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.     

Aftershock Propagation Characteristics During the First Three Hours Following the 26 December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake

Within three hours of the mainshock rupture of the 26 December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, 45 aftershocks occurred that are distributed all along the mega-thrust fault plane and also along the West Andaman fault. Seven of these aftershocks struck sequentially and unilaterally from the mainshock in the south towards north within 2h 9m 50.76s indicating an overall rate of aftershock propagation to the tune of 167 meters/sec. Seismic moment calculated from fault parameters gives a value of 1.2 × 10³⁰ dyne cm. Three separate fault segments are identified from distribution of aftershocks with propagation rates 330, 250 and 85 meters/sec in the southern, central and northern segments. These 7 unilaterally propagating shocks along the mega-thrust are probably not aftershocks of the mainshock rather these are sequentially triggered shocks each rupturing a small segment of the fault. Location of the mainshock and several aftershocks are guided by several lithospheric hinge faults identified previously.     

Nd-isotopes in selected mantle-derived rocks and minerals and their implications for mantle evolution

The Sm-Nd systematics in a variety of mantle-derived samples including kimberlites, alnoite, carbonatite, pyroxene and amphibole inclusions in alkali basalts and xenolithic eclogites, granulites and a pyroxene megacryst in kimberlites are reported. The additional data on kimberlites strengthen our earlier conclusion that kimberlites are derived from a relatively undifferentiated chondritic mantle source. This conclusion is based on the observation that the _Nd values of most of the kimberlites are near zero. In contrast with the kimberlites, their garnet lherzolite inclusions show both time-averaged Nd enrichment and depletion with respect to Sm. Separated clinopyroxenes in eclogite xenoliths from the Roberts Victor kimberlite pipe show both positive and negative _Nd values suggesting different genetic history. A whole rock lower crustal scapolite granulite xenolith from the Matsoku kimberlite pipe shows a negative _Nd value of -4.2, possibly representative of the base of the crust in Lesotho. It appears that all inclusions, mafic and ultramafic, in kimberlites are unrelated to their kimberlite host.The above data and additional Sm-Nd data on xenoliths in alkali basalts, alpine peridotite and alnoite-carbonatites are used to construct a model for the upper 200 km of the earth's mantle — both oceanic and continental. The essential feature of this model is the increasing degree of fertility of the mantle with depth. The kimberlite's source at depths below 200 km in the subcontinental mantle is the most primitive in this model, and this primitive layer is also extended to the suboceanic mantle. However, it is clear from the Nd-isotopic data in the xenoliths of the continental kimberlites that above 200 km the continental mantle is distinctly different from their suboceanic counterpart.     

Periodicity versus selection effects in the redshift distribution of QSOs

Periodicities and selection effects in the redshift (z) distribution of QSOs have been debated for a long time in the literature. Here we show that peaks and troughs in the redshift distribution of three new samples, claimed to demonstrate the existence of a periodicity, can be interpreted in terms of known selection effects. This analysis confirms earlier findings that the presence of such selection effects seriously weakens any suggestion for periodicity of the form Δl n (1 + z) = constant.