Regional Variability in Occurrence and Distribution of Polymetallic Nodules in the Central Indian Basin

Regional scale morphological studies on different-sized polymetallic nodules from the Central Indian Basin show that only 2–5 cm sized nodules have highest occurrence per station (92–94% along latitudes; 88–94% along longitudes). A nodule size shows an inverse relationship with the nodule distribution, grade, and abundance. Interestingly, only 3–4 and 4–5 cm sized nodules have highest grade, abundance, and distribution percentages along longitudes in P₁, first generation mine site and relinquished area, which further implies that the nodule mining along the longitude would be beneficial. Different-sized nodule groups suggest their formation under variable environmental conditions that existed in the Central Indian Basin. The coexistence of different-sized nodules suggests different environmental conditions existed in the Central Indian Basin.     

Rock magnetic records of the sediments of the eastern Arabian Sea: Evidence for late Quaternary climatic change

Rock-magnetic measurements along with grain size, acid-insoluble residue (AIR), organic carbon (OC), CaCO₃ and δ¹⁸O of the planktonic foraminifers of the sediments were determined for 15 gravity cores recovered from the western continental margin of India. Magnetic susceptibility (MS) values in the surficial sediments reflect the land-derived input and, in general, are the highest in terrigenous sediment-dominated sections of the cores off Saurashtra–Ratnagiri, followed by the sediments off Indus–Gulf of Kachchh and then Mangalore–Cape Comorin.

The down-core variations in mineral magnetic parameters reveal that the glacial sediments off the Indus are characterized by low MS values/S-ratios associated with high AIR-content, low OC/CaCO₃ contents and relatively high δ¹⁸O values, while those off SW India are characterized by low MS values/high S-ratio% associated with low AIR content, and relatively high OC, CaCO₃ and δ¹⁸O values. Conversely, the Early Holocene sediments of all cores are characterized by high MS values/S-ratio% associated with high AIR content, low OC, CaCO₃ contents and gradually decreased δ¹⁸O values. These results imply that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the cores off northwestern India received abundant continental supply leading to the predominance of eolian/fluvial sedimentation. In the SW region the influence of hinterland flux is less evident during this period, but convective mixing associated with the NE monsoon resulted in increased productivity. During the early Holocene intense SW monsoon conditions resulted in high precipitation on land, which in turn contributed increased AIR content/MS values in the continental margin sediments. A shallow water core off Kochi further suggests that the intense SW monsoon conditions prevailed until about 5 ka. The late Holocene organic-rich sediments of the SW margin of India were, however, subjected to early diagenesis at different intervals in the cores. Therefore, caution is needed when interpreting regional climatic change from down-core changes in sediment magnetic properties.     

Ultimate strength of ship hulls under torsion

For a ship hull with large deck openings such as container vessels and some large bulk carriers, the analysis of warping stresses and hatch opening deformations is an essential part of ship structural analyses. It is thus of importance to better understand the ultimate torsional strength characteristics of ships with large hatch openings. The primary aim of the present study is to investigate the ultimate strength characteristics of ship hulls with large hatch openings under torsion. Axial (warping) as well as shear stresses are normally developed for thin-walled beams with open cross sections subjected to torsion. A procedure for calculating these stresses is briefly described. As an illustrative example, the distribution and magnitude of warping and shear stresses for a typical container vessel hull cross section under unit torsion is calculated by the procedure. By theoretical and numerical analyses, it is shown that the influence of torsion induced warping stresses on the ultimate hull girder bending strength is small for ductile hull materials while torsion induced shear stresses will of course reduce the ship hull ultimate bending moment.     

Approximate incremental dynamic analysis using the modal pushover analysis procedure

Incremental dynamic analysis (IDA)—a procedure developed for accurate estimation of seismic demand and capacity of structures—requires non‐linear response history analysis of the structure for an ensemble of ground motions, each scaled to many intensity levels, selected to cover the entire range of structural response—all the way from elastic behaviour to global dynamic instability. Recognizing that IDA of practical structures is computationally extremely demanding, an approximate procedure based on the modal pushover analysis procedure is developed. Presented are the IDA curves and limit state capacities for the SAC‐Los Angeles 3‐, 9‐, and 20‐storey buildings computed by the exact and approximate procedures for an ensemble of 20 ground motions. These results demonstrate that the MPA‐based approximate procedure reduces the computational effort by a factor of 30 (for the 9‐storey building), at the same time providing results to a useful degree of accuracy over the entire range of responses—all the way from elastic behaviour to global dynamic instability—provided a proper hysteretic model is selected for modal SDF systems. The accuracy of the approximate procedure does not deteriorate for 9‐ and 20‐storey buildings, although their dynamics is more complex, involving several ‘modes’ of vibration. For all three buildings, the accuracy of the MPA‐based approximate procedure is also satisfactory for estimating the structural capacities for the limit states of immediate occupancy, collapse prevention, and global dynamic instability. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Age estimates of coastal terraces in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and their tectonic implications

The great Indian Ocean earthquake of December 26, 2004 caused significant vertical changes in its rupture zone. About 800 km of the rupture is along the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which forms the outer arc ridge of the subduction zone. Coseismic deformation along the exposed land could be observed as uplift/subsidence. Here we analyze the morphological features along the coast of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in an effort to reconstruct the past tectonics, taking cues from the coseismic effects. We obtained radiocarbon dates from coastal terraces of the island belt and used them to compute uplift rates, which vary from 1.33 mm yr^− 1 in the Little Andaman to 2.80 mm yr^− 1 in South Andaman and 2.45 mm yr^− 1 in the North Andaman. Our radiocarbon dates converge on  600 yr and  1000 yr old coastal uplifts, which we attribute to the level changes due to two major previous subduction earthquakes in the region.     

Evaluation of coal bed methane potential of coal seams of Sawang Colliery,Jharkhand, India

The coal seams of Sawang Colliery, East Bokaro Coalfields are bituminous to sub-bituminous in nature and categorized as high gaseous seams (degree II to degree III level). These seams have the potential for coal bed methane (CBM) and their maturity increases with increasing depth, as a result of enhanced pressure-temperature conditions in the underground. The vitrinite maceral group composition of the investigated coal seams ranges from 62.50–83.15%, whereas the inertinite content varies from 14.93–36.81%. The liptinite content varies from 0.66% to 3.09%. The maximum micro-pores are confined within the vitrinite group of macerals. The coal seams exhibit vitrinite reflectance values (Ro% calculated) from 0.94% (sample CG-97) to 1.21% (sample CG-119). Proximate analyses of the investigated coal samples reveal that the moisture content (M%) ranges from 1.28% to 2.98%, whereas, volatile matter (VM%) content is placed in the range of 27.01% to 33.86%. The ash content (A%) ranges from 10.92% to 30.01%. Fixed carbon (FC%) content varies from 41.53% to 55.93%. Fuel ratio variation shows a restricted range from 1.53 to 1.97. All the coal samples were found to be strongly caking and forming coke buttons. The present study is based on the adsorption isotherm experiments carried out under controlled P-T conditions for determination of actual gas adsorption capacity of the coal seams. This analysis shows that the maximum methane gas adsorbed in the coal sample CG-81 is 17 m³/t (Std. daf), at maximum pressure of 5.92 MPa and experimental temperature of 30°C. The calculated Langmuir regression parameters P_L and V_L range from 2.49 to 3.75 MPa and 22.94 to 26.88 m³/t (Std. daf), respectively.     

Swelling behaviour of expansive soil treated with fly ash–GGBS based binder

In this article, the potential of a binder developed by admixing fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) to stabilise expansive soils is evaluated. Laboratory tests included determination of free swell index, swell potential and swelling pressure tests of the soil/binder mixtures at different mixing ratio. The test results showed decrease in the swelling behaviour of the soil with increase in binder content. The percent swell–time relationship was observed to fit the hyperbolic curves enabling us to predict the ultimate percent swell from few initial test results. Addition of 1% of lime to the binder showed further improvement in reducing swelling. A good linear relationship is established between percent oedometer swell and modified free swell index (MFSI) for soil/binder mixtures without lime but the same has not been observed in the presence of lime. The compressibility characteristics of the soil/binder mixtures reduced nominally with increase in binder content but in the presence of lime, the compressibility reduced significantly. Binder used in this study has been found to be effective and economic to stabilise expansive soils with lesser amount of chemical additives such as lime.     

Surface layer turbulence spectra and dissipation rates during low winds in tropics

Spectral characteristics of surface layer turbulence in an urban atmosphere are investigated. The observations used for this purpose represent low wind conditions in the tropics. The normalized power spectral shapes exhibit the usual characteristics in the inertial subrange and obey Monin-Obukhov scaling. However, the low-frequency behaviours do not conform to the previous observed relations. For horizontal components, large energy is contained in the low frequencies in contrast to the vertical component where roll-off to zero frequency is faster.The turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate estimated from the spectra using Kolmogorov's inertial subrange law is found to be isotropic unlike the velocity variances. The expressions for the dimensionless dissipation rate do not seem to work well in low winds in an urban atmosphere. For the data considered, the dissipation rate exhibits a power law relationship with the mean windspeed and the friction velocity.     

dC Variations in Late Jurassic Carbonates, Jaisalmer Formation, Western India

The carbon isotope measurements, carried out on subsurface carbonate samples from Oxfordian Jaisalmer Formation, western India, yield positive d¹³C values up to +3.17%. The most positive Oxfordian C-isotope value corresponds to the carbon isotope excursion measured in samples from from other late Jurassic basins of world. The latest Oxfordian C-isotope values of Jaisalmer Basin fluctuate around 2% while the C-isotope values of 1.50% mark the base of Kimmeridgian. The Oxfordian C-isotope excursion appears to correspond to a time of overall increased organic carbon burial triggered by increased nutrient transfer from continents to oceans during a time of rising global sea level.