Bed roughness and grain sorting-an experimental study over fine to medium sand beds

The relation between grain-size distribution of the bed and in suspension was critically examined under a uniform flow velocity of 50 cm/s over two beds: one of mainly fine sands and the other of medium sands. Two sections – one 2.85 m downstream and the other 6.35 m downstream in the experimental channel-were selected for sampling to study the grain-sorting pattern in the vertical direction along the direction of transport. The shape and type of the grain-size distribution pattern were critically studied with height above the bed. The change in the distribution pattern has been attributed to the change of local bed roughness causing scouring against the protruded relatively coarse grains on the bed. Such trends are important to predict the nature of river bed topography. The sand of Bed-1 initially exhibits a log-skew-Laplace distribution at different heights of suspension. The distribution pattern, however, changes but this changing pattern is not consistent along the upstream side. For Bed-2, which initially exhibits a log-normal distribution, the same pattern persists from the height of suspension at 5 cm up to 20 cm. Such consistency in log-normality is also observed at the downstream points of measurement. It is generally expected that the mean grain-size would reduce with increases of suspension height but the results of the experiments, in some occasions, differ significantly from the gradual fining upward trend. This result has been attributed to local changes of bed roughness arising from the protruded relatively coarse grains causing eddies, scouring, and turbulent phenomena which moves coarse particles higher in suspension adding a coarse tail to the distribution increasing the mean grain-size.     

First record of microsporophyll genus Caytonanthus Thomas from Early Cretaceous beds of South Rewa Gondwana Basin,India: Its evolutionary and palaeogeographical significance

Pteridosperms (seed ferns) are an extinct group of large and diverse plants. They were dominant elements during Palaeozoic and were also an important component in the Mesozoic vegetation but declined globally in the Cretaceous time with the radiation of angiosperms. The order Caytoniales of Mesozoic pteridosperm is an extinct group of seed ferns in the vegetation. They thrived for about 100 million years from the Late Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. Although they never attained dominant status, their rare occurrence in the vegetation is quite important and fascinating. For this extinct group of seed fern, Thomas ( 1925 ) erected a new order Caytoniales which includes three organ genera Caytonia (megasporophyll), Caytonanthus (microsporophyll) and Sagenopteris (leaves). This paper is aimed to document first record of microsporophyll genus Caytonanthus, obtained from the Lower Cretaceous beds of the South Rewa Gondwana Basin of the Indian Peninsula. Its morpho‐characters, palaeogeographic distribution, along with its plausible southern origin through ancestral group like Glossopteridales, are surmised here.     

Seismic analysis of a curved bridge considering deck‐abutment pounding interaction: an analytical investigation on the post‐impact response

Horizontal curved bridges are very common at intersections and at the changing angle of bridge alignment. Almost in every previous earthquake report, it can be seen that the columns of a curved segment experience torsional damage, and the curved decks are unseated from the abutment support. The main reason behind that phenomenon is the in‐plane deck rotation which results because of the complex dynamic coupling between two longitudinal directional vibrations. The curved decks are susceptible to deck rotation because in a curved segment, the centre of mass and the centre of stiffness generally lie outside the bridge deck and are not located at the same point. The pounding with the abutment often increases the rotational tendency of the deck. In this paper, a classical mechanics‐based approach is adopted to analytically estimate the deck rotation potential of curved bridge considering the deck‐abutment pounding interaction. The deck‐abutment pounding is modelled using non‐smooth techniques considering the Newton's impact law in the normal and Coulomb's friction in the tangential direction. Within the scope of this paper, a parametric study is performed to get the ideal combination of the column and bent arrangement and the gap distance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantification and spatial distribution of pore-filling materials through constrained rock physics template and fluid response modelling in Paleogene clastic reservoir from Cauvery basin,India

Sands belonging to Kamalapuram Formation of Paleocene-Eocene age are deposited in Cauvery basin as incised valley fill during a regressive cycle. Here we attempt to quantify the influence of diagenesis on pore-filling materials using rock physics template constrained by geohistory modelling. Primarily, porosity–velocity and acoustic impedance – the ratio of P-wave and S-wave velocity (V_P/V_s) cross-plots are used as rock physics templates. Rock physics template has efficiently quantified pore-filling materials namely; contact cement and non-contact cement. The estimated contact cement and non-contact cement are correlated with conventional petrophysical logs within the selected depth interval. Further, this correlation is used to interpret the composition of pore-filling materials. Shallower depth intervals (I and II) exhibit moderate non-contact cement (4–5%) and insignificant contact cement (1–2% approx.) depositions. However, deeper interval (III) records a significant amount of pore-filling materials amounting average of 12% non-contact cement and 4% contact cement. Pore-filling materials demonstrate a positive correlation with the depth of burial. The fluid response is substantially affected by the degree of diagenesis, composition and spatial distribution of pore-filling materials. Shallower depth intervals (1770–1786 m and 1858–1878 m) are relatively more sensitive to fluid changes as it is affected by insignificant contact cement. The depth interval 1770–1786 m shows class II (oil) and class III (gas) amplitude variation with offset anomalies. The sand occurring in depth interval 1858–1878 m demonstrates class IIP (oil) and II (gas) anomaly. The deeper interval (2118–2170 m) is comparatively stiffer and demonstrates class I amplitude variation with offset (oil and gas sand) anomaly.     

Theoretical investigation of interstellar C–C–O and C–O–C bonding backbone molecules

There are numerous complex organic molecules containing carbon and oxygen atoms which show either C–C–O or C–O–C bonding backbone. This paper examines altogether 51 C–C–O and C–O–C bonding backbone molecules from ten different isomeric groups (C₂H₂O, C₃H₂O, C₂H₄O, C₂H₄O₂, C₃H₄O, C₂H₆O, C₂H₆O₂, C₃H₆O, C₃H₆O₂, C₃H₈O) to summarize the present astronomical status of these molecules. Accurate calculations of enthalpy of formation of these molecules show that the isomers with C–C–O backbone are more stable than the C–O–C backbone. Interestingly, a detailed analysis of relevant astromolecules indicates that most of the observed astromolecules have the C–C–O backbone. As a matter of fact, of all the molecules examined in this study, 80% of the astronomically observed species have the C–C–O backbone while only 20% have the C–O–C backbone. In general, interstellar abundance of a molecule is controlled by some factors such as kinetics, formation and destruction pathways,thermodynamics etc. A proper consideration of these factors could explain the observed abundances of these molecules. All these possible key factors are discussed in this paper.     

Accretion flow dynamics during 1999 outburst of XTE J1859+226—modeling of broadband spectra and constraining the source mass

We examine the dynamical behavior of accretion flow around XTE J1859+226 during the 1999 outburst by analyzing the entire outburst data (～166 days) from RXTE Satellite. Towards this, we study the hysteresis behavior in the hardness intensity diagram (HID) based on the broadband (3–150 keV) spectral modeling, spectral signature of jet ejection and the evolution of Quasi-periodic Oscillation (QPO) frequencies using the two-component advective flow model around a black hole. We compute the flow parameters, namely Keplerian accretion rate (\({\dot{m}}_{d}\)), sub-Keplerian accretion rate (\({\dot{m}}_{h}\)), shock location (\(r_{s}\)) and black hole mass (\(M_{\mathit{bh}}\)) from the spectral modeling and study their evolution along the q-diagram. Subsequently, the kinetic jet power is computed as \(L^{\mathrm{obs}}_{\mathrm{jet}} \sim3\mbox{--}6 \times10^{37}~\mbox{erg}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}\) during one of the observed radio flares which indicates that jet power corresponds to 8–16% mass outflow rate from the disc. This estimate of mass outflow rate is in close agreement with the change in total accretion rate (～14%) required for spectral modeling before and during the flare. Finally, we provide a mass estimate of the source XTE J1859+226 based on the spectral modeling that lies in the range of 5.2–7.9 \(M_{\odot}\) with 90% confidence.     

Methane flux dynamics in relation to methanogenic and methanotrophic populations in the soil of Indian Sundarban mangroves

The dynamics of methane (CH₄) flux in relation to populations of methanogenic and methanotrophic bacteria was studied under the different biophysical conditions of the Indian Sundarban mangrove ecosystem. Soil depth profile analysis (up to 60 cm) in the lower littoral zone (LLZ) revealed that a methanogenic population of 6.45 ± 0.19 × 10⁴ cells/g dry weight (dry wt) of soil accounted for a CH₄ production rate of 6.23 ± 3.53 × 10³ µmol m^?2 day^?1, whereas in the surface soil, a methanogenic population of 3.34 ± 0.37 × 10⁴ cells/g dry wt of soil accounted for a CH₄ production rate of 31.6 ± 0.57 µmol m^?2 day^?1. The CH₄ oxidation rate at 60 cm depth in the LLZ was 24.42 ± 1.28 µmol m^?2 day^?1, with an average methanotrophic population of 1.33 ± 0.43 × 10⁴ cells/g dry wt of soil, whereas in the surface soil, the oxidation rate and average population were 3.38 ± 1.43 × 10³ µmol m^?2 day^?1 and 12.80 ± 2.54 × 10⁴ cells/g dry wt of soil, respectively. A similar soil profile in terms of CH₄ dynamics and the populations of methanogenic and methanotrophic bacteria was found in the mid‐littoral and upper littoral zones of the studied area. The results demonstrate that most of the produced CH₄ (approximately 60%) was oxidized by methanotrophic bacteria present in the soil, thus revealing their principal role in regulating the CH₄ flux from this unique ecosystem.     

Geothermal modeling of the gas hydrate stability zone along the Krishna Godavari Basin

A wide-spread bottom simulating reflector (BSR), interpreted to mark the thermally controlled base of the gas hydrate stability zone, is observed over a close grid of multichannel seismic profiles in the Krishna Godavari Basin of the eastern continental margin of India. The seismic data reveal that gas hydrate occurs in the Krishna Godavari Basin at places where water depths exceed 850 m. The thickness of the gas hydrate stability zone inferred from the BSR ranges up to 250 m. A conductive model was used to determine geothermal gradients and heat flow. Ground truth for the assessment and constraints on the model were provided by downhole measurements obtained during the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 01 of India at various sites in the Krishna Godavari Basin. Measured downhole temperature gradients and seafloor-temperatures, sediment thermal conductivities, and seismic velocity are utilized to generate regression functions for these parameters as function of overall water depth. In the first approach the base of gas hydrate stability is predicted from seafloor bathymetry using these regression functions and heat flow and geothermal gradient are calculated. In a second approach the observed BSR depth from the seismic profiles (measured in two-way travel time) is converted into heat flow and geothermal gradient using the same ground-truth data. The geothermal gradient estimated from the BSR varies from 27 to 67°C/km. Corresponding heat flow values range from 24 to 60 mW/m². The geothermal modeling shows a close match of the predicted base of the gas hydrate stability zone with the observed BSR depths.     

Composition and Genesis of Zeolitic Claystones from the Central Indian Ocean Basin

We examined more than fifty indurated sediments recovered from the Central Indian Ocean Basin （CIOB） during the course of collection for manganese nodules and crusts. The samples occur as slabs either over which ferromanganese oxides are present or over a substrate of altered oceanic basalt in conjunction with palagonite or within the nucleus of manganese nodules. Mineralogically and compositionally, the samples show a mixture of phillipsite, palagonite and montmorillonite. We suggest that the volcanogenic precursors occurring in the CIOB were subjected to varying degrees of alteration under the influence of low temperature conditions, resulting in the formation of zeolitic claystones. The CIOB samples have similarities to those reported from various sites in the world oceans.