Stable isotope systematics and geochemical signatures constraining groundwater hydraulics in the mining environment of the Korba Coalfield,Central India

The present study explores the use of stable isotopes and major ion chemistry of various water sources such as mine water, groundwater, river water, and rainwater to identify the dominant hydrogeochemical process that controls the water quality in the active opencast coal mining area of the Korba Coalfield, India. Different hydrochemical models have revealed that the study area is mostly characterized by two facies alongside a dominance by ion exchange: i.e., a slightly mineralized Ca²⁺–Mg²⁺–Cl^? and a meteorically derived Ca²⁺–HCO₃^? fresh water facies. In the isotope bivariate plot, the samples plot to the right of the LMWL and slopes observed in pre (4.94) and post-monsoon (5.85) seasons are not as steep as the LMWL (7.95) and this warrants the suggestion that meteoric water is the major source that replenishes the dynamic groundwater resource in the study area after being subjected to evaporation. The negative d-excess values (<?0) and enrichment of the δ¹⁸O ratio observed at some locations suggests a non-equilibrium process and a “mechanism of mixing”. A noteworthy fact is that isotopically river water is in tandem with the mine water samples for both seasons and testifies to a hydraulic connectivity between Hasdeo River water and mine water through a major fault. It is substantiated by mine inflows assessed by the sump test for Kusmunda and Gevra, which is two times higher than the predicted values by Darcy’s law. The wide variation in the isotopic composition is attributed to different vapor sources viz., southwest monsoon (SW) that originates in the Arabian Sea and locally driven air moisture from surface water bodies.     

Identification of suitable sites for groundwater recharge in Awaspi watershed using GIS and remote sensing techniques

Groundwater is a valuable natural resource for drinking, domestic, livestock use, and irrigation, especially in arid and semi-arid regions like the Garmiyan belt in Kurdistan region. The Awaspi watershed is located 50 km east of Kirkuk city, south Kurdistan, Iraq; and covers an area of 2146 km². The paper presents result of a study aimed at: (1) mapping and preparing thematic layers of factors that control groundwater recharge areas, and (2) determination of sites suitable for groundwater recharge. We used available data such as geological map, groundwater depth map, digital elevation model (DEM), Landsat 8 imagery, and tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) data for this study. These data, supplemented by slope features, lithology, land use land cover, rainfall, groundwater depth, drainage density, landform, lineament density, elevation and topographic position index, were utilized to create thematic maps to identify suitable areas of groundwater recharge, using GIS and remote sensing techniques. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to weight, rank, and reclassify these maps in the ArcGIS 10.3 environment, to determine the suitable sites for groundwater recharge within the Awaspi watershed. Fifty-five percent of the total area of the watershed was found to be suitable for groundwater recharge; whereas 45% of the area was determined to have poor suitability for groundwater recharge, but can be used for surface water harvesting.     

Development of a flood forecasting system using IFAS: a case study of scarcely gauged Jhelum and Chenab river basins

Development of a well-calibrated, distributed hydrological model for flood forecasting based on rainfall and snowmelt is quite challenging, especially when in situ data is limited or unavailable. This paper presents the study carried out to parameterise the Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS) model for the trans-boundary, scarcely gauged catchments of Jhelum and Chenab rivers in Pakistan. Rainfall-runoff analysis was performed with a two-layered tank configuration, integrating snowmelt and dam and barrage operation from the very upstream in India to Trimmu Barrage in Pakistan. A grid size of 5?×?5 km was considered. Global map topography, land cover and soil data was utilised. The model was tested considering different magnitudes of floods of the years 2014, 2015 and 2017. The results showed that the satellite rainfall product, i.e. Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP-NRT), underestimated the rainfall volume, compared to the ground-gauged rainfall. The GSMaP-IF correction method showed poor performance owing to the lack of ground observatory rainfall data for correcting the trans-boundary part of the basin. The GSMaP-Type1 correction method showed good results, except for the confluence point where complex flow conditions were not properly reproduced by the model. In addition, the incorporation of dam and barrages in the model improved the simulated flow results. It is concluded that the satellite rainfall estimates must be corrected to improve the results. Snowmelt module estimated the snowmelt contribution as 3 to 7% and 4 to 23% of the average daily discharge during the monsoon season at Mangla Dam and Marala Barrage, respectively, during 2014 and 2015. This study assessed various correction methods and concluded that the model and methodology used in the study functioned well with suitable precipitation.     

Comparative study of flash flood in ungauged watershed with special emphasizing on rough set theory for handling the missing hydrological values

Natural Hazards - Prediction of the flash floods in ungauged or poorly gauging watershed is one of the challenging tasks in the field of hydrology and needs implication of advanced techniques to...     

Macrophytes’ Performance in Floating Treatment Wetlands for the Remediation of Ciprofloxacin-Contaminated Water

The presence of trace antibiotics in domestic and industrial effluents poses a risk of toxicity to fauna and flora. The application of floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) is a low-cost and sustainable approach to remediate wastewater. In this study, the performance of different macrophytes vegetated in FTWs for the remediation of ciprofloxacin (CIP)-contaminated water is investigated. Six macrophytes, Brachia mutica, Typha domingensis, Phragmites australis, Canna indica, Cyperus laevigatus, and Leptochloa fusca, are vegetated in FTWs for the removal of CIP (50 mg L⁻¹) from water. The FTWs show the potential to remove 30–43.58 mg L⁻¹ CIP from water in 28 days. They also reduce the chemical oxygen demand (118–138 mg L⁻¹) and biochemical oxygen demand (35–45 mg L⁻¹) of water. Among the macrophytes, C. indica removes maximum (43.58 mg L⁻¹) and T. domingensis minimum (30 mg L⁻¹) CIP. Canna indica and T. domingensis exhibit the maximum and minimum increase (30% and 12% of dry biomass) in growth, respectively. This study reveals that the FTWs vegetated with different plant species exhibit varying performances in removing CIP from water. This investigation is a step forward toward sustainable bioremediation of water contaminated with antibiotics.     

The 2014 seismic hazard model of the Middle East: overview and results

The Earthquake Model of Middle East (EMME) Project aimed to develop regional scale seismic hazard and risk models uniformly throughout a region extending from the Eastern Mediterranean in the west to the Himalayas in the east and from the Gulf of Oman in the south to the Greater Caucasus in the North; a region which has been continuously devastated by large earthquakes throughout the history. The 2014 Seismic Hazard Model of Middle East (EMME-SHM14) was developed with the contribution of several institutions from ten countries. The present paper summarizes the efforts towards building a homogeneous seismic hazard model of the region and highlights some of the main results of this model. An important aim of the project was to transparently communicate the data and methods used and to obtain reproducible results. By doing so, the use of the model and results will be accessible by a wide community, further support the mitigation of seismic risks in the region and facilitate future improvements to the seismic hazard model. To this end all data, results and methods used are made available through the web-portal of the European Facilities for Earthquake Hazard and Risk (www.efehr.org).