Morphological characteristics and emplacement mechanism of the seamounts in the Central Indian Ocean Basin

The morphotectonic features of the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) provide information regarding the development of the basin. Multibeam mapping of the CIOB reveals presence of abundant isolated seamounts and seamount chains sub-parallel to each other and major fracture zones along 73° E, 79° E and 75°45′ E. Morphological analyses were carried out for 200 seamounts that occur either as isolated edifies or along eight sub-parallel chains. The identified eight parallel seamount chains that trend almost north–south and reflecting the absolute motion of the Indian plate, probably originated from the ancient propagative fractures. Inspite of the differences in their height, the seamounts of these eight chains are morphologically correlatable. In the study area the seamounts are clustered north and south of 12° S latitude. Interestingly, in the area north of 12° S (area II: 9°–12° S) the seamounts are distinctly smaller (≤ 400 m height) whereas, the area south of 12° S (area I: 12°–15° S) has a mixed population of seamounts. The normalized abundance of the CIOB seamount is 976 seamounts/10⁶ km² but on a finer scale this value varies from 500 to 1600 seamounts/10⁶ km², which is less than the seamount concentrations of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans (9000 to 16,000 seamounts/10⁶ km²). Three categories of seamounts are present in the CIOB e.g. (1) single-peaked (2) multi-peaked and (3) composite. The study indicate that single-peaked seamounts are dominant (89%) while multi-peaked is less (8%) and composite ones are rare (3%) in the CIOB.The progressive northward movement of the Indian continent caused collision between India and Asia at around 62 Ma ago. A majority of the near-axis originated seamounts in the CIOB seemed to have formed as a consequence of the temporally widespread (Cretaceous  65 Ma to late Eocene < 49 Ma) collision between India and Eurasia. The regional stress patterns in the Indian plate vary N to NE in the continent and N to NW in Indian Ocean areas. The combined effect of the regional stress patterns maintained the orientation of the seamount chains and the local stress regime helped in the upwelling of magma and formation of seamounts. The low heat flow, morphological features and geochemical signature indicate that the morphotectonic structures formed contemporaneously with the oceanic crust.     

Application of solar max ACRIM data to analysis of solar-driven climatic variability on Earth

Climatic change caused by solar variability has been proposed for at least a century, but could not be assessed reliably in the past because the uncertainty in solar irradiance measured from the Earth's surface is too large. Now satellite measurements by such instruments as the Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM) permit a preliminary assessment. The satellite data exhibit irradiance variations over a spectrum of shorter timescales, but the first 5-yr overall trend indicates slightly decreasing luminosity. The global temperature response to monthly-mean ACRIM-measured fluctuations from 1980–1984 was computed from the NYU 1D transient climate model - which includes thermal inertia effects of the world oceans - starting from an assumed pre-existing steady state, and the results compared with observations of recent global temperature trends. The modeled surface temperature evolution exhibited a complex history-dependent behavior whose fluctuations were an order of magnitude smaller than observed, primarily owing to oceanic thermal damping. Thus solar variability appears unlikely to have been an important factor in global-scale climate change over this period. The possibility of using the measurements to develop simple correlations for irradiance with longer term solar activity observable from the surface, and therefore to analyze historical effects, was considered, but is not supported by the satellite data. However, we have used a model of solar irradiance variation with time (Schatten, 1988), covering the period 1976–1997 in order to assess our model's response to forcing whose fluctuation timescale is comparable to the thermal relaxation time of the upper ocean. Continuous monitoring of solar flux by space-based instruments over timescales of 20 yr or more, comparable to timescales for thermal relaxation of the oceans, and of the solar cycle itself, is probably needed to resolve issues of long-term solar variation effects on climate.Presently at Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964.     

Influence of regional and local topography on the distribution of polymetallic nodules in Central Indian Ocean Basin

Detailed bathymetric surveys from part of the Central Indian Ocean revealed several bathymetric features such as hills, slopes, valleys, and plains. Areas with a local relief of a few to hundreds of meters generally have a high abundance of polymetallic nodules with a patchy distribution. Areas with less relief have lesser abundance but a regular distribution. North-south topographic profiles have a smoother sea floor than the east-west ones. Near the minor faults, the abundance is high. Mn,Ni,Mn/Fe levels are higher in the plain areas, and rough terrains have high Fe,Co and low Mn/Fe levels.     

Spatiotemporal variations in heat-related health risk in three Midwestern US cities between 1990 and 2010

Mortality from extreme heat is a leading cause of weather-related fatality, which is expected to increase in frequency with future climate scenarios. This study examines the spatiotemporal variations in heat-related health risk in three Midwestern cities in the USA between the years 1990 to 2010; cities include Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, IN and Dayton, OH. In order to examine these variations, we utilize the recently developed extreme heat vulnerability index (EHVI) that uses a principal components solution to vulnerability. The EHVI incorporates data from the US Decadal Census and remotely sensed variables to determine heat-related vulnerability at an intra-urban level (census block group). The results demonstrate significant spatiotemporal variations in heat health risk within the cities involved.     

Diagnosing peak-discharge power laws observed in rainfall–runoff events in Goodwin Creek experimental watershed

Observations from the Goodwin Creek experimental watershed (GCEW), Mississippi show that peak-discharge Q(A) and drainage area A are related, on average, by a power law or scaling relationship, Q(A) = αA^θ, during single rainfall–runoff events. Observations also show that α and θ change between events, and, based on a recent analysis of 148 events, observations indicate that α and θ change because of corresponding changes in the depth, duration, and spatial variability of excess-rainfall. To improve our physical understanding of these observations, a 5-step framework for diagnosing observed power laws, or other space-time patterns in a basin, is articulated and applied to GCEW using a combination of analysis and numerical simulations. Diagnostic results indicate how the power laws are connected to physical conditions and processes. Derived expressions for α and θ show that if excess-rainfall depth is fixed then there is a decreasing concave relationship between α and excess-rainfall duration, and an increasing and slightly convex relationship between θ and excess rainfall duration. These trends are consistent with observations only when hillslope velocity v_h is given a physically realistic value near 0.1 m/s. If v_h ? 0.1 m/s, then the predicted trends deviate from observed trends. Results also suggest that trends in α and θ can be impacted by the dependence of v_h and link velocity v_l on excess-rainfall rate.     

Seasonal and spatial variations in the scaling and correlation structure of streamflow data

Seasonal and spatial variability in scaling, correlation and wavelet variance parameter of daily streamflow data were investigated using 56 gauging stations from five basins located in two different climate zones. Multifractal temporal scaling properties were detected using a multiplicative cascade model. The wavelet variance parameter yielded persistence properties of the streamflow time series. Seasonal variations were found to be significant in that winter and spring seasons where large‐scale frontal events are dominant showed higher long‐term correlations and less multifractality than did summer and fall seasons. Coherent spatial variations were apparent. The Neches River basin located in a subtropic humid climate zone exhibited high persistence and long‐term correlation as well as less multifractality as compared with other basins. It is found that larger drainage areas tend to have smaller multifractality and higher persistence structure, and this tendency becomes apparent in regions that receive large amounts of precipitation and decreases towards arid regions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrologic model-based Palmer indices for drought characterization in the Yellow River basin,China

The Palmer indices (PIs) that have been most widely used for drought monitoring and assessment are criticized for two main drawbacks: coarse hydrological accounting processes with a simplified two-stage bucket soil water balance model and arbitrary rules for defining drought properties and standardizing index values through limited calibration and comparison. In this study, we introduce a new proposal of the VIC hydrologic model-based Palmer drought scheme, where traditional PIs (e.g. PDSI) can readily be calculated on the basis of distributed finescale hydrologic simulations. Moreover, recent variants of PI (i.e., SPDI and SPDI-JDI) also provide a preferable standardization strategy that allows probabilistic invariability and better spatio-temporal comparability of computed drought indices. Using gridded meteorological forcing, soil and vegetation data to drive the three-layer VIC model, both non-VIC and VIC-based PIs are investigated to examine their performances for drought characterization and detection. Results indicate that VIC hydrologic model would allow for adjustments in statistical properties of computed PDSI and VIC-based SPDI is also preferable to PDSI for better statistical robustness and spatio-temporal consistency/comparability. Moreover, the joint SPDI-JDI has the strength of integrating multi-scale probabilistic properties and drought information released by individual SPDI, providing overall drought conditions that take into account the onset, persistence and termination of droughts. At proposed 0.25° grid scale, the VIC-based SPDI-JDI indicates high frequency and long total time of drought condition in the Yellow River basin (YRB), China. Although no significant temporal trends are found in identified drought duration and severity, both the seasonal and annual drought index values demonstrate a downward trend (higher drought intensity) for considerable proportions of the YRB. These findings imply high drought risk and potential drying stress for this region. The new framework of hydrologic model-based PIs can help to strengthen our knowledge and/or practices in regional drought monitoring and assessment.     

Evaluating flood retarding structures

An empirical relation between volume and peak of runoff (VPR) was utilized to determine peak discharge reduction effectiveness of flood retarding structures. The effectiveness was evaluated by comparing the predam VPR relation with and a pre and post dam channel length frequency distribution (CLFD) for the point of interest. The procedure involved well related hydrologic and geomorphic variables and thus could be a practical prediction tool.     

Correlation between magnetic shear and magnetic tension in a solar active region

The difference between the magnetic tension and magnetic shear was calculated for four vector magnetograms of NOAA AR 4474. It was seen that this difference between the two independent angular measures of magnetic stress is less than 18° for more than 50% of the pixels. Magnetic tension is thus found to be fairly well correlated with magnetic shear for AR 4474.