Changing depositional environment revealed from sediment components,west of “Swatch of No Ground”, northern Bay of Bengal

The sediment cores of 20 cm length collected from 31 to 83 m range of water depth from the inner shelf of Bay of Bengal west of “Swatch of No Ground” were analyzed for grain size, organic carbon, total nitrogen, calcium carbonate and clay mineralogy. Grain size analysis revealed that the sediment size decreases from west to east within the study area indicating a possible direction of transport towards east parallel to the coast. The grain size also decreases with increasing water depth, i.e. north to south, indicating sediment contribution to the area of study from Hooghly and other local rivers. In the cores studied, illite was the dominant clay mineral which seems to be a product of glacial weathering under arid conditions with its source being the Himalayan region. The organic carbon content was low in the sediments and was attributed to low plankton production or intense oxidation processes. Low calcium carbonate percentage also supports the view of a low productivity in this region. Organic carbon increases gradually from west to east indicating its association with finer sediments and also indicates transport due to currents which drift the organic carbon away before it settles down within the sediments. Higher values relatively closer to the coast in the eastern side indicate additional contribution from Sunderban mangroves. The C/N ratio obtained indicates mixed source of terrestrial and marine for the organic matter in the sediments. Sedimentation rates available for deltaic plains and shelves off Bangladesh when adopted for the present area revealed that a 20 cm long sediment column was deposited in around 10 years. In most of the cores studied, a change in the trend of sediment components and organic carbon was observed at around 10 cm where grain size increases and organic carbon decreases towards the surface inferring that during the last 5 years, possible floods during NE monsoon or due to melting of ice in Himalaya are responsible for releasing additional water and material which brought a change in hydrodynamic conditions. The surface depletion of organic carbon indicates its dilution by the addition of coarser materials.     

Hydrologic and hydrogeologic analyses of an alluvial aquifer underlying Kushabhadra-Bhargavi River basin,Odisha, India

This paper deals with the analysis of groundwater condition in an alluvial aquifer system underlying Kushabhadra-Bhargavi River basin of Odisha, India. The rainfall data and river-stage data of the Kushabhadra River were analyzed for the periods of 1995–2009 and 1991–2010, respectively. Using the available lithologic data, geologic profiles along North-South and East-West sections were prepared and stratigraphy analysis was performed to characterize aquifers and confining layers present in the river basin. The results of stratigraphic analyses indicated that a two-layered aquifer system consisting of an unconfined aquifer and a confined aquifer exists in the study area. The thickness of unconfined aquifer varies from 3.4 to 46.5 m, whereas that of confined aquifer varies from 3.1 to 80.3 m over the basin with an interconnecting confining layer of thickness ranging from 2.1 to 60.0 m. The rainfall-groundwater dynamics and hydraulic connectivity were also investigated for gaining insights into groundwater characteristics. The analysis of groundwater levels indicated that the correlation among the 14 sites is better for most pairs of the sites (r = 0.50 to 0.96) in case of pre-monsoon season’s data and annual data as compared to monsoon and post-monsoon season’s data. This indicates good hydraulic connectivity among the observed sites in the study area. The significant seasonal groundwater fluctuations in the study area indicate appreciable recharge to the aquifer during the monsoon season. The findings obtained and insights gained from this study can be helpful for the water managers and decision makers to understand groundwater dynamics for the efficient planning and management of vital groundwater resources in the region. It is recommended that groundwater monitoring should be continued at more sites to understand long-term spatio-temporal characteristics of groundwater in the study area.     

Evidence of melt/rock interaction in the Cr-spinel bearing wehrlite rocks of Bangriposi,India: Implications for nature of the metasomatic agent

Cr-spinel bearing wehrlite rocks of Bangriposi are found within the multiply deformed metasedimentary rocks of Singhbhum Group belonging to North Singhbhum Mobile Belt of eastern India. Detailed mineralogical and geochemical studies reveal that these rocks have suffered a two-stage alteration involving a deeper level modal and cryptic metasomatism and a subsequent shallower depth pervasive hydrothermal alteration. Cryptic metasomatism is defined by elevated LREE contents of the wehrlite and its clinopyroxne grains. Metasomatism induced changes in the modal mineralogy of the rocks include the absence of primary orthopyroxene grains, presence of secondary diopside-phlogopite(now present as vermiculite) defining disequilibrium reaction textures and secondary orthopyroxene rims around serpentinized olivine. The mineralogical and geochemical changes due to the metasomatic event present a contrasting picture in regard to the metasomatic history of the rocks. Possible scenarios involving a single stage or multiple stage metasomatism events have been discussed while explaining the metasomatic reactions that took place. An attempt has been made to estimate the REE concentrations of the final equilibrating melt from REE contents of clinopyroxene grains of the wehrlite. The possibility of the LREE-enriched equilibrating melt of the wehrlite rocks(the deeper level metasomatic agent) being similar to residual melts from the E-MORB type parental melts of nearby gabbro suite has been ruled out by geochemical modeling. REE abundance patterns of several natural enriched melts have been compared with REE pattern of calculated LREE-enriched equilibrating melt of the wehrlite and most resemblance has been observed with calcic and potassic melts. It is therefore suggested that the Cr-spinel bearing wehrlite rocks of Bangriposi has been affected by a calcio-potassic melt in deeper level, prior to the shallow level serpentinization event.     

Structure,mechanical properties and evolution of the lithosphere below the northwest continental margin of India

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The continental breakup history at the northwest continental margin of India remained conjectural due to lack of clearly discernable magnetic anomaly...     

Deformation behavior of migmatites: insights from microstructural analysis of a garnet–sillimanite–mullite–quartz–feldspar-bearing anatectic migmatite at Rampura–Agucha,Aravalli–Delhi Fold Belt,NW India

International Journal of Earth Sciences - In the present study we investigate the microstructural development in mullite, quartz and garnet in an anatectic migmatite hosted within a Grenvillian-age...     

Formation Mechanism of Mud Bank Along the Southwest Coast of India

Mud bank formation during the southwest monsoon along the southwest coast of India remains an enigma to the researchers and coastal community in spite of several earlier studies. The present study attempts to unravel the mystery through a high-frequency, season-long time-series observation at Alappuzha, located at the southern part of the west coast of India, a region of frequent occurrence of mud bank. Using 7-month-long weekly time-series observation, we identified strong winds and high waves associated with onset of the southwest monsoon and subsequent three episodic atmospheric low-pressure events (LPEs).With the help of in situ time-series data, we show that the strong winds and high waves associated with southwest monsoon pre-conditions the near shore bottom sediment to bring it into suspension. The high amplitude waves associated with the southwest monsoon, while propagating from the deep water to shallow water region, interact with the bottom initiating bottom-sediment movement and its suspension due to wave refraction and shoaling. The sporadic occurrence of the atmospheric LPEs enhances the process of suspension of bottom sediment in the near shore region leading to the formation of fluid mud. Simulations with a cohesive sediment transport model yielded realistic estimates of sediment transport, in the presence of an onshore current, a pre-requisite for transporting the fluid mud toward the coast. The prevailing onshore upwelling current during the southwest monsoon provides the favorable pre-requisite conditions for transporting the fluid mud through depression channel network towards the coast. Once sufficient quantity and thickness of fluid mud is accumulated in the near shore region, it acts as a wave damper for subsequent high monsoon waves, as indicated by the time-series wave data, leading to the formation of tranquil mud bank region. Depression channel networks extending from the shelf to the coast off Alappuzha, Kochi, Ponnani, Beypore, and Ullal were found in the bathymetric charts, thus explaining why mud banks occur only at few locations in spite of the prevalence of similar monsoon conditions.     

Diversity of marine and brackish water nitrite-oxidizing consortia developed for activating nitrifying bioreactors in aquaculture

Nitrite is a well-known toxicant in aquaculture, produced as intermediate in nitrification. Two nitrite-oxidizing bacterial consortia, one from marine environment and the other from brackish water, were developed by enrichment technique at National Centre for Aquatic Animal Health, for removal of nitrite from recirculating aquaculture systems. In the present study, bacterial diversity of the consortia was assessed based on 16S ribosomal RNA and the functional gene analysis. Clone libraries of 16S ribosomal RNA gene and nitrite oxidoreductase A gene were constructed, and amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis was carried out to cluster the clones. Dendrograms generated through molecular characterization showed 29 and 27 clusters in marine and brackish water consortia, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses of representative clones from each cluster depicted profound diversity in the consortia consisting autotrophic nitrifiers belonging to Proteobacteria, anaerobic ammonia oxidizers, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and heterotrophic denitrifiers. Functional gene analysis corroborated with the presence of specific nitrite oxidizers. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed the abundance of nitrite oxidizers in the order of 1.51 ± 0.38 × 10⁹/g and 4.88 ± 0.42 × 10⁷/g in marine and brackish water consortia, respectively. Diversity indices and pattern of distribution of organisms within the consortia were analyzed using Geneious, VITCOMIC, Mega 5 and Primer software. The marine nitrite-oxidizing consortium showed higher Shannon–Wiener diversity and mean population diversity than brackish water consortium, suggesting that the former was having more diverse flora and higher potential to be used as startup cultures for activating nitrifying bioreactors subsequent to acclimatization to the required salinity.