Integrated approach for identification of potential groundwater zones in Seethanagaram Mandal of Vizianagaram District,Andhra Pradesh,India

Identifying a good site for groundwater exploration in hard rock terrain is a challenging task. In hard rocks, groundwater occurs in secondary porosity developed due to weathering, fracturing, faulting, etc., which is highly variable within short distance and contributing to near-surface inhomogeneity. In such situations topographic, hydrogeological and geomorphological features provide useful clues for the selection of suitable sites. Initially, based on satellite imagery, topographical, geomorphological and hydrogeological features, an area of about 149 km² was demarcated as a promising zone for groundwater exploration in the hard rock tract of Seethanagaram Mandal, Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh, India. A total of 50 Vertical Electrical Soundings (VES) were carried out using Wenner electrode configuration. An interactive interpretation of the VES data sharpened the information inferred from geomorphological and hydrogeological reconnaissance. Ten sites were recommended for drilling. Drilling with Down-The-Hole Hammer (DTH) was carried out at the recommended sites down to 50 to 70 m depths. The interpreted VES results matched well with the drilled bore well lithologs. The yields of bore wells vary from 900 to 9000 liters per hour (lph).     

Seismic hazard assessment of Chennai city considering local site effects

Chennai city suffered moderate tremors during the 2001 Bhuj and Pondicherry earthquakes and the 2004 Sumatra earthquake. After the Bhuj earthquake, Indian Standard IS: 1893 was revised and Chennai city was upgraded from zone II to zone III which leads to a substantial increase of the design ground motion parameters. Therefore, a comprehensive study is carried out to assess the seismic hazard of Chennai city based on a deterministic approach. The seismicity and seismotectonic details within a 100 km radius of the study area have been considered. The one-dimensional ground response analysis was carried out for 38 representative sites by the equivalent linear method using the SHAKE91 program to estimate the ground motion parameters considering the local site effects. The shear wave velocity profile was inferred from the corrected blow counts and it was verified with the Multichannel Analysis of Surface Wave (MASW) test performed for a representative site. The seismic hazard is represented in terms of characteristic site period and Spectral Acceleration Ratio (SAR) contours for the entire city. It is found that structures with low natural period undergo significant amplification mostly in the central and southern parts of Chennai city due to the presence of deep soil sites with clayey or sandy deposits and the remaining parts undergo marginal amplification.     

Proposed seismic hazard maps of Sumatra and Java islands and microzonation study of Jakarta city,Indonesia

This paper presents the development of spectral hazard maps for Sumatra and Java islands, Indonesia and microzonation study for Jakarta city. The purpose of this study is to propose a revision of the seismic hazard map in Indonesian Seismic Code SNI 03-1726-2002. Some improvements in seismic hazard analysis were implemented in the analysis by considering the recent seismic activities around Java and Sumatra. The seismic hazard analysis was carried out using 3-dimension (3-D) seismic source models (fault source model) using the latest research works regarding the tectonic setting of Sumatra and Java. Two hazard levels were analysed for representing 10% and 2% probability of exceedance (PE) in 50 years ground motions for Sumatra and Java. Peak ground acceleration contour maps for those two hazard levels and two additional macrozonation maps for 10% PE in 50 years were produced during this research. These two additional maps represent short period (0.2 s) and long-period (1.0 s) spectra values at the bedrock. Microzonation study is performed in order to obtain ground motion parameters such as acceleration, amplification factor and response spectra at the surface of Jakarta. The analyses were carried out using nonlinear approach. The results were used to develop contour of acceleration at the surface of Jakarta. Finally, the design response spectra for structural design purposes are proposed in this study.     

The WRF model performance for the simulation of heavy precipitating events over Ahmedabad during August 2006

The summer monsoon season of the year 2006 was highlighted by an unprecedented number of monsoon lows over the central and the western parts of India, particularly giving widespread rainfall over Gujarat and Rajasthan. Ahmedabad had received 540.2mm of rainfall in the month of August 2006 against the climatological mean of 219.8mm. The two spells of very heavy rainfall of 108.4mm and 97.7mm were recorded on 8 and 12 August 2006 respectively. Due to meteorological complexities involved in replicating the rainfall occurrences over a region, the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF-ARW version) modeling system with two different cumulus schemes in a nested configuration is chosen for simulating these events. The spatial distributions of large-scale circulation and moisture fields have been simulated reasonably well in this model, though there are some spatial biases in the simulated rainfall pattern. The rainfall amount over Ahmedabad has been underestimated by both the cumulus parameterization schemes. The quantitative validation of the simulated rainfall is done by calculating the categorical skill scores like frequency bias, threat scores (TS) and equitable threat scores (ETS). In this case the KF scheme has outperformed the GD scheme for the low precipitation threshold.     

Observations of unusual whistlers during daytime at Jammu

In this paper, we report observations of unusual whistlers recorded at Jammu (geomag. lat. = 22°26′N; L = 1.17), India on March 8, 1999 during the daytime. They are interpreted as one-hop ducted whistlers having propagated along higher L-values in closely spaced narrow ducts from the opposite hemispheres. After leakage from the duct, the waves might have propagated in the earth-ionosphere waveguide towards the equator in surface mode. Tentative explanation of the dynamic spectra of these events is briefly presented.     

Asymmetrically zoned reaction rims: assessment of grain boundary diffusivities and growth rates related to natural diffusion-controlled mineral reactions

This study explores garnet coronas around hedenbergite, which were formed by the reaction plagioclase + hedenbergite→garnet + quartz, to derive information about diffusion paths that allowed for material redistribution during reaction progress. Whereas quartz forms disconnected single grains along the garnet/hedenbergite boundaries, garnet forms ～20‐μm‐wide continuous polycrystalline rims along former plagioclase/hedenbergite phase boundaries. Individual garnet crystals are separated by low‐angle grain boundaries, which commonly form a direct link between the reaction interfaces of the plagioclase|garnet|hedenbergite succession. Compositional variations in garnet involve: (i) an overall asymmetric compositional zoning in Ca, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺ and Al across the garnet layer; and (ii) micron‐scale compositional variations in the near‐grain boundary regions and along plagioclase/garnet phase boundaries. These compositional variations formed during garnet rim growth. Thereby, transfer of the chemical components occurred by a combination of fast‐path diffusion along grain boundaries within the garnet rim, slow diffusion through the interior of the garnet grains, and by fast diffusion along the garnet/plagioclase and the garnet/hedenbergite phase boundaries. Numerical simulation indicates that diffusion of Ca, Al and Fe²⁺ occurred about three to four, four and six to seven orders of magnitude faster along the grain boundaries than through the interior of the garnet grains. Fast‐path diffusion along grain boundaries contributed substantially to the bulk material transfer across the growing garnet rim. Despite the contribution of fast‐path diffusion, bulk diffusion through the garnet rim was too slow to allow for chemical equilibration of the phases involved in garnet rim formation even on a micrometre scale. Based on published garnet volume diffusion data the growth interval of a 20‐μm‐wide garnet rim is estimated at ～10³–10⁴ years at the inferred reaction conditions of 760 ± 50 °C at 7.6 kbar. Using the same parameterization of the growth law, 100‐μm‐ and 1‐mm‐thick garnet rims would grow within 10⁵–10⁶ and 10⁶–10⁷ years respectively.     

Paleomagnetism and Detrital Zircon Geochronology of the Upper Vindhyan Sequence, Son Valley and Rajasthan, India: A ca. 1000 Ma Closure age for the Purana Basins?

The utility of paleomagnetic data gleaned from the Bhander and Rewa Groups of the “Purana-aged” Vindhyanchal Basin has been hampered by the poor age control associated with these units. Ages assigned to the Upper Vindhyan sequence range from Cambrian to the Mesoproterozoic and are derived from a variety of sources, including ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ ¹³C correlations with the global curves and Ediacara-like fossil finds in the Lakheri–Bhander limestone. New analyses of the available paleomagnetic data collected from this study and previous work on the 1073 Ma Majhgawan kimberlite, as well as detrital zircon geochronology of the Upper Bhander sandstone and sandstones from the Marwar SuperGroup suggest that the Upper Vindhyan sequence may be up to 500 Ma older than is commonly thought. Paleomagnetic analysis generated from the Bhander and Rewa Groups yields a paleomagnetic pole at 44°N, 214.0°E (A95 = 4.3°). This paleomagnetic pole closely resembles the VGP from the well-dated Majhgawan intrusion (36.8°N, 212.5°E, α₉₅ = 15.3°).Detrital zircon analysis of the Upper Bhander sandstone identifies a youngest age population at 1020 Ma. A comparison between the previously correlated Upper Bhander sandstone and the Marwar sandstone detrital suites shows virtually no similarities in the youngest detrital suite sampled. The main 840–920 Ma peak is absent in the Upper Bhander. This supports our assertion that the Upper Bhander is older than the 750–771 Ma Malani sequence, and is likely close to the age of the 1073 Ma Majhgawan kimberlite on the basis of the paleomagnetic similarities. By setting the age of the Upper Vindhyan at 1000–1070 Ma, several intriguing possibilities arise. The Bhander–Rewa paleomagnetic pole allows for a reconstruction of India at 1000–1070 Ma that overlaps with the 1073 ± 13.7 Majhgawan kimberlite VGP. Comparisons between the composite Upper Vindhyan pole (43.9°N, 210.2°E, α₉₅ = 12.2°) and the Australian 1071 ± 8 Ma Bangamall Basin sills and the 1070 Ma Alcurra dykes suggest that Australia and India were not adjacent at this time period.     

The role of heterogeneous strain in the development and preservation of a polymetamorphic record in high-P granulites, western Canadian Shield

Mafic rocks in the Chipman domain of the Athabasca granulite terrane, western Canadian Shield, provide the first well‐documented record of two distinct high‐P granulite facies events in the same domain in this region. Textural relations and the results of petrological modelling (NCFMASHT system) of mafic granulites are interpreted in terms of a three‐stage tectonometamorphic history. Stage 1 involved development of the assemblage Grt + Cpx + Qtz ± Pl (M₁) from a primary Opx‐bearing igneous precursor at conditions of 1.3 GPa, 850–900 °C. Field and microstructural observations suggest that M₁ developed synchronously with an early S₁ gneissic fabric. Stage 2 is characterized by heterogeneous deformation (D₂) and synkinematic partial retrogression of the peak assemblage to an amphibole‐bearing assemblage (M₂). Stage 3 involved a third phase of deformation and a return to granulite facies conditions marked by the prograde breakdown of amphibole (Amph₂) to produce matrix garnet (Grt_3a) and the coronitic assemblage Cpx_3b + Opx_3b + Ilm_3b + Pl_3b (M_3b) at 1.0 GPa, 800–900 °C. M₁ and M_3b are correlated with 2.55 and 1.9 Ga metamorphic generations of zircon, respectively, which were dated in a separate study. Heterogeneous strain played a crucial role in both the development and preservation of these rare examples of multiple granulite facies events within single samples. Without this fortuitous set of circumstances, the apparent reaction history could have incorrectly led to an interpretation involving a single‐cycle high‐grade event. The detailed P–T–t–D history constructed for these rocks provides the best evidence to date that much of the east Lake Athabasca region experienced long‐term lower crustal residence from 2.55 to 1.9 Ga, and thus the region represents a rare window into the reactivation and ultimate stabilization processes of cratonic lithosphere.     

Using ALSM to map sinkholes in the urbanized covered karst of Pinellas County,Florida—1, methodological considerations

Comparison of a database of interpreted sinkholes made using airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM) with databases of sinkholes made from interpretation of aerial photographs reveals substantial disagreement. The discrepancies involve the location, number, areas, and circularity of interpreted sinkholes. Methodological factors that contribute to the discrepancies include blockage of ALSM laser returns in thick vegetation, multi-path reflections, and misrepresentation of the true extent of sinkholes. Comparison of two ALSM-derived databases made (1) independently from versus (2) in combination with earlier air photo analysis in undeveloped regions had the following result: one-fourth of the sinkholes interpreted by using the composite method were missed by the independent analysis, and one-third of the sinkholes that were interpreted from the independent analysis were not interpreted as sinkholes using the composite method. Subjective interpretation leads to a high level of uncertainty such that the results of the remote sensing studies are suspect, if not invalid.     

Hydrochemical characteristics and the effects of irrigation on groundwater quality in Harran Plain,GAP Project,Turkey

Improper design, faulty planning, mismanagement and incorrect operation of irrigation schemes are the principle reasons for the deterioration of groundwater quality in a large number of countries, in particular in semi-arid and arid regions. The aim of this study is to determine the dimensions of groundwater quality after surface irrigation was begun in the semi-arid Harran Plain. Physical and chemical parameters of the groundwater including pH, temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, bicarbonate, sulphate, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, total phosphorus, total organic carbon and turbidity were determined monthly during the 2006 water year. The quality of the groundwater in the study area was assessed hydrochemically in order to determine its suitability for human consumption and agricultural purposes. In the general plain, the EC values measured were considerably above the guide level of 650 μS/cm, while nitrate in particular was found in almost all groundwater samples to be significantly above the maximum admissible concentration of 50 mg/l for the quality of water intended for human consumption as per the international and national standards. Total hardness reveals that a majority of the groundwater samples fall in the very hard water category. Interpretation of analytical data shows that Ca–HCO₃ and Ca–SO₄ are the dominant hydrochemical facies in the study area.