Studies of scintillations and TEC variations with GPS satellite links together with soil radon anomalies preceding Nepal earthquakes of April–May 2015

Natural Hazards - Ionospheric effects like scintillations and anomalous variations in total electron content (TEC) monitored with Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites of L1 frequency over...     

Hazardous area map: an approach of sustainable urban planning and industrial development—a review

Natural Hazards - A hazard map is a map which shows about all the vulnerable regions present in any country or at any specific place or location which is affected or will be affected by natural...     

Implementing Vetiver grass-based riverbank protection programmes in rural West Bengal,India

The largely impoverished rural communities of India are unable to bear the costs involved in creating and maintaining substantial structural measures for riverbank protection. The monsoonal nature of the country’s streams and an agrarian economy based on intensive cultivation further heighten the risk posed by annual peak flows and shifting stream courses. Mitigating this requires urgent, sustainable and cost-effective means of conserving valuable farmlands and stabilising channel boundaries. Towards this, riverbank erosion mitigation using Vetiver grass has been a recent development in the country and has been experimented with in a few areas. In this article, we examine how such riparian buffers are created through riverbank modification, planted and nurtured and the effectiveness of the grass in mitigating erosion, taking a small case study from rural West Bengal as an example. We especially focus on the government policies and frameworks and local stakeholder involvements that facilitate such an undertaking, with particular emphasis on the organisational workflow and the ground-level perception of such endeavours, as these are crucial to the success and effectiveness of such schemes. The marked successes achieved through the use of the Vetiver grass in abating erosion and the hindrances encountered in implementing such mitigation projects are outlined, along with the importance of such community-based approaches to river management and monitoring. This case study can be a microcosm for similar such endeavours, particularly in the rural global south.

     

Probing for overshooting as extreme event of thunderstorms

Thunderstorm overshooting is rare but not an unusual phenomenon in a metropolitan of India, Kolkata (22.57° N; 88.36° E) during the pre-monsoon months (April–May). An attempt is made in this study to identify the important parameters differentiating the thunderstorms in overshooting and non-overshooting categories through data analytics from 2000 to 2015. The present investigation on parametric classification would facilitate in estimating the predictability of thunderstorms with overshooting which subsequently might assist in operational forecast of thunderstorm severity over Kolkata. The altitudes of lifting condensation level (LCL), wind shear, bulk Richardson number (BRN), gust speed, boundary layer characteristics and their correlation with thunderstorm cloud top height (CTH) and also their variation and distribution during overshooting (OTS) and non-overshooting (TS) thunderstorms are analyzed in this study. The result depicts that over Kolkata the intensity of storms during OTS is higher than during TS though the frequency of OTS is less than that of TS. The results further show that the potential temperature (θ), equivalent potential temperature (θ_e), mixing ratio (e_s) in the boundary layer, convective available potential energy, convective inhibition energy, BRN and gust speed play significant roles in regulating the CTH during OTS and TS thunderstorms over Kolkata.

     

Rock-physics forward modelling to predict seismic behaviour: A case study for exploration target in Mahanadi basin,East Coast of India

One of the major aspects of rock-physics forward modelling is to predict seismic behaviour at an undrilled location using drilled well data. It is important to model the rock and fluid properties away from drilled wells to characterize the reservoir and investigate the root causes of different seismic responses. Using the forward modelling technique, it is possible to explain the amplitude responses of present seismic data in terms of probable rock and reservoir properties. In this context, rock-physics modelling adds significant values in the prospect maturation process by reducing the risk of reservoir presence in exploration and appraisal phases. The synthetic amplitude variation with offset gathers from the forward model is compared with real seismic gathers to ensure the fidelity of the existing geological model. ‘Prospect A’ in the study area has been identified from seismic interpretation, which was deposited as slope fan sediments in Mahanadi basin, East Coast of India. The mapped prospect has shown class-I amplitude variation with offset response in seismic without any direct hydrocarbon indicator support. The existing geological model suggests the presence of an excellent gas reservoir with proven charge access from the fetch area, moderate porosity and type of lithology within this fan prospect. But, whether the seismic response from this geological model will exhibit a class-I amplitude variation with offset behaviour or ‘dim spot’ will be visible; the objective of the present study is to investigate these queries. A rock-physics depth trend analysis has been done to envisage the possibilities of class-I reservoir in ‘Prospect A’. Forward modelling, using a combination of mechanical and chemical compaction, shows the synthetic gas gathers at ‘Prospect A’, which are class I in nature. The study has also depicted 2D forward modelling using lithology and fluid properties of discovery well within similar stratigraphy to predict whether ‘dim spot’ will be seen in seismic. The estimated change in synthetic amplitude response has been observed as ∼5% at contact, which suggests that the changes will not be visible in seismic. The study connects the existing geological model with a top-down seismic interpretation using rock-physics forward modelling technique to mature a deep-water exploratory prospect.     

Precision pulsar timing with the ORT and the GMRT and its applications in pulsar astrophysics

Radio pulsars show remarkable clock-like stability, which make them useful astronomy tools in experiments to test equation of state of neutron stars and detecting gravitational waves using pulsar timing techniques. A brief review of relevant astrophysical experiments is provided in this paper highlighting the current state-of-the-art of these experiments. A program to monitor frequently glitching pulsars with Indian radio telescopes using high cadence observations is presented, with illustrations of glitches detected in this program, including the largest ever glitch in PSR B0531+21. An Indian initiative to discover sub-\(\mu \)Hz gravitational waves, called Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA), is also described briefly, where time-of-arrival uncertainties and post-fit residuals of the order of \(\mu \)s are already achievable, comparable to other international pulsar timing array experiments. While timing the glitches and their recoveries are likely to provide constraints on the structure of neutron stars, InPTA will provide upper limits on sub-\(\mu \)Hz gravitational waves apart from auxiliary pulsar science. Future directions for these experiments are outlined.     

GIS-based morphometric analysis of five major sub-watersheds of Song River,Dehradun District,Uttarakhand with special reference to landslide incidences

Evaluation of the morphometric parameters requires preparation of drainage map, contour map, ordering of the various streams and measurements of catchment area, perimeter, relative relief, relief ratio, length of drainage channels, drainage density, drainage frequency, bifurcation ratio, texture ratio, circulatory ratio and constant channel maintenance, which help to understand the nature of the drainage basin. The present study involves the Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis techniques to evaluate and compare linear, relief and aerial morphometry of the five subwatersheds of Song River (tributary of the Ganga River) with special reference to landslide incidences, for future development and planning of the watershed. Jakhan Rao, Song River, Bandal Nadi, Baldi Nadi and Suswa Nadi are the five major subwatersheds of the Song River basin. All the subwatersheds are basically of 5^th to 6^th order. Drainage patterns are mainly dendritic to sub dendritic. The drainage pattern of the Song River basin is mainly structurally controlled and the area is characterized by high to moderate relief. The asymmetric factor indicates that the tectonic rotation of the four subwatersheds is upward on the right side of the drainage basin and only one sub-watershed is downward. The numbers of the landslide incidences are also more in the upward side, than the downward side of the Song River basin.     

Enrichment of PGE through interaction of evolved boninitic magmas with early formed cumulates in a gabbro–breccia zone of the Mesoarchean Nuasahi massif (eastern India)

The Mesoarchean Nuasahi chromite deposits of the Singhbhum Craton in eastern India consist of a lower chromite-bearing ultramafic unit and an upper magnetite-bearing gabbroic unit. The ultramafic unit is a ∼5 km long and ∼400 m wide linear belt trending NNW-SSE with a general north-easterly dip. The chromitite ore bodies are hosted in the dunite that is flanked by the orthopyroxenite. The rocks of the ultramafic unit including the chromitite crystallized from a primitive boninitic magma, whereas the gabbro unit formed from an evolved boninitic magma. A shear zone (10–75 m wide) is present at the upper contact of the ultramafic unit. This shear zone consists of a breccia comprising millimeter- to meter-sized fragments of chromitite and serpentinized rocks of the ultramafic unit enclosed in a pegmatitic and hybridized gabbroic matrix. The shear zone was formed late synkinematically with respect to the main gabbroic intrusion and intruded by a hydrous mafic magma comagmatic with the evolved boninitic magma that formed the gabbro unit. Both sulfide-free and sulfide-bearing zones with platinum group element (PGE) enrichment are present in the breccia zone. The PGE mineralogy in sulfide-rich assemblages is dominated by minerals containing Pd, Pt, Sb, Bi, Te, S, and/or As. Samples from the gabbro unit and the breccia zone have total PGE concentrations ranging from 3 to 116 ppb and 258 to 24,100 ppb, respectively. The sulfide-rich assemblages of the breccia zone are Pd-rich and have Pd/Ir ratios of 13–1,750 and Pd/Pt ratios of 1–73. The PGE-enriched sulfide-bearing assemblages of the breccia zone are characterized by (1) extensive development of secondary hydrous minerals in the altered parts of fragments and in the matrix of the breccia, (2) coarsening of grain size in the altered parts of the chromitite fragments, and (3) extensive alteration of primary chromite to more Fe-rich chromite with inclusions of chlorite, rutile, ilmenite, magnetite, chalcopyrite, and PGE-bearing chalcogenides. Unaltered parts of the massive chromitite fragments from the breccia zone show PGE ratios (Pd/Ir = 2.5) similar to massive chromitite (Pd/Ir = 0.4–6.6) of the ultramafic unit. The Ir-group PGE (IPGE: Ir, Os, Ru) of the sulfide-rich breccia assemblages were contributed from the ultramafic–chromitite breccia. Samples of the gabbro unit have fractionated primitive mantle-normalized patterns, IPGE depletion (Pd/Ir = 24–1,227) and Ni-depletion due to early removal of olivine and chromite from the primitive boninitic magma that formed the ultramafic unit. Samples of the gabbro and the breccia zone have negative Nb, Th, Zr, and Hf anomalies, indicating derivation from a depleted mantle source. The Cu/Pd ratios of the PGE-mineralized samples of the breccia zone (2.0 × 10³–3.2 × 10³) are lower than mantle (6.2 × 10³) suggesting that the parental boninitic magma (Archean high-Mg lava: Cu/Pd ratio ∼1.3 × 10³; komatiite: Cu/Pd ratio ∼8 × 10³) was sulfur-undersaturated. Samples of the ultramafic unit, gabbro and the mineralized breccia zone, have a narrow range of incompatible trace element ratios indicating a cogenetic relationship. The ultramafic rocks and the gabbros have relatively constant subchondritic Nb/Ta ratios (ultramafic rocks: Nb/Ta = 4.1–8.8; gabbro unit: Nb/Ta = 11.5–13.2), whereas samples of the breccia zone are characterized by highly variable Nb/Ta ratios (Nb/Ta = 2.5–16.6) and show evidence of metasomatism. The enrichment of light rare earth element and mobile incompatible elements in the mineralized samples provides supporting evidence for metasomatism. The interaction of the ultramafic fragments with the evolved fluid-rich mafic magma was key to the formation of the PGE mineralization in the Nuasahi massif.