Structures and morphotectonic evolution of the frontal fold–thrust belt,Kameng river section,Arunachal Himalaya,India

The Neogene–Quaternary Siwalik foreland fold and thrust belt is studied for better understanding of tectonics along the Kameng river section of Arunachal Pradesh, India. The Kimi, Dafla, Subansiri, and the Kimin Formation correspond to Lower, Middle and Upper Siwaliks, respectively. The lithology in the foreland basin is dominantly sandstones, siltstones, claystones, carbonaceous shales, and boulder beds in the upper part. The structural style of the sedimentary sequence from the Main Boundary Thrust southward shows first order ramp-flat geometry. The brittle shear transfers slip across glide horizons to shallower depth. Repeated splay generations from a major regional-scale floor transfers slip from one glide horizon to another that shortens and thickens the crust. In the micro-scale, the lithological response in the structural development is well documented as pressure solution seams and other diagenetic deformation signatures. The basement asperity plays a significant role as the moving thrust front produced a major lateral ramp. The differential movement of the mountain front on both sides of the ramp is decipherable. This is especially true at the western part of the SE flowing Kameng river. The tectonic evolution of the area initiated with slip along the MBT \(\sim \)11 Ma ago along with the deposition of the Siwalik sediments. With southward propagation of the mountain front, the foreland basin shifted towards S, produced splay thrusts from the Himalayan Frontal Thrust-1 (HFT-1), which has been uplifting the Kimin and the older terraces.     

The synthesis of26Al during combined hydrogen and helium-burning reactions

We have studied the synthesis of²⁶Al during combined hydrogen and helium-burning processes in high temperature and density conditions. The possible sites for these processes are believed to be the neutron star surfaces where the density ranges from =10⁴–10⁷ g cm^–3 and temperature range from 10⁸–8×10⁸ K. The screening effect which leads to an enhancement of nuclear reaction rates is taken into account whenever necessary. A detailed calculation of the abundances of²⁶Al and²⁷Al isotopes is presented here. Finite amounts of²⁶Al is found to be produced atT=2×10⁸ K and =10⁸ g cm^–3 due to these combined reactions. This situation is likely to be realized during the -ray burst events on neutron star surface. The amount of material processed in the burst sources is very little compared to the amount of material processed in Novae or Supernovae. Thus it is suggested that rather than contributing to the overall amount of²⁶Al, -ray bursts are likely to contribute more significantly to the inhomogeneity of²⁶Al distribution in interstellar medium.     

Quantitative treatment of annealing of charged particle tracks in common minerals

A semi-empirical approach has been used to obtain an analytical expression for the annealing of charged particle tracks in minerals as a function of time and temperature. The new formalism allows quantitative evaluation of the extent of annealing in samples for any specified temperature and track production history. The validity of the present approach depends upon the applicability of the Arrhenius equation to the process of annealing of nuclear tracks in solids. Laboratory track annealing studies confirm the predictive aspects of the present approach and also the applicability of Arrhenius' equation to track annealing over a wide time-temperature range (5 seconds/1200 K to 5 × 10⁶ seconds/500 K). The present quantitative treatment of track annealing in rock minerals should permit an in-depth study of a variety of problems in meteoritics and earth sciences.     

Determination of rare earth and refractory trace element abundances in early solar system objects by ion microprobe

Experimental and analytical procedures devised for measurement of rare earth element (REE) abundances using a secondary ion mass spectrometer (ion microprobe) are described. This approach is more versatile than the conventional techniques such as neutron activation analysis and isotope dilution mass spectrometry by virtue of its high spatial resolution that allows determination of REE abundances in small domains (10-20 micron) within individual mineral phases. The ion microprobe measurements are performed at a low mass-resolving power adopting the energy-filtering technique (Zinner and Crozaz 1986) for removal and suppression of unresolved complex molecular interferences in the REE masses of interest. Synthetic standards are used for determining various instrument specific parameters needed in the data deconvolution procedure adopted for obtaining REE abundances. Results obtained from analysis of standards show that our ion microprobe may be used for determining REE abundances down to ppm range with uncertainties of ∼ 10 to 15%. Abundances of rare earth and several other refractory trace elements in a set of early solar system objects isolated from two primitive carbonaceous chondrites were determined using the procedures devised by us. The results suggest that some of these objects could be high temperature nebular condensates, while others are products of melting and recrystallization of precursor nebular solids in a high temperature environment.     

A case study using support vector machines, neural networks and logistic regression in a GIS to identify wells contaminated with nitrate-N

Accurate and inexpensive identification of potentially contaminated wells is critical for water resources protection and management. The objectives of this study are to 1) assess the suitability of approximation tools such as neural networks (NN) and support vector machines (SVM) integrated in a geographic information system (GIS) for identifying contaminated wells and 2) use logistic regression and feature selection methods to identify significant variables for transporting contaminants in and through the soil profile to the groundwater. Fourteen GIS derived soil hydrogeologic and landuse parameters were used as initial inputs in this study. Well water quality data (nitrate-N) from 6,917 wells provided by Florida Department of Environmental Protection (USA) were used as an output target class. The use of the logistic regression and feature selection methods reduced the number of input variables to nine. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were used for evaluation of these approximation tools. Results showed superior performance with the NN as compared to SVM especially on training data while testing results were comparable. Feature selection did not improve accuracy; however, it helped increase the sensitivity or true positive rate (TPR). Thus, a higher TPR was obtainable with fewer variables.     

Effects of humic substances on Fe(II) sorption onto aluminum oxide and clay

We studied the effects of humic substances (HS) on the sorption of Fe(II) onto Al-oxide and clay sorbents at pH 7.5 with a combination of batch kinetic experiments and synchrotron Fe K-edge EXAFS analyses. Fe(II) sorption was monitored over the course of 4 months in anoxic clay and Al-oxide suspensions amended with variable HS types (humic acid, HA; or fulvic acid, FA) and levels (0, 1, and 4 wt%), and with differing Fe(II) and HS addition sequences (co-sorption and pre-coated experiments, where Fe(II) sorbate was added alongside and after HS addition, respectively). In the Al-oxide suspensions, the presence of HS slowed down the kinetics of Fe(II) sorption, but had limited, if any, effect on the equilibrium aqueous Fe(II) concentrations. EXAFS analyses revealed precipitation of Fe(II)–Al(III)-layered double hydroxide (LDH) phases as the main mode of Fe(II) sorption in both the HA-containing and HA-free systems. These results demonstrate that HS slow down Fe(II) precipitation in the Al-oxide suspensions, but do not affect the composition or stability of the secondary Fe(II)–Al(III)-LDH phases formed. Interference of HS with the precipitation of Fe(II)–Al(III)-LDH was attributed to the formation organo-Al complexes HS limiting the availability of Al for incorporation into secondary layered Fe(II)-hydroxides. In the clay systems, the presence of HA caused a change in the main Fe(II) sorption product from Fe(II)–Al(III)-LDH to a Fe(II)-phyllosilicate containing little structural Al. This was attributed to complexation of Al by HA, in combination with the presence of dissolved Si in the clay suspension enabling phyllosilicate precipitation. The change in Fe(II) precipitation mechanism did not affect the rate of Fe(II) sorption at the lower HA level, suggesting that the inhibition of Fe(II)–Al(III)-LDH formation in this system was countered by enhanced Fe(II)-phyllosilicate precipitation. Reduced rates of Fe(II) sorption at the higher HA level were attributed to surface masking or poisoning by HA of secondary Fe(II) mineral growth at or near the clay surface. Our results suggest that HS play an important role in controlling the kinetics and products of Fe(II) precipitation in reducing soils, with effects modulated by soil mineralogy, HS content, and HS properties. Further work is needed to assess the importance of layered Fe(II) hydroxides in natural reducing environments.     

Role of the Tibetan plateau glaciers in the Asian summer monsoon

The expected growth in the demand for passenger and freight services exacerbates the challenges of reducing transport GHG emissions, especially as commercial low-carbon alternatives to petroleum fuels are limited for shipping, air and long-distance road travel. Biofuels can offer a pathway to significantly reduce emissions from these sectors, as they can easily substitute for conventional liquid fuels in internal combustion engines. In this paper, we assess the potential of bioenergy to reduce transport GHG emissions through an analysis leveraging various integrated assessment models and scenarios, as part of the 33rd Energy Modeling Forum study (EMF-33). We find that bioenergy can contribute a significant, albeit not dominant, proportion of energy supply to the future transport sector: in scenarios aiming to keep the temperature increase below 2 °C by the end of the twenty-first century, models project that in 2100 bioenergy can provide on average 42 EJ/yr (ranging from 5 to 85 EJ/yr) for transport (compared to 3.7 EJ in 2018), mainly through lignocellulosic fuels. This makes up 9–62% of final transport energy use. Only a small amount of bioenergy is projected to be used in transport through electricity and hydrogen pathways, with a larger role for biofuels in road passenger transport than in freight. The association of carbon capture and storage (CCS) with bioenergy technologies (BECCS) is a key determinant in the role of biofuels in transport, because of the competition for biomass feedstock to provide other final energy carriers along with carbon removal. Among models that consider CCS in the biofuel conversion process the average market share of biofuels is 21% in 2100 (ranging from 2 to 44%), compared to 10% (0–30%) for models that do not. Cumulative direct emissions from the transport sector account for half of the emission budget (from 306 to 776 out of 1,000 GtCO₂). However, the carbon intensity of transport decreases as much as other energy sectors in 2100 when accounting for process emissions, including carbon removal from BECCS. Lignocellulosic fuels become more attractive for transport decarbonization if BECCS is not feasible for any energy sectors. Since global transport service demand increases and biomass supply is limited, its allocation to and within the transport sector is uncertain and sensitive to assumptions about political as well as technological and socioeconomic factors.

     

Role of organic matter in uranium mineralisation in Vempalle dolostone; Cuddapah basin,India

Dolostone of Vempalle Formation near Tummalapalle hosts large uranium deposit (>100,000 tonnes with an average grade of 0.045%U₃O₈). It is a unique type of uranium deposit because carbonate formations have been considered to be among the least uraniferous of all the rocks of the Earth’s crust due to mobility of uranium in aqueous fluid in the presence of carbonate and bicarbonate ions. Vempalle dolostone hosts syn-sedimentary uranium mineralization in the form of discrete uranium phases (pitchblende and coffinite) associated with collophane, and adsorbed uranium in organic matter. The organic matter has played dual role of concentrating uranium from solution and also chemically reducing it to pitchhblende and coffinite.     

The once and future pulse of Indian monsoonal climate

We present a comprehensive assessment of the present and expected future pulse of the Indian monsoon climate based on observational and global climate model projections. The analysis supports the view that seasonal Indian monsoon rains in the latter half of the 21th century may not be materially different in abundance to that experienced today although their intensity and duration of wet and dry spells may change appreciably. Such an assessment comes with considerable uncertainty. With regard to temperature, however, we find that the Indian temperatures during the late 21st Century will very likely exceed the highest values experienced in the 130-year instrumental record of Indian data. This assessment comes with higher confidence than for rainfall because of the large spatial scale driving the thermal response of climate to greenhouse gas forcing. We also find that monsoon climate changes, especially temperature, could heighten human and crop mortality posing a socio-economic threat to the Indian subcontinent.