Bastnaesite from Kanigiri granite, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh

For the first time we report bastnaesite and hydroxyl bastnaesite (lanthanum cerium fluoro-carbonate) from the Kanigiri granite. The host granitoids are of A-type and vary in composition from quartz syenites to peralkaline granites. Rare metal and rare earth-bearing minerals identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies in Kanigiri granite are bastnaesite and hydroxyl bastnaesite, besides columbite-tantalite, monazite, fergusonite, thorite and euxenite. Petromineralogical studies have also revealed the presence of bastnaesite. The presence of bastnaesite in Kanigiri granite suggests that the host felsic rocks may also form a potential source for light rare earth mineral, bastnaesite, apart from the already known rare-metal minerals.     

Delineating and defining the boundaries of an active landslide in the rainforest of Puerto Rico using a combination of airborne and terrestrial LIDAR data

Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) is a remote sensing technique that uses light, often using pulses from a laser to measure the distance to a target. Both terrestrial- and airborne-based LIDAR techniques have been frequently used to map landslides. Airborne LIDAR has the advantage of identifying large scarps of landslides covered by tree canopies and is widely applied in identifying historical and current active landslides hidden in forested areas. However, because landslides naturally have relatively small vertical surface deformation in the foot area, it is practically difficult to identify the margins of landslide foot area with the limited spatial resolution (few decimeters) of airborne LIDAR. Alternatively, ground-based LIDAR can achieve resolution of several centimeters and also has the advantages of being portable, repeatable, and less costly. Thus, ground-based LIDAR can be used to identify small deformations in landslide foot areas by differencing repeated terrestrial laser scanning surveys. This study demonstrates a method of identifying the superficial boundaries as well as the bottom boundary (sliding plane) of an active landslide in National Rainforest Park, Puerto Rico, USA, using the combination of ground-based and airborne LIDAR data. The method of combining terrestrial and airborne LIDAR data can be used to study landslides in other regions. This study also indicates that intensity and density of laser point clouds are remarkably useful in identifying superficial boundaries of landslides.     

Study on clean technology-assisted combustion behavior and NO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> emission using thermal imager for alternate fuel blends

The correlation between oxides of nitrogen emission and in-cylinder temperature of diesel engine fueled with various alternative fuels has been investigated in this research paper. Experimentations were performed in engine without any modifications using pure high-speed diesel fuel, used cooking oil biodiesel (UCO20), animal fat residue biodiesel (AFR20) and camphor oil (CMR20) at 20% volume concentration of biodiesel each. From combustion analysis, the heat release rate and peak cylinder pressure of biodiesel blends were about 13.487% lower and 4.819% higher than those of diesel fuel on an average, respectively. Longer combustion duration has been observed for all biodiesel blends at all load conditions. Oxides of nitrogen emission level show 16.405, 10.352 and 7.524% increment for UCO20, AFR20 and CMR20, respectively. Noteworthy NO _x reduction of about 43.8% was recorded for diesel blended with camphor oil when compared to other biodiesel blends. The relationship between in-cylinder temperature and NO _x emission concentration was premeditated through thermal imager. The result depicted that the increase in NO _x concentration depends on augmented in-cylinder temperature for all test fuels.     

Migration and contamination of major and trace elements in groundwater of Madras city,India

Groundwater samples collected from both open and bore wells in an area of about 270 km² from Madras City, India, have been analyzed for major ions (HCO₃, Cl, Si, Na, Ca, and Mg) and trace elements (As, Se, B, V, Cr, Fe, Co, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Mn, Ni, Mo, and Ba). The study reveals that the quality of potable water has deteriorated to a large extent. Seawater intrusion into the aquifer has been observed in nearly 50 percent of the study area. The toxic elements (As and Se) have already exceeded the maximum permissible limits of drinking water in almost the entire city. A positive correlation of As and Se with other toxic metals such as V, Cr, Fe, B, etc., indicates that all these elements are anthropogenic in origin. Applying multivariate analysis, the source for trace elements in groundwater has been grouped into two major factors: pollution and mobilization factors. The groundwater in the study area is largely contaminated by organic effluents and reflects the intensity of pollution caused by the overlying soil sediment and rapid infiltration of the pollutants.     

Comparative analyses of East Texas forest cover maps generated from Landsat and AVHRR data

Comparing satellite data derived map products are affected by differences in data characteristics, image acquisition dates, processing techniques, and classification schemes used for assigning pixels to a thematic class. By comparing two forest maps generated from Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) images acquired on the same day, and processed using identical classification scheme and methods these differences were minimized. The ETM+ derived map had higher classification accuracy values and more precise area estimates than the AVHRR derived map. In the ETM+ derived map, 87 of the 599 verification data were misclassified, whereas in the AVHRR derived map, 155 of the 469 verification data were misclassified. Detailed error analyses by land cover class revealed that a land use based definition of forest accounted for 74% (64 out of 87) and 57% (89 out of 155) of the classification errors in ETM+ and AVHRR derived maps, respectively.     

Prediction of ground vibration due to quarry blasting based on gene expression programming: a new model for peak particle velocity prediction

Blasting is a widely used technique for rock fragmentation in opencast mines and tunneling projects. Ground vibration is one of the most environmental effects produced by blasting operation. Therefore, the proper prediction of blast-induced ground vibrations is essential to identify safety area of blasting. This paper presents a predictive model based on gene expression programming (GEP) for estimating ground vibration produced by blasting operations conducted in a granite quarry, Malaysia. To achieve this aim, a total number of 102 blasting operations were investigated and relevant blasting parameters were measured. Furthermore, the most influential parameters on ground vibration, i.e., burden-to-spacing ratio, hole depth, stemming, powder factor, maximum charge per delay, and the distance from the blast face were considered and utilized to construct the GEP model. In order to show the capability of GEP model in estimating ground vibration, nonlinear multiple regression (NLMR) technique was also performed using the same datasets. The results demonstrated that the proposed model is able to predict blast-induced ground vibration more accurately than other developed technique. Coefficient of determination values of 0.914 and 0.874 for training and testing datasets of GEP model, respectively show superiority of this model in predicting ground vibration, while these values were obtained as 0.829 and 0.790 for NLMR model.     

Palaeomonsoon and palaeoproductivity records of δ18O, δ{13}C and CaCO3 variations in the northern Indian Ocean sedimentsC and CaCO3 variations in the northern Indian Ocean sediments

δ¹⁸ O and δ¹³C of G.sacculifer have been measured in five cores from the northern Indian Ocean. In addition, high resolution analysis (1 to 2 cm) was performed on one core (SK-20-185) for both δ¹⁸O and gd¹³C in five species of planktonic foraminifera. CaCO₃ variation was measured in two cores. The results, presented here, show that

Anthropogenic platinum,palladium and rhodium concentrations in road dusts from Hyderabad city,India

This paper presents the first study of accessing the Pt, Pd and Rh levels in road dusts collected from Hyderabad city, India, as these metals, emitted from automobile catalytic converters, are accumulating in the environment causing concern about human health and ecological risks. Samples were analyzed by ICP-MS following preconcentration by NiS-fire assay and Te coprecipitation. Pt (1.5–43 ng/g), Pd (1.2–58 ng/g) and Rh (0.2–14.2 ng/g) concentrations obtained were above upper crust values, but were lower when compared with several other cities around the world. Dust samples from road junctions and traffic signals with heavy and erratic traffic flow showed higher PGE levels than those from roads with low and free flow traffic suggesting that traffic flow conditions greatly influenced emission of PGE from the catalyst. Significant correlation of Pt, Pd and Rh indicate a common source for these metals. PGE were also positively correlated with Ce, Zr, Hf and Y. These positive inter-element correlations identified traffic as the main source of PGE emission to the roadway environment. The results obtained indicate to an appreciable increase in auto catalyst-derived PGE. In consideration of the adverse effects of PGE, monitoring their level and transformation paths is of prime importance.     

A critical analysis of processes governing the nutrient profiles in the ocean

We have theoretically considered the problem of interpretation of nutrient profiles in the upper ocean (100–2000m). We compare the experimental depth profiles of nonconservative tracers, both stable and radioactive, with solutions of one-dimensional steady state transport equations of increasing complexity including situations not encountered in the real oceans. Apart from gaining insight into the nutrient transport processes, this analysis is useful in offering a way to obtain operational estimates of depth dependent/independent eddy diffusivity and dissolution fluxes in the ocean. These parameters are essential for estimating new production, total production and burial of carbon in the sediments.     

Air-sea interaction over the tropical Indian Ocean during several contrasting monsoon seasons

Monthly mean anomaly fields of various parameters like sea surface temperature, air temperature, wind stress, effective radiation at the surface, heat gain over the ocean and the total heat loss between a good and bad monsoon composite and the evaporation rates over the Arabian Sea and southern hemisphere have been studied over the tropical Indian Ocean. The mean rates of evaporation on a seasonal scale over the Arabian Sea during a good and bad monsoon composites were equal (about 2·48 × 10¹⁰ tons/day). The evaporation rates over the southern hemisphere were greater during all the months. The mean evaporation rates over the southern hemisphere on a seasonal scale for the good and bad monsoon composites were 4·4 × 10¹⁰ and 4·6 × 10¹⁰ tons/day respectively. The maximum evaporation rates over the southern hemisphere were observed in August. The anomalies of wind stress, effective radiation at the surface and the heat gain over the ocean also exhibit large variations in August, as compared to other monsoon months.