Petrochemistry of sandstones from Neoproterozoic basins of the Bastar craton, Central Indian Shield: Implications for paleoweathering, provenance and tectonic history

Petrographic analysis and chemical analysis of major and trace elements including rare earth elements of the Neoproterozoic sandstones from the Chandarpur Group and the Tiratgarh Formation have been carried out to determine their provenance, tectonic setting and weathering conditions. All sandstone samples are highly enriched in quartz but very poor in feldspar and lithic fragments. Petrographically and geochemically these sandstones are classified as subarkose, sublitharenite and arenite. The Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA mean 68) and Th/U ratios (mean 4.2) for these sandstones suggest their moderate weathering nature. Generally, all sandstone samples are strongly depleted in major elements (except SiO₂), trace elements (except Zr) and REE in comparison with Post Archean Australian Shale (PAAS) and Upper Continental Crust (UCC). Their mineralogy and mean of elemental ratios suitable for determination of provenance and tectonic setting, e.g. Al₂O₃/SiO₂ (0.02), K₂O/Na₂O (10), Eu/Eu* (0.67), (La/Lu)n (10.4), La/Sc (3), Th/Sc (1.2), La/Co (0.22), Th/Co (0.08), and Cr/Th (7.2), support a felsic source and a passive margin tectonic setting for these sandstones. Also these key elemental ratios do not show much variation over a range of SiO₂. Thus we attest their significance in determining source rock characteristics of quartz rich sandstones. Chondrite‐normalized REE patterns with LREE enrichment and a strong negative Eu anomaly are also attributed to felsic source rock characteristics for these sandstones. The source rocks identified are granite and gneiss of the Bastar craton. Minor amounts may have been derived from older supracrustals of the Bastar craton. However, the major element data of the Paleoproterozoic Sakoli schists when compared with those of the Neoproterozoic sandstones indicate that the schists were derived from a mafic source and deposited in an active continental margin tectonic setting. There is, however, little difference in CIA values between the Paleoproterozoic Sakoli schists and Neoproterozoic sandstones, indicating prevailing of similar (moderate‐intense) weathering conditions throughout the Proterozoic in the Bastar craton. Our study also suggests a change in the provenance and tectonic setting of deposition of sediments from dominantly a mafic source and an active continental margin in the Paleoproterozoic to dominantly granite and gneiss (felsic source) and a passive continental margin in the Neoproterozoic in the Bastar craton.     

Optimal design of soil dynamic compaction using genetic algorithm and fuzzy system

Computational intelligent techniques, such as fuzzy and genetic algorithm, have proven to be useful in modeling of complex nonlinear phenomena such as dynamic compaction. Dynamic compaction method is used to improve the mechanical behavior of underlying soil layers especially loose granular materials. The method involves the repeated impart of high-energy impacts to the soil surface using steel or concrete tampers with weights ranging 10–40 ton and with drop heights ranging 10–40 m. A relatively exact estimation of dynamic compaction level is of major concern to geotechnical engineers. This paper develops a fuzzy set base method for the analysis of dynamic compaction phenomenon. In this model, the input variables are tamper weight, height of tamper drop, print spacing, tamper radius, number of impact and soil layer geotechnical properties. The main shortcoming of this technique is uncertainty to locate the best sketch of dynamic compaction to gain maximum effect of this method of soil improvement. Therefore, this paper describes the incorporation of genetic algorithm methodology using fuzzy system for determining the optimum design of dynamic compaction. Subsequently, it will be shown that the genetic algorithm has some abilities in the optimization of dynamic compaction design. Also different manners of this algorithm are compared and then the optimized structure of genetic algorithm will be suggested for dynamic compaction.     

Changes in precipitation extremes over arid to semiarid and subhumid Punjab,Pakistan

Asymmetrical monsoons during the recent past have resulted into spatially variable and devastating floods in South Asia. Analysis of historic precipitation extremes record may help in formulating mitigation strategies at local level. Eleven indices of precipitation extremes were evaluated using RClimDex and daily time series data for analysis period of 1981–2010 from five representative cities across Punjab province of Pakistan. The indices include consecutive dry days, consecutive wet days, number of days above daily average precipitation, number of days with precipitation ≥10 mm, number of days with precipitation ≥20 mm, very wet days, extremely wet days, simple daily intensity index, maximum 1-day precipitation quantity, maximum 5 consecutive day precipitation quantity, and annual total wet-day precipitation. Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s slope extremes were used to detect trends in indices. Droughts and excessive precipitation were dictated by elevation from mean sea level with prolonged dry spells in southern Punjab and vice versa confirming spatial trends for precipitation extremes. However, no temporal trend was observed for any of the indices. Summer in the region is the wettest season depicting contribution of monsoons during June through August toward devastating floods in the region.     

Analysis of long-term dependence phenomenon in Benue River flow process and its hypothesis testing

In this paper, the long-term dependence phenomenon （the Hurst Effect） which characterizes hydrological and other geophysical times series is studied. The long-term memory is analysed for both daily and monthly streamflow series of the Benue River at Makurdi, Nigeria by using heuristic methods and testing specifically the null hypothesis of short-term memory in the monthly flow series. Results obtained by applying heuristic procedures indicated that there may be the presence of long-term memory component in mean daily flow series but there is no discernible reason to suspect the presence in both average monthly and maximum monthly flow series （extreme event）. Hypothesis testing was conducted by using original and modified versions of rescaled range statistic. When the modified rescaled range, which accounts for short-term memory in the series, is used, the null hypothesis is accepted for both the average monthly and maximum monthly flow series, indicating little or no probable presence of long-term memory in the series. An identical conclusion is also arrived at when second null hypothesis for independence of the monthly flow series is tested. Therefore, apart from the mean daily flow series, there is little evidence of long-term dependence in the Benue River streamflow series at Makurdi. However, considering the limited length of data used, the results are inconclusive.     

Dye Removal,Energy Consumption and Operating Cost of Electrocoagulation of Textile Wastewater as a Clean Process

In this research, the efficiency of electrocoagulation treatment process using aluminum electrodes to treat synthetic wastewater containing Reactive Red198 (RR198) was studied. The effects of parameters such as voltage, time of reaction, electrode connection mode, initial dye concentration, electrolyte concentration, and inter electrode distance on dye removal efficiency were investigated. In addition, electrical energy consumption, electrode consumption, and operating cost at optimum condition have been investigated. The results showed that dye and chemical oxygen demand removals were 98.6 and 84%, respectively. Electrode consumption, energy consumption and operating cost were 0.052 kg/m³, 1.303 kWh/m³ and 0.256 US$/m³, respectively. Dye removal kinetic followed first order kinetics. It can be concluded that electrocoagulation process by aluminum electrode is very efficient and clean process for reactive dye removal from colored wastewater.     

Abundance and Ecology of Endemic Asterorotalia trispinosa from the Western Bay of Bengal: Implications for its Application as a Paleomonsoon Proxy

A total of 97 surface sediment samples were collected from the continental shelf and slope of the western Bay of Bengal to assess the potential application of Asterorotalia trispinosa as a paleomonsoon proxy. The relative abundance of living as well as total (living and dead) A. trispinosa ranges from being absent to a maximum of ~31%. The highest abundance of A. trispinosa is close to the outfall region of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Rivers and decreases away from the river mouths. Contrary to that, A. trispinosa is rare in front of both the Cauvery and Pennar river outfall regions, in the central part of the western Bay of Bengal. The living A. trispinosa abundance is the lowest in between two major river systems, viz. Ganga-Brahmaputra-Mahanadi and Krishna-Godavari. The relative abundance of both the total and living A. trispinosa is strongly positively correlated with ambient seawater temperature, and negatively correlated with %Corg and salinity. Based on the spatial distribution, we conclude that A. trispinosa is stenohaline in nature, rather than euryhaline, and further that the increased relative abundance of A. trispinosa indicates warmer and only marginally hyposaline environment. Even though the ecological preference of A. trispinosa suggests it as a potential paleomonsoon proxy, the restricted distribution implies limited application.     

Optimizing 3-D seismic survey design parameters using genetic algorithm—a case study in southwest of Iran

The crucial advantages of a 3-D seismic survey are the proper migration of the reflection points and the more accurate study on the structural and stratigraphic targets, reservoir characterization, and joint study. In this article we will focus on Pardis Project in southwest of Iran where no 3-D seismic survey has ever been carried out. The local geological information, previous 2-D seismic, VSP data, and interval velocity information obtained from check shots were taken into consideration to determine the requirements of the survey. The objective is to adequately sample the primary and secondary targets at the depth of 1,200 and 5,000 m, respectively. On the base of the logic dominating a genetic algorithm, the best operational layout was offered to satisfy the geophysical requirements looking forward to satisfy financial constraints. Using Genetic Algorithm Toolbox in MATLAB, we could formulate a mathematical constrained optimization problem. Applying this technique we derived nominal designs which are needed to be evaluated to make sure how well they could image the targets.