Laboratory Investigation of Hollow and Solid Shaft Helical Soil Nail by Displacement Controlled Pullout Testing

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - A sequence of laboratory pullout tests was conducted to examine the installation and pullout behavior of hollow and solid shaft helical soil nails. The...     

Assessment of groundwater quality index for drinking purpose in the Durg district,Chhattisgarh using Geographical Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques

Present study is carried out to evaluate and characterize groundwater quality using Geographical Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) Techniques. In order to ascertain the groundwater quality a detailed survey was carried-out and a total 88 numbers of groundwater samples were collected from different locations of the Durg district. Various physicochemical parameters of collected groundwater samples were analyzed for the periods of 5-years from 2007 to 2011 during premonsoon period. Six criteria viz. pH, calcium (Ca⁺⁺), magnesium (Mg⁺⁺), chloride (Cl^–), nitrate (NO^– ₃) and fluoride (F^–) were used for the determination of groundwater quality index. The analytical hierarchical process (AHP) used to determine the weight of various parameters and their classes for identifying the groundwater quality index. Present study is helpful for long-term planning and management of groundwater resources of the study area.     

Trigger of Successive Filament Eruptions Observed by SDO and STEREO

Using multiwavelength observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), we investigate the mechanism of two successive eruptions (F1 and F2) of a filament in active region NOAA 11444 on 27 March 2012. The filament was inverse J-shaped and lay along a quasi-circular polarity inversion line (PIL). The first part of the filament erupted at \(\sim2{:}30\) UT on 27 March 2012 (F1), the second part at around 4:20 UT on the same day (F2). A precursor or preflare brightening was observed below the filament main axis about 30 min before F1. The brightening was followed by a jet-like ejection below the filament, which triggered its eruption. Before the eruption of F2, the filament seemed to be trapped within the overlying arcade loops for almost 1.5 h before it successfully erupted. Interestingly, we observe simultaneously contraction (\(\sim12~\mbox{km}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}\)) and expansion (\(\sim20~\mbox{km}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}\)) of arcade loops in the active region before F2. Magnetograms obtained with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) show converging motion of the opposite polarities, which result in flux cancellation near the PIL. We suggest that flux cancellation at the PIL resulted in a jet-like ejection below the filament main axis, which triggered F1, similar to the tether-cutting process. F2 was triggered by removal of the overlying arcade loops via reconnection. Both filament eruptions produced high-speed (\(\sim1000~\mbox{km}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}\)) coronal mass ejections.     

Petrology and Sr-Nd isotope systematics of the Ahobil kimberlite (Pipe-16) from the Wajrakarur field,Eastern Dharwar craton,southern India

Detailed mineralogical, bulk-rock geochemical and Sr-Nd isotopic data for the recently discovered Ahobil kimberlite(Pipe-16) from the Wajrakarur kimberlite field(WKF), Eastern Dharwar craton(EDC),southern India, are presented. Two generations of compositionally distinct olivine, Ti-poor phlogopite showing orangeitic evolutionary trends, spinel displaying magmatic trend-1, abundant perovskite, Tirich hydrogarnet, calcite and serpentine are the various mineral constituents. On the basis of(i) liquidus mineral composition,(ii) bulk-rock chemistry, and(iii) Sr-Nd isotopic composition, we show that Ahobil kimberlite shares several characteristic features of archetypal kimberlites than orangeites and lamproites. Geochemical modelling indicate Ahobil kimberlite magma derivation from small-degree melting of a carbonated peridotite source having higher Gd/Yb and lower La/Sm in contrast to those of orangeites from the Eastern Dharwar and Bastar cratons of Indian shield. The T_Dm Nd model age(～2.0 Ga) of the Ahobil kimberlite is(i) significantly older than those(1.5～1.3 Ga) reported for Wajrakarur and Narayanpet kimberlites of EDC,(ii) indistinguishable from those of the Mesoproterozoic EDC lamproites,and(iii) strikingly coincides with the timing of the amalgamation of the Columbia supercontinent. High bulk-rock Fe-Ti contents and wide variation in oxygen fugacity fO_2, as inferred from perovskite oxybarometry, suggest non-prospective nature of the Ahobil kimberlite for diamond.     

In Situ Bioremediation of Toluene‐Polluted Vadose Zone: Integrated Column and Wetland Study

A vertical soil column setup integrated with wetlands is developed to study the biodegradation and transport of toluene, a light non‐aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL), in the subsurface environment. LNAPL‐contaminated water is applied to infiltrate from the top of the soil column. The observed and simulated breakthrough curves show high equilibrium concentration at top ports rather than at lower ports, indicating effective toluene biodegradation with soil depth. The observed equilibrium concentration of toluene is higher in the case of unplanted wetland, asserting an accelerated biodegradation rate in the planted case. A difference in the relative concentration of toluene between input and output fluxes at 100 h is found as 13.34% and 30.86% for planted and unplanted wetland setups, respectively. Estimated biodegradation rates show that toluene degradation is 2.5 times faster in the planted wetland setup. In addition, the difference in the observed bacterial count and dissolved oxygen prove that toluene degraded aerobically at a faster rate in the planted setup. Simulations show that as time reached 80–100 h, there is no significant change in concentration profile, thereby confirming the equilibrium condition. The results of this study will be useful to frame plant‐assisted bioremediation techniques for LNAPL‐contaminated soil–water resources in the field.     

Updating of nonlinear analytical modeling of soft storey RC frame building models based on cyclic test results

Cyclic testing has been carried out on two 1/4 scale of (G+2) soft storey RC frame building models to evaluate the nonlinear performance under cyclic loading. The first model has been designed only for gravity loading and the second model has been designed for gravity and earthquake loading. The different pushover parameters of the frames such as load-deformation curve, displacement and storey drift profile and the failure pattern have been evaluated. These parameters are used for up-gradation and comparison of the nonlinear analytical modeling of the soft storey RC frame building. The nonlinear analytical models have been updated at three stages i.e. linear range, nonlinear range and finally at failure stage. The % of error between the experimental and analytical results for different pushover parameters has also been evaluated.     

A circular statistical method for extracting rotation measures

We propose a new method for the extraction of rotation measures from spectral polarization data. The method is based on maximum likelihood analysis and takes into account the circular nature of the polarization data. The method is unbiased and statistically more efficient than the standard χ ² procedure. We also find that the method is computationally much more convenient than the standard χ ² procedure if the number of data points is very large. We find that for most sources the method gives results very close to the standard χ ² minimization procedure. We give results for all the cases for which the method gives significantly different results from χ ² minimization. We also make a λ ³ fit to the data in order to extract non-Faraday rotation behaviour for those sources for which a large number of data points are available.     

Spatial and temporal variations in thunderstorm casualties over India

Thunderstorms are one of the most dangerous convective weather events. Despite the recent advances in prediction of convective storms worldwide, thousands of casualties occur annually. In the present study, the authors highlight specifically, thunderstorm‐related casualties reported in India from 1978–2012. Analysis of long‐term data have revealed about 16 308 casualties resulting from 1381 thunderstorm events with an average of 465 casualties occurring annually. The maximum number of casualties were concentrated in north‐eastern and central north‐eastern states. About 80 per cent of total casualties were recorded in West Bengal (23 per cent), Assam (20 per cent), Orissa (14 per cent), Bihar (13 per cent) and Jharkhand (8 per cent) states. The national casualties rate per million population per year and casualties density standardized by area has been found to be 0.50 and 5.07, respectively. Male casualties were found to be more prominent than female and children casualties, probably due to the larger proportion of males performing their work outdoors. The number of thunderstorm events and casualties was observed to be highest during pre‐monsoon season and lowest during winter. It is believed that the findings from this study will help policy makers to draw strategies to cope with the perils of thunderstorms.