Toxic metals in Venice lagoon sediments: model,observation, and possible removal

We have modeled the distribution of nine toxic metals in the surface sediments from 163 stations in the Venice lagoon using published data. Three entrances from the Adriatic Sea control the circulation in the lagoon and divide it into three basins. We assume, for purposes of modeling, that Porto Marghera at the head of the Industrial Zone area is the single source of toxic metals in the Venice lagoon. In a standing body of lagoon water, concentration of pollutants at distancex from the source (C ₀) may be given byC=C ₀e^–kx wherek is the rate constant of dispersal. We calculatedk empirically using concentrations at the source, and those farthest from it, that is the end points of the lagoon. Averagek values (ppm/km) in the lagoon are: Zn 0.165, Cd 0.116, Hg 0.110, Cu 0.105, Co 0.072, Pb 0.058, Ni 0.008, Cr (0.011) and Fe (0.018 percent/km), and they have complex distributions. Given thek values, concentration at source (C ₀), and the distancex of any point in the lagoon from the source, we have calculated the model concentrations of the nine metals at each sampling station. Tides, currents, floor morphology, additional sources, and continued dumping perturb model distributions causing anomalies (observed minus model concentrations). Positive anomalies are found near the source, where continued dumping perturbs initial boundary conditions, and in areas of sluggish circulation. Negative anomalies are found in areas with strong currents that may flush sediments out of the lagoon. We have thus identified areas in the lagoon where higher rate of sediment removal and exchange may lessen pollution.     

Experimental superensemble forecasts of tropical cyclones over the Bay of Bengal

This study entails the implementation of an experimental real time forecast capability for tropical cyclones over the Bay of Bengal basin of North Indian Ocean. This work is being built on the experience gained from a number of recent studies using the concept of superensemble developed at the Florida State University (FSU). Real time hurricane forecasts are one of the major components of superensemble modeling at FSU. The superensemble approach of training followed by real time forecasts produces the best forecasts for tracks and intensity (up to 5 days) of Atlantic hurricanes and Pacific typhoons. Improvements in track forecasts of about 25–35% compared to current operational forecast models has been noted over the Atlantic Ocean basin. The intensity forecasts for hurricanes are only marginally better than the best models. In this paper, we address tropical cyclone forecasts over the Bay of Bengal for the years 1996–2000. The main result from this study is that the position and intensity errors for tropical cyclone forecasts over the Bay of Bengal from the multimodel superensemble are generally less than those of all of the participating models during 1- to 3-day forecasts. Some of the major tropical cyclones, such as the November 1996 Andhra Pradesh cyclone and October 1999 Orissa super cyclone were well handled by this superensemble approach. A conclusion from this study is that the proposed approach may be a viable way to construct improved forecasts of Bay of Bengal tropical cyclone positions and intensity.     

A curiosity regarding the relation between surface level humidity and precipitable water

We have examined the global relation betwen the mean monthly surface level humidity and the precipitable water (Q-W relation) developed by Liu (1986) for its applicability to instantaneous data sets as proposed by Hsu and Blanchard (1989) over the Indian oceanic region. Our analysis using regional instantaneous values of W from Monex-79 in-situ data sets gave an rms error of 5.66gm/kg. This is considerably larger than the rms error of 0.4 gm/kg as obtained by Liu using the global mean monthly relation, thus failing to support Hsu and Blanchard's conjecture. However, a fifth-order polynomial in W derived by us based on instantaneous data indicates an rms error of 0.92 gm/kg.     

Ejections of population III objects seen as blueshifted QSOs?

We discuss the origin of the optical jets and the apparently associated cloud of QSOs in NGC 1097. There is a simple explanation for the jets in terms of ejection trails of supermassive black holes. In this interpretation, the trails provide the first direct evidence for the non-conservation of linear momentum in a two black hole collision. The cluster of quasars at the end of the jets is then naturally associated with objects which have been ejected by the merging pair of black holes. It is possible to interpret the spectral lines of these QSOs such that half of them are blueshifted relative to NGC 1097 while the other half is redshifted. We infer that the objects in the QSO cluster are not real QSOs but probably collapsed objects of lower mass. We argue that these objects are likely to represent the hypothetical population III black holes of Carretal.     

Riddle of arsenic in groundwater of Bengal Delta Plain—role of non-inland source and redox traps

In the Bengal Delta Plain (BDP) the primary arsenic sourcing appears to be different from the global scenario. Here, the Terminal Pleistocene–Holocene depositional platform, the interactive early Holocene depositional morphology with fluvio-estuarine and marine incursions played a crucial role for arsenic sourcing and enrichment. The lenticular silt-fine sand layer between anoxic clay beds favoured entrapment of dissolved organic carbon with decayed phyto-planktons debris. The Terminal Pleistocene–Holocene transgression and regression processes may have acted as major events in the BDP. Interestingly, at the end of the last glacial maxima, the Pleistocene delta had undergone block movements, wherein some parts of the platform were raised above the level of Holocene deposition. Those blocks were found to be free from arsenic in the groundwater. The sea, during re-emerging inundation (10–7 ka BP), has witnessed a monsoon-induced environment in the BDP with the resultant oscillation of sea level leading to higher upsurge towards the north. This might have resulted in the marine incursion and inundation in pre-existing land depressions. Meanwhile arsenic entrapments through marine incursion as well as enrichment in the presence of organic carbon/DOC and/or Fe/Mn/Al catalytic agents could have developed into localised redox traps. It may be of relevance that due to the repetitive transgressive–regressive phases in Holocene, resulting in periodic exposure and weathering of iron-bearing minerals and consequent iron enrichment in the aquifer system. The iron, thus present, had free charge to host arsenic as a sink. It appears that arsenic, wherever found, would likely be of atypical localised exhaustible phenomenon, both in horizontal and vertical context. It also rationalises the cause of the absence of arsenic in the other nearby Pleistocene platform, which has not come across Holocene interaction and marine incursion, as to the likely limiting condition for the search for arsenic in the BDP or beyond.     

A multivariate statistical study of copper mineralization in the central section of Mosaboni Mine, Eastern Singhbhum, India

A multivariate statistical analysis was carried out with log-transformed values of Cu, Ni, Co, Pb, Zn, Ag, Cr, Mn, Ca, and Sr in several sets of samples collected across the mineralized base metal zone in sheared soda granite, feldspathic schist, and chlorite schist from the central section of Mosaboni Mine of the famous Singhbhum Copper Belt of eastern India. Linear correlation coefficient matrices of two sets of ore samples (>0.5% Cu)—one from levels 18 and 21 and the other from levels 25 and 28—indicate two well-defined and distinct clusters comprising Cu, Ni, Co, Pb, and Zn on one hand and Ca, Sr, and Mn on the other. Varimax-rotatedR-mode factor analysis of two above-noted sample sets, taken along with available geologic information, indicates that over 80% of the variability in data matrices for 9–10 elements can be accounted for by four distinct processes: (a) an early phase of copper mineralization which apparently replaced Mn, Ca, and Sr in the host rock; (b) a silicate-cum-oxide phase of crystallization/recrystallization of host rock; (c) remobilization of sulfide-forming ore elements (Cu, Ni, Co, Pb, and Zn); and (d) a phase of mineralization of Ag which appears to have replaced Cr, Ca and Cu. Process (c) was quantitatively most important. Factor score studies are suggestive of preferred introduction of Ni, Co, Pb, and Zn along central parts of preexisting copper-mineralized zones.