Cobalt‐Bearing Grunerite in the Metamorphosed Banded Iron Formation in Orissa,India

Banded iron formation (BIF) comprising high grade iron ore are exposed in Gorumahisani‐Sulaipat‐Badampahar belt in the east of North Orissa Craton, India. The ores are multiply deformed and metamorphosed to amphibolite facies. The mineral assemblage in the BIF comprises grunerite, magnetite/martite/goethite and quartz. Relict carbonate phases are sometimes noticed within thick iron mesobands. Grunerite crystals exhibit needles to fibrous lamellae and platy form or often sheaf‐like aggregates in linear and radial arrangement. Accicular grunerite also occur within intergranular space of magnetite/martite. Grunerite needles/accicules show higher reflectivity in chert mesoband and matching reflectance with that of adjacent magnetite/martite in iron mesoband. Some grunerite lamellae sinter into micron size magnetite platelets. This grunerite has high ferrous oxide and cobalt oxide content but is low in Mg‐ and Mn‐oxide compared to the ones, reported from BIFs, of Western Australia, Nigeria, France, USA and Quebec. The protolith of this BIF is considered to be carbonate containing sediments, with high concentrations of Fe and Si but lower contents of cobalt and chromium ± Mg, Mn and Ni. During submarine weathering quartz, sheet silicate (greenalite) and Fe‐Co‐Cr (Mg‐Mn‐Ni)‐carbonate solid solution were formed. At the outset of the regional metamorphic episode grunerite, euhedral magnetite and recrystalized quartz were developed. Magnetite was grown at the expense of carbonate and later martitized under post‐metamorphic conditions. With the increasing grade of metamorphism greenalite transformed to grunerite.     

Hydrogeochemical Characterization and Groundwater Quality of Jamshedpur Urban Agglomeration in Precambrian Terrain,Eastern India

This paper reports petrography, geochemistry and Rb-Sr age data on the rare metal bearing Neoarchean fertile (Nb-Ta) granite at Allapatna and elucidates its petrogenesis and role in Nb-Ta-Li-Be mineralization. The Allapatna granite (AG) intrudes the Tonalitic-Trondhjemitic - Granodioritic (TTG) Peninsular Gneiss and analysed SiO₂ (72.3-75.6 wt%), K₂O (4.0-5.7wt%), Na2O (3.0-4.4wt%), CaO (0.7-1wt%), MgO (0.13-0.25wt%) and K₂O/Na₂O (>1) indicating evolved nature. The presence of muscovite, biotite and garnet in the mode, peraluminous nature and high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio (0.7284±0.0083) attest to their S-type characteristics. Varying Nb/Ta ratio and high Li with moderate abundance of Cs further indicate affinity to Li-Cs-Ta (LCT) type granite-pegmatite system. TheAG showing whole rock Rb-Sr isochron age of 2803± 68 Ma, is the oldest reported fertile granite in India parental to rare metal pegmatites hosting Nb-Ta, Be, and Li resources. Partial melting of a mixed source consisting of both basement TTG rocks and metapelites has generated such type of granitic magma. Fractionation of such granitic magma possibly has given rise to the rare metal (Ta-Nb-Li-Be) bearing pegmatites intruding the nearby schist belt.     

Interannual variability and predictability of sea level along the Indian Coast

Summary The Indian coast stretching more than 7,500 km constitutes the major portion of the South Asian coastline in the North Indian Ocean region. The South Asian region is significantly influenced by meteorological/oceanographic phenomena like monsoons, El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and tropical cyclones. Direct/indirect impacts of these phenomena, which exhibit large interannual variabilities, on sea level changes in this region are considerable. Our results show that the mean sea level along the eastern coast of India, which is highly vulnerable to the incidence of severe tropical cyclones, is considerably higher than normal during the intense cyclonic period of a year falling in the positive phase of the Southern Oscillation (La Ni?a epoch), thereby enhancing the hazardous potential of tropical cyclones. Further, in the closing phase of the La Ni?a southwest monsoon, higher sea level anomalies prevail along the Indian coast raising the flooding potential of such monsoons. Over the west coast of India significant simultaneous correlations have been found between the amount of southwest monsoon rainfall and the mean sea level during the period from June to September. Over the east coast of India at Visakhapatnam, mean sea level is predictable with a fair degree of confidence one month in advance, by using the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) as predictors. These results will be useful in the annual preparedness programmes aimed at mitigating the impacts of natural disasters like tropical cyclones and floods in the South Asian region. Received November 9, 2001     

Copula-based risk evaluation of droughts across the Pearl River basin, China

Daily precipitation data for the period of 1960–2005 from 42 precipitation gauging stations in the Pearl River basin were analyzed using the Mann–Kendall trend test and copula functions. The standardized precipitation index method was used to define drought episodes. Primary and secondary return periods were also analyzed to evaluate drought risks in the Pearl River basin as a whole. Results indicated that: (1) in general, the drought tendency was not significant at a 95 % confidence level. However, significant drought trends could be found in November, December, and January and significant wetting trends in June and July. The drought severity and drought durations were not significant at most of the precipitation stations across the Pearl River basin; (2) in terms of drought risk, higher drought risk could be observed in the lower Pearl River basin and lower drought risk in the upper Pearl River basin. Higher risk of droughts of longer durations was always corresponding to the higher risk of droughts with higher drought severity, which poses an increasing challenge for drought management and water resources management. When drought episodes with higher drought severity occurred in the Pearl River basin, the regions covered by higher risk of drought events were larger, which may challenge the water supply in the lower Pearl River basin. As for secondary return periods, results of this study indicated that secondary return periods might provide a more robust evaluation of drought risk. This study should be of merit for water resources management in the Pearl River basin, particularly the lower Pearl River basin, and can also act as a case study for determining regional response to drought changes as a result of global climate changes.     

Large-scale and spatio-temporal extreme rain events over India: a hydrometeorological study

Frequency, intensity, areal extent (AE) and duration of rain spells during summer monsoon exhibit large intra-seasonal and inter-annual variations. Important features of the monsoon period large-scale wet spells over India have been documented. A main monsoon wet spell (MMWS) occurs over the country from 18 June to 16 September, during which, 26.5 % of the area receives rainfall 26.3 mm/day. Detailed characteristics of the MMWS period large-scale extreme rain events (EREs) and spatio-temporal EREs (ST-EREs), each concerning rainfall intensity (RI), AE and rainwater (RW), for 1 to 25 days have been studied using 1° gridded daily rainfall (1951–2007). In EREs, ‘same area’ (grids) is continuously wet, whereas in ST-EREs, ‘any area’ on the mean under wet condition for specified durations is considered. For the different extremes, second-degree polynomial gave excellent fit to increase in values from distribution of annual maximum RI and RW series with increase in duration. Fluctuations of RI, AE, RW and date of occurrence (or start) of the EREs and the ST-EREs did not show any significant trend. However, fluctuations of 1° latitude–longitude grid annual and spatial maximum rainfall showed highly significant increasing trend for 1 to 5 days, and unprecedented rains on 26–27 July 2005 over Mumbai could be a realization of this trend. The Asia–India monsoon intensity significantly influences the MMWS RW.     

Changes in dissolved organic matter (DOM) amount and composition along nested headwater stream locations during baseflow and stormflow

Amount and composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were evaluated for multiple, nested stream locations in a forested watershed to investigate the role of hydrologic flow paths, wetlands and drainage scale. Sampling was performed over a 4‐year period (2008–2011) for five locations with drainage areas of 0.62, 3.5, 4.5, 12 and 79 ha. Hydrologic flow paths were characterized using an end‐member mixing model. DOM composition was determined using a suite of spectrofluorometric indices and a site‐specific parallel factor analysis model. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), humic‐like DOM and fluorescence index were most sensitive to changes with drainage scale, whereas dissolved organic nitrogen, specific UV absorbance, Sr and protein‐like DOM were least sensitive. DOM concentrations and humic‐like DOM constituents were highest during both baseflow and stormflow for a 3.5‐ha catchment with a wetland near the catchment outlet. Whereas storm‐event concentrations of DOC and humic DOM constituents declined, the mass exports of DOC increased with increasing catchment scale. A pronounced dilution in storm‐event DOC concentration was observed at peak stream discharge for the 12‐ha drainage location, which was not as apparent at the 79‐ha scale, suggesting key differences in supply and transport of DOM. Our observations indicate that hydrologic flow paths, especially during storms, and the location and extent of wetlands in the catchment are key determinants of DOM concentration and composition. This study furthers our understanding of changes in DOM with drainage scale and the controls on DOM in headwater, forested catchments. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.