Assessment of land degradation hazards,etah district,uttar pradesh using landsat data

To understand the nature of land degradation and factors responsible for it, investigations were carried out in Etah district with an area of 4.45 lakh hectares. For identification of soil/land degradation problems, multidate Landsat, TM spectral bands and FCC were used. It is observed that salt-affected soils are sharply depicted by light and dark gray mixed tone on band 3, while they are not clear on band 4. Flood plain and waterlogged soils are clearly observed on band 4. Band 6 (10.3 – 12.5 µm) helps in separation of broad zones of coarse and fine-textured soils, active flood plain of rivers, and eroded and gullied lands. The confusion between coarse-textured droughty soils and salt-affected areas in TM FCC (2, 3, 4) could be eliminated by use of band-6 data in combination with FCC. For delineation of problematic areas, two approaches were followed viz. (i) physiographic approach, and (ii) direct approach. In the physiographic approach landscape map associated with image characteristics was prepared. Further the image interpretation units were interpreted for land degradation hazards. With this approach physiography and soil relationship and the degradation problems vis-a-vis soil units could be established and ameliorative measures as per soil condition can be suggested. In direct approach, the problematic areas as per predetermined key were demarcated. Out of 4.45 lakh ha of the area, 1.99 lakh ha is affected by various soil degradation problems, like droughty soils, flooding hazard and salinity and alkalinity which cover 22.1%, 50.0% and 27.9%, respectively. To study the distribution of a salt-affected lands, major physiographic boundaries were superimposed over the land degradation map prepared by direct approach. It is observed that 81.5% of the salt-affected areas lie in the old alluvial plain while 18.5% is in recent flood plain.     

Incipient vertical traction carpets within collapsed sinkhole fills

Small vertically oriented traction carpets are reported from the collapsed sandy fills of 100 m deep Devonian limestone sinkholes underlying the Lower Cretaceous Athabasca oil sands deposit in north‐eastern Alberta, Western Canada. Dissolution of 100 m of underlying halite salt beds caused cataclysmic collapse of the sinkhole floors and water saturated sinkhole sand fills to descend very rapidly. Turbulent currents flushed upper sinkhole fills of friable sandstone blocks and disaggregated sand and quartz pebble for tens of metres. Laminar deposits with inverse grading accumulated as many as six to eight curvilinear entrained pebble streaks, 10 to 30 cm long, vertically impinged against the sides of descending collapse blocks. These deposits were initiated as vertically oriented early stage traction carpets that interlocked fine sand grains and inversely graded overlying pebbles entrained below the dilute overlying turbulent flows. Vortexes that flushed these sinkhole fills and induced these depositional processes may have lasted only seconds before the very rapid descents abruptly halted. Some of the fabrics were suspended vertically in‐place and preserved from unlocking and obliteration. These small fabrics provide insight into the instability and ephemeral character of the transition from strong gravity‐driven grain falls to very early stages of traction carpet formation. These short‐lived deposits of very thin sand layers resulted from sufficient incipient frictional freezing that grain interlocking overcame, however briefly, the strong gravity drives of the vertical falls that would have otherwise dispersed grains and obliterated any organized fabric patterns. Tenuous frictionally locked grains were also suspended at the centres of hyperbolic grain fall flows that briefly developed between turbulent flow eddies, some of which were fortuitously preserved. Some of these suspended grain locking zones passed downward onto the relatively more stable surfaces of the rapidly descending block surfaces. The morphogenesis of these early stage traction carpets differ from more fully developed deposits elsewhere because of their short‐lived transport, dynamic instability and vertical orientation.     

Lithological description of subcropping Lower and Middle Triasic rocks from the Svalis Dome, Barents Sea

Eleven shallow cores display 315 m of the >700 m thick Lower and Middle Triasic successional of the Svalis Dome, a Salt diapir in the central south-western Barents Sea. The Svalis Dome was uplifted in the late Mesozoic. and Trisassic rocks suherop below Quaternary till around the Upper Palaeozoic core of the dome. Deposition of the Triassic succession took place in deep shelf to basinal environments below storm wave base. The succession is dated by macrofossils and palynomorphs and can be assigned to four formations. The basal beds of the shaly greenish grey Havert Formation (Griesbachian) occur above Permian bioclastic carbonate. The Klappmyss Formation (Smithian) in the lower part contains gravity flow sands deposited as submarine fans pussible triggered by tectonic movements along the adjacent ault zones overlian by silty claystones. An organic-rich dark shale unit is here formally defined as the Steinkobbe overlain by silty claystones. An organic-rich dark shale unit is here formally defined as the Steinkobbe Formation, and was deposited in a large bight by restricted water circulation. The Snadd Formation. on top, representes a marine shelf unit deposited in front of an emerging land area in the north-east. A minimum of six higher order transgressive-regressive sequences are recognized at the Svalis Dome and these are correlated with other Arctic areas.     

Mapping the understorey of deciduous woodland from leaf-on and leaf-off airborne LiDAR data: A case study in lowland Britain

This study examines the understorey information present in discrete-return LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) data acquired for temperate deciduous woodland in mid summer (leaf-on) and in early spring when the understorey had mostly leafed out, but the overstorey had only just begun budburst (referred to here as leaf-off). The woodland is ancient, semi-natural broadleaf and has a heterogeneous structure with a mostly closed canopy overstorey and a patchy understorey layer. In this study, the understorey was defined as suppressed trees and shrubs growing beneath an overstorey canopy. Forest mensuration data for the study site were examined to identify thresholds (taking the 95th percentile) for crown depth as a percentage of crown top height for the six overstorey tree species present. These data were used in association with a digital tree species map and leaf-on first return LiDAR data, to identify the possible depth of space available below the overstorey canopy in which an understorey layer could exist. The leaf-off last return LiDAR data were then examined to identify whether they contained information on where this space was occupied by suppressed trees or shrubs forming an understorey. Thus, understorey was mapped from the leaf-off last return data where the height was below the predicted crown depth. A height threshold of 1 m was applied to separate the ground vegetation layer from the understorey. The derived understorey model formed a discontinuous layer covering 46.4 ha (or 31% of the study site), with an average height of 2.64 m and a 77% correspondence with field data on the presence/absence of suppressed trees and shrubs (kappa 0.53). Because the first return data in leaf-on and leaf-off conditions were very similar (differing by an average of just 0.87 m), it was also possible to map the understorey layer using leaf-off data alone. The resultant understorey model covered 39.4 ha (or 26% of the study site), and had a 72% correspondence with field data on the presence/absence of suppressed trees and shrubs (kappa 0.45). This moderate reduction in the area of understorey mapped and associated accuracy came with a saving of half of all data acquisition and pre-processing costs. Whilst the understorey modelling presented here undoubtedly benefited from the specific timing of LiDAR data acquisition and from ancillary data available for the study site, the conclusions have resonance beyond this case study. Given that the understorey and overstorey canopies in lowland broadleaf woodland can merge into one another, the modelling of understorey information from discrete-return LiDAR data must consider overstorey canopy characteristics and laser penetration through the overstorey. It is not adequate in such circumstances to apply simple height thresholds to LiDAR height frequency distributions, as this is unlikely to distinguish whether a return has backscattered from the lower parts of the overstorey canopy or from near the surface of the understorey canopy.     

准噶尔盆地石炭纪火山岩岩石地球化学特征及其构造环境意义

准噶尔盆地石炭纪发育区域性的火山岩建造,火山岩岩性以中基性为主,主要为玄武岩、玄武安山岩,同时发育少量酸性的流纹岩,基本属于钙碱性系列。样品全碱(Na_2O+K_2O=2.99%～8.07%)和TiO_2(0.30%～2.57%)含量较高,K_2O含量(0.13%～3.29%)较低,稀土元素含量(∑REE)中等。球粒标准化的REE配分表现轻稀土元素(LREE)相对于重稀土元素(HREE)富集((La/Yb)_N=2.47～7.45)、轻重稀土分异的特征,部分样品的Eu和大部分样品的Ce显示轻微的负异常(δEu=0.543～1.088,δCe=0.787～0.987)。微量元素具有大离子亲石元素(LILE)富集及高场强元素Nb、Ta亏损的特征,大部分样品(Rb/Yb)_N均远大于1。这些特征结合元素相关环境判别图解表明,准噶尔盆地石炭纪火山岩是原始岩浆经历了一定程度分异作用后的产物,以板内大陆环境为主,兼具有部分岛弧特征,形成于俯冲碰撞造山期后伸展背景下,火山岩所具有的岛弧特征是碰撞前混染弧组分的继承。     

Incomplete high P–T metamorphic transitions within the Kvamsøy pyroxenite complex, west Norway: a case study of disequilibrium

Abstract The Kvamsøy pyroxenite complex consists of olivine websterite, olivine gabbro and leucogabbro-norite which have been subjected to regional high P-T (HPT) metamorphism. The metamorphism has resulted in a range of disequilibrium textures with the development of coronas and pseudomorphism of the igneous phases. Reactions between felsic and mafic mineral domains have been controlled by variable and selective diffusion of elements, resulting in a variety of local plagioclase-breakdown reactions and in significant compositional variations for the product garnet. Restricted diffusion favours transient reaction stages with garnet ± spinel ± corundum ± zoisite after calcic plagioclase in olivine gabbro and olivine websterite and garnet ± spinel ± kyanite ± quartz + sodic plagioclase in leucogabbro-norite. Complete HPT reaction has produced garnet pyroxenite which consists of garnet + diopside + hornblende + zoisite in gabbroic rocks, while amphibolitization continued during the cooling and uplift history. Grt + Ky + Pl + Qtz geobarometry suggests pressures in the range 13-16 kbar for T = 750°C, comparable with the regional eclogite-forming metamorphism.     

Monohydrocalcite in speleothems: An alternative interpretation

Genesis for a mineral assemblage from Eibengrotte, a small limestone cave near Fränkische Schweiz, Western Germany, is described. The assemblage includes monohydrocalcite, hydromagnesite, nesquehonite, dolomite, aragonite and calcite. A biochemical genesis is proposed as a growth alternative to the Fischbeck and Müller (1971) evaporation-aerosol mechanism.