Geomorphology,sedimentology and minimum exposure ages of streamlined subglacial landforms in the NW Himalaya,India

Streamlined subglacial landforms that include drumlins in three study areas, the upper Chandra valley around Chandra Tal, the upper Spiti Valley and the middle Yunam Valley of the NW Himalaya of India were mapped and studied using geomorphic, sedimentological and geochronological methods. These streamlined subglacial landforms include a variety of morphological types, including: (i) half egg‐shaped forms; (ii) complex superimposed forms; (iii) dome‐shaped forms; (iv) inverse forms; and (v) flat‐topped symmetrical forms. Sedimentological data indicate that subglacial deformational processes are responsible for the formation of the streamlined subglacial landforms in the Chandra Tal and upper Spiti Valley study areas. In contrast, streamlined landforms in the middle Yunam Valley are the result of melt‐out and subglacial erosional processes. In the Yunam Valley study area, 11 new cosmogenic ¹⁰Be surface exposure ages were obtained for boulders inset into the crests of streamlined subglacial landforms and moraines, and also for a bedrock surface. The streamlined landforms date to 8–7 ka, providing evidence of an early Holocene valley glaciation, and older moraines date to ～17–15 and 79–52 ka, representing other significant valley glacial advances in the middle Yunam Valley. The subglacial landforms in the Chandra Valley provide evidence for a ≥300‐m‐thick Lateglacial glacier that advanced southeast, overtopping the Kunzum Range, and advancing into the upper Spiti Valley. The streamlined subglacial landforms in these study areas of the NW Himalaya highlight the usefulness of such landforms in developing glacial chronostratigraphy and for understanding the dynamics of Himalayan glaciation.     

Pullout test model for extensible reinforcement

A formulation for the analysis of pullout test on highly extensible planar reinforcement is presented. The non-linear differential equation for pullout mechanism was expressed in non-dimensional form and solved numerically using the Gauss–Siedel technique. Parametric study was carried out for various ranges of relative stiffnesses, and relative bond resistances. Normalized load–displacement relations and the variations of pullout force and reinforcement displacements along the length of reinforcement are presented graphically. A method for the estimation of the interface interaction parameters from a pre-failure test is also given. The numerical predictions compare well with the available experimental pullout test results for various geotextiles, polymers and nylon geosynthetics. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A GIS‐based Approach in Support of an Assessment of Food Safety Risks

A Geographical Information System (GIS)‐based approach was developed for the identification of vulnerabilities and the measurement of risks associated with contamination of food systems with biological agents. In this research work, a tight integration of ArcGIS with the Arena simulation tool has been implemented. Arena was used to simulate and track contamination in a food distribution network and transmit the time dependent information to GIS. ArcGIS was employed to provide the primary user interface, process network data, and visualize the results. In addition, the GIS, through its powerful capabilities to process spatial data, could allow decision‐ makers to quickly determine the potential impact of a contamination event, at any stage, as a function of both time and geography. Two contamination scenarios along the farm‐to‐fork chain were examined to show the geographic zone and the proportion of the population affected by the contamination. A constraint Voronoi data structure was developed to define influence zones (these were color coded according to a dynamic risk index), to identify those areas that are at greatest immediate risk as time progresses, and to estimate the population affected by these contamination events. This approach thus appears to have general application to many GIS‐based risk assessment problems.     

Analysis of Y-component of Geomagnetic Field and SYM-H Index Using Wavelet Multiresolution Analysis

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - Electrodynamical coupling between the solar wind’s plasma and the Earth’s magnetosphere creates geomagnetic disturbances recorded on the ground. This work...     

Least Square Support Vector Machine Applied to Slope Reliability Analysis

This paper investigates the feasibility of Least square support vector machine (LSSVM) model to cope the problem of implicit performance function during first order second moment (FOSM) method based slope reliability analysis. LSSVM is firmly based on the theory of statistical learning. In LSSVM, Vapnik’s ε -insensitive loss function has been replaced by a cost function which corresponds to a form of ridge regression. Here, LSSVM has been used as a regression technique to approximate implicit performance functions. A slope example has been presented for illustrating the applicability of LSSVM based FOSM method. The developed LSSVM based FOSM has been compared with the artificial neural network (ANN) and least square method. The result shows that the approximation of LSSVM can be used in the FOSM method for slope reliability analysis.     

The occurrence of Mt Barca flank eruption in the evolution of the NW periphery of Etna volcano (Italy)

Geological surveys, tephrostratigraphic study, and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations have allowed us to chronologically constrain the geological evolution of the lower NW flank of Etna volcano and to reconstruct the eruptive style of the Mt Barca flank eruption. This peripheral sector of the Mt Etna edifice, corresponding to the upper Simeto valley, was invaded by the Ellittico volcano lava flows between 41 and 29 ka ago when the Mt Barca eruption occurred. The vent of this flank eruption is located at about 15 km away from the summit craters, close to the town of Bronte. The Mt Barca eruption was characterized by a vigorous explosive activity that produced pyroclastic deposits dispersed eastward and minor effusive activity with the emission of a 1.1-km-long lava flow. Explosive activity was characterized by a phreatomagmatic phase followed by a magmatic one. The geological setting of this peripheral sector of the volcano favors the interaction between the rising magma and the shallow groundwater hosted in the volcanic pile resting on the impermeable sedimentary basement. This process produced phreatomagmatic activity in the first phase of the eruption, forming a pyroclastic fall deposit made of high-density, poorly vesicular scoria lapilli and lithic clasts. Conversely, during the second phase, a typical strombolian fall deposit formed. In terms of hazard assessment, the possible occurrence of this type of highly explosive flank eruption, at lower elevation in the densely inhabited areas, increases the volcanic risk in the Etnean region and widens the already known hazard scenario.     

Late glacial and early Holocene hydroclimate variability in northwest Iran (Talesh Mountains) inferred from chironomid and pollen analysis

We reconstructed the paleohydrologic and climatic history of the Lake Neor region, NW Iran, from the end of the late glacial to the middle Holocene (15,500–7500 cal yr BP). Subfossil chironomid and pollen assemblages in a sediment core from a peatland located south of Lake Neor enabled identification of four main hydrologic phases. The period 15,500–12,700 cal yr BP was characterized by a relatively dry climate with an open landscape, suggested by the abundance of Irano-Turanian steppe plants (e.g. Amaranthaceae, Artemisia and Cousinia). Dominance of several shallow-water and semi-terrestrial chironomid taxa (e.g. Pseudosmittia, Smittia/Parasmittia and Paraphaenocladius/Parametriocnemus) during this period is indicative of lower water tables in the wetland. Between 12,700 and 11,300 cal yr BP, chironomid taxa indicate higher wetland water tables, as suggested by the presence of Zavrelia, Chironomus anthracinus/plumosus-type and Micropsectra, which are inhabitants of open-water, lacustrine areas. The open-steppe vegetation remained dominant in the watershed during this time. Increasing wetland moisture could be explained by: (1) cool summers that reduced the evaporation rate; and/or (2) a decrease in duration of the summer dry season. The period 11,300–8700 cal yr BP was characterized by lower wetland moisture, contemporaneous with a delay in the expansion of deciduous forest, suggesting persistent dry climate conditions throughout the beginning of the Holocene, which may have been related to the intensified seasonality of precipitation. Around 8700 cal yr BP, higher wetland water levels, inferred from chironomids, occurred simultaneously with the onset of regional deciduous forest expansion, probably caused by a shortening of the summer dry period. We concluded that chironomids are appropriate paleoecological proxies to investigate global and local hydrologic variability in the Middle East.     

Geological evolution of Mount Etna volcano (Italy) from earliest products until the first central volcanism (between 500 and 100 ka ago) inferred from geochronological and stratigraphic data

We present an updated geological evolution of Mount Etna volcano based on new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations and stratigraphic data integrating the previous K/Ar ages. Volcanism began at about 500 ka ago through submarine eruptions on the Gela–Catania Foredeep basin. About 300 ka ago fissure-type eruptions occurred on the ancient alluvial plain of the Simeto River forming a lava plateau. From about 220 ka ago the eruptive activity was localised mainly along the Ionian coast where fissure-type eruptions built a shield volcano. Between 129 and 126 ka ago volcanism shifted westward toward the central portion of the present volcano (Val Calanna–Moscarello area). Furthermore, scattered effusive eruptions on the southern periphery of Etna edifice occurred until about 121 ka ago. The stabilization of the plumbing system on the Valle del Bove area is marked by the building of two small polygenic edifices, Tarderia and Rocche volcanoes. Their eruptive activity was rather coeval ending 106 and 102 ka ago, respectively. During the investigated time-span volcanism in Etna region was controlled by a main E–W extensional tectonic related to the reactivation of Malta Escarpment fault system in eastern Sicily. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article () contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Instruments of RT-2 experiment onboard CORONAS-PHOTON and their test and evaluation I: ground calibration of RT-2/S and RT-2/G

Phoswich detectors (RT-2/S & RT-2/G) are major scientific payloads of the RT-2 Experiment onboard the CORONAS-PHOTON mission, which was launched into a polar Low Earth Orbit of around 550 km on 2009 January 30. These RT-2 instruments are designed and developed to observe solar flares in hard X-rays and to understand the energy transport processes associated with these flares. Apart from this, these instruments are capable of observing Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) and Cosmic diffuse X-ray background (CDXRB). Both detectors consist of identical NaI(Tl) and CsI(Na) scintillation crystals in a Phoswich combination, having the same diameter (116 mm) but different thicknesses. The normal working energy range is from 15 keV to 150 keV, but may be extendable up to ~1 MeV. In this paper, we present the RT-2/S and RT-2/G instruments and discuss their testing and calibration results. We used different radio-active sources to calibrate both detectors. The radio-active source ⁵⁷Co (122 keV) is used for onboard calibration of both instruments. During its lifetime (??3?C5 years), RT-2 is expected to cover the peak of the 24th solar cycle.