Petrology and geochemistry of Jura granite and granite gneiss in the Neelum Valley,Lesser Himalayas (Kashmir,Pakistan)

Late Proterozoic rocks of Tanol Formation in the Lesser Himalayas of Neelum Valley area are largely green schist to amphibolite facies rocks intruded by early Cambrian Jura granite gneiss and Jura granite representing Pan-African orogeny event in the area. These rocks are further intruded by pegmatites of acidic composition, aplites, and dolerite dykes. Based on field observations, texture, and petrographic character, three different categories of granite gneiss (i.e., highly porphyritic, coarse-grained two micas granite gneiss, medium-grained two micas granite gneiss, and leucocratic tourmaline-bearing muscovite granite gneiss), and granites (i.e., highly porphyritic coarse-grained two micas granite, medium-grained two micas granite, and leucocratic tourmaline-bearing coarse-grained muscovite granite) were classified. Thin section studies show that granite gneiss and granite are formed due to fractional crystallization, as revealed by zoning in plagioclase. The Al saturation index indicates that granite gneiss and granite are strongly peraluminous and S-type. Geochemical analysis shows that all granite gneisses are magnesian except one which is ferroan whereas all granites are ferroan except one which is magnesian. The CaO/Na₂O ratio (>0.3) indicates that granitic melt of Jura granite gneiss and granite is pelite-psammite derived peraluminous granitic melt formed due to partial melting of Tanol Formation. The rare earth element (REE) patterns of the Jura granite and Jura granite gneiss indicate that granitic magma of Jura granite and Jura granite gneiss is formed due to partial melting of rocks that are similar in composition to that of upper continental crust.     

Statistical analysis of stress transmission in wet granular materials

The micromechanics of wet granular materials encompasses complex microstructural and capillary interconnects that can be readily described through a formal derivation of stress transmission in such a 3‐phase medium. In the quest for defining an appropriate stress measure, the stress tensor expression that results from homogenization [Duriez et al. J Mech Phys Solids 99 (2017): 495‐511] of such a medium provides theoretical insights necessary to extract useful information on the relationship between capillary effects and microforce interactions via several small‐scale parameters whose evaluation can be challenging. Using instead a statistical approach where microvariable distributions are described by probability density functions, the current study provides simple estimates of stress components in terms of only a few tractable microvariables such as coordination number and fabric anisotropy. In particular, the latter recognizes details of contacts such as force interactions being either mechanical or capillary, including interactions with and without mechanical contact. The developed expressions are in a good agreement with discrete element method simulation results of the triaxial loading of a wet granular assembly, notably for hydrostatic (mean) pressure. A new set of dimensionless groups is also identified to characterize the significance of mechanical and capillary physics, which facilitates a better understanding of the contribution of dominating elements to stress, while also providing the opportunity to incorporate important capillary effects in micromechanically based constitutive formulations.     

Prediction of nearshore wave heights using a refraction programme

The Dobson wave refraction programme, modified to incorporate bottom frictional attenuation, is being tested for its universal applicability for prediction of nearshore wave heights. An investigation has been undertaken to test the applicability of this programme for the prediction of wave heights over a gently sloping, wide continental shelf. The study has been carried out in the shelf waters off Alleppey, situated along the southwest coast of India. The measured wave height at a nearshore point and the computed wave height at the same point are compared. The application of Spearman's rank correlation and Wilcoxon's matched-pairs signed-ranks test has indicated that there is a high degree of correlation between the measured and predicted heights. Since similar results have been obtained by Bryant (1979) for steep shelf waters of Australia, it may be concluded that the programme can be used in different coastal waters irrespective of the nature of the shelf gradient, but subject to other limitations of the programme.     

The impact of future climate change and potential adaptation methods on Maize yields in West Africa

Using recent advances in statistical crop yield modelling and a unique dataset consisting of yield time series for Russian regions over the period from 1955 to 2012, the study investigates the potential impact of climate change (CC) on the productivity of the three most important grains. Holding current grain growing areas fixed, the aggregate productivity of the three grains is predicted to decrease by 6.7% in 2046–2065 and increase by 2.6% in 2081–2100 compared to 1971–2000 under the most optimistic representative emission concentration pathway (RCP). Based on the projections for the three other RCPs, the aggregate productivity of the three studied crops is assessed to decrease by 18.0, 7.9 and 26.0% in the medium term and by 31.2, 25.9 and 55.4% by the end of the century. Our results indicate that CC might have a positive effect on winter wheat, spring wheat and spring barley productivity in a number of regions in the Northern and Siberian parts of Russia. However, due to the highly damaging CC impact on grain production in the most productive regions located in the South of the country, the overall impact tends to be negative. Therefore, a shift of agricultural production to the Northern regions of the country could reduce the negative impact of CC on grain production only to a limited extent. More vigorous adaptation measures are required to maintain current grain production volumes in Russia under CC.     

The North Pacific Oscillation: observations compared with simulations in a general circulation model

The study of the sea level pressure and the surface air temperatures in the North Pacific region in a 23-year integration of the Oregon State University coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model has shown that there is a signature of the North Pacific Oscillation in the model, comparable to that recorded in observations. In the model, the NPO index was defined in terms of an opposition in sign of mean temperature anomaly between two regions in the North Pacific region, close to those found in observations (viz. Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and Edmonton, Canada). Fluctuations of this index prompted the grouping of some of the 23 model years as those when the temperature at the model equivalent of Dutch Harbor was above normal and that at the model equivalent of Edmonton below normal (analogous to Aleutian above in observations), while other years displayed the opposite scenario (Aleutian below). Composites of sea level pressure, surface air temperatures, precipitation and sea surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere were found to be at times strikingly similar to those documented in observations by Rogers.     

Wave height distribution in shallow water

Probability distribution of shallow water wave heights, obtained from a pressure type recorder, are examined. It is tested with the theoretical distributions of (a) Rayleigh, (b) Weibull, (c) Gluhovski, (d) Ibrageemov and (e) Goda. The best fit is shown by the Gluhovski probability density function with a correlation coefficient greater than 0.8. The functions of Weibull, Ibrageemov and Goda fit only half of the tested cases. The role of wave steepness in the wave height distribution is found to be negligible.     

Seasonal evolution of the West African heat low: a climatological perspective

The West African heat low (WAHL), a region of high surface temperatures and low surface pressures, is a key element of the West African monsoon system. In this study, we propose a method to detect the WAHL in order to monitor its climatological seasonal displacement over West Africa during the period 1979–2001, using the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) ERA-40 reanalyses. The low-level atmospheric thickness (LLAT), a variable defined as the difference of geopotential heights at 700 and 925 hPa, is used to detect the dilatation of these levels generated by an increase of the temperature. We define grid points with 10% highest values of the LLAT as the WAHL. We show that our method reliably positions the WAHL over areas of high surface temperatures and low surface pressures, and that it is effective at detecting heat lows. In the course of the year, the climatological WAHL is shown to migrate north-westward from a position south of the Darfur mountains in the winter (November–March) to a location over the Sahara, between the Hoggar and the Atlas mountains, during the summer (June–September). The temperature tendency equation is used to investigate the processes controlling the displacement of the WAHL, and more particularly the heating at low levels. The specific period of the onset of the WAHL in its summer location over the Sahara (referred to as the Saharan heat low -SHL- onset) is also analysed during the 1984–2001 period, using complementary brightness temperature data from the European Union-funded Cloud Archive User Service (CLAUS). The climatological onset of the SHL occurs around 20 June, i.e. just before the climatological monsoon onset date. The present study suggests that the onset of the WAHL occurs approximately 5 days before the monsoon onset for the 1984–2001 period. This is confirmed independently by comparing the SHL onset date and the monsoon onset date for the 1984–2001 period. The seasonal evolution of the WAHL for the year 2006 (the year of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis project Special Observation Period) is analysed and compared with the climatological results. The operational ECMWF analyses were used for that purpose. Except in April, the spatial distribution of the WAHL remains relatively unchanged and agrees with the climatology. The onset of the SHL in 2006 occurs on 18 June, which is close to the climatological date, in spite of the delay in the onset of the rainy season in Sahel.     

A model investigation of the impact of increases in anthropogenic NO x emissions between 1967 and 1980 on tropospheric ozone

Recent observations suggest that the abundance of ozone between 2 and 8 km in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes has increased by about 12% during the period from 1970 to 1981. Earlier estimates were somewhat more conservative suggesting increases at the rate of 7% per decade since the start of regular observations in 1967. Previous photochemical model studies have indicated that tropospheric ozone concentrations would increase with increases in emissions of CO, CH₄ and NO _x . This paper presents an analysis of tropospheric ozone which suggests that a significant portion of its increase may be attributed to the increase in global anthropogenic NO _x emissions during this period while the contribution of CH₄ to the increase is quite small. Two statistical models are presented for estimating annual global anthropogenic emissions of NO _x and are used to derive the trend in the emissions for the years 1966–1980. These show steady increase in the emissions during this interval except for brief periods of leveling off after 1973 and 1978. The impact of this increase in emissions on ozone is estimated by calculations with a onedimensional (latitudinal) model which includes coupled tropospheric photochemistry and diffusive meridional transport. Steady-state photochemical calculations with prescribed NO _x emissions appropriate for 1966 and 1980 indicate an ozone increase of 8–11% in the Northern Hemisphere, a result which is compatible with the rise in ozone suggested by the observations.     

U-Pb (zircon) ages for the gneissic terrane west of the Nile,southern Egypt

The first U-Pb zircon ages are reported for the gneissic bedrock inliers previously interpreted as part of the Nile Craton. The inliers crop out in the Egyptian Western Desert, east of the Uweinat area and west of the Eastern Desert. Multi- and single-grain zircon analyses of granitoid gneiss and migmatite from Gebel Um Shagir, Aswan, and another locality approximately 160 km south-west of Aswan, yield simple discordia with near modern day Pb loss trajectories, and the following Neoproterozoic crystallization ages: 626+4/–3, 634 ± 4 and 741 ± 3 Ma. In contrast, multi- and single-grain U-Pb analyses (zircon and sphene) from an anorthositic gabbro at Gebel Kamil (22°46N 26°21E) and an anorthosite at Gebel El Asr (22°46N 31°10E) yield Archean and Paleoproterozoic emplacement ages. The former yield a crystallization age of > 2.67 Ga and a metamorphic age of 2.0 Ga; the latter a metamorphic age of 0.69 Ga and an inheritance age of 1.9–2.1 Ga. Because high grade gneiss and migmatite of Neoproterozoic, Paleoproterozoic and Archean age crop out west of the Nile, pre-Neoproterozoic crust should no longer be identified by its metamorphic grade. By contrast, mapping the anorthosite and related rocks might provide first-order estimates for the extension of pre-Neoproterozoic crust in north-east Africa. It is suggested that Archean and Paleoproterozoic crust of the Uweinat and Congo Craton are contiguous because these U-Pb (zircon) data show no evidence for a Neoproterozoic thermal overprint in the Gebel Kamil area and there is no pronounced Neoproterozoic magmatic activity south of the Uweinat inlier and north of the Congo Craton.