Seasonal inhomogeneity of soot particles over the central Indo-Gangetic Plains,India: Influence of meteorology

Black carbon (BC) particles play a unique and important role in earth’s climate system. BC was measured (in-situ) in the central part of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) at Varanasi, which is a highly populated and polluted region due to its topography and extensive emission sources. The annual mean BC mass concentration was 8.92 ± 7.0 µg m ^-3, with 34% of samples exceeding the average value. Seasonally, BC was highest during the post-monsoon and winter periods (approximately 18 µg m ^-3) and lower in the premonsoon/ monsoon seasons (approximately 6 µg m ^-3). The highest frequency (approximately 46%) observed for BC mass was in the interval from 5 to 10 µg m ^-3. However, during the post-monsoon season, the most common values (approximately 23%) were between 20 and 25 µg m ^-3. The nighttime concentrations of BC were approximately twice as much as the daytime values because of lower boundary layer heights at nighttime. The Ångström exponent was significantly positively correlated (0.55) with ground-level BC concentrations, indicating the impact of BC on the columnar aerosol properties. The estimated mean absorption Ångström exponent was 1.02 ± 0.08 µg m ^-3, indicating that the major source of BC was from fossil fuel combustion. Significant negative correlations between BC mass and meteorological parameters indicate a pronounced effect of atmospheric dynamics on the BC mass in this region. The highest mean BC mass concentration (18.1 ± 6.9 µg m ^-3) as a function of wind speed was under calm wind conditions (38% of the time).     

Quantifying Four Decades of Changes in Land Use and Land Cover in India’s Kailash Sacred Landscape: Suggested Option for Priority Based Patch Level Future Forest Conservation

Effective quantification of land cover changes remains a challenge in Himalayan hills and mountains, and has a colossal value addition for natural resource management. Here we present a new robust method for classifying land cover vegetation at physiognomic scale along steep elevational gradients from ~?200 to ~?7000 masl in the Kailash Sacred Landscape, Western Himalaya, India along with four decades of land use and land cover changes (1976–2011) using remote sensing techniques coupled with intensive ground surveys. Results show that forest cover loss was minimum ca 7.14% of existing forest in 1976; but, however forest fragmentation is high especially in montane broad-leaved and subtropical needle leaved forests. This change largely impacted the quality of valuable tree species such as Quercus spp. Post 1976, continuous migration forced conversion of high altitude agricultural lands into grasslands and scrublands. Human settlement expansion was high especially in low altitudinal range valleys between 1000 and 2000 masl and has increased 6.76 fold since 1976, leading to high forest fragmentation in spite of reduced agriculture area in the landscape. Our physiognomic level classified land cover map will be a key for forest managers to prioritize conservation zones for protecting this unique forest land.     

Dating of Columbite-tantalite and Monazite from Pegmatites of the Kawadgaon–Challanpara Area,Bastar Craton,Central India

The results of geochronological studies on columbite-tantalite and monazite from the rare metal pegmatites of the Kawadgaon–Challanpara area in Bastar craton, central India are presented. Columbite-tantalite yielded U-Pb concordia upper intercept age of 1978±16 Ma (MSWD = 0.18). Radiogenic ²⁰⁷Pb*/²⁰⁶Pb* (T_7/6) ages on 4 out of 5 columbite-tantalite vary in a narrow range of 1903 to 2077 Ma and are similar to U-Pb age, whereas, one sample shows younger ²⁰⁷Pb*/²⁰⁶Pb*(T_7/6) age of 1728 Ma. Younger Pb-Pb age of 1744 ± 250 Ma (MSWD = 150) has also been indicated by these columbite-tantalite samples. Four out of five monazite samples define Pb-Pb errorchron age of 2050±370 Ma (MSWD = 165) and radiogenic ²⁰⁷Pb*/²⁰⁶Pb* (T_7/6) ages on 3 out of 5 monazites show a narrow range of 1983 to 2083 Ma. Other two samples show younger ²⁰⁷Pb*/²⁰⁶Pb*(T_7/6) ages as 1254 Ma and 1592Ma. Both monazite and columbite-tantalite indicate disturbance in Pb and U isotopic systematics as revealed by high MSWD. However, selected samples from both monazite and columbite-tantalite indicate age of their formation as c. 2000 Ma. Younger ages, i.e., 1254 to 1744 Ma are indicative of later geological disturbances. Reported age of c. 2000 Ma is comparable to Rb-Sr date of pegmatitic muscovite (1850-2330 Ma) from this area and is younger to intrusive granites of c. 2500 Ma. By analogy, therefore, it may be inferred that the age of the rare element mineralization may be ~2000 Ma old, and linked with younger granitic activity that spanned over the period from 2300 to 2100 Ma in the Bastar craton.     

Spatio-temporal dynamics of sediment transport in lesser Himalayan catchments,India

Sediment transport from mountainous to lowland areas is considered one of the most important geomorphological processes. In the present study, variations in transported sediment loads and dissolved loads have been studied over 3 years (2008–2011) for two forested catchments located in the Lesser Himalayan region of India. Seasonal and annual suspended sediment flux was strongly influenced by amounts of rainfall and streamflow. On average, 93% of annual load was produced during the monsoon, of which 62–78% occurred in only five peak events. Sediment production by the degraded forest catchment (Bansigad) was 1.9-fold (suspended sediment load) to 5.9-fold (bedload) higher than the densely forested catchment (Arnigad). The dissolved organic matter potentially influences total dissolved solids in the stream. Heavy rainfall triggers both stream discharge and landslides, which lead to higher bedload transport. Total denudation rates for Arnigad and Bansigad were estimated at 0.68 and 1.02 mm?year^?1, respectively.     

The Potential Use of Bali Wastewater for Crop Production Based on Moscow Region Experience

The article offers a new approach to the selection of a treatment plant, based on the optimization of biogeochemical matter flows. The existing treatment facilities of Bali are analyzed. The authors propose several process schemes for domestic wastewater treatment, depending on the technology of utilization of biogenic elements from the wastewater for agricultural production. These are based on water treatment technologies that have been in use in Moscow for more than 100 years.     

Experimental and parametric investigation of effects of built-in staircases on the dynamics of RC buildings

Past earthquakes, in many instances, have demonstrated poor performance of commonly used built-in staircase configurations. Codal provisions in India pertaining to staircases present a rather simple approach wherein the effects of built-in staircases on the overall dynamic properties or on the local behavior of structures are not addressed explicitly. Studies in the past have highlighted the scale of such effects, but most of them have relied completely on analytical models of buildings. This study analyzes the adequacy of the codal provisions by investigating two finite element (FE) models calibrated using ambient and forced vibration measurements. The effects of variations in building height, layout of staircase in plan, and presence of masonry infill walls in stairwells are also examined. The codal guidelines regarding empirical estimation of period and provision of enclosure walls around built-in staircases are found to be adequate. However, for the case of built-in staircases without enclosure walls, the force and displacement demands on landing beams are found to be considerably high. Drift-based approaches to estimate these demands are proposed.     

CULTURAL VALUES OF WETLANDS IN BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN NEPAL

Traditional culture bears a dynamic,cosmologi-cal vision in the wetland ecology and its biodiversityconservation in Nepal.The role of culture and rela-tionship in wetland biodiversity protection and wiseuse has not well been documented yet.Wetlands likeri…