Deformation mechanisms in the frontal Lesser Himalayan Duplex in Sikkim Himalaya,India

Understanding deformation mechanisms in Himalayan rocks is a challenging proposition due to the complex nature of the deformed rocks and their genesis. Crustal deformation in the Himalayan thrust belt typically occurs in elastico-frictional (EF) or quasi-plastic (QP) regimes at depths controlled mainly by regional strain-rate and geothermal gradient. However, material property, grain-size and their progressive changes during deformation are also important controlling factors. We present evidence of EF deformation from Gondwana rocks developed during the emplacement of one of the frontal horses (Jorthang horse) in the Lesser Himalayan Duplex (LHD) structure associated with Lesser Himalayan rocks in the footwall of the Ramgarh thrust in the Rangit window near Jorthang in the Sikkim Himalaya. The rocks in the horse exhibit systematic changes in microand meso-structures from an undeformed protolith to cataclasite suggesting that it was emplaced under elastico-frictional conditions. Meso- to micro-scale shear fractures are seen developed in Gondwana sandstone and slate while intercalated fine-grained shale-coal-carbonates are deformed by cataclastic flow suggesting that material property and grain-size have played an important role in the deformation of the Jorthang horse. In contrast, the hanging wall schists and quartzites of the Ramgarh thrust exhibit quasi-plastic deformation structures. This suggests that the Jorthang horse was emplaced under shallower crustal conditions than the antiformally folded Ramgarh thrust sheet even though the Ramgarh sheet presently overlies the Jorthang horse.     

Wind-driven estuarine turbidity maxima in Mandovi Estuary,central west coast of India

Systematic studies on the suspended particulate matter (SPM) measured on a seasonal cycle in the Mandovi Estuary, Goa indicate that the average concentrations of SPM at the regular station are ∼20mg/l, 5mg/l, 19mg/l and 5mg/l for June–September, October–January, February–April and May, respectively. SPM exhibits low-to-moderate correlation with rainfall indicating that SPM is also influenced by other processes. Transect stations reveal that the SPM at sea-end stations of the estuary are at least two orders of magnitude greater than those at the river-end during the monsoon. Estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) of nearly similar magnitude occurs at the same location in two periods, interrupted by a period with very low SPM concentrations. The ETM occurring in June–September is associated with low salinities; its formation is attributed to the interactions between strong southwesterly winds (5.1–5.6ms⁻¹) and wind-induced waves and tidal currents and, dominant easterly river flow at the mouth of the estuary. The ETM occurring in February–April is associated with high salinity and is conspicuous. The strong NW and SW winds (3.2–3.7ms⁻¹) and wind-driven waves and currents seem to have acted effectively at the mouth of the estuary in developing turbidity maximum. The impact of sea breeze appears nearly same as that of trade winds and cannot be underestimated in sediment resuspension and deposition     

Impact of land use change on groundwater recharge in Guishui River Basin,China

It is important to understand how land use change impacts groundwater recharge,especially for regions that are undergoing rapid urbanization and there is limited surface water.In this study,the hydrological processes and re-charge ability of various land use types in Guishui River Basin,China(in Beijing Municipality) were analyzed.The impact of land use change was investigated based on water balance modeling,WetSpass and GIS.The results indicate that groundwater recharge accounts for only 21.16% of the precipitation,while 72.54% is lost in the form of evapotranspiration.The annual-lumped groundwater recharge rate decreases in the order of cropland,grassland,urban land,and forest.Land use change has resulted in a decrease of 4 × 106 m3 of yearly groundwater recharge in the study area,with a spatially averaged rate of 100.48 mm/yr and 98.41 mm/yr in 1980 and 2005,respectively.This variation has primarily come from an increase of urban area and rural settlements,as well as a decrease of cropland.     

Animal-sediment relationship of the crustaceans and polychaetes in the intertidal zone around Mandvi,Gulf of Kachchh,Western India

Animal-sediment relationships of two benthic communities (Crustaceans and Polychaetes) were studied around Mandvi coast in the Gulf of Kachchh, Western India. This coast consists of many micro-geomorphic landforms in which benthic communities are inhabited and select their niches and produce endemic biogenic structures. Five intertidal subfacies have been described and four types of grounds are identified, based on substrate consistency. 18 species of crustaceans, 15 species of polychaetes and unsegmented worm nemertea have been identified. Crustacean behavioural activities were observed in dunes, beaches and ridge-runnel in the form of burrowing, pellet making, feeding and crawling traces. Pelleted wall lining burrows of the suspension feeder stomatopodean species of Oratosquilla striata are also abundant in runnels. Motile, deposit feeder polychaetes are abundant on the ridges and are occasionally found on the lower reaches of the beaches, while suspension and filter feeders are found in the runnels. Lagoons consist of mainly grouped funnel branched burrows of Oniphus eremita which is identical to ichnogenus Balanoglossites. Nemertea, which are opportunistic algal grazers, have exploited restricted niches for dwelling-feeding purposes and constructed vertical burrow with pentamerous conical mound. The shore platform consists of cemented, calcareous tubes of filter feeder Serpula along with symbiotic encrusters like Ostrea and barnacles. Ichnocoenoses are discussed and three-dimensional ichno-sedimentologic models are reconstructed for Beach, Ridge, Runnel and Lagoon of the Mandvi intertidal zone.     

Black carbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of China’s marginal seas

This study investigates the distribution of black carbon (BC) and its correlation with total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ΣPAH) in the surface sediments of China’s marginal seas. BC content ranges from <0.10 to 2.45 mg/g dw (grams dry weight) in the sediments studied, and varied among the different coastal regions. The Bohai Bay sediments had the highest BC contents (average 2.18 mg/g dw), which comprises a significant fraction (27%–41%) of the total organic carbon (TOC) preserved in the sediments. In ...     

The impact of physical processes on pollutant transport in Hangzhou Bay

A Lagrangian tracer model is set up for Hangzhou Bay based on Coupled Hydrodynamical Ecological model for Regional Shelf Sea (COHERENS). The study area is divided into eight subdomains to identify the dominant physical processes, and the studied periods are March (the dry season) and July (the wet season). The model performance has been first verified by sea-surface elevation and tidal current observations at several stations. Eight tracer experiments are designed and Lagrangian particle tracking is simulated to examine the impact of physical processes (tide, wind and river runoff) on the transport of passive tracer released within the surface layer. Numerical simulations and analysis indicate that: (1) wind does not change the tracer distribution after 30 days except for those released from the south area of the bay during the wet season; (2) the tide and the Qiantang River runoff are important for particle transport in the head area of the bay; (3) the Changjiang River runoff affects the tracer transport at the mouth of the bay, and its impact is smaller in the dry season than in the wet season. Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No.40576080); National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, No. 2007AA12Z182)     

Using otolith weight to predict the age of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pennahia macrocephalus</Emphasis> in the mouth of the Beibu Gulf

The relation between otolith weight (OW) and the age of marine fish is studied. A total of 222 individuals of bighead white croaker, Pennahia macrocephalus were sampled seasonally in the mouth of the Beibu Gulf, the South China Sea, in 2007. Since there are no significant differences in sagittal OW between otolith in pairs (P≥0.05), the undamaged left sagittal otolith is used for age determination. The highest correlations among standard length, OW and fish ages are confirmed by linear, exponential and multinomial regression. Results show that sagittal OW overlaps only occasionally among age groups, and to individuals with similar standard length, the older and slower-growing fish has a heavier otolith because of the continued otolith material deposition. There are differences in sagittal OW among different age groups and significant positive linear relationship with age (P<0.05). The age readings can be verified by plotting the sagittal OW versus the standard length for age groups, and the individuals with similar standard length but in different ages can be separated by sagittal OW frequency analysis. Mostly, the predicted ages using the regression between sagittal OW and ages are closed to the observed ages by counting annulus on scale. It indicates that the sagittal OW analysis is a useful technique for validating the accuracy of age determination by annuli counts, especially for individuals of similar size. Furthermore, the technique is applied for Pennahia macrocephalus with discussion in this paper. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30771653) and Bureau of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture     

The El Teniente porphyry Cu–Mo deposit from a hydrothermal rutile perspective

Mineralogical, textural, and chemical analyses (EPMA and PIXE) of hydrothermal rutile in the El Teniente porphyry Cu–Mo deposit help to better constrain ore formation processes. Rutile formed from igneous Ti-rich phases (sphene, biotite, Ti-magnetite, and ilmenite) by re-equilibration and/or breakdown under hydrothermal conditions at temperatures ranging between 400°C and 700°C. Most rutile nucleate and grow at the original textural position of its Ti-rich igneous parent mineral phase. The distribution of Mo content in rutile indicates that low-temperature (∼400–550°C), Mo-poor rutile (5.4 ± 1.1 ppm) is dominantly in the Mo-rich mafic wallrocks (high-grade ore), while high-temperature (∼550-700°C), Mo-rich rutile (186 ± 20 ppm) is found in the Mo-poor felsic porphyries (low-grade ore). Rutile from late dacite ring dikes is a notable exception to this distribution pattern. The Sb content in rutile from the high-temperature potassic core of the deposit to its low-temperature propylitic fringe remains relatively constant (35 ± 3 ppm). Temperature and Mo content of the hydrothermal fluids in addition to Mo/Ti ratio, modal abundance and stability of Ti-rich parental phases are key factors constraining Mo content and provenance in high-temperature (≥550°C) rutile. The initial Mo content of parent mineral phases is controlled by melt composition and oxygen fugacity as well as timing and efficiency of fluid–melt separation. Enhanced reduction of SO₂-rich fluids and sulfide deposition in the Fe-rich mafic wallrocks influences the low-temperature (≤550°C) rutile chemistry. The data are consistent with a model of fluid circulation of hot (>550°C), oxidized (ƒO₂ ≥ NNO + 1.3), SO₂-rich and Mo-bearing fluids, likely exsolved from deeper crystallizing parts of the porphyry system and fluxed through the upper dacite porphyries and related structures, with metal deposition dominantly in the Fe-rich mafic wallrocks.     

Regeneration and utilization of nutrients during collapse of a <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mesodinium rubrum</Emphasis> red tide and its influence on phytoplankton species composition

High-biomass red tides occur frequently in some semi-enclosed bays of Hong Kong where ambient nutrients are not high enough to support such a high phytoplankton biomass. These high-biomass red tides release massive inorganic nutrients into local waters during their collapse. We hypothesized that the massive inorganic nutrients released from the collapse of red tides would fuel growth of other phytoplankton species. This could influence phytoplankton species composition. We tested the hypothesis using a red tide event caused by Mesodinium rubrum (M. rubrum) in a semi-enclosed bay, Port Shelter. The red tide patch had a cell density as high as 5.0×10⁵ cells L^?1, and high chlorophyll a (63.71 μg L^?1). Ambient inorganic nutrients (nitrate: \(\rm{NO}_3^-\), ammonium: \(\rm{NH}_4^+\), phosphate: \(\rm{PO}_4^{3-}\), silicate: \(\rm{SiO}_4^{3-}\)) were low both in the red tide patch and the non-red-tide patch (clear waters outside the red tide patch). Nutrient addition experiments were conducted by adding all the inorganic nutrients to water samples from the two patches followed by incubation for 9 days. The results showed that the addition of inorganic nutrients did not sustain high M. rubrum cell density, which collapsed after day 1, and did not drive M. rubrum in the non-red-tide patch sample to the same high-cell density in the red tide patch sample. This confirmed that nutrients were not the driving factor for the formation of this red tide event, or for its collapse. The death of M. rubrum after day 1 released high concentrations of \(\rm{NO}_3^-\), \(\rm{PO}_4^{3-}\), \(\rm{SiO}_4^{3-}\), \(\rm{NH}_4^+\), and urea. Bacterial abundance and heterotrophic activity increased, reaching the highest on day 3 or 4, and decreased as cell density of M. rubrum declined. The released nutrients stimulated growth of diatoms, such as Chaetoceros affinis var. circinalis, Thalassiothrix frauenfeldii, and Nitzschia sp., particularly with additions of \(\rm{SiO}_4^{3-}\) treatments, and other species. These results demonstrated that initiation of M. rubrum red tides in the bay was not directly driven by nutrients. However, the massive inorganic nutrients released from the collapse of the red tide could induce a second bloom in low-ambient nutrient water, influencing phytoplankton species composition.