ¹⁸O ratios of the early magmas are consistent with ingestion of the sedimentary country rocks in bulk. The relatively light δ¹⁸O ratios of the later magmas indicate less bulk assimilation of the country rocks, but in addition the magmas selectively assimilated additional S, possibly through devolatization of the country rocks or through cannibalization of magmatic sulfides deposited in the conduits by preceding magma surges. The intrusions were tilted at ca. 1.37 Ga, during the Kibaran orogeny and associated synkinematic granite plutonism. This caused solid-state mobilization of ductile sulfides into shear zones, notably along the base of the intrusions where sulfide-hornfels breccias and lenses and layers of massive sulfides may reach a thickness of >10 m and can extend for several 10 s to >100 m away from the intrusions. These horizons represent an important exploration target for additional nickel sulfide deposits.     

An experimental investigation to characterise soil macroporosity under different land use and land covers of northeast India

Saturated macropore flow is the dominant hydrological process in tropical and subtropical hilly watersheds of northeast India. The process of infiltration into saturated macroporous soils is primarily controlled by size, network, density, connectivity, saturation of surrounding soil matrix, and depthwise distribution of macropores. To understand the effects of local land use, land cover and management practices on soil macroporosity, colour dye infiltration experiments were conducted with ten soil columns (25 × 25 × 50 cm) collected from different watersheds of the region under similar soil and agro-climatic zones. The sampling sites included two undisturbed forested hillslopes, two conventionally cultivated paddy fields, two forest lands abandoned after Jhum cultivation, and two paddy fields, one pineapple plot and one banana plot presently under active cultivation stage of the Jhum cycle. Digital image analyses of the obtained dye patterns showed that the infiltration patterns differed significantly for different sites with varying land use, land cover, and cultivation practices. Undisturbed forest soils showed high degree of soil macroporosity throughout the soil profile, paddy fields revealed sealing of macropores at the topsoil due to hard pan formation, and Jhum cultivated plots showed disconnected subsoil macropores. The important parameters related to soil macropores such as maximum and average size of macropores, number of active macropores, and depthwise distribution of macropores were estimated to characterise the soil macroporosity for the sites. These experimentally derived quantitative data of soil macroporosity can have wide range of applications in the region such as water quality monitoring and groundwater pollution assessment due to preferential leaching of solutes and pesticides, study of soil structural properties and infiltration behaviour of soils, investigation of flash floods in rivers, and hydrological modelling of the watersheds.